Rules:

I’m working through Angi Schnieder’s pressure canning for beginners book. She says in the meat chapter intro that she prefers bones in her chicken recipes for flavor and almost all of the chicken recipes in the book are written with this preparation.

Can I follow the recipes using meat without the bones? I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate the idea of bones in a can of food. Is this an important thing for safety? Help me understand the safety rules, please. I’m sorry if this is an obvious question, I haven’t seen it discussed in any of my canning books so I’m ignorant on this issue..

I want to start drinking homemade bone broth every day, but to do that, I need somewhere to store it all. I don't have enough freezer space currently. So this is the motivating factor behind wanting to buy a small freezer or a pressure canner now, but I'm considering the other uses for each one and can't decide which one would be better. Factors I'm considering for each, in no particular order:

Pressure canner

• No storage space limitations (besides that of my house) (My dad and I are planning a joint garden for this year, so I might need that extra space.)
• Longer shelf life
• Shelf stable
• Appliance itself takes up very little space
• More limited on what can be preserved (approved recipes only)
• More expensive (digital canner - already researched this a lot and made my decision so not looking for feedback here)
• Faster access to foods (no thaw time)

Freezer (probably just 3.5 cubic feet)

• Can only store as much as it holds (but it's only stuff for me, not for a family)
• Preserves flavor and nutrients better
• Can preserve pretty much anything
• Takes up more space and electricity (though not much electricity)
• Less expensive
• Low concern for power outages in my area

I think I'm forgetting something... oh well.

So, what do you think? If you were in my position, which one would you buy?

We live in Maine at effectively sea level and make blueberry jam for a living. We sent some of our jam to my sister in law in Montana who lives at 4500 feet in elevation. Trouble is that the jars I sent were sealed and the lids had sucked down prior to sending but when they arrived they had puffed up. Could this due to elevation change or are they likely compromised?

Hi all,

I'm making some chilli oil for my friends and I'm scared that I am going to kill them with botulism. Can someone please help me with my recipe?

I normally fry the ingredients (combo of dried and fresh chillies, fresh garlic & ginger), then dunk the oil in, let it bubble away for a while, then strain it into sterilised bottles (detergent in dishwasher then oven method).

How can I change my process to remove botulism entirely? I'd like it that I can leave the finished product on my pantry shelf and not worry about spores.

Canners are not common in the UK so I'm struggling to get my hands on one.

I was thinking of potentially pressure cooking the fresh ingredients (I have at home pressure cooker), before the frying step. (But would this ruin the flavour?)

Acidifying may alter the taste of the oil too much, but let me know if you've done this and it hasn't.

Thanks so much in advance.

Howdy Folks!

I found this neat looking recipe online. I'm curious if anyone knows how to transform it into a waterbath recipe.

Ingredients 16-20 habanero peppers 1 cup white vinegar 1 cup water 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon honey 3 garlic cloves 3 small heatproof jars 10-16 oz

Instructions Wash and dry the habanero peppers. Slice them into thin rings and remove all the seeds.

Make a brine by combining equal parts water and white vinegar in a small saucepan. Add salt and honey.

On medium-high heat, bring the brine to a boil, stirring until the salt and honey are fully dissolved.

Pack the sliced peppers into clean, sterilized glass jars.

Add optional flavor enhancers like garlic cloves, peppercorns, and fresh herbs to the jars.

Place the jars in the sink and carefully pour the brine over the peppers.

Use a utensil to remove any air bubbles and ensure the peppers are fully submerged in the brine.

Seal the jars with lids and let them cool to room temperature.

Store the jars in the refrigerator and wait at least a week before serving.

Whenever you can't find info on Google it's becoming unnerving and very puzzling to the point one can start suspecting conspiracy.

Please help me to unveil the dark secret! We've got a lot river/lake caught fish in the freezer - majority of the fish is a hedgehog inside where elderly parents start to get feared of eating fish altogether due to choking bone hazard.

This all while supermarket fish is getting more and more unnafordable. Additionally even market salmon comes with too much bones which I suspect is difference in fish industry processing for various markets.

The question is:

I am considering to buy pressure cooking equipment, considering the price I am wondering if pressure cooker will actually delivery results of a commercial grade e.g. canned sardine where the bones are soft and safe to eat? Presoaking in salted water and pressure cooking is enough?

I don't care about the complete canning process per se as I expect we'd eat it pretty fast while fresh out of the pot.

Please advise.

As I stated in the title, this was just a big (maybe 2 or 3 gallons) glass jar with a lid full of clear liquid and a random assortment of vegetables. I assume it was some sort of brine and I seem to recall him saying he just tosses stuff in there all the time. I also witnessed him eating a few pieces.

Is anyone familiar with what this could have been? My fear is trying this and it not being safe to eat..... but I love the idea of pickled or brined veggies always being available.

They didn't look cooked.... but I could be wrong.

I processed this according to the ball canning book I have (pear puree), I thought I had gotten the air bubbles out but after processing I noticed I definitely did not. Is this safe?

I want to become a Master Food Preserver but my state, New Jersey, does not offer the certification. They stopped after the former teachers retired a few years ago. More than just get the certification, I want to volunteer in my area regularly, and I would ultimately like to assist with reopening the program and eventually be a teacher of the program. (A girl can dream, right?)

What are your thoughts? I'm thinking I can apply and complete the MFP course through Cornell in New York, and see if they will allow me to fulfill my volunteer hours remotely (writing articles/zoom courses/answering the hotline).

How can I work on reopening an extension program? I believe there is enough demand - I constantly have people asking me to host classes. I have demo'd at the county fair, hosted free workshops at my church, and taught nearly all of my friends and family out of my tiny kitchen. I want to make sure what I teach is safe and up to date - and I know getting and maintaining that cert will help to ensure I'm keeping others safe. I'd much rather recommend others take the extension course even if I'm not teaching it!

I’m considering canning the hearty chicken stew from the ball cookbook. I don’t have enough home canned chicken stock for the recipe. Can I make broth with bullion or will that make it unsafe? Thanks for any input!

I'm planning on making the chocolate cherry preserves from healthy canning https://www.healthycanning.com/chocolate-cherry-preserves

and it calls for 750 g sweet cherries (pitted. 4 cups / 1 ½ lbs)

Should I weigh out the 750g then pit or pit before weighing? Partly confused b/c the 1.5 lbs is only ~680g not 750g. I just want to make sure before I try it.

Thanks!

Hey all! My wife and I are looking to dip our toes into this and just want to start with making homemade spaghetti sauce. We both have ADHD so being able to just made one big batch and use it throughout the year would be a huge help.

Since tomatoes are already acidic, as I understand it we should be able to just get a water bath canner, right? Other than the mason jars is there really anything else that we need?

I like to keep sauces and broths in jars after I make them but haven't gotten into canning yet, though I'd like to. Google isn't being helpful but when I pour something hot into a jar and close it, it does seal pretty strongly. Does this keep longer than say... Tupperware? I don't expect it to keep as long as something properly canned, but I'm curious to know if having it self-seal will give it a longer than 5-7 day fridge life?

Hello Everyone 🤗 I just received my pressure canner in the mail today and want to can chicken broth/stock for my first project. Is it safe to use rotisserie chicken and roasted vegetables in my broth/stock?

Thanks!

I'm seeing info online about lids with dimples being effective alternatives and I'm guessing I don't have the equipment to can with non-dimple lids safely, so I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with this.

another problem I have is that most sellers don't seem to sell jars with dimple lids, and I don't know what I should be searching with to find lids that match the jars I'm looking at.

EDIT: I should mention I'm looking at 60ml jars which AFAIK don't have two-piece lids available

I’ve amassed quite a few quart size jars from this one pasta sauce brand we like, “Cleveland’s own Little Italy”. Just got in contact with them to see if they are safe for home canning and this was their reply:

Thank you for the kind words. The jars are fine for canning. You should always use caps with new seals and the cap should be a one piece with a button.

I noticed they fit the standard ball lids perfectly, that’s what got me to ask. I’m probably just going to do some water-bath pickles, don’t know how pressure canning would go.

Does anyone know of any other brands who sell jars that can be reused?

I'm not sure if I selected the correct flair, but since I'm not sure what went wrong, it seemed appropriate. Happy to change it if necessary.

TL;DR- What would cause jello-like lumps in marmalade? No commercial pectin was added.

I attempted home canning for the first time last year when I made Meyer lemon marmalade with my homegrown Meyer lemons… it only yielded 4 half pint jars but it was perfection!

I was so excited to make it again this year with my lemon harvest that I treated myself to a VKP harvest multi canner (water bath/steam) canning pot. (Side note: I wanted to attempt steam canning after reading a few extension agencies have tested it and found it as safe as boiling water bath canning but I found the instructions on calibration to be a little confusing. The VKP customer service person who responded to my email was very testy, so I abandoned the notion of steam canning for now).

I used the same marmalade recipe and canning instructions as I followed last year, but this time my marmalade has an unpleasant texture. Specifically, just the jelly part of the marmalade. (See pics) The marmalade tastes wonderful, the fruit rinds are soft and tender and the overall set is not too loose or rock hard, but the jelly portion has the texture of what I can only describe as "jello-jigglers." It’s not very spreadable. I didn’t add any commercial pectin to the recipe, just the pectin from the trimmed pith and seeds put in a muslin bag that I squeezed to get a little extra. However my lemons were pretty seedy, so maybe there was too much “natural” pectin? Or is this problem attributable to something else? More importantly, is it salvageable?

I read that if marmalade sets too firmly I can try to reheat it, add a bit of water to thin it, then reprocess but since I’m not sure exactly what the issue was, idk if that’s the correct solution.

I have a dial-gage presto pressure canner (I think 21q) with a 15 lb weight. Can I ignore the dial gage and just use my weight as an indicator? I’m between 5,000-6,000 ft elevation. Also have an old Sears one.

Hello! I canned plain tomato sauce this summer and I planned on adding the other ingredients for the sauce when I cook it. I didn’t want to worry about the ratios of the other ingredients for the acidity. I’m having a hard time finding a sauce recipe that doesn’t use store canned crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes. I just have plain old tomato sauce. Do I use one of these recipes and add something store bought to it like paste or something? Or just use them as they are with the sauce I have?

It says it can be used on glass top plus it’s under $100. Is this too good to be true? Even if I can’t use it on my glass top would it be worth buying for outside use?

Several months ago I made hibiscus syrup. In my head I was thinking it’s strawberry hibiscus syrup from Ball. However, I can’t find a Strawberry Hibiscus Syrup.

I remember putting the hibiscus in cheese cloth to allow it to steep. The Ball recipe now online doesn’t say this.

Am I going crazy?

Follow on to my original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Canning/comments/1hzrctn/comment/m6ymrpa/?context=3

After the feedback I got previously, I reprocessed the peas as follows:

• Opened all of the cans (including the ones that sealed) same day and put the soup in the fridge.
• Reboiled the soup for 30 minutes (per the recipe) and added more water in the process.
• Hot packed the clean jars with new lids and measured 1" headspace per the recipe.
• Processed exactly as per the recipe:
  • Vented the pressure canner for 10 minutes.
  • Waited to start the processing time until after the weighted gauge rattled for the first time.
  • Gauge rattled every 10-15 seconds throughout the entire 75 minute processing time.
  • Let the pressure canner cool naturally.
• Waited to open the pressure canner until two minutes after the pressure gauge read zero.

Three of the cans (on the left) sealed properly, but three (on the right) did not. I feel good about the canned goods and trust my process, but I'm flummoxed by the lack of seal on the other three. I'm guessing maybe one of the following happened:

• Maybe there wasn't enough headspace? I measured exactly...
• Maybe there were air bubbles I failed to clear out?
• Maybe some pea junk got under the seal as a result of siphoning?

At any rate, the unsealed cans went back in the fridge for dinner. They will also be reboiled prior to dinner tomorrow night as extra caution... that pea soup will be the most overcooked soup in America by the time it hits the dinner table.

https://preview.redd.it/1ei1ogw0bvce1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ea378d2f666d8bea980a72e32e7d895f1deaa87

Foraged PAWPAW preserves and waffles hot off the iron is a match made in heaven. The extra tropical flavor of the jam makes me want to add shredded coconut to the waffle batter!

Recipe:

1 cup pawpaw pulp

1/2 cup sugar

Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (enough to bring the overbearing sweetness down)

Ended up just storing these as fridge “preserves” but I water bathed one of them and after 5 months it was just as delicious as a fresh pawpaw that just fell off the tree.