home canning

[boodles]

My grandma taught me how to can grape juice, by boiling the juice and as well as the Mason jars and lids, etc. We used to do it every summer.
 

Today I got the idea to try it with beans, cooked black beans. I boiled them and the glass canning jar and put them in and put the top on. It's been a few hours and the lid seems to be sealing. But I seem to be reading that it is not possible because the temperature is not high enough. Does anyone know for sure if that's the case and how do you can things with a pressure cooker?

 

Thanks!

[DLM]

You can can acid foods in the hot water bath but all non-acid foods such as most vegetables must be canned in a pressure cooker for about 10 minutes for vegetables and much longer for things such as meat and poultry. Insufficient heat will cause botulism and other food poisons. In the past, I have canned hundreds of jars of fruits and garden produce. All kinds of canning supplies can be ordered from Lehman's Country store in Kidron, Ohio. You really need to read up on canning before you do it.

[CHecker]

Do you have a pressure canner or just a water bath canner? 

 

Pressure canner has a pressure gauge on top.

 

Dorothy said it right, you need to know what you're doing or you could literally kill yourself, or at the least get veryyyyy sick. I have some answers for you if you haven't found the answer yet. I can almost everything. 

Edited April 24, 2015 by bagwell1987

[boodles]

Thanks sisters! I don't have anything as far as supplies except a few canning jars. I don't know if they are "Mason" jars, but the top has a seal. I had never heard anything about using a pressure cooker, I just assumed that boiling sterilized everything enough. So how do you use a pressure cooker? I have no idea and I'm a little afraid of them. I don't even have one! I will probably just stick to fruit and tomatoes for now, just to be safe. It really is interesting, though, that not all foods can the same.

 

I wish my grandmother were still alive so I could ask her!

[CHecker]

I would be happy to guide you. There are some things you can do with water bath but it's limited. There are ways to buy a pressure canner for an inexpensive price, should you choose to do it. But if you have questions and need guidance I can help. I've been at this for a long time now. 

[Áine]

I'm hoping to do this with my garden produce this year. .But I need to find supplies in Ireland !

[boodles]

I just watched a video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbNNitnMuww

 

and they seemed to can things in a water bath by putting the jar with the food inside it into the boiling water. I didn't know you could do that. Can you do that with the higher acidic things (I read over 4.6 ph on Wikipedia)?

 

When my grandma made grape juice she always boiled the juice separately and sterilized the jars and tops in water and then put the juice in the jars and put the tops on and that was it. She didn't put the filled jars in boiling water. It seems like the way she did it is not really the best way?

 

I'm not sure I can find things like pectin where I live, but I'm going to keep my eyes open. It's kind of exciting to think about preserving things, nobody does that here that I know of.

[CHecker]

Pectin is for jelly/jam. I've always water bathed with the food in the jars. 

[Old]

My grandma taught me how to can grape juice, by boiling the juice and as well as the Mason jars and lids, etc. We used to do it every summer.

 

Today I got the idea to try it with beans, cooked black beans. I boiled them and the glass canning jar and put them in and put the top on. It's been a few hours and the lid seems to be sealing. But I seem to be reading that it is not possible because the temperature is not high enough. Does anyone know for sure if that's the case and how do you can things with a pressure cooker?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Internet is a good place to start. 

 

 

http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started

[JSmith]

My grandma was an old farm wife and she used to can beef.  When I told my wife about it she almost gagged.  I guess for most people the idea of canned beef is disgusting, but it was one of the best things I ever ate.  When grandma died, the grandkids raided the cellar for jars of beef.  My sister got a couple jars and saved it for "special occassions".

Sorry, nothing to do with canning, just a fond memory.

[CHecker]

Jeromie, that's sweet. Nice to share fond memories.

 

I love my canned beef. I also do smoked and unsmoked chicken. Making Chicken enchiladas, chicken soup, chicken and rice...all so fast and easy.   

[boodles]

The page Jerry recommended says that a pressure cooker is different from a pressure canner. Is the difference that a pressure canner has a pressure gauge on it? Can you use either one?

[Old]

The page Jerry recommended says that a pressure cooker is different from a pressure canner. Is the difference that a pressure canner has a pressure gauge on it? Can you use either one?

In our house a pressure cooker is used for preparing meals, about 4 to 6 quart capacity.

A pressure canner is made for the purpose of canning using quart or smaller jars. Much bigger. 21 to 23 quarts capacity.

Either can have a pressure gauge though pressure cookers have mostly (Probably totally) gone  to a valve consisting of a weight which eliminates the need to closely monitor the pressure. . 

Edited April 28, 2015 by Old

[CHecker]

I've used canner/cooker interchangeably, but Jerry's probably right in the correct word definition. 

I have 2 canners with the gauge, never got around to learning the weighted gauge type.

 

Pressure cooker- -  http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Generation/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1430181549&sr=1-1&keywords=pressure+cooker

 

Pressure canner- - http://www.amazon.com/Presto-01781-23-Quart-Pressure-Canner/dp/B0000BYCFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1430181514&sr=1-1&keywords=pressure+canner

 

Being a visual person myself, it helps to see what Jerry was describing. Both cook under pressure but for different purposes. The canner is the dial gauge one I have and process 14 Qts. at a time and is aluminum- do not cook food in this one.

The cooker is the one for cooking meals fast or cooking tough things like round steak or gizzards (yeowzzza, yum!) and has a food safe coating for contact with the food itself.  

 

Please look up articles on the different ways to 'can' food on youtube.com because it'll give you tutorials that are amazing. Or to cook food in a pressure cooker, I did and it's wonderful.

 

This is my passion and I tried to not get too wordy, 

[boodles]

Thank you both, that was very helpful. I don't mind if you get wordy, I'm a slow learner. I have been watching some videos and reading some pages, but I always have lots of questions. I'm going to keep trying doing that, as I have been with soap making, too. Both would be useful skills to have, especially here where no one does these things.