Busy weekend...

[Dark Cloud]

First off, I have 13 wk old twins and my wife works every other weekend... Trying to maximize and multitask though...

Made a batch of salsa yesterday in between feedings, diaper changes, and naps...

Also smoked a salmon fillet and a Sausage Meatloaf Fatty...

Today will be canned corn and maybe pickled greenbeans...

Also got in a batch of hot peppers the other day.

and a few jars of pickled green maters

[eyeguy 54]

mmm!

[reinhard1]

job well done!!!!!we are taking care of 4 grandkids [youngest 2 month's] and 3 labs [youngest 1 year]. dont know what's it's like to be an empty nester . plus a 86 year old mother-in law. all ages covered. i'll have to buy a canner. good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

RH1 I have 2 canners and if you ever want to borrow one for a short time let me know.

[Walleyehooker]

DC Did you use a hot water bath or a canner on those? A hot water bath kettle is cheap at WMart.

[Dark Cloud]

We hot water bath most things...

Corn we do in the pressure canner. We tried water bathing it but had them spoil. I forget the reason right now(maybe the sugar?) but pressure canning was the answer.

Peeling garlic for the beans now...

[delcecchi]

Only can acid stuff like pickles and tomatoes in a water bath. Lucky for you the corn spoiled, since Botulism isn't obvious until it makes you sick or dead.

You might want to check out

U of M Extension Food Preserving

don't rely on folklore or the way Granny did it.

[Dark Cloud]

We have a book or two that we follow that are great...

The corn misshap was many years ago...

[reinhard1]

thanks for the offer but once i get into something i like to keep going. maby i'm better off with a pressure cooker so it covers all bases? good luck.

[delcecchi]

I used a pressure cooker for everything canning. For tomatoes it is much faster than 60 minutes in boiling water. And you don't have to lift that great big kettle full of hot water, since you don't need to fill the pressure canner all the way.

You can even can fish and venison with one.

[Dark Cloud]

Water bath canners run from about 20$ to 120$... and you can do ALOT with them. I did a quick search on-line and found a pile of them for around 30 bucks...

Basically any pot will work for bathing jars. The rack that holds 7 pints or quarts is whats important for ease of use...

I highly recomend a pressure cooker/canner also.

Two similar but quite differnt tools...

[leech~~]

Yuuum! You the Man, and the dad!

[eyeguy 54]

canner for me cuz I can also do euro mounts in it. lol

[Big Dave2]

Only can acid stuff like pickles and tomatoes in a water bath. Lucky for you the corn spoiled, since Botulism isn't obvious until it makes you sick or dead.

You might want to check out

U of M Extension Food Preserving

don't rely on folklore or the way Granny did it.

Great link, thanks!

[harvey lee]

With many of today's tomatoes being a low acid variety, I believe my wife adds lemon juice also to some of the maters like the colored ones as the acidity of those is very low. If using a pressure cooker, then no need to worry about the lemon juice.

Most canning books will explain this also.

[Dark Cloud]

Spicy Garlic Dilly Romano Beans...

Didnt get to the corn yet...

[LABS4ME]

I have both... the pressure canner gets used more, but I do my tomatoes in the old fashioned canner.

Found out even things like beans and zucchini can get botulism with a typical hot water canner. need more acid. I do add about a tsp of fresh lemon juice to all that I can in the hot water bath just to up the acid a ltl.

Good Luck!

Ken

[delcecchi]

If you are adding acid, a tip I got from the link posted was to use powdered citric acid (sour salt) which doesn't affect the taste as much as lemon or vinegar.

One problem with lemon is you don't know how acidic it is and it can vary from lemon to lemon.

[Big Dave2]

So, for a novice canner who has not done very much of it before, would it be best just to get a pressure canner right away?

[Walleyehooker]

Depends on what you want to can. Click on the U of M link above and check things out. You can do a lot of things with a hot water bath kettle and they are cheap. Other things you would need a pressure cooker.

[delcecchi]

I would get the pressure canner. You don't have to use the pressure feature all the time if you don't want to. Some are big enough you can use them as a water bath too, if for some reason you want to.

Boiling a kettle of water for an hour in August is the last thing I would want to do.

[Dark Cloud]

So, for a novice canner who has not done very much of it before, would it be best just to get a pressure canner right away?

Personally, I would start with a water bather. They can be found for 20$.

This will handle most things.

If you want to get into things like canning venison, corn, tomatoes quickly - then a pressure canner is nice.

Still cant figure out how tomatoes take 60-90 minutes in a bather? But thats whast recomended. We make 30-40 quarts of finished sauce each year and that only neesd 20mn.

tip: use the side burner on your outdoor grill or a camping type cooker unless you want to heat your house...

[LABS4ME]

The pressure canner is not just for speed... it is also for security. I myself would ever can vension in a water bath. The guy who got me on it does, but after reading, I m not willing to play russian roulette. Especially with my kids.

I use the water bath for tomates and some fruit and jellies and sauces... The pressure canner gets everything else. It raises the boiling point to I believe close to 250 degress thus insuring totally destruction of all botulism organisms. You cannot smell or taste botulism... but it can kill you if you don't kill it! My buddy's dad says whatever... he's been doing it this way for 20 years and it hasn't killed him yet. My buddy after I had him read up on it is getting a pressure canner.

Good Luck!

Ken

[delcecchi]

Venison in a water bath? Is his insurance paid up?

Actually the toxin can be destroyed by heating or boiling after the container is opened.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/botulism/clinicians/control.asp

"Despite its extreme potency, botulinum toxin is easily destroyed. Heating to an internal temperature of 85°C for at least 5 minutes will decontaminate affected food or drink. "

So just don't eat out of the jar.