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The Canning Do's and Dont's Thread

Started by mike_belben, August 16, 2021, 11:09:59 AM

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SwampDonkey

I think the seal/ring shortage is just local hoarders and online seller 'wanna-bes'. There's all kinds here locally and online to. A lot of the time, it is just cheaper to buy a flat of jars with the seals and rings already there. :D There are opportunists buying up stuff to sell online all the time. That is why you see $50 for a box of lids online. Those people need rounded up and made to jump over the side or :rifle:
:D :D

With lots of salt and high vinegar content some old recipes was never water bathed and the brine was not poured boiling hot either. Cool enough to handle the pot, not cold. You sterilized jars and lids. Was no such device as a fridge. :D

At old Dick Wallace's, there was a huge oak barrel by the door with salt pickled cukes all the time. Reach in, grab one. Never froze in winter. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Chuck White

I went to get a dozen jars a couple days ago, no problem!

In fact the shelves were loaded with cases of jars with rings and seals, also cases of rings and seals, and cases of seals!

I don't understand why some areas just CAN'T get them!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

21incher

We have checked several stores and all sold out. I would even be willing to settle for the Ball brand if that's all I could find. I have seen many jars with lids though.
I think they are keeping them in a storage area for another month and then will start moving them with a 20% price rise blamed on inflation :P. 
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

SwampDonkey

Bernstein up in ND said as soon as his local store brings a bunch in the hoarders swoop them up. His idea after that is they sell online, and he is probably right. If you google them you will see who these people are with their pricing.

He cans a lot, what isn't fresh is coming out of his canned supply.

He's been 'building' a root cellar for 7 years. :D Right from the get go, I know his idea of making it as a box in a hole with no entry or drain in clay ground isn't going to work unless you want raw soup. :D They had root cellars here, and potato sheds the same thing, they was never built that way. You gotta go into a bank or have a berm. An entry and drain away from the berm. He never asked me. Well, you won't tell'm noth'n because he's not interested in comments, turns them off. He's got all the answers. That's why he had to bury spuds and carrots in the ground (sand) last winter, no root cellar. Says it all. Hmm, sand on top of clay, water seepage between the two layers and then if you bottom on bedrock, water in from the bottom to. Just the water between layers is enough to kill to hole in the ground idea. :D

A couple in Alaska built one the same way as Bernstein, became a swimming pool. You can't trap water and expect it to work.  :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Chuck White

RE: Reply #26 above
The store I found a good supply at is an ACE HARDWARE store!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Don P

County fair judges do a sort of mutual aid in places where it is difficult to get enough trained people. Our fair was about a week and a half ago. Today we spent the morning working on the garden at the elementary school then Michelle went over to the neighboring county fair to judge canned goods. When she got back this evening she was a little bummed. Two jars pretty much exploded when they handled them, bad stuff cooking. One of those when they removed the band kept spewing like a volcano. About 10 were not sealed. In all they disqualified almost half the entries, the rest of the disqualifications were mostly incorrect headspace, not minorly off, grossly insufficient or too much. They remove the bands to check headspace, some were glued stuck by overflow from insufficient space, compromises the seal. Some rusted lids and bands either reuse, bubbling over or lack of wiping, just some basically bad stuff.

I mentioned that it sounds like they need some extension education. She said that came up and extension was there and agreed. I'm guessing there were probably more new canners this year.

21incher

Well my Amish store finally got a shipment lids and this morning I stocked up. They usually sell them by bags of 50 or 100 buy today put them in dozen packs to try and make them last longer. Local peaches are in and it was perfect timing. 8) 8)
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

SwampDonkey

Another brand up here in Bernardin. Never had any troubles. In fact that is all we use I believe. They also have a book "Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving", author Judi Kingry.  448 pgs, pub. 2020
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

brewdog

need help/icanyellowstring beens ,no problem but would like to dosome green pole beans,they are good and tender when cooked the same as yellow ones /but would like to can them also.

21incher

I am sure you can just some beans stay firmer then others when canned so look up the variety you plant to see if anyone has had success canning them. They need pressure canning because  they are low acid.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

kantuckid

Here's a dont: 
Like many lately we ran out of canning lids and everyone was sold out-sort of like the covid TP thing. FB marketplace is full of people who buy them up them try to rip people off. A local DG mgr told me she hid them in the back so they couldn't be bought up in bulk by those type people. 

The don't is-> to not buy the boxes of a 100 lids on Amazon!!!

 They are cheap enough but are not any good as they don't seal well. We have no issues with name brands or even the Dollar General versions but returned the Amazon Chinese crappy ones. Too much work canning to have failed seals. 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

jimbarry

I just tried bottling this year. How am I doing?



 

 

mike_belben

ive taught myself a handy new trick.. its not canning but it is short term food preservation.  the flood of cherry tomatoes never gets used fast enough to stay in good shape.  the fruit flies show up and next thing ya know im composting something i slaved to grow.  not good. 

put maters in the jars.  fill all 2/3 with clean water.  dump the water into a bowl or whatever.  now eyeball add vinegar to that in order to get about a 3:1 water/vinegar ratio.  add a mess of salt and fill the jars.  store in the fridge.  bust the tomato a bit if you want a tangy pickled flavor throughout.  its easy, theres no heating involved and it gives you that extra week to use them.  nice on a salad or with eggs, etc. 
Praise The Lord

kantuckid

We often freeze excess tomatoes in bags for cooking.
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

21incher

We dehydrate a lot of tomatoes and they keep for over a year when vacuum packed. You could build a simple solar dehydrator that will preserve most veggies.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

kantuckid

I have a homemade drier built as a plywood box using lightbulbs for heat-works great for apples, etc. but not tomatoes. Solar dried tomatoes in E KY is gonna be a back and forth affair for certain. dew every night, rain all the time lately, I'll pass on that and we are food oriented folks at that. I pick up nuts, buy pecans, grow lots of things, so on. 
 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

Don P

A load of apples came out of ours this morning. It's one of the Cabella's dryers with some nice bells, it heats to whatever you punch in, has a small fan and a timer. 

kantuckid

Mine is a plywood box with 4 lightbulbs in the base area. Has like 8 shelves with wooden frames covered with screenwire. I made it maybe 45 years ago and works great, but you have to rotate the shelves once a days as it's hotter down near the bulbs. The squirrels enjoy our fruit to the extent that we get zero apples or pears from many trees. For a bit I tired shooting them but they multiply as I kill one off-it's like a war up here! When our boys were at home we had very few chipmunks but now they basically own the place. In alternate years the copperheads multiply then the chipmunks are back. My wifes been making dried apple pies for her 91 year old uncle when shes near his place and I've been buying dried apples from a neighbor in her mid 80's who sells them at farmers mkt to help her out. I have many heirloom apple trees and nary an apple. The orchard's like a jungle gym or monkey island for squirrels. 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

21incher

I use the 12 tray Cabellas one but wish I had spent a little more for the Excalibur after using it a while. We like to wait for the late season apples that have the best flavor and texture before we start drying them. Here's an old video I made and we now do not coat them with anything for best flavor and leave the skin on  Dehydrating Fuji Apples. First Use Of The Cabelas 80 Liter Dehydrator - YouTube
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Don P

I just fired up another load of apples in ours, its the same dryer as above. Its on 145 for an hour then  I'll reset to 135 for 10 and that should do it. I crushed up 3 vitamin C tablets in a gallon of water and did peel them, then floated them in that for 5 minutes, don't know if it does much. Our skins are pretty "organic" so I peel them.

mike_belben

So..  DONT promote clostridium botulinin toxin in your canned foods.  The bacteria is present everywhere, is anaerobic, and is said to be exploding in population due to glyphosate popularity creating ideal microbial environments for it. 


 It takes 10 minutes at boiling to kill the spores but it cannot grow in PHs more acidic than 4.6ish so do use vinger cleaning solutions and brines.  Pickles arent nearly as risky as green beans due to PH. Sugar solutions also prevent it from growing with the exception of honey given to infants, their gut is not acidic enough yet and they can grow the toxin in their stomachs.. It gets missed often and attributed to SIDS

Dont trust a bulging lid
Praise The Lord

21incher

Mike  one big thing to remember  for things like green beans is to adjust your  canner pressure for the proper setting for your elevation and item being processed.  Mine uses a simple weight system but there are several  different  methods manufacturers use. That ensures the correct internal jar temp is met to kill most bacteria.  A little  vinegar or citric acid can add extra  protection on the PH side. I have been checking PH of items  like tomatoes lately because  that is a big variable with newer varieties. 
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

mike_belben

for now ive just got a turkey fryer water bath. 
Praise The Lord

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