Pressure canning book

[chicken stalker]

just heat them through...so meat/veggies won't be cooked through but canning them for an hour should finish the job right.

Heating them through.....how do you know they are heated through? Boil for x amount of time?

 

[freemotion]

I don't worry about it that much, I just heat the pot until it is hot or maybe a light simmer. Since you have to vent the canner at full steam for ten minutes, and this won't happen until the contents are hot, I mainly do this to save time with the actual canning. You can also raw pack or cold pack....it just takes a lot longer to heat up that huge, full canner with the cold methods.

There's not much that won't be thoroughly cooked after 90 minutes in a pressure canner! The bigger problem is having things cook to mush. So I generally don't pressure can veggies, as I can't stand mushy veggies. I do tomato stuff like spaghetti and pizza sauce and chili, and soups and stews with sturdier veggies like rutabaga, turnip, carrots, parsnips, and sturdy greens like collards and kale. I leave out the higher carb veggies and grains, as we eat a version of low carb here. If I want a grain product with my soup, I'd rather have it on the side in the form of a well-buttered biscuit or buckwheat pancake or a piece of toast or a sandwich.

OK, now I'm hungry!

 

[chicken stalker]

ok so I've got a bunch of collards here that someone gave me yesterday and thats what I want to practice on. So I should blanch them a little so they can fit into the jar add, salt (does it need to be pickling salt?), and a hunk of ham.

unless you have a better recipes for them

 

[freemotion]

I've never canned any veggies by themselves, just in a recipe, so I can't really help you. I guess I'd cook them down a bit first, otherwise you will have quart jars with a cup of greens floating in them! And collards do cook down a LOT. I just cut them up small and add them to stews and soups for canning.

 

[freemotion]

Check out this site for recipes and instructional videos. I adapted their pate' instructions for my catfood. http://www.canningusa.com/TableofContentsGeneralBook5.htm

 

[Denim Deb]

And, that's been my problem w/not canning. I never know how long to put stuff in the canner, nor do I know whether or not I need to cook it some first, or what. I don't want to make split pea soup for instance, and either have it turn to mush, or have hard peas.

 

[chicken stalker]

And, that's been my problem w/not canning. I never know how long to put stuff in the canner, nor do I know whether or not I need to cook it some first, or what. I don't want to make split pea soup for instance, and either have it turn to mush, or have hard peas.

I'm glad I'm not the only one

 

[freemotion]

Ask here about specific recipes. There are enough of us who pressure can that SOMEBODY will have made it! Once you've learned the principles, you will be able to easily convert recipes. I was an expert within a year, and you will be, too. Really. Would I lie to you?