pressure canning for dummies um, I mean noobies question(s)

[big brown horse]

I AM a pressure canner!


9 pints of green beans under my belt. (I was sweating bullets the whole 20 minutes.)

Thank you all...I'm going to have a martini now.

 

[freemotion]

Woohoo!!! You deserve a martini!!!! You go, girl!

 

[big brown horse]

That was the longest 20 minutes in my life!

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt zucchini, potatoes AND tomatoes!

Ok, do most of you hot pack or cold pack your veggies? (I hot packed my green beans.)

Also, do I have to reheat all pressure canned foods before I eat them? If so, how long? My booklet is a bit vague.

Last question for now, if different foods are processed at the same psi and time, can they be done together? (In separate jars I mean.)


If all goes well, next week I'm moving on to broths and meats.

 

[freemotion]

I use both methods, but I don't pressure can veggies. I find them to be too mushy for my taste, so I freeze them.

Re-heating: most instructions say to boil for 20 minutes! Talk about mush! And try not to burn the spaghetti sauce or chili! I will open a jar of meatloaf and make a sandwich with it right out of the jar. Call me a rebel.

And yes, you can put different foods in that are processed at the same time and pressure. I will often throw jars of broth into a canner load to fill it, since I am usually canning things that need more time than broth does and you can't really overcook it if it is already broth, right?

 

[big brown horse]

Thanks!

My fridge died a few weeks ago and I lost all my $$$ locally grown veggies and fruit that I painstakenly washed, cut up and put up. This is what prompted me to buy this silly thing.

So meat, sauces and broth is all you do? (Beside kitty food. lol)

 

[freemotion]

Aaarrrgh! So sorry! Yes, for this reason I put stuff up in a variety of ways....besides the nutritional reasons. I mostly can meat and soups/chili/stews etc. only because I really hate mushy veggies. I do my stews and such with veggies that hold up to pressure canning like rutabagas, collards, and carrots. I do tomato-based things like spaghetti sauce, chili, and pizza sauce because mushy is ok with those! I do beans, too, as they are easy and cheap and dh loves 'em....and black bean cake takes one pint jar!

I also worry that if my freezer fails, I will lose ALL my meat, so I can a lot.

Any recipe that does well in a crock pot all day will do well with pressure canning. Almost any recipe. With some adjustments. Like, you don't want to put bay leaves in a jar as it would be too much, so I make a strong tea with bay leaves and add that to stuff that I normally use bay leaves in. Onions get really mushy so I mince them instead of using chunks or small whole onions. Peppers, too, total mush.

I'd rather root cellar my veggies when possible, or freeze them.

 

[Kim_NC]

Congrats on your first pressure canning experience! I cannot imagne life without canning.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

You go girl!

 

[big brown horse]

Thanks!!

Potatoes = check!!

I decided that I can only do one batch of food a day, it is a ton of work!!

 

[pioneergirl]

Good job!!!

You can do more than one thing a day, especially if some needs to cook a bit before hand. I had relish in brine while I processed dill spears today. While those were on their last bit I was working peaches for the jam.

You'll get the hang of it and be putting us all to shame before its all said and done!!