What to can

[Alyse84]

So I’m a canning newbie. The only thing I’ve ever canned is strawberry jam using a recipe from a Ball canning book. The thing I hear over and over again is “Only use tried and true recipes from the canning books.” Now I understand it’s a safety issue, but none of those recipes interest me or my family. We are of Mexican and other mixed decent so our diet is very different from what I see in the canning books. My question is, can I can my own meals that we are used to eating or is that a big no-no? Please be kind in your response.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

I have found searching State Extension offices to find canning recipes results in more variety than either the USDA or Ball canning books.

Here is a link you can try as well https://nchfp.uga.edu which might offer some new recipes.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Just about anything is possible.

Do you have any specific food items or recipes you would like to can? Canning (mostly) complete meals is awesome.

We can a wide variety of things in our house

 

[wyoDreamer]

The biggest, most important piece of knowledge is to know what can be safely water bath canned and what needs to be pressure canned.

Only high-acid food with a pH of 4.6 or less can be processed using the boiling water bath method. This is because high-acid foods prevent the growth of spores of the bacterium.

Water bath canning is a great way to preserve low-acid food such as peaches, or berries, and make fruit, jams, and pickles.
Tomatoes are a special case. They can be safely water bath canned only if they are acidified by adding bottled lemon juice. If you add herbs, onions, peppers, etc. it is best to pressure can tomatoes.

Maybe try canning pickled peppers, onions, salsa's.

So you have a pressure canner or just a boiling water bath canner?

 

[flowerbug]

So I’m a canning newbie. The only thing I’ve ever canned is strawberry jam using a recipe from a Ball canning book. The thing I hear over and over again is “Only use tried and true recipes from the canning books.” Now I understand it’s a safety issue, but none of those recipes interest me or my family. We are of Mexican and other mixed decent so our diet is very different from what I see in the canning books. My question is, can I can my own meals that we are used to eating or is that a big no-no? Please be kind in your response.

meals or fillings for meals are likely to be low acid enough that you should probably look into learning how to pressure can them to be on the safe side, especially if they have any kinds of things that might have been in contact with the ground (potatoes, onions, ...). we don't do any of that here instead we freeze portions and that works well for us as then we don't need the equipment and space that it takes up (we don't have much space here).

the main thing with canning is to know if what you intend to can is acidic enough to be safely done using simple methods (Boiling Water Bath). that's why a lot of recipes are for pickles or things that are pickled or have enough acid in them already (fruits often have enough acid, but a few don't so extra needs to be added).

 

[Reneefolsom]

Look up Jackie clay canning cookbook ,( she started at a magazine call backwoods home) you can buy all her books threw there also. she has canning cookbook and cans EVERYTHING and tells in detail what to do. I'm not at home right now but if you cant find her online I'll add her info later for you

 

[tortoise]

Use tested recipes to start so you can learn what is safe and not. There are many unsafe canning recipes floating around.

Sometimes the solution is to adjust our expectations. We need to puree some foods after canning - such as pumpkin and beans. We need to add starches -such as most thickeners, or noodles for canned soup - when we reheat.

I have a pressure canner, so I like to can ground meat, beans, peppers, etc. What do you hope to can?

 

[Hinotori]

Extension web sites are super helpful. The one for a coastal county in my state had the best seafood canning instructions.

There are some rules for canning such as no thickeners like corn starch as it prevents efficient heat transfer to kill botulism. That density is also why pureed winter squash isn't supposed to be canned, but chunks allow heat throughout because of the water.

How acidic a food is is very important as someone else posted. I know some people who think that because something is hot from capsaicin that it's safe to waterbath. Botulism doesn't care about that.

 

[Alyse84]

The biggest, most important piece of knowledge is to know what can be safely water bath canned and what needs to be pressure canned.

Only high-acid food with a pH of 4.6 or less can be processed using the boiling water bath method. This is because high-acid foods prevent the growth of spores of the bacterium.

Water bath canning is a great way to preserve low-acid food such as peaches, or berries, and make fruit, jams, and pickles.
Tomatoes are a special case. They can be safely water bath canned only if they are acidified by adding bottled lemon juice. If you add herbs, onions, peppers, etc. it is best to pressure can tomatoes.

Maybe try canning pickled peppers, onions, salsa's.

So you have a pressure canner or just a boiling water bath canner?

I have a pressure canner which I haven’t used yet and a water bath canner.

 

[Alyse84]

Use tested recipes to start so you can learn what is safe and not. There are many unsafe canning recipes floating around.

Sometimes the solution is to adjust our expectations. We need to puree some foods after canning - such as pumpkin and beans. We need to add starches -such as most thickeners, or noodles for canned soup - when we reheat.

I have a pressure canner, so I like to can ground meat, beans, peppers, etc. What do you hope to can?

Well, I was hoping to pressure can Albondigas and Menudo if possible. I’ve seen beef stew pressure canned to I figured Albondigas would be similar because it has some of the same vegetables.