I have a small fear of canning tomatoes. It comes from last year’s exploding midnight tomatoes. Recall how I called this experience a canning marathon! Hah! HAHAHA! Naive child, so young, so sheltered. Anyway - to make a short story longer, the tomatoes were the final leg of a canning spree, I was tired, it was midnight, and I was following the book. Suddenly, BAAM its midnight and there are tomates in the hood of my stove, on my wall and shattered glass and tomato gunk all over the inside of my canner. This is where I procured the fear of canning crushed tomatoes. Read the complete Post.
Today we realized the magnitude of our decision to order such a gargantuan amount of food. Food of this quantity needs jars, lids, screw bands, TIME, PATIENCE…and if you are going to can a crazy amount of food - like say 800 lbs, do yourself a favour and buy a propane tank, a large burner and the biggest pressure canner you can buy (ours actually fits 26 pints and 18 quarts).
I figured you all should have a leg up if you’ve made the same commitment we have. Here is a post of all the helpful canning tips and hints we could think of, so that you could breeze through your canning experience instead of barricading yourself in the kitchen and screaming at the top of your lungs while your husband and roommate cower in the corner. Read the complete Post.
Yesterday and today my mom and I canned peaches… millions of peaches! Actually, only about 60 lbs. We grossed about 33 quarts and two batches of jam from local BC Okanagen peaches and honey because organic has been too expensive to can. It took us a while to get a system down, but by this morning we were very efficient and tidy. Now that we have figured out the process, I can’t wait for beets and pears to ripen!!!
I’m lucky because my mom canned for quite a few years when I was younger, and my grandma was quite the homemaker as well. My mom has passed on dozens of quart and pint jars and all her canning tools to me, which makes getting into the game easy. Its interesting to see how the instruments have evolved through the generations by looking at some of my grandmas canning jars, with parafin wax sealing for preserves, rubber rings and glass lids to our rubber rimmed lids and rims that we use today.
This round we tried to seal the preserves with wax, but realized shortly after that it is no longer recomended due to the improper seal the wax tends to make. Obviously we did it wrong when we noticed the juice seaping out the top of the wax! Oh well, I guess we will just have to eat it!
We used a preserve recipe that called for honey instead of sugar, but unfortunately it didn’t set - we will continue our search for a local way to make jam!