SUE ANN'S CANNING VEGETABLES

    CANNING VEGETABLES

This is a basic primer on pressure canning vegetables.They must be pressured canned. There are a few exceptions..tomatoes, if they are canned as catsup, jam, pickled. soup. and no skins on. If you like the skins on, for stewed tomatoes, then you have to pressure can them because of the skin..if you take the skins off, they are hot water bath. Beets is another one...regular old beets, pressure can,-pickled, hot water bath...the vinegar and sugar plays a big part in preserving. Pressure canning does not use those two ingredients. all cucumbers are hot water bath, basically no one cans a cuke....be pretty mushy and yucky tasting..so they are pickled in all sorts of ways. You can mix most vegetables...for pickling..and hot water bath..I will include some next week-key word is MOST.

So...alphabetically...(what I generally can when I have them)

 ASPARAGUS:  wash, trim off scale(little side bumps), cover with boiling water, cook 2 mins on stove, pack hot (hot pack means hot food, hot water, raw pack means room temp food, not cooked, and hot water). pack, cover to 1/2" with boiling water..seal, pressure can-half pints and pints-25 mins, qts.-30 mins, 10 lbs. pressure.

BEANS:( Limas)  can be hot or raw packed- Shell, bring to a boil, pack in jars, cover to 1 " in pts, 1 !/2 " in qts.,add salt to taste, usually a tsp.CANNING salt...never iodized in ANY canning project. Raw pack, pack beans in jar, cover with boiling water..(most hot and raw packs are all the same, so I will not keep repeating it, unless there is something different) half pts., and pts.,40 mins, qts., 50 mins, 10 lbs. pressure.

BEANS: ( string or wax) wash, string, boil 5 mins, or raw pack. 1/2" head space, half pts., and pts., 20 mins, qts., 25 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

BEETS: wash, leave 1" of the stem, cook til just soft, slip skins off,cut in 1/2 " pcs., pack in jars, cover with hot water,leave 1/2" head space, add salt, half pts., pts., 30 mins.,qts., 35 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

CARROTS: wash, scrape, cut into desired size,boil 5 mins, pack, 1/2" head space, raw pack, leave 1 " head space add salt, half pts., pts.,25 mins, qts., 30 mins.,10 lbs. pressure.

CORN: ( whole kernel), cut kernels from cob,for each qt. of corn, add 1 pt. boiling water, & 1 tsp. salt, boil 1 min, pack loosely (corn has been known to explode if packed tight!), cover with water, leave 1 " head space, or raw pack. Add salt ( I know you just cooked it with salt!!! it will not taste salty!). Pressure can, half pts., pts.,55 mins., qts., 85 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

You can can greens, and mushrooms, but it takes an awful lot of greens and mushrooms to fill one jar, let alone a dozen! So, I suggest freezing, as most people now a  days have small supply of these foods. If you really want to know..I can tell you, just ask.

OKRA: wash and trim, cut into 1" lengths, Cook 1 min, pack hot- no raw pack here. Add salt.  Half pts., pts., 25 mins, qts., 40 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

PEAS: ( blackeye, cowpea, blackeye beans), shell and wash, bring to a boil, drain, Pack loosely, and cover with hot water, or raw pack loosely, leave 1 1/2" head space, add salt, half pts., pts., 35 mins., qts., 40 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

PEAS: ( green) My experience with pressure canning peas is they turn a little tan color..I just freeze mine anymore...so much easier, if you really want to know, I can tell you...just ask.

POTATOES: wash, pare, cut into 1/2 " cubes, can use whole ones if no bigger than 2 1/2 ", boil cubes 2 mins, whole ones, 10 mins, drain. Pack and cover  with 1/2 " head space, add salt- no raw pack here. Half pts., pts., 35 mins., qts., 40 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

PUMPKIN or HUBBARD SQUASH: peel, cut into 1 " cubes, cook til tender, strain(this is your pumpkin pie meat- or use for soups, breads, etc...), pack while hot, leave 1/2" head space- no water needed, no salt either. Half pts., pts., 65 mins., qts., 80 mins., 10 lbs. pressure.

  Now..I make my pumpkin meat, and then I freeze it.... sometimes the canning time...is not worth the value of the food...when you start adding up electric, water, etc....freezing is a much better choice. They do can really well tho.....sooo much better than store bought! Either way you preserve it....

SAUERKRAUT: ! you all are pros by now! So  here is the canning times: half pts., pts., 10 mins., qts., 15 mins., 5 lbs. pressure. YES...5 lbs. pressure!

 You can also HOT WATER BATH-, 15 mins, small jars, 20 mins., qts.

Summer Squash and Sweet Potatoes are again, the time for canning is long...by the time you prepare it..might as well freeze it...if you have a cool , dark, area, not damp, you can store them too...for a while ....

TOMATOES:  FRUIT!!!! LOL!!!

  You can pressure can them, but I do not like the way they turn out..sort of a lesser color red, a bit grainy..so I HOT WATER BATH them. Scald the skins off......cook til boiling, pack, in their own juice, add hot water when you run out of juice, add salt,  half pts., pts., 40 mins, qts., 35 mins., this is the same time if you make tomato juice, with all your spices added, and if you make soup...same timing. Now..if you use tomatoes in combination with meat or poultry, for a stew..then it HAS to be pressure canned..and I will cover that soon, under...how to can poultry!

 

Now, I will tell you this, with a pressure canner or hot water bath, if you have only one canning...( 7 jars), it is worth doing. But they have to be full jars...never can a half filled jar..too much air space left...air creates bacteria build up. I look at my foods, by what I harvest, or find at the market or the Farmers' Market.....if I can a few pounds of something..then I freeze. A bushel of anything is the idea canning - but that does not always happen....some things are easier..potatoes, green beans- they can grow like gang busters....even if you get a lot of pumpkins..in the garden or real cheap from a market..they actually store really well thru winter..I had 2 huge ones last year - cut them from the vine in late Sept., used them for decoration on the porch all thru Fall...then kept them in a dark cool corner....it was Feb before I cut into the first one! They do keep well, as does acorn squash....different ways of preserving depend on the type space you have for storing- in jars, apples wrapped in paper, a few squashes laying around.....so always be looking at your food..by what you have, what you want to make, what is your storage space like...this is no different than the approach you take when at the grocery store...how much space do you have, etc....it is only different, because it is YOUR food at home! Which is pretty neat.

Canning vegetables is pretty straight forward..not a real exciting thing!! hahaha!!!  You can get fancy, when it comes to jams, jellies, pickles.

I almost forgot! ZUCCHINI !  I never liked how it canned- it has to be pressure canned....made some lousy eating! So...when I have done enough zucchini pickles..I shred it with a regular grater....onto waxed paper...the amount I think I will need for a loaf of bread, a casserole,  a pan of muffins, and I wrap it up in the waxed paper, wrap again in plastic wrap, then stick it in a plastic bag, squeeze the air out...label it and freeze it.....when I want a cake or a loaf of bread, I  un-wrap it down to the waxed paper and set it out to thaw....drain it in a colander...and use it ! It is still crunchy to use even in omelets, or frittatas. Less of a headache than canning it.

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