What's in your canning/jarring pantry?

[IrishLass]

A recent post by gloopygloop in another part of the forum about it being her marmalade-making day perked my ears up and got me thinking of starting a canning thread. Does anybody else here can, or 'jar', as they call it in some other countries?

In the past I've only ever canned jams, jellies and marmalades, but I've recently added sweet pickle relish to my repertoire (using my first ever homegrown cucumbers!!), and also chicken meat, and pasta sauce with meat thanks to the pressure canner my hubby bought for 10 years ago or so (an All-American 921)..... but was way too afraid to use until last month, can you believe it? I could just kick myself for having let my fear get the best of me for so long and prevent me from discovering what an absolute treasure I have in my possession! I feel like such a silly ninny over it because there's nothing to be scared of, what with all its built-in safety features, etc.. The thing just looks and sounds scary/beastly, is all.

Earlier this week, we tried out a jar of my first ever canned pasta w/meat sauce that I pressure canned at the beginning of December (served it over cheese pierogies that we made for Christmas), and it was delicious!

For Christmas, hubby bought me The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving and I'm very excited to try out several of the recipes, especially the Spicy Apple-Jalepeno Jelly (to serve with crackers and cream cheese), and the Orange-Banana Jam that includes vanilla and is sweetened with honey. There are so many interesting and yummy sounding recipes in this book compared to those in the Ball canning manual I keep on hand, and I'm so glad to see that the recipes in the book are for small batches, because I just don't have the space to store a gazillion jars of food! I need room for my soap, too, afterall!

The Pomona Pectin canning/recipe book and the Food In Jars Small-Batch Canning book will soon be on the way to me as well.

I've also been trying out different brands of jars and lids (other than the usual Ball or Kerr brands offered in the US). I don't know if y'all have either used or heard of Weck jars, but I am in total love with them! They are made in Germany and cost more than Ball/Kerr, but they have an official division here in the US now where you can buy them for more reasonable prices than you can get them for on Amazon. I like them because the lids are made of glass instead of metal, and they work very well in my water bath canner and also my pressure canner.

I love the Orchard Road jars as well. They feel so much more sturdier/heftier than the Ball/Kerr jars.

I've also been trying out the reusable Tattler lids. It's been a bit of a hit or miss trial with them for me, but I think I have it figured out now (I've been practicing on them by canning just tap water). It's all in how tight you screw them down- I found there to be a bit of a narrow 'sweet spot' with them. To help me get the right tension down, I bought the Ball jar tightener tool to see if it would help, and it's been working out well for me so far.

This week I'll be making what I call my freezer orange 'jamalade'. It's basically orange jam with a very small amount of candied orange peel in it. Or I guess you could call it 'orange marmalade for wimps' (i.e., those who don't like a whole lot of peel).

What's in your canning pantry?


IrishLass

 

[cmzaha]

I spent 10 yrs or so using my All American Pressure canner to process fresh albacore, tuna and yellowtail. Sure miss those days... They are fantastic canners and I cannot believe you waited so long to use yours. I do not have much time for canning anymore but I have used mine to can lemon curd, salsa, spagetti sauce, and various sauces. Jams and jellies I just use my waterbath canner

 

[Steve85569]

Just a water bath canner for the jams, jellies and apple sauce for me.
My family hasn't pressure canned in almost 60 years. Long story. Some other time maybe...

 

[Relle]

Many years ago I use to make pickled onions this time of year for my father. As he passed away a long time ago, I haven't bothered. We don't call it canning or jarring here, it's usually called preserving, that covers most things - pickling, jams, etc

A few months ago I came upon an Aussie book at the library on pickling. I have since bought that book and a second one that was recently published dh gave to me for Christmas.

So far I've made zucchini pickles and a green tomato one. I don't know what they taste like yet as it's only been about 3 wks and I'll leave them a while longer yet. It's taking me a while to gather the spices I need as I keep remembering a different one I need every time I go shopping.

This morning I went foraging for fennel flowers, I didn't find any near home, mind you, when I was out the other day I couldn't stop, because they were all on busy roads and there was nowhere to park.

I'm going to make some carrot jam, only because it's so easy and looks luscious and have many others I want to try. The hard part is finding enough jars without buying any.

Irishlass, I too, have my first ever home grown cucumbers , but not enough yet to pickle. It's been so hot here that all the vegs are suffering, today is going to be 45 degrees.

Looking forward to hearing how your orange jam goes. Not sure what I'll make this week, depends on the weather, its too hot to do much.

So what do you class as jellies ?

 

[jewels621]

I have chicken, bone broth from our chickens and cows, apple and peach pie filling, jellies and jams, mandarin oranges, beans, salsa, ketchup, and tomato sauce.

I love all forms of food preservation. I use basic Ball and Kerr jars. I have a bunch of Weck jars but have never canned in them.

I use Tattler lids that are modified with air locks on the top for fermenting - mostly sauerkraut (I'm known around here for my garlic dill sauerkraut), kimchi, and pickles....but I've been known to ferment other veggies as they become available.

I also have just begun foraging......we have ramps, morels, wild ginger, and wild grapes where we live. One of my daughter-in-laws got me a Midwest Foraging book for Christmas so I can't wait for spring so I can look for other things that I haven't identified yet. There's such a lost art to raising and gathering our own food.

There's nothing that thrills me more than when everything on our dinner plates is out of our own yard!

I've had both water bath and pressure canners for years and years. I'm bound and determined to pass on the knowledge of food preservation. I got all three of my daughter-in-laws pressure canner/cookers for Christmas this year. I had all boys, so I love finally having girls that are interested in this stuff.

I'm so excited for you, IrishLass! Keep us posted on what you're canning!

ETA: The wire bins with the burlap flap hold potatoes and onions from last summers garden.

ETA: I forgot to mention pickled beets! My husbands best friend, who grows all of the alfalfa hay for our cows, also grows rye. I trade him pickled beets for rye to grind into flour for bread. I average about 40 pints a year for him, and have a dedicated "beet bed" just for his beets! His whole family of adult children also love them, and when h S getting a low jar count he ke ps them in his safe so his kids won't steal them!

 

[Kittish]

I've only ever done a tiny bit of canning, currently I'm really crunched for space, so don't have room for either the equipment or the products.

Several years back I made a batch of lemon marmalade that turned out mostly really well. A few of the jars didn't set up (and that puzzles me, it was all out of the same batch and in the same sort of jars and all the jars sealed well), so I had lemon marmalade that was just fantastic, and a few jars of essentially lemon syrup that worked really well over ice cream and cakes.

Every now and then I'll make a tiny little batch of some fruit jam or syrup, usually no more than 2 or 3 jars and use my big stockpot for a water bath.

 

[dibbles]

I used to can tomatoes, raspberry and strawberry jam, relish, salsa and 'hot vegetables' which were pickled carrots, celery, cauliflower and jalapenos. Then DH decided to use my water bath canner as a wax pot to dip the ducks and geese he hunted, which helps to remove the pin feathers. I never replaced it and only now freeze stewed tomatoes, make refrigerator pickles and freezer jam. We also freeze our garden buttercup squash. Can't say I miss it much, although I've been thinking about an instant pot so I could do a few jars of jam each summer. Maybe when the rice cooker gives out.

 

[SaltedFig]

I don't know if y'all have either used or heard of Weck jars, but I am in total love with them! They are made in Germany and cost more than Ball/Kerr, but they have an official division here in the US now where you can buy them for more reasonable prices than you can get them for on Amazon. I like them because the lids are made of glass instead of metal, and they work very well in my water bath canner and also my pressure canner.

The Weck jars are so beautiful to look at. We have them available in Australia, and if I ever buy any more jars, it'll be those.

This morning I went foraging for fennel flowers, I didn't find any near home, mind you, when I was out the other day I couldn't stop, because they were all on busy roads and there was nowhere to park:sad:

Relle,

I could post you a bunch of seeds, if you want (I reckon I could get at least half a cup of seeds to you in a letter post envelope ). They're heirloom Florence Fennel, organic for 7+ seed generations. If you want some of the green seeds, I can send you some of those too (they are soft and sweet and really nice to eat fresh).

 

[BattleGnome]

I really want to learn how to can it I don’t have anything to preserve. I have dreams of a pretty garden but don’t have the time to even clear out the backyard. We have wild blueberries in the back, if I ever figure out their actual growing season I may play with water canning a small jar to learn the process (I’m always a week off, either too early or late)

 

[CTAnton]

Tomato sauce and sauerkraut as well as orange marmalade that came out more like orange jam but nonetheless delicious.I used to can mown tomatoes but recently went in the fall and picked up a case of New Jersey tomatoes for like 10 dollars...all perfectly ripe and settled in for a day to make sauce.
This brings back memories of visiting family up in Newfoundland. I was treated like royalty and at one particularly elegant meal I was treated to canned moose and something they called tur. All I could think was that it was tern? Both presented to me as a regional delicacy. I've always considered myself an adventurous eater but if memory serves me correctly I definitely didn't go back for seconds....

 

[mx5inpenn]

Several types of salsas, pickles, relishes, jalapenos, tomato and spaghetti sauce, hot pepper jelly, applesauce. I grew up doing peaches, pears and juices as well, but don't have the time!

 

[Susie]

I am jealous of you all! I have neither the time nor the space, but I grew up with a big garden, and most of that went into the freezer, but we put up pickles every year. and the wild dewberries, grapes, and whatever else fruit we found to harvest (peaches, pears, figs, mayhaw) or that we found on sale got turned into preserves or jellies.

 

[shunt2011]

Pickles, relish, jam, tomatoes, peppers and salsas (mostly green). I also freeze acorn squash, beans and corn. I enjoy doing this as much as soap making.

 

[dibbles]

My aunt and uncle had a cabin in the Lake Superior north shore area and she would make jam from wildflowers and berries. I remember tiny jars of violet jam, wild rose petal jam, rosehips jam, strawberry and blueberry. Those tiny wild berries are so full of flavor, but it takes a bunch to make even a small batch of anything! The wildflower jams were so pretty and delicate.

 

[IrishLass]

I spent 10 yrs or so using my All American Pressure canner to process fresh albacore, tuna and yellowtail. Sure miss those days... They are fantastic canners and I cannot believe you waited so long to use yours.

I can hardly believe I waited so long either! If it wasn't for all those Youtube pressure canning videos I had recently binge-watched, it would probably still be stashed away. Well, that, plus info I found on a canning forum about the rigorous safety testing that it's put through at the foundry.

My family hasn't pressure canned in almost 60 years. Long story. Some other time maybe...

I'm almost afraid to ask, but curiosity has gotten the better of me. What happened?

I'm going to make some carrot jam, only because it's so easy and looks luscious and have many others I want to try.

I have a carrot jam on my list to try, too- the Ball recipe for carrot cake jam. It sounds very yummy!

Irishlass, I too, have my first ever home grown cucumbers :smile:, but not enough yet to pickle. It's been so hot here that all the vegs are suffering, today is going to be 45 degrees.

Ugh! I know what that's like! We had horribly hot temps this past summer (June thru September), and even though it's supposed to be winter around my parts now, it's still fairly on the warm side- between 23C -29C (about 73F to 83F). Usually, it hovers somewhere between around 13C to 20C (about 55F to 68F) by now. The aeroponic garden tower I have set up in the back yard is loving it, though. I'm still harvesting ripe tomatoes and strawberries off of it, as well as all kinds of herbs and greens, etc.... Plus my 2 orange trees are ready to throw their oranges at me if I don't pick them anytime soon. lol

I'm excited for you growing your first cucumbers! My own cucumber vine is spent now, but it sure produced a lot of cucumbers for us before it conked out. I'm going to yank it out of the tower and start up a new one.

So what do you class as jellies ?

Over here in the US, jelly pretty much starts out the same way as a jam, only it is strained of all solids before canning so that it turns out clear.

I have chicken, bone broth from our chickens and cows, apple and peach pie filling, jellies and jams, mandarin oranges, beans, salsa, ketchup, and tomato sauce.

I love all forms of food preservation. I use basic Ball and Kerr jars. I have a bunch of Weck jars but have never canned in them.

You're living my dream life! lol I love the pic you posted! Oh how I wish I even had that much space to store my canned goods! To give you an idea of how much free space I have left in my house, I've been storing my canned goods in my dishwasher (it hardly ever gets used anyway since I prefer washing my dishes by hand).

Then DH decided to use my water bath canner as a wax pot to dip the ducks and geese he hunted, which helps to remove the pin feathers. I never replaced it and only now freeze stewed tomatoes, make refrigerator pickles and freezer jam.

Arghhh! Don't you just hate that? With my DH, it was my enamel roasting pan. Apparently, it makes for the perfect drip pan when changing out the cars oil. I told him to go ahead and keep that one with his tools and then went out and bought a replacement, which he is strictly forbidden to touch! lol

The Weck jars are so beautiful to look at. We have them available in Australia, and if I ever buy any more jars, it'll be those.

I love them so much. They are both pretty and practical. They are a bit more pricey, but are well made.

I really want to learn how to can it I don’t have anything to preserve.

I wouldn't let the absence of a garden stop you. I would wait for a good sale on produce at your local market and then do some small-batch canning of things you normally like to buy in jars at the store. The first thing I ever actually canned was grape jelly.....made with bottled Welch's Grape Juice from the store. It turned out great! I would have loved to have canned it from scratch with actual Concord grapes, but those are as rare as hens teeth in my neck of the woods. I've only ever seen them at my local grocery store once, about 15 years ago.


IrishLass

 

[dixiedragon]

Carrot jam? Tell me more.

 

[slk]

Jams and various pickles and green salsa are on my shelf now. My favorite jam now is my blueberry maple made with local blue berries and maple sugar made from our own maple syrup. Got a pressure canner this year and have stock and various dried beans. The garbanzos make the best hummus. The beans turn out a little softer than store bought canned, but turn into super creamy hummus.

 

[Ema]

I’ve only started canning in the past year. My two favorites so far is a barbecue sauce that is out of this world and a raspberry ale jam that is soooo good. My kids like apple pie jam the best

 

[gloopygloop]

A recent post by gloopygloop in another part of the forum about it being her marmalade-making day

IrishLass

Fab idea, I made 16 jars of marmalade that day, I love making preserves, do you have mincemeat in the US at Christmas time or is it only a UK thing, I always make my own, if you dont know it it is dried fruits mixed with spices, brandy citrus zest Apple, sugar and bound with either suet or as I prefer butter, we then make small pies called mince pies! worth the calories!

Oh and by the way ahem, ahem I am a chap not a gal!!!!! so her marmalade day was his marmalade day!......just saying!!! LOL!!!!!!!!

 

[Kittish]

I’ve only started canning in the past year. My two favorites so far is a barbecue sauce that is out of this world and a raspberry ale jam that is soooo good. My kids like apple pie jam the best

Willing to share your barbecue sauce recipe?