(Part 2) Best products from r/Canning

I'd highly recommend a canning book from a reputable source, for instance the Ball Blue Book or Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving are some very, very good places to start. I'd also recommend starting with water bath canning, and after you're comfortable with the mechanics venturing into pressure canning if you feel like it. Until you are very confident, don't deviate from the recipes at all. No extra ingredients, no halving or doubling recipes (especially jam, pectin's a finicky thing), and no subbing different sized jars. Once you get the hang of it, you can start to fudge a little bit, but at first I'd definitely play it safe and stick straight to the recipe; this is more fussy than regular cooking. Water bath canning is only for high-acid foods, and even tomato sauce recipes for canning require extra lemon juice, so definitely follow your recipe.

As far as equipment, technically all you really need are a pot to hold the jars as they boil, something to pull the hot jars out of the water with, and some kind of rack to keep them off the bottom of the pot (extra canning rings placed along the bottom, a cake rack, whatever works). Nothing else is technically needed, though I tried this method with just the extra rings and with spring-loaded tongs and made quite a mess, then immediately sprung for some toys.

I'd recommend this kit, the polypropolene basket doesn't melt even during long canning sessions and it's small enough to use in an eight or ten quart pot, which a lot of people already have at home. To make sure your pot's big enough, put a jar in the pot and make sure it could be covered with at least an inch or two of water. Taller pots are obviously more helpful than lower, wider ones. The kit comes with three jars, which is okay, and the recipe book it comes with scales down a lot of their most popular recipes so you can just make a few jars to test them out.

I'd also recommend a canning funnel, and a jar lifter. Something to measure headspace is also handy, there's a little plastic doohickey for that (looks like this) but if you don't mind keeping a plastic ruler around, it's not required. A set like this would definitely cover all your bases.

Keep in mind that while the jars and rings are reusable, the lids with the sealing compounds are not. If you feel a canning binge come on, be sure to buy an extra little box of just the lids because you'll be upset if you run out!

Good luck!! I'm still a novice canner myself, and I've only ever done water bath canning, but I've already got taco sauce, jams, jellies, pickles and canned fruit (I love canning pears!) under my belt so I've got at least a little bit of a clue!

From Pick Your Own.org for pies:
>...choose apples that are naturally sweet and tart varieties, like: Bramley, Cox Pippin, Fuji, McIntosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonagold, Rome, Cameo, Jonathon. If you can't get any of these, then try Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, etc. You want a flavorful, aromatic and firm apple (Golden Delicious and Galas are too soft, for example). Always use a mixture - never just one type. The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.

If you will be canning apple pie filling, be sure to use Ultra Gel, not flour or cornstarch. They are unsafe!

From their applesauce page:
>...choose apples that are naturally sweet, like Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Winesap, McIntosh, Yellow Delicious, Mutsu and always use a mixture - never just one type. This year (2014) I used a mixture of Fuji (40%), Gala (35%), Red Delicious (20%) and Yellow Delicious (5%). If I could have found some Stayman Winesap, McIntosh, or Cameo, I would have added them, too. It was so sweet I did not need to add any sugar at all. And the flavor is great! The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples (but a bit watery).

>Another important tip at orchards is to ask for "seconds", "culls" or "drops". These are smaller apples, sometimes odd shapes or with imperfect appearance. But there're perfect for applesauce and apple butter and uses cost 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the top grade apples. They're usually kept in the back, so you will have to ask for them. They also go quickly, so you may want to call ahead in the day to have some set aside for you. Not all orchards offer "seconds", nut they're a bargain when you can get them!

What people usually refer to as "quick pickles" are pickles that are not water bath preserved, but rather refrigerated. Because you usually aren't "cooking" these by soaking them in boiling water, they tend to come out crisper than a water bath preserved pickle. You usually boil a vinegar based brine with some salt and spices in it and then add it to the vegetables. You let them cool to room temp and then stick them in your fridge (or, if your brine has an acceptable acid level, process them via boiling water bath... these are not longer "quick pickles," but processed via boiling water bath.) There are also directions for a lower temp (like 180degF) pasteurization process that I have never played with. These supposedly result in crisper pickles. You are adding acid in the form of vinegar to create a safe environment for food preservation for these pickles.

Fermented pickles are cured in a brine (usually a room temp) for a lengthy period of time, usually from a week to a few weeks, depending on the vegetable and your final goal. You are creating an environment that favors a certain type of bacterial growth which causes (hopefully) predictable changes in the taste of the pickle. These bacteria out-compete everything else and create an environment hostile to other bacteria that are dangerous for you to eat. The by product of the bacteria you are trying to grow is lactic acid, which lowers the pH enough to create a safe environment- instead of adding vinegar to make a safe environment, you are "growing your own" acid. Obviously, this can be a tempermental process. It's a world onto it's own, with lots of variations steeped in culinary history of different areas of the world. Check out /r/fermentation for some more info on this process.

My suggestion is to ask yourself what you love in a pickle. Sharp "dill pickle" flavor? (probably fermented) Super crisp, fresher tasting? (quick pickles, most likely) Stable, room temp storage and a predictable process? (boiling water bath pickles) These are broad generalizations of course, but those are my opinions of the strengths and characteristics of each style.

Some resources: The Joy of Pickling for an array of styles and anything by Sandor Katz for the fermented styles. I also loved Asian Pickles by Karen Solomon for a whole new range of pickles unfamilar to a lot of people.

What I always suggest is to first decide what you're going to can, how much you will be canning at one time and what size jars you will be canning in.

These are important to know because, as others have said, jellies, jams, fruits, pickles and properly acidified tomatoes can be done in a water bath canner, while vegetables and meats must be pressure canned.

Knowing what size of jars you are going to be using makes a difference in what size of canner(s) you will need. If you're canning for a family, you will likely need to use quart sized jars. But if you are a single person or a couple, you will probably only want to do pint jars.

Too, it's customary that jams or jellies are canned in half-pint jars although it is perfectly acceptable to do them in pints if you will use that much jam in a reasonable amount of time once it's been opened. Large mouth jars (both pints and quarts) and their lids are more more expensive than the regular mouth jars. However, meats and things like whole pickles or pickle spears almost require large-mouth jars.

The jar size also matters because some canners don't work with larger sized jars. Also, very large canners will accept two layers of jars which is great for canning many jars at a time but time and energy wasting to use for small batches.

To get started water-bath canning, the only must haves are:

1. Jars
   
2. Lids and rings
   
3. Stock pot or canner (with lid) at least 3" deeper than your jars
   
4. Jar lifter
   
5. Trivet to keep the jars from touching the bottom of the pot (a layer of extra jar rings works brilliantly for this)
   
   The most affordable places to buy these supplies are going to be somewhere local to you. None are very expensive at all. Some water-bath canners come with a rack inside them, which is both a trivet and a jar lifter itself. New boxes of jars come with lids and rings. The rings (also called bands) are reusable, the lids are not, but anywhere that sells the jars will have more lids. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE Hardware and places like that will have nearly everything you need for water-bath canning.
   
   As for pressure canning, you will need:
   
   
6. Jars
   
7. Lids and rings
   
8. Jar lifter
   
9. Pressure canner (equipped with lid, gasket, weight, gauge & trivet)
   
   I highly recommend that you read up and shop around before buying a pressure canner. They are somewhat of an investment at between $70 and $400. When you're ready to select a pressure canner, come back and ask and I know everyone around here will help you decide what's right for you. The inexpensive canners are very good but there are also very good reasons to buy a more pricey one and it takes a whole post in itself to discuss them!
   
   Something inexpensive and very nice to have is a little canning set like this no matter which method of canning you do. These tools will be safer to use rather than winging it and will save you infinite amounts of time and frustration. I've seen these same sets at Walmart for something like $8-$10.
   
   I hope this helps!

A good place to start is this book. I had a lot of weird old translated notes/recipes from this old woman's mother who lived in France. I guess that this kind of cellaring was really common over there in Provence. Its been great for us because we get produce pretty much only in season and preserve for the whole year. From what I can tell, by varying the methods of preservation we can balance what kind of nutrition loss we experience. I love some of the oil, vinegar, fermentation storage methods because the food comes out tasting pretty close to fresh stuff. I ate some 1 year old carrots the other day that were still crisp and awesome. :)

Pomona's Pectin website has tested and reliable low-sugar recipes. You can also trust the recipes in the book Stocking Up, a personal favorite of mine.

u/Tuilere is great for pointing out that the best resource is education. When you know the basic principles of canning, you will more easily be able to spot recipes that you shouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I also second contacting your local extension and seeing what reading material they have available. There are also some great links in the r/Canning sidebar.

I got this canning gear kit off Amazon. I think it has the measure thing. I'm thinking that because I used fresh tomatoes that I didn't steam and peel, the filled the can artificially high.

Still learning but I've been getting amazing advice from everyone great, you all are great!! ❤️

This is the one I got. I have not used it yet, but the reviews seemed good. (I got it recently but have not had a chance yet). Seems like a pretty good sale price too.

You can find a recipe in a book called Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning. But it is one of those things that is not common practice anymore because of the risk of spoilage. I did it one year with sweet roasted peppers but couldn't really relax about spoilage so I didn't eat the whole jar. You could roast them and can them instead, which is safer.

If you want to make an infused oil with the fresh pepper, the most common way is to heat up the oil (google-fu will help you) to ensure that pathogens are eliminated. It's much more common though to use dried peppers i.e.; http://www.domenicacooks.com/2014/01/olio-santo/

This One

The link is to a "Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner". This is a better alternative to the "Dial Gauge Pressure Canner."

Weighted Gauge Canners are self-regulating--they do not need to be watched every second of operation. Dial gauge canners need to be watched closely every minute to prevent OVER-PRESSURIZATION.

Get good info from the USDA Guide to Canning Meat, Poultry and Fish

Good luck and Happy Canning!

My wife and I use the attachment for our KitchenAid stand mixer and it's always worked great for us.

That said, we can a lot and tend to do double, triple, quadruple batches, etc. Having a powered mill makes things a lot faster and easier. The cost over a hand mill was worth it for us, especially since we already had the mixer.

No! This is not a safe canning method, "open kettle canning" should not be used! It's especially dangerous for the types of sauces you want to make! As stated in the post above from lissabeth777:

http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2014/avoid-open-kettle-canning

"You'll want to get bottles that have been tested to seal in home waterbath canners like these or you can use the super small 4 oz jars with the two piece lids like this.

Also, you need to use an approved safe recipe such as this ketchup or this BBQ sauce"

> Is that last step for long term canning purposes?

Yes. Because you haven't processed the relish means you need to keep it refrigerated.

Here is a link that explains how to process in a waterbath canner: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_bw_canners.html

It looks like you already have the right jars for it, and maybe you have lids as well (when canning, always use NEW lids - don't reuse old ones!). Other than that you just need big pot of boiling water and and rack for holding the jars off the bottom of the pot. A jar lifter might be a nice accessory also.

Some amazon links: Pot and rack only, Pot, rack and accessories.

You should be able to find lids (seals) pretty inexpensive on Amazon or from a farm/agriculture supply store. I'm in the US, so we have a large selection of types/prices of jars. I usually get 12 pints for $7.99 with lids and bands. Lids run about $2 or $3 a box here at either Walmart, Target or the local hardware store. I've even found canning stuff at my local grocery store.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Bernardin-Mason-Jar-Lids-GEM/dp/B000G6XVOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1473063133&sr=1-1&keywords=canning+lids&refinements=p_89%3ABernardin

They are even cheaper if you buy them in bulk. Make sure you know if you need wide mouth or regular lids.

We use a Ball 21 quart on our glass top and it is fantastic. Fits about 7 quart jars (depending on wide-mouth / narrow-mouth). We love it. It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it to speed things up when canning big batches.

We also sprung for the stainless steel jar rack, since the standard ones always tend to rust at the welds after a couple of months of use.

I make a hotsauce (that we then add butter to before using, not before canning though!) and it's simply peppers I grow, garlic, and vinegar.
It's not an approved recipe, so this sub suggested I test the pH on it (and I bought this kit which works really well) to check batches as I make them - it consistently tests at 3.2, which is safe. However, I test it multiple times to make sure its not an error, and make sure you ALWAYS calibrate according to the instructions!

That works for what I do, but I can't be certain about tomato sauce; I'd err on the side of caution for that and stick to approved and tested recipes.

That's the model I have, and I love it. If you think it will be limiting, they have a 30 quart model that will fit 14 quart jars.

1. No
   
   
2. Not the best procedure, I usually keep the Apple butter in the big pot it cooked in, filling the jars just before they go into the canner for less thermal loss and less thermal shock. And, no, don't stack the jars in the canner.
   
   
3. never seen any recipes for small jars, but I've got a special rack that's not divided, and holds more than the standard 7 jars when using 8oz, or smaller, jars.
   
   
4. Apple butter cooks down for a long time, peels shouldn't negatively effect the end product as long as you wash the apples well and follow canning cleanliness procedures.
   
   I've been processing mine in my Squeezo strainer for decades, before that, a manual food mill, peeling was not part of the process.
   
   Bonus timing; I'm canning Apple Butter today! ;)

That Squeezo thing looks cool! Anybody use a Kitchenaid mixer strainer?

It's the All-American 30 quart pressure canner. =) https://www.amazon.com/All-American-30-Quart-Pressure-Cooker/dp/B0002808Z2

Edit:

The full kit needs the meat grinder:

KitchenAid FVSFGA Fruit & Vegetable Strainer Set with Food Grinder Attachment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004SGFJ/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_1s2uDb7TMNKY3

KitchenAid FVSP Fruit & Vegetable Strainer Parts Attachment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004SGFK/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_pq2uDbB4JTXCW

I looked into these. Decided to not mess around and got one of these instead.

Okay

This one isn't the biggest on the market, but will process 14 quart jars.

http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Pickling-Flavor-Packed-Recipes-Vegetables/dp/1558323759

I've used these bottles for canning bloody Mary mix! I got them at The Container Store, though.

http://astore.amazon.com/therunspo-20/detail/B0000CFPEY

I recently bought this one, my first pressure canner. I've used it twice and so far I love it. No complaints.

The recipe you have does not conform to modern standards. Most recipes in the Ball Blue Book (the "canning bible") are usually equal parts vinegar and water, or close to it. Then, after you pack them, you have to "process" the jars in boiling water in a pot, with a rack - a water-bath canning pot. You "process" the jars for a period of time to make sure any residual bacteria are killed.

[This video from Ball, "Canning 101,"] (https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Blue-Book-Guide-Preserving/dp/B00OEJZSNW/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1466649871&sr=1-1&keywords=ball+blue+book) will introduce you to what to do and why.

Your pickles aren't fermenting - they're rotting. They may contain botulism, which is a dangerous toxin that can kill. Please get rid of what you have, making sure to box them up and make sure that animals (pets) can't eat them. Take them somewhere for proper disposal.