I'm watcing Pioneer Woman and today she canned strawberry jam. I'm inspired to try this - she makes it seem really simple as long as you follow the steps.
Do you can your own foods? Do you recommend anything in particular for a beginner? Have any recipes to share?
I'll be doing the "boil in a pot" method not the pressure cooker type, so trying to figure out what I can and cannot do in terms of types of food.
nectarine / 2433 posts
@babycanuck: my family does tomatoes every year using the "boil in a pot" method. I have also done jams before, it is really easy and they make great gifts.
pomegranate / 3105 posts
@mrswin: cool! tomatoes/sauce is definitely something I should try and hook my Italian MIL into teaching me 
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
I do tomatoes and salsa. My mom does jam - I don't or else I eat far too much jam. Oh, one thing. Do not use a cheapo canner with a convex bottom on a ceramic cooktop. Something about the heat getting too high and being trappes under the pot can cause the cooktop to crack. You have to find a canner that's totally flat on the bottom. Which is why I ended up buying a pressure canner - it's a little scary, but works great.
pear / 1986 posts
@babycanuck: We (mostly my husband) does tomatoes, pickles, green beans, and jam. We are self-taught just over the past couple of years. We just boil the jars in a big metal pot on the stove with a wire rack in the bottom. Oh, and applesauce, too! I like this site for basic how-to and recipes: http://foodinjars.com. Also Ball has good info, too: http://www.freshpreserving.com.
Good luck! It is so nice to have fresh veggies, etc. in the middle of winter!
pear / 1610 posts
I can peaches, pears, salsa & diced tomatoes! I use the boiling water method too. My MIL taught me... Oh my mom cans pickles too! You can also can applesauce, but I just freeze mine instead
grapefruit / 4817 posts
I do jams and jellies, green beans, peppers, and pickles. It's easy and I don't use any special setup. I just boil my jars before filling and boil them once filled to process in a big pot. I did buy a pair of jar tongs today because I'm tired of burning the crap out of my hands trying to get the jars out of the boiling water since I don't have a rack. Try it! It's not hard at all.
pomegranate / 3105 posts
@BananaPancakes: You don't use a rack in the pot at all? Do you put them in the water and heat them with the water, or put them in the water when it's boiling?
eta: it's not a risk putting the filled glass into a pot with no protection under them?
nectarine / 2433 posts
@babycanuck: I forgot about salsa! We do that too. My dad's family is Italian and that's where I learned, I think your MIL would have some good tips
Also as an FYI I was just looking at the flyers and it loos like Canadian Tire has canning stuff on sale right now and Walmart will price match too!
pomelo / 5258 posts
@babycanuck: I don't can my own food but I did it commercially. If you're using boil in the pot you need to stick to high acid foods like fruits. Some exceptions are banana & papaya. Most canning sites have lists of low and high acid foods.
I do want to call out that green beans mentioned above need to be made with the pressure method or acidified/pickled to bring the pH down.
grapefruit / 4817 posts
@babycanuck: The product is already hot, so you don't have to put them in before it's boiling. I wait until it's boiling and do 10 min for jams and 5 min for jellies and veggies. And yes, they could technically break every time I do it, but *knock on wood* I've yet to have it happen. Honestly, they don't really jostle around like you might think they would. Ive been canning for 3 years, mostly during the spring and summer from my garden and from friends and family farms, so I've done quite a bit this way. I keep saying I want to get the right equipment, but for now it works fine.
pomegranate / 3105 posts
@BananaPancakes: What about the empty jars when heating up before filling?
grapefruit / 4817 posts
@babycanuck: I highly doubt they'd break. I think most breaks happen during processing and from trying to squeeze too many jars into the pot. I just throw the empty ones plus lids into one pot and let them boil for 10. I do like to keep my jars warm after sterilizing since you'll be putting boiling liquid into them (I have had a break from that), so I just put my oven on warm and keep them in there until I'm ready to fill.
pear / 1986 posts
@Corduroy: Yes, we pickled the green beans 
! We only follow recipes that can be done with the boil method since we don't have a pressure canner.
pomelo / 5258 posts
@GreenThumb: Oh good! I hoped so but I just wanted to clarify for anyone else reading.
pear / 1846 posts
For a really simple way I do jam with jars straight out of a hot dishwasher, pour the piping hot jam into it then turn it over onto it's lid quickly. When cool just turn it back overand the negative pressure created from the cooling process sucks the safety cap back in. Never had any problems with stuff going off.
papaya / 10473 posts
Bumping this - I'm attempting pickles tonight! Has anyone else made them?
honeydew / 7091 posts
I'm too big of a chicken to attempt canning - I feel like I'll mess it up and spoil a bunch of food 
I just stick to freezing an excess amount of stuff. Good thing we have 2 deep freezers!
grapefruit / 4235 posts
I do! I make jam (peach and raspberry), can tomatoes, peaches, i've made mint and pepper and jalapeno jellies. my pickles never turn out right.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@grizz: yes but I've yet to find a recipe I like!
pineapple / 12526 posts
@babycanuck: Tomato sauce is SO EASY to make.
Ive really been wanting to try canning. Id really like to try homemade pickles and jam.
papaya / 10473 posts
@loveisstrange: A friend sent me her "famous" refrigerator pickle recipe to start with. I'll wall it to you!
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