Canning Season Part 2

 Yesterday was a BIG canning day.  I had nine trays of tomatoes lined up on my dining room table in the peak of ripeness.  This was not going to be easy to finish in one night, but I was determined to make the most of those red beauties.  There were even a several more that were ready to pick when I got home from work.  The job was getting bigger, not smaller.

The first thing I had to do was make a phone call to my oldest daughter.  Michelle willing volunteered to come right over from work.  I get home well ahead of her, so this gave me time to set everything up to work.  I cored and halved all the Celebrity (round) tomatoes and started cooking those for juice.  I got a large kettle of water going for blanching, while I washed all the Roma tomatoes for canning whole.  Rather than using the sink for cooling, I brought in my enamel tub and set it up with cold water on the kitchen island.  This was Michelle's work zone.  She was in charge of coring and peeling all the Romas.  All she needed was a paring knife, compost pail, and a Summer Shandy.

I was able to quickly cook and juice the Celebrity tomatoes.  I have wonderful kettles that do waterless cooking.  A few minutes of blending with an immersion blender and the juice was easily strained and in the roaster to stay hot.  I used my electric fry pan to heat my lids to be sterilized.  I pulled out both my pressure canner and water bath canner.  I used the water bath to sterilize the jars first and get them hot.  I lost a couple bottoms from jars this year, which I think was due to not being hot enough going into the canner.  It could also have been the age of the jars.  The water bath canner was also going to be used for juice once I got far enough into the process.  As Michelle got the tomatoes peeled I added them to the juice in the roaster to heat up for hot pack canning.  It takes 15 minutes of processing time versus 45 minutes for cold pack.  I like the results I get with hot pack as the sealing goes much more smoothly with very little liquid being forced from the jar during processing.  Using tomato juice rather than water for packing the whole tomatoes was a stroke of genius I had while driving on my job.

The tomatoes heated very well in the juice, and the process was hot from start to finish.  I would scoop the whole tomatoes out with a slotted spoon to pack the jars.  Then, I would add the juice to finish them off to within an inch of the top.  A quick wipe of the jar rim, a hot lid, screw band, and into the canner.  The pressure canner took 15 minutes at 5 pounds of pressure, the water bath 15 minutes from coming to a boil. Same timing for the juice only jars at the end.

Four hours later, I had over 14 quarts of tomatoes and over 8 quarts of juice.  EVERY JAR SEALED!!!  This is canning perfection not always attained.  I always let the jars sit overnight before removing the bands, wiping the jars, and adding labeling with contents and date.  I opted to not add any salt or seasoning.  This will allow me the flexibility to use them in a variety of ways.

The shelves are getting steadily fuller and the jar supply is dwindling.  I might actually have to buy jars to finish out the season.  
Michelle went home after sitting and listening to the canner hiss for awhile.  I sent her off with a few jars that we are using up from last year's canning (not too much left).  It has been a very gratifying season to have so much ready for winter.  The added benefit of canning is that I don't have to worry if some chemical is going to leach into our food from the can liner.  Glass is BPA free naturally.

My tomato garden is 4'x17', there are 8 Celebrity plants (back), 9 Romas (front), and 1 Sungold (the tall one by the mailbox). I also have cukes growing up the wall in the back.  The Celebrity plants are in tradtional cages.  The Romas are in a weave support system that was described in Organic Gardening Magazine this spring.  I water only from the bottom with soaker hoses, compost is the only fertilizer I use, brown paper and cocoa bean hulls are the mulch.

Canning Season

green beans, corn, dilly beans

French beans

salsa

salsa verde

I have been putting up more of my garden in jars this year as we are getting beef from a local farmer this fall.  I need the freezer space for the meat, but I also like the convenience of grabbing a jar of veggies and heating them on the stove. 

This year I am trying some new things.  I have never made dilly beans.  I shared the recipe on a earlier piece.  I am also making salsa verde this year as I planted four tomatillo plants.  Husk tomatoes make a great sauce for a different twist.  Here is the recipe I meshed together to make a salsa verde which I was able to can.

Roasted Salsa Verde

2 quarts of tomatillos husked, washed, and cut in half

4 cloves of garlic

3 medium to large onions peeled and quartered

4 jalapeno peppers split and seeded

olive oil to coat vegetables lightly

Using a grilling basket or foil over grill rack, roast the prepared vegetables that have been tossed with olive oil until softened (about 10 minutes on a hot grill).

1 cup chopped cilantro

4 lemons, juiced 

4 limes, juiced 

1 t cumin

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Add the above ingredients to the roasted vegetables in a food processor to puree or put all directly into a large kettle and blend until smooth with an immersion blender.  Cook the salsa verde until hot and slightly thickened (I let it simmer about 20 minutes or so).

Follow canning directions for hot water bath or pressure cooker.  There is more to read than I feel like typing for safe canning methods. Have jars sterile and hot and lids sterile and hot.  Fill jars with 1/2" of head space.  Hot water bath pints and half pints for 20 minutes.  If you prefer to pressure can them use 5 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes.

This made 7 half pint (jelly size) jars in my first round.  Also tastes pretty good straight from the kettle.

I use my pressure canner a little more lately as it takes the uncertainty out of the acidity equation for water bath canning.  It also takes less water.  Allowing the canner to cool naturally before opening does take more time.  If you move it to a cooling rack on the counter from the stove, it does shorten that time a bit.

tomatillo plant

Canning French Beans

Today was my day to get my beans Frenched and in the jars.  I had picked and washed the beans and tossed them in the frig yesterday as I did not have the energy to get the canning done.  I did snip the ends off the beans while supper was cooking, so I had part of the job done for today.  I start any canning process by gathering everything that I will need to do the job from start to finish.  I have my jar lifter, funnel, and wooden spoon that I keep together once canning season starts.  I also use canning salt, sealing lids with bands, and glass jars that I bring up from the basement when needed.  If I am canning vegetables, I use my pressure canner.  Fruits can be processed in a hot water bath.  I want to learn more about steam canning as an alternative to the hot water bath.

Jars need to be checked for nicks and cracks.  I run my finger around the top of each jar to make sure it has a smooth edge for sealing.  Sometimes they chip or get a stick residue from the sealing compound. Chipped jars will not seal.  Sticky jars have to have the goo removed with alcohol or other cleaner that will take it off.  Once they are washed in soapy water, they go into a hot rinse water where they stay until the food goes into the jars right before sealing the jars.

Always use new lids.  Some jars use canning rings or other compounds.  I choose the one use Kerr lids that I just use for dry storage once the seal has been used and broken.  Follow the directions on the box for sterilizing and keeping the lids hot before using.

I have a hand crank French beaner. The beans are fed into the top as you turn the crank.  A white nylon wheel moves the beans through the cutting disks turning each bean into a thin lengthwise slice.  I started out using a smaller hand held tool which the beans were pushed through and pulled out the other side one by one.  I eventually splurged on this with a 50% off coupon in the gardening catalog.  We like French beans, so this was worth the money I spent ($20 sounds about right).

I steam blanch the beans for 5 minutes before putting them in the jars.  Loosely pack the beans with 1" of head space.  Add a half teaspoon of salt.  Top off with boiling water to cover beans with the 1" head space.  Wipe down the top of the jar before placing a hot lid on top.  Use a screw band to hold the lid in place during canning.

Place the jars into the pressure canner with 2-3" of hot water.  My pressure canner can hold 10 pint jars which helps speed the process up.  Some canners are tall and can handle a double layer of jars.  I can only do that with half-pint jars.

Fix the lid on the pressure canner and place over heat.  Once the steam starts coming out the top.  I place my weighted pressure gauge in place.  Other canners will have a knob to close off and you set the gauge to the proper pounds.  Beans are canned at 10 pounds of pressure which raise the temperature at which water boils from 212 degrees to 240 degrees.  Vegetables are low acid and need the higher temperature to sufficiently stop bacterial action safely.  
Once the beans have been held at this temperature for 20 minutes for my pint jars, I remove the canner from the heat and let it cool down naturally.  I do not remove the weighted pressure gauge or run cold water over the outside of the canner to cool it faster.  This is just part of doing it right.  Once the temperature is down enough that the pressure in the canner has come down naturally, I can remove the weight and open the lid.  Always remove lids away from your face and hands to avoid steam burns.

Use a jar lifter to take the hot jars out of the canner.  Place them on a heat proof surface to cool completely.  Do not turn the bands or shake the jars, just let them set.  If some jars have not sealed, (read your lid box on how to tell what a sealed lid looks like) place those jars in the refrigerator or use right away.  I will let jars sit over night before removing the screw bands and cleaning the residue off the jars.  Make sure to label the jars with contents and date.  The year is usually enough unless you really like to keep track of canned goods.  Different sources will tell you how long you should keep canned goods but most things keep quiet well for at least a year or more.  Place jars in a cool, dark location to best preserve the color and quality of canned goods.  Don't let the jars freeze.  
This is just a general tutorial for canning.  I do recommend getting a book on canning to really understand the process and learn about how to do other types of foods and canning.  There is nothing quite so satisfying as going to your pantry in the dead of winter and enjoying last summer's harvest.