Canning/Bottling/Preseving

[Letsgokate]

Thought I'd start a thread where we can show off our canned, bottled, preserved goods, whether, you grew the ingredients yourself or bought items on a good special and whether you water bathed them or used a pressure cooker. Not dehydrated items as there are other posts on that. I find seeing what other people have done inspires me and gives me ideas, so hopefully that is the same for others. I'm relatively new to canning so lots to learn.

First up I'm particularly proud of these. I grew the tomatoes, I had kgs and kgs of them and grew pretty well all the other ingredients in the sauce as well and it's my own recipe, which I'm still fiddling with. All up I got about 11 one litres jars of home made sauce with the tomatoes I grew this summer, pretty pleased with that

Pasta Sauce in 1L mason jars, water bathed.

So fed up of getting mushing apples out of the tin, so I canned my own, also made some apple sauce. These are with bought apples, one day I'll have my own. Mix of different size mason jars, water bathed. None of these have sugar added, just juice.

Bought pineapples I got on a special. Mix of different size mason jars, water bathed. None of these have sugar added, just juice.

Unfortunately our big mango trees didn't fruit again this year. I got some mangoes at 99 cents. 1 pint mason jars, water bathed. None of these have sugar added, just juice.

BBQ Sauce I made last year. I also made some plum sauce recently but forgot to take a photo, will post one later. 12oz quilted Mason Jars, water bathed.

I look forward to when I am canning more of my own home grown products. Love to see what other people have canned.

 

[ClissAT]

What a riot of colour you have there Letsgo!
It reminds me of seeing the dry store shelves of a Quaker family on TV.

It never occurred to me to bottle my mango pulp. I filled my freezer again this year with a few crates of green mangoes still to find homes.
Maybe I'll bottle some.
How long did you bath the mango for & what temp did you bring it to, Letsgo?

 

[Letsgokate]

Hi ClissAt, yes all very colourful and looks good in the pantry.

Water Bathing is ok for high acid foods below 4.6ph. Ripe mangoes are not a high acid food so to be safe for water bathing some acid needs to be added, like some lemon juice in the bottom of the jar. Or in my case I bottled them in apple juice which is high acid food.

I follow the general guidelines as outlined by Ball on their website they have several guides including one for water bathing and getting started. Or in the Ball Blue Book.

Of course they don't list all the recipes, so I google anything that is not in the book. In my case, I heated the jars in a pot of water and let it come to the boil, while I cut up the mangoes. I raw packed the mangoes into the hot jars and filled them with hot apple juice. Removed any air bubbles, put them back into the water which had cooled a bit, them bought it back to the boil and I left them in a rolling boil for 20mins.

They do advise if canning fruits with water or apple juice to heat the fruit first. But with delicate fruit like peaches (and I'd say ripe mangoes) to raw pack them and then add hot syrup, juice etc.

Reason to have the jars hot is so you are not putting hot food, or putting the cold jars in boiling water where they could crack.

In the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving they have a recipe for Green Mangoes it states:

Peel and slice mangoes
Make a light or medium syrup, bring syrup to a boil.
Add mango slices and cook for 2 mins
Pack hot mangoes into hot jars leaving 1/2" headspace.
Ladle hot syrup over mangoes.
Remove air bubbles.
Place 2 piece lid on the jars.
Process pints for 15 mins, quarts for 20 mins in boiling water canner.

The time is calculated from when the water starts boiling.

You could use juice instead of the syrup.

 

[Skippyherron]

You have been super busy!

 

[Mark]

Wow how fantastic @letsgo

I really haven't done much canning but I should do more...

We go through a lot of canned tomatoes and I have made a lot of tomato sauce but never actually canned pasta sauce (for that purpose).

This is a very inspiring thread. So we don't include jams here... it's more for pressure or water bathed foods?

 

[Letsgokate]

Jams too after all they can be water bathed, or refrigerated, freezer jam etc, so I would include them. So share them please @Mark

I made some blueberry jam the other day, no added pectin with honey as the sweetener. Really nice, never water bathed it as it was a small amount and it's nearly gone. Kids were eating out of the jar.

Next time I make it I'll take some pics and post the recipe.

I got big pineapples, big mangoes and bananas all 99 cents each, bananas per kg. Which I am dehydrating but that's the time to get them and preserve them one way or another at that price.

 

[Letsgokate]

Shredded Beetroot from my garden all bottled up. I used coconut sugar as I don't use cane sugar at all.

Blueberry Jam, no added pectin, no cane sugar used. Just some honey, lemon juice, zest and frozen blueberries. Has a lovely fruity flavour. Grandkids like to eat it straight out of the jar. I have made this several times as we keep eating it all. This can be done with any berries. Obviously fresh blueberries would be nice but that won't happen until I get my own good supply.

 

[David - coona]

WOW! Very inspirational. Will show to better half, try and get her motivated

 

[Letsgokate]

I've been sick for the last few weeks and haven't been able to get into outside gardening work so I've been busy in the kitchen. Don't like to sit still for too long

 

[Comfort]

Where are you getting hour mason jars... they are so expensive here in Australia

 

[Letsgokate]

Yes they are pretty expensive, lucky they last a very long time

Mostly off eBay and especially when eBay does an extra discount at different times. I go for a seller that has included the postage in the cost then you get the discount off the total amount

Spotlight has 40% off Mason Jars last week and they needed too as even at that they were still more expensive than what I can get them for on eBay.

Big W sells some but not as much as they used too.

 

[Flatland]

You are making me very jealous. Normally by this time of year I have loads of tomatoes . I freeze or dry them but this year has been a total dud for tomatoes. Summer was very mild with lots of rain so the tomatoes are only just starting to ripen now & the bushes are starting to give up for winter. Total bummer!

 

[Mark]

I used coconut sugar as I don't use cane sugar at all.

Is coconut sugar better for us than cane sugar and do you notice much of a difference in taste and are the preserving qualities the same? 3 questions in one

Those jars are beautiful!

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Is coconut sugar better for us than cane sugar and do you notice much of a difference in taste and are the preserving qualities the same? 3 questions in one

Sorry, I'm going to put on my doctory/science hat here, as I'm quite interested in paleo eating, and once upon a time looked into this...so pardon me if it gets a bit tedious.
There's a number of points in favour of coconut sugar...personally I like it because it has the slight malted taste of brown sugar, but doesn't dissolve quite as readily, though i'm guessing, Kate, that it dissolves quite well with heat...a la jam-making.
Coconut sugar is dried sap from the coconut flower. Unlike table sugar it contains small amounts of nutrient (the same nutrients you'd get from the rest of the coconut plant, like potassium) and also small amounts of fibre. Table sugar doesn't have any other nutritional value (to my knowledge) than breaking down from sucrose to glucose (essential for the brain and energy).
Coconut sugar has pretty much the same calories as table sugar, but is "meant" to be quite low GI...so the energy is given off slowly instead of a massive hit. In theory, better for DM. BUT there's quite a bit of evidence now suggesting that how a person metabolises sugars (ie the rate at which they can breakdown sugar to use for energy, which is what the GI is meant to measure) is more due to genetics, and therefore GI tables may not be that accurate for everyone...but I figure at this point, they're the best we've got.
If you've not switched off already, get prepared for more tedium...I hope I have this correct - feel free to update me if not. Table sugar is sucrose which is 50:50 fructose:glucose. Coconut sugar is marketed as 70-80% sucrose and the remainder fructose/glucose. But if you noticed the above content of table sugar...you'll be able to work out that that 70-80% sucrose breaks down to 50:50 fructose/glucose. SO coconut sugar has a total fructose content of around 40-50% anyway. (Similar to honey)
What's the problem with fructose? I hear you ask...well that's a long story too, but it's to do with the way fructose if further metabolised. ANYWAY...the short of it is that sugars should be used sparingly. Stevia is possibly a better option, depending on what "guru" you read last, but if you also consider that coconuts are quite sustainable (and I don't know whether they're grown in such enormous monocultures as sugar cane, nor quite so bad for the environment) then I'd pick coconut sugar over refined table sugar...assuming you like the taste! Here endeth the lecture!

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Bet you're sorry you asked now Mark!!

 

[Letsgokate]

Is coconut sugar better for us than cane sugar and do you notice much of a difference in taste and are the preserving qualities the same? 3 questions in one

OskarDoLittle answered about whether it's better for us. I'll let everyone make up there own mind on that. Some people say sugar is sugar regardless of what the source is. My view on that is in reality we all eat sugar of some kind and most people prefer sweet to sour but we can choose how much sugar we use and what type of sweetener we think is best for us and our health needs.

On that my reason for not using cane sugar of any kind is it doesn't agree with my tummy, that simple. I've had to find other sweeteners that sit ok with me. Stevia does not sit well at all, nor do some other natural or artifical sweetners. So I stick with what sits well me for regardless of what others people may say.

I use a heck of a lot less sweetener than is recommended in any recipe as I'm not used to things being sweet these days. The only reason I add sweetener into jams etc really is cause I'm adding lemon juice and sometimes fruit isn't as sweet as we might like.

I haven't used cane sugar for over 12 years now so it's hard for me to say if coconut sugar tastes a lot different than cane sugar but I like the taste of it anyway. To me it has a slight caramel taste. It's a case of choosing the sweetener you consider right for the job. Honey can have different tastes depending on what flowers the bees got the honey from. Agave is to me just sweet and doesn't add any flavour on its own just sweetness.

As far as preserving quality, I think things with cane sugar have a little bit longer shelf life. Cane sugar helps preserve the colour in the preserved item. Personally I don't have anything to compare it too, to be sure either way. I think you would have to preserve the same item 2 different ways, one with cane sugar and one with an alternative sweetener and let them sit in the shelf for 12 months and see.

 

[Letsgokate]

Normally by this time of year I have loads of tomatoes . I freeze or dry them but this year has been a total dud for tomatoes. Summer was very mild with lots of rain so the tomatoes are only just starting to ripen now & the bushes are starting to give up for winter. Total bummer!

Have to say I was thrilled with the summer tomatoes crop, maybe beginners luck I'll be planting some more very soon and hopefully have a good supply to preserve.

We had a very dry summer, heat and bugs. I think the prolonged heat bought out more bugs. We noticed them in the house at night more this year as well not just in the garden.

I've joined a couple of FB canning/preserving groups and trust me what I have done is nothing. In the US they get into it in a big way.

 

[Darina]

Hi. I'm very inspired by your photos. I'm doing a lot of research about preserving and pickling. Planing to start next year once we've moved to our new place and develop our own crop. Until them I'm collecting as much info.possible to learn from. Would you be so kind to post the recipe for canning/preserving fruit (apricots, peaches, apples, cherries etc.) also if you have a recipe for pickling cucumbers. I already have one for fermenting so need only the pickling. Any and all help, suggestions and advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Letsgokate]

Hi Darina, grab yourself a copy of the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. It will give you all the info you need to preserve the fruits you mentioned. You can buy it from Big W and online.

@Mark pickles cucumbers so he can help you with that.

Glad my canning has inspired you, I'm still very much learning myself and finding it lots of fun. I've only done water bathing at this stage. I'm currently researching a Pressure Canner so I can can veggies, meats etc.

I've joined a couple of Facebook canning groups which I can pass on the names for if you are interested. Some are very much a stickler to the "rules" and only suggest you use "approved" recipes others are more flexible but still follow safe canning practices.

I follow safe canning practices but do make up my own recipes that I have tested the ph in to safely water bath. In saying "safe" people have different views on what that means, many still follow how their grandparents canned etc. these days the so canned canning experts say there are safer ways. It's your choice. The Ball Blue book is up to date with. the mordern ways of canning and follows the guidelines as recommended by the "food safety experts" so it's a good place to start

 

[Letsgokate]

@Comfort @Mark we have to do a trip down south for a family funeral and are passing through Kempsey where Ozfarmer have their warehouse, so I was able to put an online order in with them and do a free pickup tomorrow, so makes them even cheaper