Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Why is Liquid lost during the canning process

This is one of the most common questions of every food preserver is why am I losing liquid from my jars.

The answer is that it could be any one of these things.

1:  Raw Packing instead of Hot Packing often leads to water loss because the food has air in it and that air is driven from the jars during the canning process.  This is why it recommended that you hot pack your foods.  Fruits especially have this problem.

2:  Rapid change in temperature in your canner.  Keep your boiling water canner at a steady boil and if using a pressure canner, lower your temperature to maintain the pressure, but don't let the pressure keep going up and down.  Get it gently rocking and keep it steady.

3:  Removing jars too quickly from a canner causes  stress on the jars and they lose liquid.  This is one reason you should always turn off the heat, remove the lid and wait at least 5 minutes before taking jars out of the water bath canner or 10 minutes for a pressure canner.

Reference:  PennState Extension 

Monday, May 25, 2020

Pickled Corn in Jars

Fermented foods is an acquired taste.  If you only want to try a jar to two to make sure it's something you like.  I recommend buying a set of fermentation lids that allows the gases to escape.  These can be found on Amazon
  • You don't have to process pickled corn.  Once it has fermented, you just tighten the lids and store in a cool, dark place.  If you don't have fresh corn, you can use canned corn.  Many people prefer using canned corn since it make the job super easy to do.  
  • 1:  Shuck your corn and wash to remove all the silk.
  • 2:  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once boiling add the corn and put on lid.  Boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • 3:  Drain and put in ice cold water to cool.
  • 4:  Cut corn from the cob, but don't cream it.  You just want the corn kernels.
  • 5:  Fill quart or pint size jars leaving one inch headspace.
  • 6:  Put 1 tsp of canning salt per pint of a level tablespoon per quart.
  • 7:  Fill jars to the rim with room temperature water.  Don't use city water with chlorine.
  • 8:  Put lids on your jars but don't tighten them down.  The gas needs to escape.
  • 9:  Place newspapers on a shallow pan and sit your filled jars in a cool place to ferment.  
  • 10:  Let ferment for about 2 weeks.  Check to see if you need to add a little salt water to keep them filled. 
  • 11:  After corn is fermented to suit your taste, tighten your lids.  








Thursday, June 6, 2019

Zucchini Nut Bread

Ingredients 

This recipe makes 2 loafs of bread.

  • 3 cups self rising flour
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3½ cups grated zucchini 
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2½ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

  • instructions
    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
    • Spray your pans with non stick spray.  Bakers joy is good or grease and flour them.
    • Mix your eggs, applesauce, oil, sugar and vanilla together. 
    • Stir cinnamon into flour and stir into mixture.
    • Add your nuts and zucchini and stir together
    • Pour batter into pans and I like to sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of the batter.
    • Bake approximately one hour or until tooth pick comes out clean.






Thursday, May 16, 2019

Homemade Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients                       
2 1/2 C Fresh blackberries, washed
1 C Sugar
1 C Flour
1 C Milk
1 Stick of unsalted butter, melted




Mix your blackberries with a little sugar and let sit for about 25 minutes. This draws out the juices from the berries.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

Stir together the sugar, flour and milk.

Add the butter and stir until you have very few lumps.
Pour batter into your pan
Pour your berry/sugar mixture on top of batter making sure to spread them evenly over it.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes depending on your oven and how brown you like it.
Let cool for at least 15 minutes.
Serve warm with your favorite toppings.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Pickled Corn Relish

Pickled Corn Relish


  • 10 cups fresh whole kernel corn (16 to 20 medium-size ears), or six 10-ounce packages of frozen corn
  • 2-1/2 cups diced sweet red peppers
  • 2-1/2 cups diced sweet green peppers
  • 2-1/2 cups chopped celery
  • 1-1/4 cups diced onions
  • 1-3/4 cups sugar
  • 5 cups vinegar (5 percent)
  • 2-1/2 tbsp canning or pickling salt
  • 2-1/2 tsp celery seed
  • 2-1/2 tbsp dry mustard
  • 1-1/4 tsp turmeric

Yield: About 9 pints 
Procedure: Boil ears of corn 5 minutes. Dip in cold water. Cut whole kernels from cob
Optional: use six 10-ounce frozen packages of corn.
Combine peppers, celery, onions, sugar, vinegar, salt, and celery seed in a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix mustard and turmeric in 1/2 cup of the simmered mixture.
Add this mixture and corn to the hot mixture.
Simmer another 5 minutes.
If desired, thicken mixture with flour paste (1/4 cup flour blended in 1/4 cup water) and stir frequently.
Fill jars with hot mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1.
Table 1. Recommended process time for Pickled Corn Relish in a boiling-water canner.
  Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft
Hot Half-pints or Pints 15 min 20 25
RE:  Recipe from National Center for Home Food Preservation

Sweet Pickle Relish

Sweet Pickle Relish


  • 3 qts chopped cucumbers
  • 3 cups each of chopped sweet green and red peppers
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
  • 4 cups ice
  • 8 cups water
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves
  • 6 cups white vinegar (5 percent)

Yield: About 9 pints


Procedure: Chop all your vegetables
Add cucumbers, peppers, onions, salt, and ice to water and let stand 4 hours.
Drain and re-cover vegetables with fresh ice water for another hour.
Drain again.
Combine spices in a spice or cheesecloth bag. Add spices to sugar and vinegar. Heat to boiling and pour mixture over vegetables.
Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
Heat mixture to boiling and fill hot into clean jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Pickle Relish in a boiling-water canner.
  Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft
Hot Half-pints or Pints 10 min 15 20
RE:  National Center for Home Food Preservation

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Common causes of jars breaking during canning process

Q. Why do jars break during processing?
A. Jars break during processing for the following reasons:
• Canner became dry during the processing period. This is caused by either a steam leakage in your canner, which means you need a new part, or by using insufficient water for the processing period.
• Commercial jars (pickles, spaghetti sauce, etc.) were used instead of the recommended glass home canning jars.
• Cracked or nicked jars were used.
• Food was packed too solidly or jars were overfilled.
• Lids were overtightened (follow lid manufacturer’s directions).
• Cold jars were immersed in boiling hot water. Food and jars should be hot when placed in the canner.
• Jars were placed directly on canner bottom. A canning rack should always be placed on the canner bottom. It is not necessary to place a rack between a layer of pint or half-pint jars. Stagger the jars by placing a top jar on two bottom jars (see picture).
• Pressure was reduced quickly after processing. Always let pressure drop of its own accord.
• Air was exhausted from canner at too high a temperature. Adjust heat so a steady gentle flow of steam emerges from the vent pipe.
• Pressure had fluctuated during the processing period. This can be caused by an unsteady heat source or steam leaking from the canner.
• Jars were placed in a cold, drafty place to cool. Cool jars on a towel or rack at room temperature.
• The jars themselves are very often the cause of difficulty. They eventually weaken with age and repeated use.


Ref:  https://www.gopresto.com/recipes/canning/faq.php