Cayenne Pepper Sauce

I was given a big box of peppers 

So I decided to make pepper sauce.  This is HOT.  I can't wait to try it in some chili. 

Here's how to make it:

You will need:

• 3 pounds hot peppers (for example, Cayenne, Anaheim, Hungarian, Jalapeños)
• 1/3 cup minced garlic
• 4 cups sliced onion (about 2 medium as bought)
• 1/3 cup stemmed, chopped cilantro
• 3 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes
• 3 cups cider vinegar (5%)
• 2½ cups water

Yields approximately 5 pints.  

* Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.

Wash and rinse pint or half pints canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions.

Wash, trim and slice peppers and onions into rings, using a mandolin slicer or a food processor.  I just put mine in the food processor and chopped them up.

Mix all ingredients in a large stainless steel pot.

Bring to a boil and boil 1 hour. Reduce heat slightly and simmer 1 additional hour. Turn heat off, and cool mixture slightly.

Puree vegetables in a blender about 2 minutes per blender batch. Return pureed mixture to stockpot and bring carefully just to a boil. (The mixture will start to spatter as it gets close to boiling; heat slowly while stirring constantly, being careful not to get burned by splashing sauce.) Turn off heat.

Fill hot sauce into hot, clean jars, leaving ½-inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space if needed.

 Wipe rims of jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar to ensure a good seal.  

Put on lids and rings and tighten down finger tight.  Process in a boiling water bath according to chart.

Recommended process time for Cayenne Pepper Sauce 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	Pints	10 min	15	20

Label and Store in a cool, dark place

Ask Kat

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Apple Pie in a Jar

Just like Mom used to make coming to you from Kat's Kitchen!

We love Apple Pie and so I thought why not make an Apple Pie Jam and so here I am.  I searched the internet and found several apple jam recipes but none that that gave me what I was looking for.  I decided to do my own and see how it worked out.  My family loved it and I hope yours does too.

Yields approximately 7 half pint jars

You will need:

8 cups of diced apples
1 cup of apple juice
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of all spice
5 tbsp of Ball low sugar/no sugar pectin
1/4 cup of lemon juice
A pat of butter

In a medium bowl mix both sugars, cinnamon and allspice.  Take a fork and mix them all together and set aside.  Go ahead an measure out 5 tbsp of pectin into a small bowl.

You will need about 8 or 9 nice, crisp apples.  Peel them and then dice them into small pieces.  Put 8 cups of diced apples into a stainless steel pot.

Add the apple juice, lemon juice and a pat of butter to the pot and start cooking over medium/high heat.  Cook until your apples just start to soften, about 8 or 10 minutes.

Add your pectin and bring to a full boil.  Add your sugar mixture and return to a boil and boil for one minute.

Pour hot jam into jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.

Wipe rims of jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar to ensure a good seal.  

Put on lids and rings and tighten them down finger tight.  Place jars in a water bath canner and process for 10 minutes.   Turn off heat and remove lid from canner.  Wait 5 minutes and take jars out of canner and place on counter to cool for 24 hours.

Label and Store in a cool, dark, place.

Of course you need to open one jar and have some nice hot biscuits for breakfast the next morning. 

Pizza Sauce

I have never been satisfied with a pizza sauce so I decided to just do it my way.  I used the National Center for Home Food Preservation Spaghetti Sauce without meat as a guide.  It tasted real good going into the jars.  I can't wait to do a pizza and see the results!

Recipe yielded 11 pints.  I did 1/2 pints so one jar would be just enough for a pizza.

Ingredients:

25 pound box of paste tomatoes

3 tbsp of oregano

3 tsp of basil

1 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

1 tbsp of red pepper flakes

1 tbsp of minced garlic (About 4 cloves)

2 tbsp of canning salt

1/8 cup sugar

Fill your sink with water and add one cup of vinegar to wash you tomatoes in.  Core and quarter the tomatoes and cook them down as you would for sauce.  I used a roaster and let mine cook overnight and all day the next day. 

Take an immersion blender if you have one and blend them up a bit, then run through a food mill to remove the seeds and peels.

Pour sauce back in your roaster and slowly cook until it gets to the thickness you want.  

I let mine cook all day and into the evening.    When you sauce starts thickening then add all of seasonings and continue cooking until nice and thick. 

I let mine simmer about 2 hours after adding my seasonings.

Ladle sauce into your jars leaving ½ inch head space. 

Stir with a chopstick to remove air bubbles

Wipe rims of jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar to ensure a good seal.

Put on lids and rings and tighten down finger tight.

Recommended process time for  Kat's Pizza Sauce  in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Gauge Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 1,000 ft	Above 1,000 ft
Hot	Pints or Half Pints	20 min	10 lb	15 lb
	Quarts	25	10	15

 Remove rings from jars.  Wash, Label and Store in a cool, dark place.

V-6 Juice

Tomato-Veggie Blend

from Kat's Kitchen

Adding a few veggies to your tomato juice just gives it that little extra boost of taste and it's so handy to have around for soups and stews if you can keep everyone from drinking it.

What you will need:

One 25 pound box of tomatoes (Approximately 22 pounds will make 7 quarts)
No more than 3 cups of other veggies.  Do not exceed 3 cups of other veggies to keep recipe safe.
I used:
1 cups of celery
1/2 cup of carrots
1/2 cup of onions
1/2 cup of jalapenos
1/2 cup of red peppers
1 tsp of canning salt per quart jar
2 tbsp of lemon juice or 1/2 tsp of citric acid per quart jar

First thing I did was get my extra veggies chopped up and ready to go.  Set aside until you are ready to add them to your pot of tomatoes.

Next fill your sink with water and add 1 cup of white vinegar to it.  This is to wash your tomatoes in.   

Wash and Core your tomatoes.  Quarter them and crush the first layer in your pot to begin boiling.  Keep crushing as you add tomatoes.

Once all of your tomatoes are in the pot you add your chopped veggies and simmer for 20 minutes.   Press your mixture through a food mill or sieve to remove seeds and peels.  

Add lemon juice and salt to each of your jars.  

Reheat your juice to boiling  and fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Stir juice with a chop stick or something similar to remove any air bubbles.

Wipe rims of jars with a paper towel dipped in vinegar to ensure a good seal.

Put on lids and rings and tighten them down finger tight.

Place jars in your canner and put on the lid.  Bring to a boil and vent steam for a full 10 minutes or 7 minutes if using an All American Canner.  Or you can process in a water bath canner.

Process According to charts.

Recommended process time for Tomato and Vegetable Juice Blend in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 3,000 ft	3,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Pints	35 min	40	45	50
	Quarts	40	45	50	55

Recommended process time for Tomato and Vegetable Juice Blend in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Gauge Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 1,000 ft	Above 1,000 ft
Hot	Pints or Quarts	20 min	5 lb	10 lb
		15	10	15
		10	15	Not Recommended

Recommended process time for Tomato-Vegetable Blend in a dial-gauge pressure canner
			Canner Gauge Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 2,000 ft	2,001 - 4,000 ft	4,001 - 6,000 ft	6,001 - 8,000 ft
Hot	Pints or Quarts	20 min	6 lb	7 lb	8 lb	9 lb
		15	11	12	13	14

Let your canner cool down naturally.  Never try to speed up this process it will cause you to lose liquid in your jars.  Once pressure has dropped to zero, wait 2 minutes and open canner.

Wait 10 more minutes and place jars on counter to cool for 24 hours.

Test your seal by pressing your thumb in center of jar.  It should not pop up.

Label and Store in a cool dark place.

Reference:  National Center Home Food Preservation Site

US Commercial Bushel Sizes

All bushels do not weigh the same in pounds so I thought I would share a page with you showing all the US weights from bushel to pound.  The link is at the bottom of this post. 

A bushel of apples weighs 48 pounds

A bushel of Snap Beans weighs 30 pounds

A bushel of peaches weighs 50 pounds

An so on and so on....

 Click the link below to find how many pounds in a bushel of many various foods.  

Click to see how many pounds are in that bushel

CANNING GREENS

Canning Spinach and Other Greens

Quantity Needed:

Anyone that cans or eats greens will know that once cooked a large pot ends up being very little volume.  You will need at least a bushel to get one canner load.

A bushel of greens weighs approximately 18 pounds and will yield approximately 9 pints of greens.   You can do quarts if you prefer.  It takes an average of 4 pounds per quart.

Quality:

Canning food does not improve its flavor so always can only freshly harvested greens. Discard any wilted, discolored, diseased, or insect- damaged leaves.

1: Wash only small amounts of greens at one time. Drain water and continue rinsing until water is clear and free of grit.  I put 1/2 cup of vinegar in my big pot of water with the second wash and as you can see from the picture there is still dirt coming off the greens.  I wash them a third time after this.

2: Cut out tough stems and midribs.

3:  Place 1 pound of greens at a time in cheesecloth bag or blancher basket and steam 3 to 5 minutes or until well wilted.

Alternative Method:  Heat greens with just enough water to keep them from sticking.  Turn greens as soon as they start to steam. 
 Cut up with a sharp knife.  You just want them nicely wilted, not cooked.  

4:  Fill jars loosely with greens 

5:  Add 1/4 teaspoon of canning salt to each pint jar.  Salt is optional. 

6:  Cover with fresh boiling water, leaving 1-inch head space.

7:  Remove air bubbles from your jars and wipe rims with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar.

8:  Place lids and rings on jars and tighten down finger tight.

9:  Place jars in your pressure canner and put on the lid

 Vent steam for a full 10 minutes.  (7 minutes if you are using an All American Canner).

10:  Place your regulator on canner and process pints 70 minutes or quarts 90 minutes. 

Adjust time for your altitude according to charts:

Table 1. Recommended process time for Spinach and Other Greens in a dial-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 2,000 ft	2,001 - 4,000 ft	4,001 - 6,000 ft	6,001 - 8,000 ft
Hot	Pints	70 min	11 lb	12 lb	13 lb	14 lb
	Quarts	90	11	12	13	14

Table 2. Recommended process time for Spinach and Other Greens in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 1,000 ft	Above 1,000 ft
Hot	Pints	70 min	10 lb	15 lb
	Quarts	90	10	15

Always let your pressure drop naturally, rushing this will cause liquid loss from your jars.  Once your pressure has dropped to zero, wait 2 minutes before opening your canner.  Open with lid away from your face, the steam is very hot.

 Let jars sit in canner for 10 minutes and then place on counter to cool for 24 hours. 

After 24 hours check your seals by pressing your thumb in the center of the lid.  If it does not pop up then you have a good seal.

Remove rings from jars.

Wash jars, Dry jars, Label and Store in a cool, dark place.

Jalapeno Poppers

If you love Jalapeno Poppers but think you can't make them yourself, then think again.  They are easy and delicious!  In a few short steps I will tell you how I make them and have you making them too..I hope..

You will need:
15 Jalapeno Peppers
1- 8 oz package of Cream Cheese
1- 8 oz package of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 cups of flour
3 cups of seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
Oil for frying

The first thing you want to do is gather all your ingredients.

 Wash your peppers

I would suggest wearing rubber gloves when you cut your peppers.  

Cut the peppers in to pieces and remove pith and seeds.

Put your flour and a medium bowl and add the salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder and garlic powder to make seasoned flour.

Mix your two cheeses together real well.

Crush your bread crumbs in a blender or food processor

Now you are ready to make those poppers.

I kept rubber gloves on while filling the peppers with the cheese mix.

Next I dipped them into the milk and then rolled them in the flour mixture

I left these to sit and dry on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes and then I dipped them in the milk again and rolled them in the bread crumbs.  Let these dry another 10 minutes.

Dip once more time in milk and roll in bread crumbs.  Let dry 10 more minutes.

Fry in hot oil until golden brown.  1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

If you want you can freeze these or eat now.  

Processing Soups

Soups has been a bit of a discussion lately as far as how long they need to be processed. The Ball Blue Book says they go 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts while The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends that soups be processed 60 minutes for pints and 75 minutes for quarts.

From what I can determine, the reason for this difference in processing times is the amount of solids vs liquids in the jars.
Ball's recipes just tell you to fill your jars leaving one inch head space while NCFHFP says to fill with 1/2 solids and 1/2 liquids. I believe that is the reason for the difference in processing times. You should follow the directions for the recipe you are using since they are both safe canning guides. I am posting a link to both sites FYI.

Soups

This layered Beef Stew is full of solids and I just add the liquid over it.  This is processed for 90 minutes.  If I made the same stew in a pot and then only filled my jars half full with solids and then covered them with the broth, then I would only process it for 75 minutes.

Click here to visit NCFHFP site and read about soups

Click here to visit Ball Fresh Preserving for their Stew Recipe

Preparing Lids for Canning

There have been a lot of questions concerning the new method of using ball lids.  I contacted Ball and listed below is what they say about how to prepare their lids for canning.

Here's Ball's answer about heating the lids that they posted on their face book page.

Ball® Canning & RecipesTeam we have determined that it is no longer necessary to to pre-warm lids before use. If you desire, it is still safe to “simmer” your lids before use however, you should never boil them. To prep lids we recommend simply hand washing them in hot soapy water. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns! We always love to hear from our awesome fans.

Here's the answer they emailed back to me

Hi Kathy,

 

Thank you for contacting us! We apologize for the delay in response.

After many years of research, it was determined that preheating Ball, Kerr, and Golden Harvest lids is no longer necessary. The sealing compound used for our home canning lids performs equally well at room temperature as it does pre-heated in simmering water (180° F). Simply wash lids in hot, soapy water, dry, and set aside until needed.

 

Instructions on the  lid, cap, and jar packaging has  been changed. However, retail stores may still stock packaging having either instruction.

 

We hope this information has been of assistance. Again, thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,

The Consumer Affairs Team

With that being said, here is my personal recommendation:
Concerning the New Lid Procedure: My advice it to continue to warm your lids. I have not had an issue, but I am not following the new procedure. if you notice in the answer that Ball posted in response to the question about this on their face book page, they say it is still ok to simmer but not necessary. I still pour boiling water over my lids and let them sit in the water until I am ready to use them. I don't boil them, just pour the water over them. Maybe further testing needs to be done, I don't know. They said that the new lids work just as well at room temperature, but I have had friends having problems with seals breaking so I still believe that heating the lids gives you a better seal. Of course you don't have to, this is just my suggestion.

Re-Canning Food

I have a large gallon size container of peaches, can I open them and re-can them in pint jars?

I don't recommend re-canning commercially canned food unless it is something you are using in a recipe that you are going to can.  However, I found 2 different answers to this question.  I am giving both answers here FYI.  I believe the folks at All American are speaking of fruits only.  It is not usually cost efficient to re-can anything.

The first one is from the All American Canner Manual FAQ's

Q. When canned or frozen fruits are bought in large containers, is it possible to can them in smaller containers?


A. Any canned or frozen fruit may be heated through, packed, and processed the same length of time as recommended for freshly prepared food. This canned food may be of lower quality than if it had been canned when fresh.

Listed below is what the National Center for Home Food Preservation has to say about re-canning food

Is it safe to jar already canned food?
Often people think that they can save money by buying larger containers of canned food, transferring the contents (or leftovers from the first use) to smaller jars and re-processing it. Others wonder if this is a way to save leftovers from any size can for a longer time than they will keep in the refrigerator. 

There are several problems with these practices: 
(1) We have no safe tested processes to do this. In some cases, the way the heat is distributed throughout the jar during canning will be very different if you start with already canned/cooked food than with fresh. Excessively softened foods will pack more tightly into a jar, or arrange themselves differently and the process time recommended for fresh foods will not be enough for the already canned foods. Underprocessing can lead to foodborne illness or at the very least, spoilage and loss of product. You definitely could not just transfer the food and "seal" the jar. You would need some heat treatment known to destroy any organisms transferred with the food. 

(2) The expense and time of recanning foods far exceed the cost savings of bulk or large-quantity packaged foods. To re-can food, you now add the expense of a jar and lid as well as the energy to re-can the food. 

(3) Most likely the quality of the food will be greatly reduced in canning the food for a second time. The heat of canning does cause loss of some nutrients, and a second round of canning will further reduce the nutritional value. Textural changes from heating will be added to those already produced. 

Without tested processes for re-canning foods, there is no way to know how to reduce the canning process and the default (although not a recommendation) is to process for the full time and temperature as if starting from scratch. When you consider you are not even saving money and resources, it does not seem worth the loss of food quality to practice this re-canning of commercially canned food. Our recommendation is to not plan to do this.

Sterile Jars

Question:  Is it necessary to sterilize jars before canning?

Answer: Jars do not need to be sterilized before canning if they will be filled with food and processed in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes or more or if they will be processed in a pressure canner. Jars that will be processed in a boiling water bath canner for less than 10 minutes, once filled, need to be sterilized first by boiling them in hot water for 10 minutes before they're filled.

Reference:  National Center for Home Food Preservation

Of course you should still wash them in warm soapy water and keep them warm until ready to fill.  Kat