As some of you who are friends we me on facebook know, we finally bought a new, larger air conditioner that actually keeps the house nice and cool so now I am able to do more things inside...like canning...that I have been wanting to do but it was too hot to do before. Anyway, today was a canning day. I had gotten these bags of organic carrots this week marked down to $ .99 each plus I had gotten two vegetable "party" trays that also had two sections each of carrots in them (for $2.50 each. They also had a section of celery, broccoli and podded peas that I will use for other things). I took them all out of the bags and sliced them up mainly because Phil likes them this way.
That pan wasn't quite large enough and I had to switch to a bigger one.
I brought them to a boil and boiled them a few minutes. Meanwhile the jars were put in the canner and were sterilizing.
Then I packed the carrots into the jars, ran a knife around the edges to remove air bubbles, added about a 1/4 tsp of salt to each jar and then into the pressure canner for 25 minutes.
After all eight jars were filled there was some left...
..I put it in a freezer bag. Just the right amount for a meal.
And here are all the jars. The tops have all popped down and they are ready to be dated and labeled and put on the shelf.
I'm loving your blog!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am glad it is helpful to you. I am trying to get more busy with the blog lately but please look back on the posts, there is so much information here and I often don't repeat what I have already shown on here though I probably should since some of it is years old.
Delete"Canning" is a technique not much used or understood in the UK. I suppose though that it has some advantages over freezing, in that it once the job is done it does not require any energy. If you get a power outage all your frozen food can be lost, but presumably your canned food does not suffer from such problems.
ReplyDeleteNo it doesn't and your canned food will last longer. It is something you could still do if you were "off grid" because it doesn't need electricity. Sometimes it is easier to use than frozen vegetables because it is already cooked and just needs to be heated up. Frozen vegetables (at least those done at home) are usually just blanched and still need a good bit of cooking after you take them out. Home canned food tastes better than the store bought in a can, I take it that is because while it is pressure canned until it is safe, it is not cooked as much as those in the cans in the stores.
DeleteI haven't used my pressure canner in an age. I got it to can beans, but now I can't eat beans so it languishes in my basement.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't actually used mine in quite a while. :)
DeleteGood job on the bargain hunting. As it's only the two of us now I dot can as much as I did. I share the fresh produce from the garden with my kids but I tend to just eat what I grow now. It's not like when the kids were home and I grew heaps and canned heaps for later use. I guess you just don't have the enthusiasm when it's just two of you
ReplyDeleteThere are only 3 of us here now and I do know what you mean. Some of it just doesn't get eaten if I make too much. :(
DeleteI don't understand why it is called 'canning' when it actual fact it's 'bottling'.
ReplyDeleteCan food actually be 'canned' at home ? i.e. using tin cans ?
I have no idea why it is called that or if it can be done at home, lol.
DeleteHi Becky! I'm glad to hear you got a new a/c! In this heat, you really need it! Great post! I love to find bargains like this! It happens so rarely here though. I'm going to try growing carrots this fall. Hopefully they'll produce lots of carrots for me to can! Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get them to grow. I never had much luck with root vegetables here. I just could not get the soil good enough.
DeleteBecky,
ReplyDeleteLike you when in the store, I look for great deals on vegetables or fruit for canning and putting up in the pantry.
Hi Becky, I always look forward to your canning blogs and your cooking and baking. I usually buy fresh or frozen, I don't have room until I dig my root cellar. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete