Have never tried canning anything before. This summer I decided to give it a try. I went out and bought some mason jars, a rack for a large pot I have, and a lifter tongs. For my first attempt I decided to preserve peaches and nectarines. It took forever to cut them all up! They seem to have turned out OK - but I learned that I need to pack them much tighter in the jars, before sealing them. So, I ended up with half syrup / half fruit in each jar! In the end - only 7 pint jars.
In the past, I tried vacuum sealing, but did not like the results. When I thawed them, the texture was destroyed. 'Hope this method will be an improvement.
You can also use/reuse classic screw-on jam/sauce jars. For reuse, just make sure the lid is not twisted.
Strong flavoured fruit like cornelian cherries are often canned in a 1:2 fruit/syrup ratio so that you get a lot of juice. I am going to try this with aronia this year.
It helped me to find a decent canning book to help me do different types of fruit. We all learn through trial and error. I commend you on doing this for the first time. Ball jar company has a good canning and preserves/ jams book. Don’t give up and keep trying. I finally have a few good apple butter recipes I like- again trial and error and having my family do a taste test to see what ones we like.
Yes. Way too much liquid. So, I tried another 8 jars. This time I packed them tighter and ended up with 3 jars that wouldn’t seal. So . . . back to it this afternoon! I learned that I can ‘re-do’ the duds . . . just make sure to use new lids and check the jars, etc. I think that this time there was not enough head room . . . Thanks, everyone for your comments!
To save time and to end up with 2 useful fruit products, I’ve switched from sliced fruit water bath canning to steam juice canning.
The end product is fruit sauce and fruit juice. You can ladle the hot juice and hot sauce into hot jars and they will seal themselves. No need for a water bath.
Granted the sauce part is not as visually appealing as sliced fruit but works great in pies and crisps and is a fast process. Here’s peach/apple I made yesterday:
Cranberries go on sale after Christmas but you have to be quick before they sell out. We were able to get 5 lbs of wisconsin red pearls that was all they had left. A gallon and 1/2 of cranberry juice will be enough for us for a year. Though we might not need it at all. Usally my wife cans the whole berry and we pop the lid and slide it off to the side while we pour the juice out to drink. This way i believe will be better. Since it’s all juice and uses less jars that we have to store in the canning jar room.
Thats a great first attempt we like ours hot packed in extra light syrup. Hot packing helps with shrinkage and floating. Plus the skins are easier to slip while hot.
I canned some tomato juice this year from nothing but Sun Gold tomatoes. Ran them through a squeezo, added some salt pepper and spices, and processed them in a hot water bath. Tastes like V8 but sweeter. Not the most appetizing looking tomato juice, but it’s very good. 12 brix.
we like ours hot packed in extra light syrup. Hot packing helps with shrinkage and floating. Plus the skins are easier to slip while hot.