Canning Okra "for frying later" OAG recipe

I have been putting up lots of Okra this year using a method I first saw mentioned on Youtube on the Old Alabama Gardener’s channel. He was a very nice fellow and loved to share his abundance of gardening and canning experience. Unfortunately he passed away not that long ago (perhaps a year or two)… but his Youtube video’s live on.

Below is a link to his “Okra - Canning for Frying Later” video.

Below is a video that shows him Frying up some Okra that he canned using this method 5 years earlier.

The video below is from youtuber “deep south homestead” and she cans some using the OAG method and then cooks some that she canned earlier… and they taste test it.

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The recipe above are just notes I made from watching these videos.
The one on top is for a larger batch, and at bottom a smaller batch.

You have to have some basic canning skills and equipment to accomplish this, some large pots, jars, rings, lids, etc… PS (ACV = apple cider vinegar).

Good Luck with canning your okra for frying later.

TNHunter

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Can’t help but wondering what rate of sealing they get by their method. I can tell you that USDA does not recommend this.

My nephew has just about talked me into purchasing an air fryer. Supposedly healthier that frying in oil. Anyone know anything about air frying?

@Tennessean… i have canned 20+ jars so far, mostly wide mouth pints… 100% have ping’d… and sealed nicely.

You are right that this method will not be listed in most canning publications … like the Ball Blue book.

What i do can this fall will be eaten before next summer… but OAG cooked and ate some he had canned 5 years earlier.

I will report on how it goes as we cook some this winter. Looking forward to okra all year.

No experience with air fryers… but if you are using extremely unhealthy inflamitory cooking oils (commonly called vegetable oils… made from corn or other grains)… i expect that eating less of those might help.

If you are using healthy cooking oils…(that do not cause inflamation) butter, bacon fat, beef tallow, avocado oil, olive oil… fry all you want… sautee, blacken, pan fry, deep fry.

I normally pan fry my okra in a combo of avocado oil and bacon fat. Delicious.

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If you don’t use a pressure canner, be extremely careful not to taste the canned product until you have boiled it for 15 or 20 minutes after opening the jar as a caution against botulism. It can be deadly, but boiling will destroy the toxin. Boiling alone doesn’t kill the organisms that produce the toxin, though, so the need for pressure canning of vegetables and low acid foods.

I’ve made pickled okra for years. Going on memory, a tablespoon of vinegar along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a quart of okra filled with water followed by water bath canning. To cook, rinse the okra for a minute under running water, batter with corn meal, and fry in oil. I use olive oil by preference, just purchased 2 gallons today from Costco.

Here is one move vid from “deep south homestead” who uses the OAG method to can okra for frying.

Note - there are lots of comments on the video’s by OAG and DSH… from people who tried this method, and cooked the okra and had very positive stuff to say about it.

Some do question the canning method…
There are really no negative comments… no one got sick or died.
Many say that this is how their Grandmother canned okra.
OAG says a few times that Pickles are canned this same way… and that the ACV and Salt is what preserves the okra… similar to how pickles are preserved (without pressure or water bath canning).

One reply had a somewhat technical answer as to why this works.

Hundreds of people tried it and reported back very good results.



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I have one half pint canned that I did back in July.

I will do my best to try it out this week, and see how it cooks up, taste… and will give a report on it (hopefully) :slight_smile:


Found these details in my modern Ball home preserving book.

Looks like okra is similar to tomatoes in ph… just a bit higher on the ph scale… yet you can waterbath can tomatoes and other fruits like figs (and per OAG’s success with Okra) if you acidify your recipe to 4.6 or lower.

ACV per google search has a ph of 3.5