Canning

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moonshadow
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Canning

Post by moonshadow »

I was just wondering if we have any members here that still practice the old dying art of home preserving (canning)?

I had a pretty successful garden back in 2009ish, and as a result, I purchased a "Ball Blue Book", and taught myself how to can vegetables and soups. It worked out pretty well, and though I haven't had a garden until this year, I still have my pressure canner as well as my open canner (for tomatoes).

Sadly my tomatoes aren't doing too well this year, and my garden was only a 50% success after realizing I put half the garden box under shade by accident. Nevertheless, I did manage to grow enough green beans to justify running the canner a few times. So far I've put up 7 quarts of beans, and I stopped at a produce stand to purchase some small potatoes, and I mixed them in with the remaining green beans, which yielded 7 more quarts of mixed green beans and potatoes.

Today I put up 9 pints of squash, with more likely later on this week as I have one particular squash plant that seems to be doing very well.

Kinda bummed about the tomatoes. Now I'd just like to pick up a large basket of them on the cheap so I can have home canned tomatoes to carry me through the winter....
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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denimini
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Re: Canning

Post by denimini »

Sorry, I used to do that sort of thing but due to an otherwise busy life (not laziness) I just freeze stuff in a chest freezer, either fresh, blanched or stewed. As I only go shopping once a month, a 400km round trip, I freeze a lot of food; meat, fish, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, some veges and ice cream ( :) )
Because things get frozen I don't use my glass Fowlers Vacola preserving jars any more and have given them away. I use plastic containers.
I do still make jam for my morning toast but that is heavily preserved with an obscene amount of cane sugar. I reuse glass jam jars for that.

Yes, if you are growing stuff; it is usually a feast or a famine but it is often the only way you know what you are eating.
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Jim
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Re: Canning

Post by Jim »

Yes, we can every year. So far our garden hasn't produced enough to can this year (I can sell all the berries at farmers' market), but I've canned roadkill venison, our neighbors' excess roosters, and some wild golden oyster mushrooms. We may can some green (or yellow) beans soon if we don't sell them all at the market.
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Re: Canning

Post by partlyscot »

Nearest I've got to that is pickling. I love pickles! Pickled onions are highly anti social, but oh, so tasty! Trouble is they take so long, so I cheat, and instead of using small onions, I used larger onions sliced into 3/8 or 1/2 inch.
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Re: Canning

Post by crfriend »

partlyscot wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:39 pmNearest I've got to that is pickling. I love pickles! Pickled onions are highly anti social, but oh, so tasty!
Eh, who cares? They're tasty. Also very, very good -- and something I miss -- is pickled radishes. Slice 'em thin, put 'em in the picking jar under pressure, and the next morning you've got something more than worth the wait!
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Canning

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I love pickled onions!!! I try to do some during the summer but last year I did not make any and so did not have any this past winter.
I usually take small pearl onions and cucumber slices place them in a quart canning jar and fill it with the sweet pickle juice. Then place in a large cauldron of boiling water for about 1 hour then tighten the lid and wait for it to pop. These are then placed on a shelf to await consumption. The longer on the shelf the better they get. I once found a jar that was 3 years old and when I opened it it was absolutely fandamtastic. That jar did not last very long after it was opened. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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moonshadow
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Re: Canning

Post by moonshadow »

Well, hopefully I have enough wide mouth pint jars to accommodate the last little bit of the squash harvest. I have two regular mouth lids left and a box and a half of wide mouth, and that's all she wrote.

Lids are like hens teeth right now... covid yay... :roll:

Whether I bother to garden at all next year will depend on my ability to procure a good supply of canning lids this winter. I dont want to get caught unprepared next year.

Is there ANYTHING that isn't in a chronic shortage these days? My God! :x

If any members here are through with their canning days (for whatever reason) and wish to offer their Ball or Kerr lids (no Chinese knock offs please), pm me. Also I've had good luck with "Golden Harvest" lids. I basically trust lids made in the U.S.

I'm willing to pay up to $4 per dozen plus reasonable shipping.

I realize they are selling for double that... but canning is a hobby, not a life necessity. I'm not going to pay a premium for a hobby. I'll find something else to do with my time before I lay down a dollar per lid... that's crazy! :shock:

The two dozen wide mouth lids I got at Food City sold for $3.99 each (dozen). So I feel like with a keen eye and a little patience I can find the lids before next harvest season...
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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Re: Canning

Post by Coder »

moonshadow wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 3:30 pm Is there ANYTHING that isn't in a chronic shortage these days? My God! :x
I bought some stone veneer recently and the price was more or less unchanged from pre-covid times. I needed to order more than what they had in stock which took four weeks, but that's their normal lead time.

Otherwise, yeah, everything else is out of stock.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Canning

Post by Fred in Skirts »

Moon, Try Amazon I found these Kerr Mason Jar Lids. Wide Mouth, 12 Pack (Bands not Included) (Pack of 2) $7.50 $11.00 shipping Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
They have more lids than you can shake a stick at.
Orders over $25.00 get free shipping.
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Re: Canning

Post by moonshadow »

Fred in Skirts wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 6:34 pm Moon, Try Amazon I found these Kerr Mason Jar Lids. Wide Mouth, 12 Pack (Bands not Included) (Pack of 2) $7.50 $11.00 shipping Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
They have more lids than you can shake a stick at.
Orders over $25.00 get free shipping.
Do you have a link? I couldn't find anything in that price range in the kerr of Ball brand.

I also have prime, so hopefully there will be free shipping.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Canning

Post by Fred in Skirts »

It looks like that one is sold out, But they have hundreds more but as with everything now the prices have gone up. Thanks to current situation. I recommend looking around the site and seeing what you can afford.
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
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Re: Canning

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Fred in Skirts wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:53 am It looks like that one is sold out, But they have hundreds more but as with everything now the prices have gone up. Thanks to current situation. I recommend looking around the site and seeing what you can afford.
I hit a honey hole today. Stopped in at the Walmart in Bluefield VA around 930PM for some Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, and figured "what the heck..." and checked the canning section anyway.

The shelves were wiped out..

...BUT...

I noticed that there were stacks of fresh inventory in the middle of the walkways between the aisles, it seemed as though they were having a truck night.

On a whim I started examining the pallets, and by the time I got to the fourth one I found a whole case of regular mouth lids and several cases of wide mouth lids.

Price for the regulars: $2.29 a dozen (one box)
Wide mouth $3.19 per dozen. (one box)

And these were BALL lids!

I purchased ten boxes of regulars and three boxes of wide mouth. That should do me the rest of this year and next year too.

I thought about buying the whole case, but it just felt wrong, so I left most of the case (there are 24 boxes in a case) for the next customer.

I felt a little guilty about buying so many, but at least I'm actually going to USE THEM and NOT SELL THEM FOR $15 PER BOX! :roll:
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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moonshadow
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Re: Canning

Post by moonshadow »

I also had a confrontation regarding the skirt I was wearing as I exited the store, but this one I think I handed very well. I'll write more about it later...

I tell ya, obtaining these canning lids has been quite an adventure!
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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moonshadow
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Re: Canning

Post by moonshadow »

Fred in Skirts wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:53 am It looks like that one is sold out, But they have hundreds more but as with everything now the prices have gone up. Thanks to current situation.
Well, I think it's important to remember that the major retailers are NOT increasing prices on these items (including canning lids), in fact, the seem about the same price as I was paying about a decade ago.

No... this isn't corporate America doing its thing, this is ordinary people buying all they can afford off the shelf at full retail and then marking them up X4 in order to make a quick buck.

"We the People" are the problem... once again.

I have a BIG issue with people buying items in short supply at full retail then marking them up to sell to desperate people. If someone wants to make profit off of items like canning lids, then do the right thing, contact the BALL corporation and arrange a wholesale account like normal retailers do... and make their money the right way. :x
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
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Re: Canning

Post by crfriend »

moonshadow wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 3:34 amI felt a little guilty about buying so many, but at least I'm actually going to USE THEM and NOT SELL THEM FOR $15 PER BOX! :roll:
Do not feel guilty in the least. First, they're going to get used for a decent and honest purpose and second, they're not going to be bought by someone who's trying simply to make a quick buck at somebody else's expense. That's two birds with one lucky shot.
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