skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Sept 22, 2015 5:49:53 GMT -5
Allow all of the jars to sit, upside down, until they are completely cool. This could be several hours to overnight. When you flip them back over (right side up) tighten down the bands a little bit more. Press your finger firmly in the center of each lid; it should stay down when pressed. If the center pops up and down, it did not seal properly and should be refrigerated and used first. Label and date your jam jars.
I would not recommend leaving them upside down until they cool. Leave them upside down for about 5 minutes then turn them right side up. As the contents cools the vacuum will be created and the small empty space between the contents and the lid allows room and keeps the contents away from the seal.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Sept 22, 2015 5:57:09 GMT -5
I do the strawberry and raspberry jam and have for a long time. I have raspberry bushes out back and pick the strawberries from a neighbor's farm. Applesauce from our apple trees and cherries from our trees also.
I do cold pack tomatoes which are used for sauce in place of crushed tomatoes. I blanch and skin the tomatoes and put them in jars with a bit of salt and then can.
Every other year we do homemade puree. We use Roma tomatoes and stalks of basil. It's cooked down for about 6 hours and then squeezed to eliminate the seeds and skin. The contents is then canned.
The cold pack tomatoes and homemade puree produce a very low acid sauce. We've been doing this for decades and often we do a big cannings with the whole extended family helping out.
I would recommend the Ball Blue book, Guide to Canning, Freezing and dehydration. A great basic guide.
After so many years it becomes ingrained and you can do it from memory.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 22, 2015 10:50:03 GMT -5
I just checked my peach jam and it's kinda runny. I guess not enough pectin?
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kittensaver
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We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
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Post by kittensaver on Sept 22, 2015 12:22:53 GMT -5
I just checked my peach jam and it's kinda runny. I guess not enough pectin? Depends. Could be not enough pectin. Could be it's not cooked down enough.
Some people don't mind their jam being "loose," and don't particularly like the taste of pectin (yeah it's supposed to be flavorless, but I don't buy it).
Some people prefer super-solid jam (lots of pectin) - more like commercial jams.
If you're unhappy, you can always empty your jars into a big pot, cook the jam down some more and then reprocess the batch (use new lids, though).
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Sept 23, 2015 2:16:42 GMT -5
I can't wait until I get back to the States and can get my chest freezer out of storage! The most I can do now is make refrigerator pickles and single batches of jam. I also make and freeze homemade tomato sauce when the store puts the vine ripened tomatoes on sale right before they go bad. They don't taste near as good as from a garden, but better than canned.
I've recently gotten into spiralizing zucchini noodles, and I plan to freeze them in small batches in the future. And I consider this to be more batch cooking, but I make big pots of soup, beans, and homemade soup stocks when I need them and then freeze at least half for later consumption.
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olderburgher
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Post by olderburgher on Sept 23, 2015 8:20:04 GMT -5
We have done strawberry, raspberry-plum and peach jams. We canned pears, peaches, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles and tomatoes, plus 26 lbs. of honey. We'll do applesauce soon. We froze a butchered lamb, peppers, corn, green beans, tomato soup, ham and vegetable soup also blueberries and strawberries plus a few fruit pies. However, my wife deserves most of the credit for all of this.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 23, 2015 10:08:10 GMT -5
Wow, do you have your own bees??
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Sept 23, 2015 18:10:43 GMT -5
I'll ask this here - I hear I can 'stack' jars in the water bath but I'm not using 'official' canning pot and racks. I'm using a deep stainless steel stock pot with a wire rack at the bottom. I would like to stack the little 4 ounce jars so get 12 in the pot (6 on top of 6). I might also be able to stack 4 ounce jars on top of some 'squat' 8 ounce jars. Can I just put another wire rack on top of a layer of jars to hold the next row? Everything I read just says I can stack jars - it doesn't seem right to just put one jar on top of another... but maybe that's the way you do it? Tiny, if I was wanting to stack jars, I'd leave space for water to circulate between the layers. Something like two wire racks (one inverted) between the layers. This would ensure that what you are preserving will get hot enough to kill the bacteria and prevent spoilage. I think the ideal situation for stacking would be to use a pot like a turkey fryer, with a basket type insert. Stack the jars in the basket, then lower the basket into the hot water. Since you wouldn't be handling slippery individual jars in very hot water, there is less risk of dropping a jar, or compromising the seal as you remove a jar from the water.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Sept 24, 2015 23:19:05 GMT -5
I just checked my peach jam and it's kinda runny. I guess not enough pectin? What I've learned about pectin is that it needs to be balanced against the amount of 'water' in the jelly/jam... there's a balance between the 'water' and the 'sugar' and the pectin. It appears to be a bit of an art form to get the set you want.
From the batches I've made I'd agree that you either need to cook the fruit alittle longer (remove more water) OR add more pectin. I'm using the packets of liquid pectin that go in at the end - which makes it a bit of a crap shoot. I AM getting a better feel for predicting what kind of a set I'm going to get - based on the quantity of jam/jelly in the pot and how "liquid-y" it is.
I'm thinking of switching over to the kind of pectin you add with the sugar - and then just cook away until it reaches a specific consistency.
FWIW: I like my jelly (the sort of clearer but with bits in it product) and jams (lots of bits and no translucence or clear ness) a little looser versus rubbery.
You could just use the peach jam as is, you could it all back in a pot and cook it a bit more and then re-process the jars (new lids) OR when you open a new jar - you could just the contents into a sauce pan, cook it down alittle more and then put the thicker jam into a airtight container, you'd need to start using the jam right away and store it in the fridge . You'd need to use this up within a couple of weeks (just like you would with a freshly opened jar). OK, I'm bad, I've eaten 'condensed' jam 6 weeks after I'd opened it and cooked it down and put it in the fridge. I'm still alive - but I may have really feisty gut bacteria - those little guys handle just about everything without a complaint. YMMV
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Sept 24, 2015 23:26:16 GMT -5
I'll ask this here - I hear I can 'stack' jars in the water bath but I'm not using 'official' canning pot and racks. I'm using a deep stainless steel stock pot with a wire rack at the bottom. I would like to stack the little 4 ounce jars so get 12 in the pot (6 on top of 6). I might also be able to stack 4 ounce jars on top of some 'squat' 8 ounce jars. Can I just put another wire rack on top of a layer of jars to hold the next row? Everything I read just says I can stack jars - it doesn't seem right to just put one jar on top of another... but maybe that's the way you do it? Tiny, if I was wanting to stack jars, I'd leave space for water to circulate between the layers. Something like two wire racks (one inverted) between the layers. This would ensure that what you are preserving will get hot enough to kill the bacteria and prevent spoilage. I think the ideal situation for stacking would be to use a pot like a turkey fryer, with a basket type insert. Stack the jars in the basket, then lower the basket into the hot water. Since you wouldn't be handling slippery individual jars in very hot water, there is less risk of dropping a jar, or compromising the seal as you remove a jar from the water. Actually, the information that I could put the hot product into the jars, clean the rims, put on lids and rings and THEN process the jars in batches solved my problem. The second batch of jars only 'waits' about 15 minutes - the first batch of jars is done in 10 minutes. I've noticed the second batch takes a bit to get back to boiling - and that's when I start the clock.
I even worked up the courage to put a new lid on a jar that didn't seal from an earlier batch. It sealed up fine the with a new lid.
Made Habanero Pineapple Mango Jam... to. die. for. the stuff is so addictive... you get the sweetness of the pineapple, then the mango, and then the heat. with a bit of cheese (using cream cheese cause that's what I got on hand) and a cracker - it's hard to NOT keep eating it. This batch is suppose to be for using on chicken or pork or burgers - as a condiment.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Sept 24, 2015 23:29:17 GMT -5
I just checked my peach jam and it's kinda runny. I guess not enough pectin? So, I've gotten requests for Peach Habanero Jam... what kind of peach jam recipe are you using? Is it the Ball recipe? or one that uses frozen or dried peaches? I have NO access to fresh peaches... so I'm looking for an alternate recipe. I'd just be adding a couple three four minced Habs to the original recipe (or maybe a single ghost pepper).
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olderburgher
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Post by olderburgher on Sept 25, 2015 9:00:47 GMT -5
Wow, do you have your own bees?? Yes we have our own hive.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 25, 2015 10:12:11 GMT -5
I just checked my peach jam and it's kinda runny. I guess not enough pectin? So, I've gotten requests for Peach Habanero Jam... what kind of peach jam recipe are you using? Is it the Ball recipe? or one that uses frozen or dried peaches? I have NO access to fresh peaches... so I'm looking for an alternate recipe. I'd just be adding a couple three four minced Habs to the original recipe (or maybe a single ghost pepper).
Yes, fresh from the farmer's market.
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