pressure canner

[The Mama Chicken]

Cityfarmer- I have a glass top stove...I do all my canning on the deck, using a propane turkey fryer. It works out great- keeps the heat out of the kitchen! Just an idea...

My husband suggested that the other day. It really works then? How long does the propane tank last? In Texas we do anything to keep from heating up the kitchen during the summer!

 

[lesa]

We do a lot of canning- but we also use the tank for BBQ, so I can't judge it exactly... but we don't use more than 2 tanks a season. With your climate I would definitely try it!! Depending how windy it is, you do need a bit of a wind block- just to keep the flame constant. I highly recommend it, for both water bath and pressure canning. I also use it to cook down sauce, before canning too.

 

[pretty40acres]

Just to let you know I can my beans differently than anyone I've ever met. I live in an area where gardens are a must and everyone cans to store for the winter months. My way of canning is NOT recommended by the USDA but my beans are delicious and I have been eating them this way all my life. I believe it's the vinegar that makes them safe to can and eat. Here it is and use at your own risk, but like I said, my granny's used this recipe for more than 40 years and we're all here and alive. We eat them at least 2 times a month, "we" meaning me and my extending family. We eat Sunday Lunch every Sunday with my granny.

copy & paste from another post

When canning green beans we would always put the "shelly beans" in with them and cook and can them together. I love canned green beans. We would string, break and shell beans. Measure them out in a gallon jug (over filled) which my granny calls a "cooker of beans". Each cooker of beans gets 1 quart of water, 1 cup of vinegar, 1/2 cup of salt and 1 cup of sugar. We would then cook the beans until they started to wrinkle a little and are dark green (about 20 minutes). Ladle the beans in quart jars almost to the rim. Then "find" the bean juice in the bottom and fill to the top with juice. Put a hot ring and lid on and wait for the popping sound of the seal. Any unsealed jars would be opened and refrigerated and eaten within the next couple of days. No waste. The beans we use were from my great-great grandmother. We grow a section of "seed bean" to save every year. I don't know what kind they are but they grow long "runners" and are very prolific.

I should add we wash the jars and dry them and put them in a warm oven to keep them hot for the hot beans to go in. We put the lids and rings in a pot of boiling water and have them hot too. I believe its for sterilization and it helps seal the jar. I do not know if this is the best way or even safe, but I'm 38 years old and I have canned beans every year with my granny since I was 8 years old.


eta: My granny said they are Indian Runner Beans

to cook canned beans: Open can and drain juice. Put in a pot and cover with water and bring to a boil. Pour off water and put new water and boil again. Ready to eat. You have to boil the vinegar out to get the taste right. No salt or seasonings needed. It's kind of pickled. We also do not water bath tomatoes, yep everyones' still alive and kicking. We can about 200 quarts and pints of each every year.

I think I am gonna try your way this year! I have always bath canned my green beans. Your way sounds better. How do you can tomatoes without the water bath? I always use my bath canner for my tomatoes too.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I love my pressure canner and use it all the time. In the winter I can my own broths, soups and stews so I have ready made meals available for when I don't feel well, and summertime I can the garden veggies. Our green beans come out so good we eat them right out of the jar sometimes, without even heating them and neither of us were ever big fans of green beans in the past.

I have a 23 qt Presto and have used it for several years with no problems. I recommend the Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball...they have 400 recipes in there that are AWESOME, as well as all the info you need for canning.

 

[catjac1975]

When I got my pressure canner many years ago it said you needed to have the valve tested yearly by your county extension service. (Do they still do this?)
I thought the green beans tasted burnt my husband loved them. I got away from canning as it took way longer than freezing. It doesn't seem as if it should but, it does.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

I put my tomatoes in the sink and put the stopper in. I pour boiling water over and blanch the skins off. I peel them and cut the core out (stem end). I then cut them into chunks into my boiler right on the stove set on medium heat. When I have them all cut up I turn the heat to medium high and keep stirring intermittently so they don't stick. I wash my jars and put them in a 200 degree oven and put my lids in hot water to soften.

When the tomatoes start to foam, I skim the foam off the top and keep stirring. When the tomatoes are boiling and the foaming stops I get one jar out at a time and fill it up. I add 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt per quart of tomatoes (1/2 tsp for pint), clean the rim and put a lid and ring on and set aside. I fill and seal one by one setting them together. When they are all jarred up, I put a kitchen towel over the tops and clean up my mess. I listen for the pings of the lids that they all sealed and let them sit undisturbed over night.

That's it. I enjoy my tomatoes all year long. It is very juicy and chunky and I use it as a base for my marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa and vegetable soup.

 

[pretty40acres]

I put my tomatoes in the sink and put the stopper in. I pour boiling water over and blanch the skins off. I peel them and cut the core out (stem end). I then cut them into chunks into my boiler right on the stove set on medium heat. When I have them all cut up I turn the heat to medium high and keep stirring intermittently so they don't stick. I wash my jars and put them in a 200 degree oven and put my lids in hot water to soften.

When the tomatoes start to foam, I skim the foam off the top and keep stirring. When the tomatoes are boiling and the foaming stops I get one jar out at a time and fill it up. I add 1 teaspoon per quart of tomatoes (1/2 tsp for pint), clean the rim and put a lid and ring on and set aside. I fill and seal one by one setting them together. When they are all jarred up, I put a kitchen towel over the tops and clean up my mess. I listen for the pings of the lids that they all sealed and let them sit undisturbed over night.

That's it. I enjoy my tomatoes all year long. It is very juicy and chunky and I use it as a base for my marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa and vegetable soup.

Thank you for the advice. I am gonna try it your way. Sounds alot easier than the way I do it. Thank you so much!

 

[grow_my_own]

I have the Presto 23-quart pressure canner. It was $89 including shipping on ebay 3 months ago. I've only used it once, but I love this thing!

I agree with other comments about the Ball Blue Book .... seriously, get one. I picked mine up at a local hardware store a while back for something like $8 (cheap). I wouldn't try to can without it.

 

[897tgigvib]

Hangingwiththe peeps knows about Beans!!!


Are those Indian Runner Beans any kind of Greasy Bean?

Used to be stringing beans and breaking off the ends was a family thing to do. I remember doing that at my Aunt Val and Uncle Matt's ranch when I was a kid.

For those who don't know, the good varieties of Beans can and should be picked later than you may think, and yes, the shell beans are picked and mixed right in the bag, bucket, or outstretched shirt. This way they have a few easy strings to get, and the ends snap right off.

These are usually "Cornfield" Beans, like Kentucky Wonder White Seeded, big long podded and almost greasy. Or else they are "Real Greasy" Beans that usually don't have an official variety name, or has a name something like "Sallee Family White Seeded Greasy", and heck, those in particular are actually 4 different kinds. Greasy Beans are usually smaller than Cornfields, even though they are always pole Beans...I guess they always are.

For those who don't know, uh, Greasy Beans are a big secret treat that seed catalogs don't carry. They don't tend to be uniform or something.

Then there are cutshort beans. They make a bean about shaped like a finger. Round and fat. Picked just right, strung and snapped just right, cooked up in a mess just right, and it is practically a plate of meat. Add some bacon, have that for breakfast, and you're good to go all day.

Hangingwiththe peeps, can you put in some photos of your granny's beans please? you may just have an extremely rare family heirloom there! I bet your granny has her own collards or cabbage greens variety too! Look close in her garden. You just may find that every plant and even weed there oughta have its seeds saved...

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

We save green beans, okra, and tomato every year. Before I was born, they saved cotton seeds after it was ginned. I am incredibly thankful as to not to have to pick cotton. There is only one store in our small town my granny will buy her other plants or seeds from. A family friend gives us collard seed every year, we mix it with turnip and mustard seed and grow in wide patches. That way the chickens only eat the outside leaves and keep the other bugs at bay. We pick from the center.

It's all in how you're raised. Thanks marshallsmyth for the nice compliments. I'll try and post some pictures of what's left from last years garden.