What are you canning now?

[ducks4you]

Me, too!!
Just a hint--it is really best to leave the jars INSIDE of the canner until the canner outside is cool to the touch. Remember, you are cooking to destroy bacteria and you are sealing with only a 1/4 inch of rubber, so best to not interfere. I think that this is why many canners aren't even hot water bathing their tomatoes anymore, opted to pressure can Everything.
It's a little bit like putting hot jars in cold water. The temperature difference is a LOT between the canning temperature/pressure and room temperature.
OUR body temperature is ~98.6 degrees F, but many of us are very comfortable if our room temperature is 65 degrees F
It is SUCH a Joy to "going shopping" for dinner in the pantry!!

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

No, please don't do that.

I've just passed my Master Food Preserver class from the county extension. 12 weeks and a really hard 18 page final.

Leaving them in the canner gives rise to flat sour, which are bacteria that survive the canning process. You must allow the jars to cool properly, not sit in a hot environment.

The reason we say you can continue to water bath your tomatoes, is that the adjustments for the acidity have risen, so as to accommodate all the modified tomato plants and their lack of acidity.

Never boil your lids. There is a thinner layer on lids nowadays. Don't buy cheap knock off lids. Buy the best. Your life and your pantry deserves it.

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks for the correction!

 

[ducks4you]

Back to what I am used to doing, hot water bath canning.
I cleaned out more of the porch freezer where I had a bag of grapes from 2024. There didn't seem to be enough, so I went downstairs to the pantry, where I have been canning and storing grapes in quarts for YEARS.
I carefully opening 4 quarts and 1 pint--one jar was labeled, 2010--and tasted to be sure, then combined the juices after boiling down the grapes and mashing with a potato masher.
It's always a little bit awkward when you haven't made something for awhile. I really didn't need the cone sieve, but I used it anyway, probably bc I had it. The kitchen smells like grapes right now!
I am finishing up the canning as i write--2 pints and 14 half pints of grape jelly. Enough to keep us in jelly for awhile.
I went through ALL of my sugar stash. I really didn't like the amount of sugar suggested in some recipes, so I probably mixed in about 1/2 of that suggested, but it tasted good and I added 4 packages of liquid pectin, so there should be a good gel. I measured 15 1/2 cups of grape juice before I started, and this is all from grape harvests.
You can always tell the gelling when you are cleaning up the bowl And the funnel And the long teaspoon (which I use if I overfill, to remove just enough,) And the ladel. It was tasty AND sticky on all of them.
Here is the preparation...tomorrow I will give you a shot of the finished product.

 

[ducks4you]

Here are the jars, minus the partial 1/2 pint in the fridge. Nothing has really jelled Yet, but I've been down this road before--in a week they will be jelled. LAST time, I even went to the point of relabelling them as "Partially Jelled", only to discover that I was wrong. I had 15 1/2 cups of juice, I added 4 packages of liquid Certo jel, recommends 4 packages for 16 cups, so, according to directions, I have used enough.
Funny, the grape juice tasted sweet before adding sugar, the pectin itself tastes sour, but it didn't affect the sweet taste of the mix before canning.
Yes, I used the 2 pressure canner racks to separate the jars from the surface, and to use as cooling racks.
Why Not?!?!?
If I get ahold of some nice oranges, I am going to take another stab at orange marmalade, THIS time not as runny.