Dill pickles can be a pain to can. A lot of recipes take days for the brining process. If you're swimming in pickling cukes and don't want everything sitting around for days on end as your pickles are in process, then try this recipe from the Ball Blue Book. We've found it to be our favorite recipe for good sandwich pickles.
Hamburger Dills
This recipe makes enough liquid for 7 pint jars.
Wash and drain your cucumbers. No need to peel them. Just cut them into thin slices (about 1/4" thick). Do not use the very ends of the cucumbers.
Place your cucumber slices in pint jars.
Add in 2 heads of dill, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed, and 2 peppercorns for each jar.
Meanwhile, combine 4 1/2 cups of water, 4 cups of vinegar, and 6 Tablespoons of canning salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Once your jars are filled, ladle the hot liquid into the jars leaving 1/4" headspace.
Adjust lids and rings.
Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Easy!
I will add a few tips. If you can possibly grow your own dill, DO! It's expensive in the store and at home it will produce well and will come back in following years. Well worth the initial time and money to plant.
Also, if you wait until cucumbers are prolific in everyone's gardens to do your shopping, you may struggle to find the correct ingredients. I try to stock up on mustard seed in particular as that is almost always off the shelves at this time of year.
Lastly, you can use any cucumbers to make pickles. But if you use garden cukes you'll find the seeds to be much larger. Ideally you should plant pickling cukes and harvest them when the cucumbers are about 4 inches long.
Showing posts with label Canning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canning. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
How To Can Peaches
Summertime is the time for peaches! And if you are like many of the people in my family, you wish you could enjoy their fresh taste all year. Canning peaches is incredibly easy and allows you to get that delicious Georgia peach taste even in the dead of winter.
We typically buy a 25lb box of peaches (half a bushel) and get about 13 quarts of peaches out of it. Not a lot, but still enough for at least one jar a month.
To begin, make sure your peaches are soft, but not overripe. If the peaches are too tough, they'll be difficult to peel. If too soft, you'll run into the same problem. And instead of leaving them in the box to ripen, spread them out on a table. This will separate any that have small bruises from the rest of the bunch and will keep the good peaches from rotting.
Once your peaches are ready, simply peel the skins from the outside of your peaches. I typically use a sharp, small knife for this job. If the skins don't come off easily, you can dip the peaches in boiling water for 10-30 seconds and then immediately submerge them in ice water. The point is not to cook the peaches, but to loosen the skin.
After peeling your peaches, slice them in half and take out the pit. The easiest way to get the pit out is with a spoon. Gently loosen around the pit and it'll pop right out.
Place your peach halves pit side down in WIDE mouth jars. Using wide mouths allows you to fit peach halves in your jars. You may think that cutting the peaches into smaller slices will allow you to fit more, but after experimentation, we've found that you can fit the same amount whether you use quarters or halves.
Fill the jar with your peach halves.
Make a syrup of sugar and water. You'll want 1 cup sugar to every 3 cups water. It takes about a cup and half to fill each jar, so make plenty of this. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is melted. Do not boil this as you don't want your good syrup to boil down.
Pour the syrup into the jars over the peaches leaving 1/2" of headspace. Remove bubbles and place the lid and ring on the jar.
Process the jars at 5lb pressure for 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely.
Note: For reasons I can't explain, some jars do lose liquid during the pressure canning stage. These jars are still fine to store so long as the seal is good. If you store the jars for several years, you may find some browning on the top peaches. Just remove those peaches and eat the ones underneath. But really, these peaches aren't going to last several years! You'll have eaten them long before that!!
We typically buy a 25lb box of peaches (half a bushel) and get about 13 quarts of peaches out of it. Not a lot, but still enough for at least one jar a month.
To begin, make sure your peaches are soft, but not overripe. If the peaches are too tough, they'll be difficult to peel. If too soft, you'll run into the same problem. And instead of leaving them in the box to ripen, spread them out on a table. This will separate any that have small bruises from the rest of the bunch and will keep the good peaches from rotting.
Once your peaches are ready, simply peel the skins from the outside of your peaches. I typically use a sharp, small knife for this job. If the skins don't come off easily, you can dip the peaches in boiling water for 10-30 seconds and then immediately submerge them in ice water. The point is not to cook the peaches, but to loosen the skin.
After peeling your peaches, slice them in half and take out the pit. The easiest way to get the pit out is with a spoon. Gently loosen around the pit and it'll pop right out.
Place your peach halves pit side down in WIDE mouth jars. Using wide mouths allows you to fit peach halves in your jars. You may think that cutting the peaches into smaller slices will allow you to fit more, but after experimentation, we've found that you can fit the same amount whether you use quarters or halves.
Fill the jar with your peach halves.
Make a syrup of sugar and water. You'll want 1 cup sugar to every 3 cups water. It takes about a cup and half to fill each jar, so make plenty of this. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is melted. Do not boil this as you don't want your good syrup to boil down.
Pour the syrup into the jars over the peaches leaving 1/2" of headspace. Remove bubbles and place the lid and ring on the jar.
Process the jars at 5lb pressure for 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely.
Note: For reasons I can't explain, some jars do lose liquid during the pressure canning stage. These jars are still fine to store so long as the seal is good. If you store the jars for several years, you may find some browning on the top peaches. Just remove those peaches and eat the ones underneath. But really, these peaches aren't going to last several years! You'll have eaten them long before that!!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Canning Green Beans
This year we were blessed with a bumper crop of green beans. We typically plant bush beans, but for several years we've struggled to get a good crop. After tender care of our plants and lots of hopeful waiting we ended up swimming in beans!
So, what to do with all of them? I love raw and cooked green beans, but there's only so many you can eat in one summer. We choose to can our green beans. It's a great fresh veggie to have all winter long and it makes for a simple side dish to throw together.
After harvesting your beans, you'll want to snap the ends off. Just the very tip of the end is all you need to pull off. As you can see by the picture, little helpers do tend to remove a little more than necessary. But it's always great for them to help out. And beans provide an excellent way for little ones to stay busy.
Once the ends are removed, wash your beans well. Then snap them into 1" sections. It's not necessary that they be perfectly even. But the more uniform they are the more evenly they will cook. These were snapped by my 2 year old. (I evened them out later!)
Once the beans are all snapped, pack them into jars. We use quart jars, but if you have a small family, pints may work better. You can really pack them in tightly.
After getting your jars filled, add in 1 teaspoon of salt per quart. Use 1/2 teaspoon for pint jars.
Fill the jars with water leaving about 1/2" headspace.
Screw on your lids and rings. Place in a pressure canner and process at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes (quarts) or 20 minutes (pints).
Remember: DON'T open your pressure canner until the pressure returns to zero. Otherwise you'll end up with burst jars.
Happy canning!
So, what to do with all of them? I love raw and cooked green beans, but there's only so many you can eat in one summer. We choose to can our green beans. It's a great fresh veggie to have all winter long and it makes for a simple side dish to throw together.
After harvesting your beans, you'll want to snap the ends off. Just the very tip of the end is all you need to pull off. As you can see by the picture, little helpers do tend to remove a little more than necessary. But it's always great for them to help out. And beans provide an excellent way for little ones to stay busy.
Once the ends are removed, wash your beans well. Then snap them into 1" sections. It's not necessary that they be perfectly even. But the more uniform they are the more evenly they will cook. These were snapped by my 2 year old. (I evened them out later!)
Once the beans are all snapped, pack them into jars. We use quart jars, but if you have a small family, pints may work better. You can really pack them in tightly.
After getting your jars filled, add in 1 teaspoon of salt per quart. Use 1/2 teaspoon for pint jars.
Fill the jars with water leaving about 1/2" headspace.
Screw on your lids and rings. Place in a pressure canner and process at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes (quarts) or 20 minutes (pints).
Remember: DON'T open your pressure canner until the pressure returns to zero. Otherwise you'll end up with burst jars.
Happy canning!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Strawberry Freezer Jam
So many people have asked how I make strawberry jam. If you have some extra freezer space this recipe is my favorite. It stays a beautiful pink/red color and is a taste of fresh strawberries throughout the year.
I simply use the recipe for freezer jam found in the PINK box of Surejell. I always buy the pink box because the resulting jam isn't overly sweet. Strawberries fresh from the garden are sweet enough on their own.
Clean and remove the tops from about 4 cups of strawberries.
About one cup at a time, mash the strawberries with a hand masher. Jam should have chunks, so don't worry about getting your strawberries completely mashed.
Continue to add berries and mash until you have EXACTLY 4 cups. Measurements are very important in making jam if you want it to set properly, so measure carefully.
In a bowl combine 3 cups of sugar and one package of the surejell (pink box). Mix well. Then pour it into a saucepan and add 1 cup of water. Place on medium high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Be sure to stir CONSTANTLY throughout the cooking process. Once the sugar water begins to boil, time it for 1 minute, stirring all the while.
After the minute is up, remove the pan from the heat. Add the berries and stir for one minute.
Ladle the mixture into jars and cover with lids.
These jars will need to sit at room temperature for about 24 hours before going into the freezer or fridge. This will ensure that the jam sets up well.
The jam can be frozen for a year or kept in the fridge for 3 weeks.
If for some reason your jam doesn't set up, you can always use it on ice cream or in other desserts. Don't throw it out! But if you follow these directions, you really shouldn't have any issues.
Hope you enjoy it!
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