Canned Green Beans

Canned Green Beans

Have no fear! Green beans are easy to can, they are just time consuming. I canned green beans today to show some neighbors the process. Green beans need to be canned in a pressure cooker. Have your gauge tested yearly to ensure it is functioning properly. My pressure cooker is an All American model 921 and holds 7 quarts.

Rinse beans, snap both ends off and throw away. Depending on the length of the bean it will be snapped in half or in thirds. Fill quart jars with beans and thump them on the heel of your hand to help them get packed in tightly. Add 1 teaspoon of canning salt. Fill with warm water leaving 1/2 inch head space. Use a plastic knife to go around the edges and help release any air bubbles that may be trapped. Add more water if needed. Place lids and bands on snugly. It always helps to have your lids soaking in warm water before putting them on.

 

Place jars into pressure cooker on the rack. Add 3 inches of warm water to the canner. Place lid on and screw on snug. Make sure to line up the arrow on the lid to the line on the pressure cooker to ensure the lid is on correctly. Turn on the stove top to high heat.. Make sure the flute is open. Once the flute is steaming wait 3 minutes and close it. Now is the time to sit and watch the gauge slowly rise to the correct pressure. Depending on the altitude you live in will depend on how many pounds of pressure you will need. For me, its 13 lbs. Once it hits 13 lbs. start the timer for 25 minutes. The trick it to make sure the gauge doesn't fall below or above the correct pressure for your area. This will mean you will be adjusting the dial on the stove to find that perfect pressure. Never leave a pressure cooker unattended! Once the timer goes off, turn off the stove and let the pressure cooker sit until the pressure gauge reads zero. This takes time but as long as you remember to turn off the stove you can start on something else. Once the pressure is at zero, slowly open the flute to release any additional pressure. At this point you can open your pressure cooker and remove the bottles. They will still be boiling, so be careful and be prepared with a jar lifter! Place the bottles on a hand towel about 3 inches away from each bottle so there is room for them to cool. As they start to cool you will hear the popping of the jars sealing. Once they are cooled, check to make sure they all sealed. If one did not seal, serve it as part of your dinner that night or use within the next few days.

Simple! Right?!

Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce (this is an amazing recipe!)
Recipe: Nanette Despain

1/2 bushel tomatoes peeled

3 Cups chopped onion

3/4 TB garlic powder

2 TB basil

2/3 Cup parsley

3 bay leaves

1/2 C vinegar

1/4 C oil

1/4 C canning salt

1 TB pepper

6 TB brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot, bring to a boil and simmer 2 hrs. Pour into Quart jars and process 35 min in hot water bath.  Note:  if you use fresh herbs you may need to adjust the amount up to your liking. 1/4 cup dried = 1/2 fresh.
Makes 8-9 quarts

Apricot Pineapple Jam

Apricot Pineapple Jam
Modified Sure Jell Recipe

Purchase a Sure Jell Pectin Packet and you will find some yummy canning recipes!

5 cups finely chopped apricots
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
7 cups sugar

Follow directions, however, I use a box of pineapple jello instead of the pectin. I was told this hint from a friend to change the flavor.

In large pot (I make multiple batches at once but this recipe is for one batch) add apricots, jello packet, and lemon. Bring to rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. I like to use my plastic potato masher to help mash the fruit and be able to scrape the bottom without scratching my pan and it covers a lot more of the bottom surface than a large spoon would.

Once at a rolling boil add in the sugar and return to a full rolling boil. Boil exactly 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and scrape off the foam with a metal spoon and discard.

Helpful photos. Wash your fruit, I like to use a large strainer that fits inside a large bowl. Add warm water to the bowl and a tad bit of bleach to help kill anything bad that may be on the fruit. Immerse the apricots into the water and let sit for a good 20 seconds. I then rinse with water. Open the apricot and remove the pit. These apricots were so small that I did not cut them up into smaller pieces. The next photo is the mixture on the stove after much smashing of the fruit. You can see it has foam on the surface. They say you can add 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine to reduce the foaming, but I don't see much of a difference. Island Pineapple Jello packet. Make sure your jars are hot when you add the boiling jam into them. Soak the lids in warm water to help them seal better. Use a large hot water canner, instructions are in the recipe packet located in each pectin packet. Also a helpful tip that I forgot about since its been a whole year since I canned, is that if you add a little vinegar to the water you process them in, you wont have the dusty, dirty looking jars like you can see in the photo. I also made homemade bread that day! Yum!

Pictured is my husband's delicious white bread recipe along with apricot pineapple jam and apricot raspberry jam. I feel the raspberry was a little too powerful, so I only did one batch of that flavor.

Joan Fullmer Salsa Recipe

Joan Fullmer Salsa Recipe

1/2 bushel ripe tomatos
8-10 yellow or red peppers (remove seeds)
2-3 bell peppers (remove seeds)
3 Tbsp. crushed chili peppers
10 anaheim peppers (remove seeds)
3 large onions
1/3 cup salt
3 cloves garlic minced
6-8 jalapeno peppers (leaving seeds in makes it HOT)

Simmer 2 hours
Yields 18-20 pints
Hot water bath 20 minutes

I made this last year and I love the recipe. I used 6 jalapeno peppers I believe and very few seeds and it was a little too hot for my liking. Had quite the kick to it!

Sweet Pickled Red Beets

Sweet Pickled Red Beets
Recipe: Joyce Van Woerkom

Fill pressure pan with beets.
Add 2 quarts water
Pressure at 10 lbs for 35 minutes
Peel and cut beets

Make syrup of:
2 quarts water
2 quarts vinegar
2 quarts sugar
2 T. salt

Pour over beets, bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes. Bottle and seal.

Enchilada Sauce

Enchilada Sauce (canning)
Recipe: Nanette Despain

1/2 bushel tomatoes
1/3 cup chili powder
1/3 cup cumin
1/2 cup coco powder
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup oregano
1/4 cup thyme (Spanish)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro or 1/4 cup of dried
2 medium onions chopped
1/8 cup black pepper
1 cup apple cider vinegar

Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours. Test spice flavors as you go. Use an immersion blender to puree. You can also let the mixture cool and blend in a blender.

Process in hot water bath for 35 minutes for quarts and 30 minutes for pints.

Canned Salsa

Canned Salsa
Recipe: Andrea Jeppsen
Makes 6-8 pints

1 red onion chopped
1 white or yellow onion chopped
8 lbs. fresh tomatoes peeled and chopped
2 bell peppers (red, yellow) chopped
2 15oz. cans tomato sauce
3 Serrano peppers chopped
3 jalapeno peppers chopped
1 Anaheim pepper chopped
1/2 cup white vinegar
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 1/2 T. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar

Combine ingredients & simmer for about 3 hours.

Pour into jars and process 10 minutes.

*I haven't tried this recipe yet.