Home canner here from way back… here to make a few suggestions (if you’re interested). I would 💯 recommend to put off purchasing a pressure canner as it is not required for most canning unless you are processing meat, poultry, fish, or seafood (unlikely, right!). Here is what I recommend for the essential tools & supplies for most home canning: 1) Water bath canner (including internal rack for lifting jars in and out of the canner). 2) Grabber for lifting jars by the neck out of the rack once they come out of the water bath. 3) The little plastic wand with the magnet on the end for lifting the individual lids out of the simmering water and placing on the cleaned jar top. 4) Wide mouth funnel for putting foods into the jars and thus keeping the jar top clean. I’m sure there are many more accessories that you can purchase, but tbh, we do a lot of canning and preserving, and the items listed above are the basic essentials that we use all the time. Fellow canners and preservers… have I missing anything? Ⓜary💕🫙🌿
@@aleksandrasivolob We live in the wilderness of northern 🇨🇦 and have a big garden and greenhouse. For the most part, we don’t buy produce as we try to work with what we grow. We blanche & freeze all our broccoli, cauliflower, beans (green and wax), and peas. We use zip-lock bags for this but we wash and re-use them every year. We find that canning tomatoes is a huge amount of work and very time consuming so we freeze our tomatoes whole and unpeeled, straight off the vine. Throughout the winter they are wonderful to use in soups, stews, sauces, curries, etc. When it comes to canning we can different types of salsa, pasta sauce, relish, pickles, chutney, applesauce, and jam, jelly, and syrup. When we have lots of cucumbers I puree them in the food processor and freeze the puree in ice cube trays. We then use the “cuc cubes” in smoothies. We don’t use a pressure cooker at all because we don’t can meat/fish/poultry and we freeze our beans and tomatoes. Thanks for asking… and of course, I’m curious to know if you do home canning or preserving? What are some of your favourites? Greetings to you from northern 🇨🇦. Ⓜ️ary
I agree with Mary don't go spending money when you don't need to. I have been canning and freezing for years. I use Bamboo steam basket for veggies then I did purchase a vacuum sealer. I hot water bath my tomatoes (Roma) quarter cut out stem, blend ,jar and boil 15 min.😊
couldnt agree more with presure canner. I have been canning for few years now and at the beggining I used to water bath now i can in my oven and its soooo easy.
@@lindafuskova7057 How do you can in the oven? You just put the jars and everything in it at 100 degrees Celsius or something for a set amount of time?
Washing jars in a dish washer won't sterilize them -- the temperature is not high enough. For that you have to either put them (with lids) in the oven for about 15 - 20 min (100 Celsius) or cook them in a pot in water for similar amount of time counting from the moment the water starts to boil (it's best to put a cloth at the bottom of the pot for that and put the jars in the pot while the water is still cold -- this way the glass won't break). Sterilizing jars in the pot is easier and safer, especially if you are a beginner.
Great point you have made here!! A dishwasher will not sterilize canning jars. Like you mentioned we put our jars in the oven to sterilize them. Happy canning to you and have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
I am a gardener and a canner and I have a little tip. After washing your tomatoes make a small cross with a sharp knife in the skin on the blossom end of the fruit. Put the tomatoes in the freezer for at least four hours. I freeze a large amount of tomatoes, usually a week or so worth out of my garden and do a big batch. Then place a strainer over a large bowl and put the frozen tomatoes in the strainer to thaw. The tomatoes with release a delicious juice into the bowl as they thaw. Once thawed, just slip the skins off. Then take the skinned tomatoes and cook them as you like. They won’t need to be cooked quite as long as fresh which I find tastes better. The juice can be drunk fresh or canned as well. I usually get at least 11 quarts of delicious tomato juice per summer to drink and enjoy through the winter. My favourite use is as a broth substitute…so much umami! The skins can be dried and ground to a powder which adds a delicious depth to food. The tomato’s will be thick and delicious too. So no waste and it saves me energy by doing one day of continuous canning whenever I have enough and I can wait til cooler months to not cook myself out of my home! Another new tip from this year is grow nasturtiums and make yummy food from them. You can dry the leaves and flowers and process them with some good sea salt and make your own delicious peppery salt. I learned this from Gaz Oakley, a vegan UA-camr, chef and gardener. I have a surfeit of nasturtiums this year so I have already pickled many jars of nasturtium seeds, eaten loads of flowers and leaves in salads. Sorry for the ramble, I am very passionate about gardening, preserving food and reducing food waste. Cheers. Fresh lemon juice is not consistent in its acidity, citric acid or bottle lemon juice have a consistent pH. I just use a basic canning pot and have since I first learned to can when I was little. I have nerves had a problem! Best of luck with your new adventures in food preserving and canning.
Hi! I make my own tomatoe sauce every year (here in Italy). Let me tell you how because you definitely don't need citric acid or anything like that at all. Just wash the tomatoes and put them whole in the pot and cook them as you did. They will start releasing water, drain that away and put back the tomatoes cooking untile very soft (as you did). Add onions, garlic, salt. You can add also pieces of celery and carrots if you like. When everything is soft, it's done. You need a type of machine to remove the tomatoes' skin, but it's ok using the blender as you did, it will be more rich and I have to say I prefer it that way. Once you have done that, put the sauce in the jars, add a basil leaf and cover the sauce with extra virgin olive oil. Close the jars, put them in a large pot and cover till the edge (before the lids) with cold water and put them on the stove. Let the water boil for about 20/30 minutes. Be careful, the water needs to boil gently otherwise the jars will crash. After 20/30 minutes, turn off the heat and let it cool. When the water is completely cold, you can remove the jars (maybe you will hear a sound like a small shot. It's the lid that is creating air vacuum). This sauce last the whole winter, you don't need any chemicals to preserve it or any lemon juice. Trust me ;-) This is a traditional recipe my family has always made. Keep cooking, you are doing great! I love your videos!
My mother (not Italian) used to use something called a mouli once the tomatoes were cooked to remove the skin & seeds. We wound up with a watery unseasoned tomato sauce, not as thick as passata. But used similarly I think & cooked down when preparing meals.
I haven't even watched the video yet but I wanted to say that I misread the title as 'Learning how to ferment and pickle Feminist Reserve' and I was very interested! 😅
It might be too humid where you live, but thought I'd mention the traditional preservation method of my Iraqi and Syrian neighbors: drying. Tomatoes get sliced and dried in the sun, covered with cheesecloth to keep the flies off. Once they're leathery, they're bagged up. Eggplants get the inner flesh scooped out and made into a dip they eat fresh. Then the outsides (like cups with a thin layer of flesh) are threaded onto string and hung until dry. When dry enough, they're packed away until winter when they're rehydrated, stuffed, and baked. A special kind of thin flatbread is made in very large rounds. They're left out to dry, then stacked up like giant pancakes and wrapped. When you forget to buy bread, you dip into your stash, flick a little water on with your fingertips, let rest under a tea towel for a few min...and it's miraculously like fresh bread. Tons of other veg gets treated this way. I love it because it uses solar energy, and keeps families connected to their traditions.
You need 5% acidity for canning. The Companys are leveling it out so you have 5% vinegar and 5% bottled Lemon Juice. Lemons can vary in acidity because of ripeness, sort etc. I love Melissa K Norris to learned about the savety about canning etc😊 And I would absolutly Suggest a pressure canner for example to can broth or veggies without acidity 😅
The thing is, tomatoes already are quite acidic, so you don't need to add more acid I think you need a pH of 5 or less for canning and tomatoes have a pH of 4-4,6 and onions are even more acidic with pH 3, so even if you add other vegetables it should be absolutely fine
Pressure canning is required for any food with a ph higher than 4.6. Anything lower is considered safe as the primary concern with canning food is botulism. These include green beans, corn, peas, squash, beets, carrots, dry beans etc... Foods 4.6ish require acid to assure they are safe (tomatoes, quince) which drops the ph. These are citric acid, vinegars and lemon/lime juice. These should be bottled to assure consistent ph. Where this is gray is for foods with an already high ph like blue berries. Then it's mostly a matter of getting to set point quicker. Traditional jams have less sugar more fruit (including green) and fresh lemon/lime juice. If canning pie filling only clear jel has been FDA approved as a thickener.
Hello friends! If you're canning with second hand jars, please check the jar for any cracks and chips especially around the rim. You want to get a good seal and any defects in that area could be the difference between botulism and yummy safe to eat things. A few channels on youtube I love are Melissa K. Norris, Acre Homestead, and Homesteading Family.
I grew up canning and preserving with my mom on our homestead! My advise, you really only need a pressure canner when you’re canning meat. Otherwise, canning on the stove top in a stock pot is just fine. So enjoyable watching this series :)
For tomato sauce the in my opinion easiest way to do it is just by making the sauce as you like. I prefer baking the tomatoes, onions, garlic or whatever you want in yours. After that you blend it into sauce, reheat on the stove once more to make sure it is really hot. After that you just pour it into clean jars, close them and let them cool upside down. (I am not sure how these fancy jars you use work, they are not typical in my country. Here we use the basic ones where the lid is just one piece.) As the jar cools down the pressure will can it for you. :)
You are correct about bottled lemon juice more concentrated I have been canning for a long time I don’t remove the seeds or skin from tomatoes anymore if you blend they almost disappear especially if you use sauce tomatoes. You can dehydrate the skins if you remove them to make tomato powder. You need a pressure canner for most preserving you can also use the pressure canner for water bath canning just leave off the weights. I have a basic Presto pressure canner it was under a hundred dollars easy to use and works great. Happy preserving. ❤
Was just coming to say the same, long-time canner and I don’t remove the skins or seeds either (the skins are also full of nutrition!) and the only time I notice that in the texture is in a more lightly cooked cherry tomato pizza sauce recipe. Also recommend the America’s Test Kitchen canning book, but Ball is great too. Thanks for this video and all your wonderful vibes - have fun, you will be amazed how easy canning actually is!
From what I've seen and experienced, the US consensus is that high sugar or high acid recipes (jams or pickles) can be water bath canned (pot on stove). For anything else (tomatoes, garden veg, soups, salsa, etc) you need to pressure can.
Thank you Immy! You have inspired me to get back into canning. I used to can a lot with my mother. I would put off getting a pressure canner. You do need one to do meats, but also for low acid foods such as peas or corn. I would start with jams and pickles, oh and tomatoes. These are all acidic (or high in sugar) and will not need the pressure canner, but will give you a lot of experience. I started with jams, pickles, chutney, and tomatoes. By the time I finished experimenting with all of that, I was tired and ready for soup season to begin. I am off to look at my canning recipes and off to the farmers' market in the morning. thank you again.
If you are set on peeling tomatoes just put them in the freezer till you have enough for the recipe you want. When you thaw the peels slip right off. I do not peel tomatoes as the skins actually work a bit like paste for thickening. If you have a high speed blender just blend the tomatoes skins seeds and all. They will pulverize in the blender. Then I cook the puree till its as thick as I want. Most tomato products, with added acid like lemon juice do not need a pressure canner. I personally find freezing vegetables like green beans and such have a better texture.
Great comment. I do a lot of the same things as you. I, too, find that blanching and freezing our veggies is easier than canning them, and like you, we prefer the texture of frozen veggies compared to canned. Have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
Your daily video series are truly something I look forward to watching, as well as your instagram stories! I also started getting into food preservation this past year, and attempted my first cheong based on Johnny’s videos this past week! I layered plums with sugar, and let sit in a dark place for a about a week, stirring once or twice, till most of the sugar was dissolved and then put it in the fridge to continue. No fermentation happened that I could tell but I used my airlock system just in case!
I only water bath can, and think it is a great starting point. The few things I would need to pressure can (broth, potatoes) I just freeze. I’ve gotten more into lacto ferments this year and have found “farmhouse on Boone” really helpful. Simple recipes and explanation. Love your videos!
When I have an abundance of tomatoes, I run them through my blender, minus the cores and process. I then dehydrate and end up with the most tasteful tomatoe flakes.😊
I don’t peel my tomatoes when I make sauce. I use a stick blender and wiz them up. Then when I put them into the jars I add one tablespoon of cider vinegar to each quart jar. It always comes out great! I do water bath can them. They last until we eat them all up.
I've never canned but I like to make jam (It's a way to preserve fruit so I thought to mention it.). This year I made strawberry jam and red current-strawberry jam. I buy jam sugar (usually one part sugar and two parts fruit) and do everything as instructed on the package. However, I also add some lemon juice. That's a tip I got years ago from a seller at a farmers' market. The lemon juice ensures that the jam turns solid. I love jam making because it makes me proud, tastes better than storw bought jam and is a nice little present whenever you are invited to someone's home. Plus it's super easy (Canning looks a lot more complicated!) albeit quite a bit messy. This week my colleague gave me some cherry jam with a couple of pieces of chocolate. I've never heard of this but I'm excited to try it as soon as I'll have finished my current glass.
I am not an expert by any means but I have canned a few times (with the help of my mom and aunt). I've made jams, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. We just used a big stock pot, first to sterilize the jars and equipment and then to seal the jars. Hope that helps!
You only need a water bath canner (or just a regular pot) for anything acidic. That book you have is the perfect resource. For anything not acidic (veggies) you need to pressure can. I've found the presto electric pressure canner to be AMAZING. It is very expensive but if you are serious about the canning lifestyle, I think you should dive right into the electric canner rather than the intimidating stovetop pressure canner.
Bottled lemon juice has a specific pH level which you need for water canning. Fresh lemons vary significantly because of ripeness! Good luck with your canning journey xx
Me and my mom made some peach jam a few years ago when our sweet neighbor gave us a ton of peaches. We used a big pot and it was just fine! We have also canned green beans and salsa with the same method of just the pot! It’s simple and approachable because honestly the big canning cookers scare me. Also we have used the pot for soup and corn cobs and other stuff and it’s nice for it to have multiple purposes. I would suggest getting a set of can/jar tongs (?) It’s a metal handle thing that allows you to grab the jars safely out of the water. It’s very nice to have. That’s basically the only special canning tool we use.
Your correct about the lemon juice. The benefit to a pressure canner over a water bath canner is you can do vegetables in only water. No need to pickle or add salt to preserve it. I canned for many years before I bought a pressure canner. I love both methods. I would recommend a food mill. Great for many recipes and reduces food waste. I used my this morning when canning strawberry apple sauce. Love your channel ❤
My mother has been canning every fall for as long as I remember and she only sterilizes her jars in the oven. It's so simple, no equipment required! You just need to have a new mason lid for each batch to be sure the seal works. She makes jam, salsa, ketchup, apple sauce, sweet pickles and many more this way 🙂
I appreciate you talking about your note taking, because I have a bad habit of just jumping into things and not knowing how I can do better or similar for the next time. I need to take more notes! Haha
Repeating what some others have said - acidity is really the most important safety factor with water bath (not pressure) canning. Canning creates a sterilized anaerobic (no oxygen) environment that will kill most bacteria. However, botulinum spores can survive the regular boiling temperatures of a water bath. They’re also obligate anaerobes (meaning they only reproduce when oxygen isn’t present). Thankfully, botulism is very sensitive to acidic environments, so as long as the pH is low enough, you prevent the spores from germinating and reproducing into the active form of the bacteria that’s toxic and deadly to us. Pressure canning reaches temperatures that are high enough to destroy those spores, so no bacteria survives. If you’re going to can something like green beans in water, or mushrooms, that’s when you’ll want to use a pressure canner. Any good canning book like the one you have from Ball should specify which recipes are appropriate for water canning and which are best for pressure canning. Hope that’s helpful!
This is a great explanation. I should have mentioned in my comment that we use a water bath for canning acidic foods and pickles, etc. When it comes to preserving beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peas etc we blanche and freeze these veggies. If we didn’t do so, a pressure canner would be needed for safety to prevent botulism in non-acidic foods. Thanks for your great explanation, and have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
Love to learn with you😊 My mother in law always has a ton of courgettes, I slice them super thin, put them in pots and ad a mixture of boiling 500gram sugar / 1000ml vinegar (2tbsp mustardseeds) on top😋 stays perfect for 5-6 months (this is the only recipe I know😅)
Like you mentioned the bottled lemon juice is for safety, since it has to have a certain level of acidity, while individual lemons' acidity can vary. ISU's extension office has an article on this "The Case for Bottled Lemon Juice in Canning." Canning-wise, like another commenter mentioned, I wouldn't jump to a pressure canner right away. With a waterbath canner (aka a giant pot that allows for 2" of water above your jars) you can can fruit, jams, pie filling, pickles, and many tomato recipes. Pressure canning lets you can vegetables. I will say that one thing I do like doing that I couldn't waterbath is canning dried beans, which pressure canning lets you do. The canning book you have is great and was also my first canning book. :)
My instant pot knockoff has a pressure canning function (separate from pressure cooking) that will hold four pints. That has been enough for me, even if I have to run it two or three times back to back for chicken broth. (Full disclosure: I'm preserving for one person.) Everything else I can water bath, pickle or ferment. I would check what you own to see if you have what you need already. I didn't even know this device had that function when I bought it. I'm glad I noticed it because when I got it into my mind to learn how to can, I had a lot of grand ideas, a lot of bookmarked recipes and a huge shopping list with dreams of a pantry with jars and jars of colorful food. I was forced to scale down to four pints. I learned that I don't actually like what is commonly canned. Example: it turns out that I don't like canned green beans. I thought it was a hold over from my childhood of commercially canned green beans. Nope, they just are not appealing to me. I still have three of the four pints and will probably dump them when I need the jars or space in my cupboards. I learned that my style of eating doesn't use much canned stuff and that I get sick of something if I have too much of it. I'm glad i didn't spend a few hundred dollars on a fancy canner.
hello immy! me and my mother make tomate pulp. we just peel the bigger tomatoes. put it in a pot. let them boil and after that let them cook for while to extract the water of the tomatoes. if it's runny we take the lid of the pot and let it boil more while stirring. before taking of the heat, we blend everything. check the consistency of the tomato pulp. turn of the heat. while its cooking, we use a separate pot with water boiling and place the containers that we are going to use for the tomato pulp in the boiling water. lastly, put the tomato pulp inside of the containers. put the lid and close and turn upside down to create vacuum (i'm not sure it really works but my mom its pretty convinced it does. i dont know much about that). once their cool down, turn them again to normal. we store them in a cool place but after opening a can we store them in the frigde. we have been doing for 3 years i think. its been working so far. we havent had any problem with mold or anything like that. enjoyng vlouaugust so far :)))
A tip for when you are processing tomatoes in the future... I agree that putting them in the hot water and then into an ice bath to get the skin to come off is important! But as soon as you take them out of the ice bath, shake them off and then put them in a big strainer over a bowl. Then work to take the skin off, and then also take the seeds out (most recipes tell you to remove the seeds because they are bitter). But as you are working on deseeding and peeling them in the strainer, the juice will fall through it into the bowl below. And then you can also save the fresh tomato juice, which is soooo delicious! It made the best Bloody Mary we've ever had! So I wanted to tell you so that you could capture and use the juice!
I agree with what a few others have said. 1) the reason they recommend using bottled lemon juice is because on an individual level lemons do not have a consistent acidity. And in tomato products it is used to raise the acidity to make it safe for waterbath canning. 2) It seams like based on this video you plan to start off with waterbath canning. If that is the case then you don’t need a canner for the time being. Just a pot large enough to cover your jars with 1 inch of water (boiling). I hope this was clear and helpful. I believe another commenter wrote a list of the other basic supplies. But I thought more detail on this one could be helpful. If you can’t find the why information in your book the USDA has their book available for free online or you can purchase a copy if you prefer to use a physical copy. It is called USDA the complete guide to home canning. There is an entire section on how canning preserves food, why, and how we know. Good luck
Love love love this series, but especially this video - I've been thinking a lot about preserving food lately too and tried pickling spicy cucumbers earlier this week (nothing too advanced - just something to keep in the fridge, and they're delicious 😁). I can't wait to see a future update from these videos as I'm so interested to preserve more! The main problem I have is finding space. Completely agree - the work homesteaders put in is mind-boggling, but I guess hard works reaps rewards! Love from south Wales x
Hi! Have you tried to do ratatouille? It's so good cold or hot and all vegetables are in season now! I do it in big quantities in the oven and then I put in several jars as the tomato sauce, quite easy and sooo tasty 😋
Yeass… ratatouille for the win!! It’s so versatile and such a great way to use up many types of seasonal veggies. Great suggestion!! We make it in big quantities too! Ⓜary🌿
The Mustards shirt! I still years later regret not getting it! 😂 coffee is life And I’m definitely making pickled cucumbers now - I do onions and jalapeños and cabbage pretty regularly but still buy pickles often enough. This is inspo!
It really depends on what you want to can you can make so many things without a pressure canner I personally don’t have one because I like to keep it simple but things like jelly’s tomatoes most fruit pickles salsa and some other you only use the water bath method so good to get that down first!! Also I always use the lemon juice I think the flavor it leaves behind better some can’t taste a difference I can though happy canning I hope you enjoy it takes a lot of work but it is so amazing to eat things you’ve grown and made 6 months later that help feed your family and community
I have this book too - the jams and pickles have been great so far! Next I want to try some of the pie filling recipes. I feel like pie filling is more of an American thing but we do love a crumble in this household!
My other advice from my own experience is to pay close attention to the space you're supposed to leave at the top of the jar as it'll impact the preservation. If you have 2 and a half jars, the half jar can go in the fridge for two weeks but don't bother processing it, it won't work.
There’s nothing more wasteful than home-canned goods gathering dust in the pantry. I think you have hit upon a key point, Immy, and that is to make and preserve recipes that you will enjoy and use throughout the winter. We have our favourites and we repeat them when seasonal foods from our garden and greenhouse are ready to preserve. I won’t lie, we have canned stuff that we have opened and then turned a blind eye to as it slowly got shoved to the back of the fridge. We have learned from this wasteful mistake and we now think carefully about how we want to preserve our summer’s bounty. I’m interested in learning more about the special lids that you mentioned for the sauerkraut because we do not have pickling crock. Please keep us posted. Thanks a bunch, Immy, I always appreciate you. Ⓜary🌿💕
You boil the jars and lids and only take out to fill w the hot mixtures. You can also heat them in the oven to sanitize to hot. Im curious if the tomato skins stay on would this be more nutritious since they just didn't have blenders back then.
You have the best canning book there is, so if you follow it, you'll know what you can can without a pressure canner. Low acid foods require a pressure canner. Consider getting a steam canner for your acidic food canner. They use less water than a water bath canner, and you're not fishing jars out of a big pot of boiling hot water.
Its because bottled lemon juces has a known regulated level of acidity. There is a lot of variation in whole lemons. Personally i would just take the risk and use whole lemons (i probably wouldn't recommend mayor lemons though) especially since Bottled lemon juice uses plastic usually and is a lot more expressive where i live (i know its the opposite in some other places)
Last summer was my first summer having a community garden plot and I made homemade tomato sauce. It came out great! I did one batch thus far this summer and it was awesome again but I see what you mean about the tomato skins. And honestly the boiling and the straining method is less work IMO. Sidenote: I’m actually throwing an intimate dinner party next weekend for a few friends bc of the sauce. Which does come out a bit thinner vs store bought but tastes OH SO MUCH better! Cheers from suburban Chicago! ✌️🌆🌲🐿️
This is so interesting. I can't see me going this route myself - I don't like pickled stuff. But growing and then canning my own chopped tomatoes sounds like a good shout!
Hello Immy! Citric Acid or bottled lemon juice has a defined acidity, which is needed to ensure the right pH-Level whilst canning. The right (low) pH-Level is necessary so harmfull bacteria such as "Clostridium botulinum" is not able to grow! Please ensure you always use the right "Acid" (CitricAcid or bottled lemon juice) whilst canning so you always stay at your greatest health.
Citric acid or bottled lemon juice serve the same purpose, to ensure that your tomato product has the right level of acidity. Bottled lemon juice has a standardized acidity level, as does citric acid. Fresh lemon juice can vary in acidity level. Water bath canning is for high acid foods. The high acidity helps ensure that nasties like botulism cannot survive in your product. High acid foods can be water bath canned in a large pot, you just need one deep enough to cover the jars (stood upright) by a couple inches of water. Low acid foods are most vegetables, meats (for those that eat them) and legumes (among other things) MUST be pressure canned correctly to ensure that the food is safe to eat. People have died from improperly canned green beans and also potatoes (and many other vegetables). Please don’t play dice with your life. A pressure canner can be a big investment, but you can often find them on Craigslist or FB marketplace.
Highly recommend the channel melissa mir for canning ! And garden yard for growing food in your garden. ❤ have fun with it. I only canned differen kind of jams so fare, i still have some from last year so i am not making any this year.
Hi! I love your videos and I especially enjoy your skilled girl summer series. Having scrolled through the commentaries I haven’t yet found what I would like to advise you. Disclaimer here: I myself haven’t (yet) dived into the canning process myself and the reason is the following. What I’ve read so far about is is that you can use a water bath if you can food with a ph value that is on the acidic side. However, if you want to can products that have a higher ph value (alkaline, ie above 7) and/or are high(er) in protein (meat but also legumes) it is highly recommended that you do pressure can. The reason is the risk of botulism. It is very rare but it can occur. The spores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum cannot be killed at 100 degrees Celsius and they can sprout to create botulinum toxin (yes, it’s what beauty surgery uses to smooth out your wrinkles). When you pressure can, you create higher temperatures (up to 120 degrees Celsius) which definitely kill the spores for good. I myself am from Europe and in my home country people are not too much aware of this risk that comes with canning certain foods, even if it is (thankfully) rare. Since we don’t have pressure canners here I’ve been hesitating to can on my own, even though I’d like to try it with canning my own batch of chickpeas and other legumes. If anyone has any tips on pressure canning with a pressure cooker (since this is more accessible here) I would love to read them! Stay safe and cool everyone (if you like me live on the Northern hemisphere)!
Hey Immy, not sure if you've discovered Jessica from 'Three Rivers Homestead' yet? Her and her family are not vegan but she is an absolute wealth of knowledge where preserving of any kind is concerned, she preserves food all year round but every August she does a challenge that she invented called 'The every bit counts ' challenge, people from all over the world join in with it and post their bounty. Her family is a big one with kids from 16 down to 6 months and her husband works of the homestead during the week days so she never wastes anything at all from fruit scrap jelly to apple scrap vinegar, home made broth, fruit butters of all kinds, tips on the best ways to preserve different herbs, how to repurpose leftovers, she grows some fruit and veggies in her garden so it's all very precious, she has a brilliant way of not wasting any part of the tomatoes she grows by using the pulp for sauce, ketchup, passata, bbq sauce etc then she keeps the skins and the leftover unwanted bits, dries them and powders them to make a shelf stable concentrate that she can add a liquid to to rehydrate and make tomato puree (paste in the U.S ). those are just a couple of clever ways she doesn't waste anything, she also deals with her sons anaphylactic dairy and nut allergies and her own crohn's. Have a look back at her August posts for the last 5 years for the most information as she tries not to repeat recipes to give out the most info. She's also super lovely and completely self taught, you will learn so much from her than you ever could from just a book! Do remember though, her family is not vegan and they have a small number of animals that they raise for slaughter and they keep laying chickens and ducks and bee's, just a head's up. Good luck with your preserving ventures, much love xx
I really want to figure out how to can tofu! I havent been able to find much about it online. I love the idea of making a huge batch of soy milk and tofu and having a many months supply 😊 Such an exciting new world to get into
I buy tofu dried, in cubes about the size of large croutons. I rehydrate them with a flavourful liquid when I want to use them. I wonder if dehydration might be an option for you?
I just read up on the bottled lemon juice note today myself when making salsa for canning for the first time! Apparently, it has to do with it having a more balanced pH level. With fresh lemons, the pH can vary, so you can't be sure you're getting what you need for the acidity. If this isn't quite right - please someone chime in with the comments :) I'd love to learn more!
I loooove your videos and the wonderful things you learn :) I made kimchi sauerkraut which is in my opinion the best two things combined in one. And you can choose how spicy you like it. :)
hi! you need to have at least a 5% acidity to have a safe product. Fresh lemons are not consistent with their acidity, while I think bottled lemon is an abomination for most things, but it is absolutely necessary for a safe product. I prefer it over citric acid, and its just a splash so you dont notice it. I have seen electric pressure canners used by other UA-camrs, where you could omit the acid, bc pressure canning is for low acid foods....I haven't tried it, but that is also option. Anyway I love your calming voice and your recipes are very fun, while I am not a vegan I really enjoy your ideas.
just putting anything in a can isnt canning i really hope that everything went into your fridge to be eaten immediately or is thrown out because you did not sterilise the jars or can them. there's a channel called "that 1870s homestead" i believe that has a very solid beginner canning guide. i really recommend watching those videos before you try canning again especially if you want to be safe and avoid botulism, moulding, etc.
Store-bought lemon juice has a consistant acidity whereas fresh lemons are not the same acidity....to allow for boiling water bath canning rather than pressure canning, you need a certain amount of acid in foods like tomatoes & pickles...
Home canner here from way back… here to make a few suggestions (if you’re interested). I would 💯 recommend to put off purchasing a pressure canner as it is not required for most canning unless you are processing meat, poultry, fish, or seafood (unlikely, right!). Here is what I recommend for the essential tools & supplies for most home canning:
1) Water bath canner (including internal rack for lifting jars in and out of the canner).
2) Grabber for lifting jars by the neck out of the rack once they come out of the water bath.
3) The little plastic wand with the magnet on the end for lifting the individual lids out of the simmering water and placing on the cleaned jar top.
4) Wide mouth funnel for putting foods into the jars and thus keeping the jar top clean.
I’m sure there are many more accessories that you can purchase, but tbh, we do a lot of canning and preserving, and the items listed above are the basic essentials that we use all the time. Fellow canners and preservers… have I missing anything? Ⓜary💕🫙🌿
what are some of your favorite things to can?
@@aleksandrasivolob We live in the wilderness of northern 🇨🇦 and have a big garden and greenhouse. For the most part, we don’t buy produce as we try to work with what we grow. We blanche & freeze all our broccoli, cauliflower, beans (green and wax), and peas. We use zip-lock bags for this but we wash and re-use them every year. We find that canning tomatoes is a huge amount of work and very time consuming so we freeze our tomatoes whole and unpeeled, straight off the vine. Throughout the winter they are wonderful to use in soups, stews, sauces, curries, etc. When it comes to canning we can different types of salsa, pasta sauce, relish, pickles, chutney, applesauce, and jam, jelly, and syrup. When we have lots of cucumbers I puree them in the food processor and freeze the puree in ice cube trays. We then use the “cuc cubes” in smoothies. We don’t use a pressure cooker at all because we don’t can meat/fish/poultry and we freeze our beans and tomatoes. Thanks for asking… and of course, I’m curious to know if you do home canning or preserving? What are some of your favourites? Greetings to you from northern 🇨🇦. Ⓜ️ary
I agree with Mary don't go spending money when you don't need to. I have been canning and freezing for years. I use Bamboo steam basket for veggies then I did purchase a vacuum sealer. I hot water bath my tomatoes (Roma) quarter cut out stem, blend ,jar and boil 15 min.😊
couldnt agree more with presure canner. I have been canning for few years now and at the beggining I used to water bath now i can in my oven and its soooo easy.
@@lindafuskova7057 How do you can in the oven? You just put the jars and everything in it at 100 degrees Celsius or something for a set amount of time?
Washing jars in a dish washer won't sterilize them -- the temperature is not high enough. For that you have to either put them (with lids) in the oven for about 15 - 20 min (100 Celsius) or cook them in a pot in water for similar amount of time counting from the moment the water starts to boil (it's best to put a cloth at the bottom of the pot for that and put the jars in the pot while the water is still cold -- this way the glass won't break). Sterilizing jars in the pot is easier and safer, especially if you are a beginner.
Great point you have made here!! A dishwasher will not sterilize canning jars. Like you mentioned we put our jars in the oven to sterilize them. Happy canning to you and have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
@aquamarynqa
*Whispers painfully* Thank you. I had to pause the video for a minute because of that.
I am a gardener and a canner and I have a little tip. After washing your tomatoes make a small cross with a sharp knife in the skin on the blossom end of the fruit. Put the tomatoes in the freezer for at least four hours. I freeze a large amount of tomatoes, usually a week or so worth out of my garden and do a big batch. Then place a strainer over a large bowl and put the frozen tomatoes in the strainer to thaw. The tomatoes with release a delicious juice into the bowl as they thaw. Once thawed, just slip the skins off. Then take the skinned tomatoes and cook them as you like. They won’t need to be cooked quite as long as fresh which I find tastes better. The juice can be drunk fresh or canned as well. I usually get at least 11 quarts of delicious tomato juice per summer to drink and enjoy through the winter. My favourite use is as a broth substitute…so much umami! The skins can be dried and ground to a powder which adds a delicious depth to food. The tomato’s will be thick and delicious too. So no waste and it saves me energy by doing one day of continuous canning whenever I have enough and I can wait til cooler months to not cook myself out of my home! Another new tip from this year is grow nasturtiums and make yummy food from them. You can dry the leaves and flowers and process them with some good sea salt and make your own delicious peppery salt. I learned this from Gaz Oakley, a vegan UA-camr, chef and gardener. I have a surfeit of nasturtiums this year so I have already pickled many jars of nasturtium seeds, eaten loads of flowers and leaves in salads. Sorry for the ramble, I am very passionate about gardening, preserving food and reducing food waste. Cheers. Fresh lemon juice is not consistent in its acidity, citric acid or bottle lemon juice have a consistent pH. I just use a basic canning pot and have since I first learned to can when I was little. I have nerves had a problem! Best of luck with your new adventures in food preserving and canning.
Very informational. Thank you.
Hi! I make my own tomatoe sauce every year (here in Italy). Let me tell you how because you definitely don't need citric acid or anything like that at all. Just wash the tomatoes and put them whole in the pot and cook them as you did. They will start releasing water, drain that away and put back the tomatoes cooking untile very soft (as you did). Add onions, garlic, salt. You can add also pieces of celery and carrots if you like. When everything is soft, it's done. You need a type of machine to remove the tomatoes' skin, but it's ok using the blender as you did, it will be more rich and I have to say I prefer it that way. Once you have done that, put the sauce in the jars, add a basil leaf and cover the sauce with extra virgin olive oil. Close the jars, put them in a large pot and cover till the edge (before the lids) with cold water and put them on the stove. Let the water boil for about 20/30 minutes. Be careful, the water needs to boil gently otherwise the jars will crash. After 20/30 minutes, turn off the heat and let it cool. When the water is completely cold, you can remove the jars (maybe you will hear a sound like a small shot. It's the lid that is creating air vacuum). This sauce last the whole winter, you don't need any chemicals to preserve it or any lemon juice. Trust me ;-) This is a traditional recipe my family has always made.
Keep cooking, you are doing great! I love your videos!
My mother (not Italian) used to use something called a mouli once the tomatoes were cooked to remove the skin & seeds. We wound up with a watery unseasoned tomato sauce, not as thick as passata. But used similarly I think & cooked down when preparing meals.
I haven't even watched the video yet but I wanted to say that I misread the title as 'Learning how to ferment and pickle Feminist Reserve' and I was very interested! 😅
The bottled lemon juice has a controlled amount of acid which is why they recommend you use that rather than juicing your own lemons.
It might be too humid where you live, but thought I'd mention the traditional preservation method of my Iraqi and Syrian neighbors: drying.
Tomatoes get sliced and dried in the sun, covered with cheesecloth to keep the flies off. Once they're leathery, they're bagged up.
Eggplants get the inner flesh scooped out and made into a dip they eat fresh. Then the outsides (like cups with a thin layer of flesh) are threaded onto string and hung until dry. When dry enough, they're packed away until winter when they're rehydrated, stuffed, and baked.
A special kind of thin flatbread is made in very large rounds. They're left out to dry, then stacked up like giant pancakes and wrapped. When you forget to buy bread, you dip into your stash, flick a little water on with your fingertips, let rest under a tea towel for a few min...and it's miraculously like fresh bread.
Tons of other veg gets treated this way. I love it because it uses solar energy, and keeps families connected to their traditions.
In Colorado it is definitely NOT too humid for drying. What a excellent idea!
My father, from the rural south USA, did this with apples. We had too much humidity to do tomatoes. But dried apple pies are delicious!
Thanks for acknowledging us farmers and how hard we work.Much appreciated ❤️🇨🇦
Of course ❤️
You need 5% acidity for canning. The Companys are leveling it out so you have 5% vinegar and 5% bottled Lemon Juice. Lemons can vary in acidity because of ripeness, sort etc. I love Melissa K Norris to learned about the savety about canning etc😊
And I would absolutly Suggest a pressure canner for example to can broth or veggies without acidity 😅
The thing is, tomatoes already are quite acidic, so you don't need to add more acid
I think you need a pH of 5 or less for canning and tomatoes have a pH of 4-4,6 and onions are even more acidic with pH 3, so even if you add other vegetables it should be absolutely fine
Pressure canning is required for any food with a ph higher than 4.6. Anything lower is considered safe as the primary concern with canning food is botulism. These include green beans, corn, peas, squash, beets, carrots, dry beans etc... Foods 4.6ish require acid to assure they are safe (tomatoes, quince) which drops the ph. These are citric acid, vinegars and lemon/lime juice. These should be bottled to assure consistent ph. Where this is gray is for foods with an already high ph like blue berries. Then it's mostly a matter of getting to set point quicker. Traditional jams have less sugar more fruit (including green) and fresh lemon/lime juice. If canning pie filling only clear jel has been FDA approved as a thickener.
Hello friends! If you're canning with second hand jars, please check the jar for any cracks and chips especially around the rim. You want to get a good seal and any defects in that area could be the difference between botulism and yummy safe to eat things. A few channels on youtube I love are Melissa K. Norris, Acre Homestead, and Homesteading Family.
I was fortunate to learn canning from my aunt a few years ago and now it’s a summer tradition ❤ I love having a whole day with her.
I grew up canning and preserving with my mom on our homestead! My advise, you really only need a pressure canner when you’re canning meat. Otherwise, canning on the stove top in a stock pot is just fine. So enjoyable watching this series :)
For tomato sauce the in my opinion easiest way to do it is just by making the sauce as you like. I prefer baking the tomatoes, onions, garlic or whatever you want in yours. After that you blend it into sauce, reheat on the stove once more to make sure it is really hot. After that you just pour it into clean jars, close them and let them cool upside down. (I am not sure how these fancy jars you use work, they are not typical in my country. Here we use the basic ones where the lid is just one piece.) As the jar cools down the pressure will can it for you. :)
You are correct about bottled lemon juice more concentrated I have been canning for a long time I don’t remove the seeds or skin from tomatoes anymore if you blend they almost disappear especially if you use sauce tomatoes. You can dehydrate the skins if you remove them to make tomato powder. You need a pressure canner for most preserving you can also use the pressure canner for water bath canning just leave off the weights. I have a basic Presto pressure canner it was under a hundred dollars easy to use and works great. Happy preserving. ❤
Was just coming to say the same, long-time canner and I don’t remove the skins or seeds either (the skins are also full of nutrition!) and the only time I notice that in the texture is in a more lightly cooked cherry tomato pizza sauce recipe. Also recommend the America’s Test Kitchen canning book, but Ball is great too. Thanks for this video and all your wonderful vibes - have fun, you will be amazed how easy canning actually is!
From what I've seen and experienced, the US consensus is that high sugar or high acid recipes (jams or pickles) can be water bath canned (pot on stove). For anything else (tomatoes, garden veg, soups, salsa, etc) you need to pressure can.
Thank you Immy! You have inspired me to get back into canning. I used to can a lot with my mother. I would put off getting a pressure canner. You do need one to do meats, but also for low acid foods such as peas or corn. I would start with jams and pickles, oh and tomatoes. These are all acidic (or high in sugar) and will not need the pressure canner, but will give you a lot of experience. I started with jams, pickles, chutney, and tomatoes. By the time I finished experimenting with all of that, I was tired and ready for soup season to begin. I am off to look at my canning recipes and off to the farmers' market in the morning. thank you again.
If you are set on peeling tomatoes just put them in the freezer till you have enough for the recipe you want. When you thaw the peels slip right off. I do not peel tomatoes as the skins actually work a bit like paste for thickening. If you have a high speed blender just blend the tomatoes skins seeds and all. They will pulverize in the blender. Then I cook the puree till its as thick as I want. Most tomato products, with added acid like lemon juice do not need a pressure canner. I personally find freezing vegetables like green beans and such have a better texture.
Great comment. I do a lot of the same things as you. I, too, find that blanching and freezing our veggies is easier than canning them, and like you, we prefer the texture of frozen veggies compared to canned. Have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
Your daily video series are truly something I look forward to watching, as well as your instagram stories!
I also started getting into food preservation this past year, and attempted my first cheong based on Johnny’s videos this past week! I layered plums with sugar, and let sit in a dark place for a about a week, stirring once or twice, till most of the sugar was dissolved and then put it in the fridge to continue. No fermentation happened that I could tell but I used my airlock system just in case!
I only water bath can, and think it is a great starting point. The few things I would need to pressure can (broth, potatoes) I just freeze. I’ve gotten more into lacto ferments this year and have found “farmhouse on Boone” really helpful. Simple recipes and explanation. Love your videos!
When I have an abundance of tomatoes, I run them through my blender, minus the cores and process. I then dehydrate and end up with the most tasteful tomatoe flakes.😊
I don’t peel my tomatoes when I make sauce. I use a stick blender and wiz them up. Then when I put them into the jars I add one tablespoon of cider vinegar to each quart jar. It always comes out great! I do water bath can them. They last until we eat them all up.
I've never canned but I like to make jam (It's a way to preserve fruit so I thought to mention it.). This year I made strawberry jam and red current-strawberry jam. I buy jam sugar (usually one part sugar and two parts fruit) and do everything as instructed on the package. However, I also add some lemon juice. That's a tip I got years ago from a seller at a farmers' market. The lemon juice ensures that the jam turns solid. I love jam making because it makes me proud, tastes better than storw bought jam and is a nice little present whenever you are invited to someone's home. Plus it's super easy (Canning looks a lot more complicated!) albeit quite a bit messy.
This week my colleague gave me some cherry jam with a couple of pieces of chocolate. I've never heard of this but I'm excited to try it as soon as I'll have finished my current glass.
I am not an expert by any means but I have canned a few times (with the help of my mom and aunt). I've made jams, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. We just used a big stock pot, first to sterilize the jars and equipment and then to seal the jars. Hope that helps!
You only need a water bath canner (or just a regular pot) for anything acidic. That book you have is the perfect resource. For anything not acidic (veggies) you need to pressure can. I've found the presto electric pressure canner to be AMAZING. It is very expensive but if you are serious about the canning lifestyle, I think you should dive right into the electric canner rather than the intimidating stovetop pressure canner.
The Presto has a 12-year warranty where you can sent away to them for repairs, too!
Bottled lemon juice has a specific pH level which you need for water canning. Fresh lemons vary significantly because of ripeness! Good luck with your canning journey xx
Hey Imy! Recommend also checking out the book preserving by the pint. It focuses on smaller batches of canned goods. The author also has a blog.
Me and my mom made some peach jam a few years ago when our sweet neighbor gave us a ton of peaches. We used a big pot and it was just fine! We have also canned green beans and salsa with the same method of just the pot! It’s simple and approachable because honestly the big canning cookers scare me. Also we have used the pot for soup and corn cobs and other stuff and it’s nice for it to have multiple purposes. I would suggest getting a set of can/jar tongs (?) It’s a metal handle thing that allows you to grab the jars safely out of the water. It’s very nice to have. That’s basically the only special canning tool we use.
Your correct about the lemon juice. The benefit to a pressure canner over a water bath canner is you can do vegetables in only water. No need to pickle or add salt to preserve it. I canned for many years before I bought a pressure canner. I love both methods. I would recommend a food mill. Great for many recipes and reduces food waste. I used my this morning when canning strawberry apple sauce. Love your channel ❤
My mother has been canning every fall for as long as I remember and she only sterilizes her jars in the oven. It's so simple, no equipment required! You just need to have a new mason lid for each batch to be sure the seal works. She makes jam, salsa, ketchup, apple sauce, sweet pickles and many more this way 🙂
I appreciate you talking about your note taking, because I have a bad habit of just jumping into things and not knowing how I can do better or similar for the next time. I need to take more notes! Haha
Hi, just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying this new series x
Repeating what some others have said - acidity is really the most important safety factor with water bath (not pressure) canning. Canning creates a sterilized anaerobic (no oxygen) environment that will kill most bacteria. However, botulinum spores can survive the regular boiling temperatures of a water bath. They’re also obligate anaerobes (meaning they only reproduce when oxygen isn’t present). Thankfully, botulism is very sensitive to acidic environments, so as long as the pH is low enough, you prevent the spores from germinating and reproducing into the active form of the bacteria that’s toxic and deadly to us. Pressure canning reaches temperatures that are high enough to destroy those spores, so no bacteria survives. If you’re going to can something like green beans in water, or mushrooms, that’s when you’ll want to use a pressure canner. Any good canning book like the one you have from Ball should specify which recipes are appropriate for water canning and which are best for pressure canning. Hope that’s helpful!
This is a great explanation. I should have mentioned in my comment that we use a water bath for canning acidic foods and pickles, etc. When it comes to preserving beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peas etc we blanche and freeze these veggies. If we didn’t do so, a pressure canner would be needed for safety to prevent botulism in non-acidic foods. Thanks for your great explanation, and have a great day. Ⓜ️ary🇨🇦
Love to learn with you😊 My mother in law always has a ton of courgettes, I slice them super thin, put them in pots and ad a mixture of boiling 500gram sugar / 1000ml vinegar (2tbsp mustardseeds) on top😋 stays perfect for 5-6 months (this is the only recipe I know😅)
Like you mentioned the bottled lemon juice is for safety, since it has to have a certain level of acidity, while individual lemons' acidity can vary. ISU's extension office has an article on this "The Case for Bottled Lemon Juice in Canning." Canning-wise, like another commenter mentioned, I wouldn't jump to a pressure canner right away. With a waterbath canner (aka a giant pot that allows for 2" of water above your jars) you can can fruit, jams, pie filling, pickles, and many tomato recipes. Pressure canning lets you can vegetables. I will say that one thing I do like doing that I couldn't waterbath is canning dried beans, which pressure canning lets you do. The canning book you have is great and was also my first canning book. :)
Love watching you learn you skills!
My instant pot knockoff has a pressure canning function (separate from pressure cooking) that will hold four pints. That has been enough for me, even if I have to run it two or three times back to back for chicken broth. (Full disclosure: I'm preserving for one person.) Everything else I can water bath, pickle or ferment. I would check what you own to see if you have what you need already. I didn't even know this device had that function when I bought it.
I'm glad I noticed it because when I got it into my mind to learn how to can, I had a lot of grand ideas, a lot of bookmarked recipes and a huge shopping list with dreams of a pantry with jars and jars of colorful food. I was forced to scale down to four pints. I learned that I don't actually like what is commonly canned. Example: it turns out that I don't like canned green beans. I thought it was a hold over from my childhood of commercially canned green beans. Nope, they just are not appealing to me. I still have three of the four pints and will probably dump them when I need the jars or space in my cupboards. I learned that my style of eating doesn't use much canned stuff and that I get sick of something if I have too much of it.
I'm glad i didn't spend a few hundred dollars on a fancy canner.
hello immy! me and my mother make tomate pulp. we just peel the bigger tomatoes. put it in a pot. let them boil and after that let them cook for while to extract the water of the tomatoes. if it's runny we take the lid of the pot and let it boil more while stirring. before taking of the heat, we blend everything. check the consistency of the tomato pulp. turn of the heat.
while its cooking, we use a separate pot with water boiling and place the containers that we are going to use for the tomato pulp in the boiling water.
lastly, put the tomato pulp inside of the containers. put the lid and close and turn upside down to create vacuum (i'm not sure it really works but my mom its pretty convinced it does. i dont know much about that). once their cool down, turn them again to normal. we store them in a cool place but after opening a can we store them in the frigde.
we have been doing for 3 years i think. its been working so far. we havent had any problem with mold or anything like that.
enjoyng vlouaugust so far :)))
Pickled red onion sounds amazing! I wan't to try that!
A tip for when you are processing tomatoes in the future... I agree that putting them in the hot water and then into an ice bath to get the skin to come off is important! But as soon as you take them out of the ice bath, shake them off and then put them in a big strainer over a bowl. Then work to take the skin off, and then also take the seeds out (most recipes tell you to remove the seeds because they are bitter). But as you are working on deseeding and peeling them in the strainer, the juice will fall through it into the bowl below. And then you can also save the fresh tomato juice, which is soooo delicious! It made the best Bloody Mary we've ever had! So I wanted to tell you so that you could capture and use the juice!
I agree with what a few others have said.
1) the reason they recommend using bottled lemon juice is because on an individual level lemons do not have a consistent acidity. And in tomato products it is used to raise the acidity to make it safe for waterbath canning.
2) It seams like based on this video you plan to start off with waterbath canning. If that is the case then you don’t need a canner for the time being. Just a pot large enough to cover your jars with 1 inch of water (boiling).
I hope this was clear and helpful. I believe another commenter wrote a list of the other basic supplies. But I thought more detail on this one could be helpful.
If you can’t find the why information in your book the USDA has their book available for free online or you can purchase a copy if you prefer to use a physical copy. It is called USDA the complete guide to home canning. There is an entire section on how canning preserves food, why, and how we know. Good luck
Love love love this series, but especially this video - I've been thinking a lot about preserving food lately too and tried pickling spicy cucumbers earlier this week (nothing too advanced - just something to keep in the fridge, and they're delicious 😁). I can't wait to see a future update from these videos as I'm so interested to preserve more! The main problem I have is finding space. Completely agree - the work homesteaders put in is mind-boggling, but I guess hard works reaps rewards! Love from south Wales x
Hi! Have you tried to do ratatouille? It's so good cold or hot and all vegetables are in season now! I do it in big quantities in the oven and then I put in several jars as the tomato sauce, quite easy and sooo tasty 😋
Yeass… ratatouille for the win!! It’s so versatile and such a great way to use up many types of seasonal veggies. Great suggestion!! We make it in big quantities too! Ⓜary🌿
The Mustards shirt! I still years later regret not getting it! 😂 coffee is life
And I’m definitely making pickled cucumbers now - I do onions and jalapeños and cabbage pretty regularly but still buy pickles often enough. This is inspo!
Citric acid is amazing for cleaning too - citric acid & boiling water destroys limescale if you just let it sit - amazing on toilets xx
honestly your videos are never enough!! i love seeing you try all kinds of new things, especially related to food!🤗
Absolutely loving your regular uploads!! I literally started knitting again because of your videos and feel so inspired to try out these other skills!
Yay first like and comment. Love this channel. Best to you and your family. Thanks for posting this video.
Thanks so much!!
It really depends on what you want to can you can make so many things without a pressure canner I personally don’t have one because I like to keep it simple but things like jelly’s tomatoes most fruit pickles salsa and some other you only use the water bath method so good to get that down first!! Also I always use the lemon juice I think the flavor it leaves behind better some can’t taste a difference I can though happy canning I hope you enjoy it takes a lot of work but it is so amazing to eat things you’ve grown and made 6 months later that help feed your family and community
i love these videos🪴🥬🍅🫛i have this book for my canning as well
I have this book too - the jams and pickles have been great so far! Next I want to try some of the pie filling recipes. I feel like pie filling is more of an American thing but we do love a crumble in this household!
My other advice from my own experience is to pay close attention to the space you're supposed to leave at the top of the jar as it'll impact the preservation. If you have 2 and a half jars, the half jar can go in the fridge for two weeks but don't bother processing it, it won't work.
This was really interesting to watch! Thanks for sharing! 🤍
I was about to say I have the same T-shirt Coffee is a Drug! I love the Mustards and I miss their podcast so much, this T-shirt is so very loved
There’s nothing more wasteful than home-canned goods gathering dust in the pantry. I think you have hit upon a key point, Immy, and that is to make and preserve recipes that you will enjoy and use throughout the winter. We have our favourites and we repeat them when seasonal foods from our garden and greenhouse are ready to preserve. I won’t lie, we have canned stuff that we have opened and then turned a blind eye to as it slowly got shoved to the back of the fridge. We have learned from this wasteful mistake and we now think carefully about how we want to preserve our summer’s bounty. I’m interested in learning more about the special lids that you mentioned for the sauerkraut because we do not have pickling crock. Please keep us posted. Thanks a bunch, Immy, I always appreciate you. Ⓜary🌿💕
Bottled lemon juice so they can test and assure the acidity level. All tomatoes have different levels of acid.
You boil the jars and lids and only take out to fill w the hot mixtures. You can also heat them in the oven to sanitize to hot. Im curious if the tomato skins stay on would this be more nutritious since they just didn't have blenders back then.
You have the best canning book there is, so if you follow it, you'll know what you can can without a pressure canner. Low acid foods require a pressure canner. Consider getting a steam canner for your acidic food canner. They use less water than a water bath canner, and you're not fishing jars out of a big pot of boiling hot water.
I have that book, I love it.
Its because bottled lemon juces has a known regulated level of acidity. There is a lot of variation in whole lemons. Personally i would just take the risk and use whole lemons (i probably wouldn't recommend mayor lemons though) especially since Bottled lemon juice uses plastic usually and is a lot more expressive where i live (i know its the opposite in some other places)
Last summer was my first summer having a community garden plot and I made homemade tomato sauce. It came out great! I did one batch thus far this summer and it was awesome again but I see what you mean about the tomato skins. And honestly the boiling and the straining method is less work IMO. Sidenote: I’m actually throwing an intimate dinner party next weekend for a few friends bc of the sauce. Which does come out a bit thinner vs store bought but tastes OH SO MUCH better! Cheers from suburban Chicago! ✌️🌆🌲🐿️
I want to learn this toooo! excited to learn together.
This is so interesting. I can't see me going this route myself - I don't like pickled stuff. But growing and then canning my own chopped tomatoes sounds like a good shout!
Hello Immy! Citric Acid or bottled lemon juice has a defined acidity, which is needed to ensure the right pH-Level whilst canning. The right (low) pH-Level is necessary so harmfull bacteria such as "Clostridium botulinum" is not able to grow! Please ensure you always use the right "Acid" (CitricAcid or bottled lemon juice) whilst canning so you always stay at your greatest health.
Btw I studied Pharmacy in Germany and learned about Bacteria (especially Baceria that produces toxins) in Microbiology and Toxology.
Citric acid or bottled lemon juice serve the same purpose, to ensure that your tomato product has the right level of acidity. Bottled lemon juice has a standardized acidity level, as does citric acid. Fresh lemon juice can vary in acidity level.
Water bath canning is for high acid foods. The high acidity helps ensure that nasties like botulism cannot survive in your product.
High acid foods can be water bath canned in a large pot, you just need one deep enough to cover the jars (stood upright) by a couple inches of water.
Low acid foods are most vegetables, meats (for those that eat them) and legumes (among other things) MUST be pressure canned correctly to ensure that the food is safe to eat. People have died from improperly canned green beans and also potatoes (and many other vegetables). Please don’t play dice with your life.
A pressure canner can be a big investment, but you can often find them on Craigslist or FB marketplace.
Sometimes the organizations that put on community gardens or plots that you can rent for gardening will have pressure canners you can rent.
Ah! Jenny Mustard's coffee tee!!! 😍 ps: what kind of knife is that please Imogen? So that I can purchase the right one ☺️ thank you!
Ball/Kerr do not recommend sterilizing their jars in an oven because the jars are not made for dry heat.
Yay! A canning video!
Highly recommend the channel melissa mir for canning ! And garden yard for growing food in your garden. ❤ have fun with it. I only canned differen kind of jams so fare, i still have some from last year so i am not making any this year.
Hi! I love your videos and I especially enjoy your skilled girl summer series.
Having scrolled through the commentaries I haven’t yet found what I would like to advise you. Disclaimer here: I myself haven’t (yet) dived into the canning process myself and the reason is the following.
What I’ve read so far about is is that you can use a water bath if you can food with a ph value that is on the acidic side. However, if you want to can products that have a higher ph value (alkaline, ie above 7) and/or are high(er) in protein (meat but also legumes) it is highly recommended that you do pressure can. The reason is the risk of botulism. It is very rare but it can occur. The spores of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum cannot be killed at 100 degrees Celsius and they can sprout to create botulinum toxin (yes, it’s what beauty surgery uses to smooth out your wrinkles). When you pressure can, you create higher temperatures (up to 120 degrees Celsius) which definitely kill the spores for good.
I myself am from Europe and in my home country people are not too much aware of this risk that comes with canning certain foods, even if it is (thankfully) rare. Since we don’t have pressure canners here I’ve been hesitating to can on my own, even though I’d like to try it with canning my own batch of chickpeas and other legumes.
If anyone has any tips on pressure canning with a pressure cooker (since this is more accessible here) I would love to read them!
Stay safe and cool everyone (if you like me live on the Northern hemisphere)!
If you don't want sugar I have literally just cooked the fruit in water and it makes pure syrup!
Hey Immy, not sure if you've discovered Jessica from 'Three Rivers Homestead' yet? Her and her family are not vegan but she is an absolute wealth of knowledge where preserving of any kind is concerned, she preserves food all year round but every August she does a challenge that she invented called 'The every bit counts ' challenge, people from all over the world join in with it and post their bounty. Her family is a big one with kids from 16 down to 6 months and her husband works of the homestead during the week days so she never wastes anything at all from fruit scrap jelly to apple scrap vinegar, home made broth, fruit butters of all kinds, tips on the best ways to preserve different herbs, how to repurpose leftovers, she grows some fruit and veggies in her garden so it's all very precious, she has a brilliant way of not wasting any part of the tomatoes she grows by using the pulp for sauce, ketchup, passata, bbq sauce etc then she keeps the skins and the leftover unwanted bits, dries them and powders them to make a shelf stable concentrate that she can add a liquid to to rehydrate and make tomato puree (paste in the U.S ). those are just a couple of clever ways she doesn't waste anything, she also deals with her sons anaphylactic dairy and nut allergies and her own crohn's. Have a look back at her August posts for the last 5 years for the most information as she tries not to repeat recipes to give out the most info. She's also super lovely and completely self taught, you will learn so much from her than you ever could from just a book! Do remember though, her family is not vegan and they have a small number of animals that they raise for slaughter and they keep laying chickens and ducks and bee's, just a head's up. Good luck with your preserving ventures, much love xx
Bottled lemon juice has a stable/predictable acidity level, whereas fresh lemons can considerably vary their acidity levels.
I really want to figure out how to can tofu! I havent been able to find much about it online. I love the idea of making a huge batch of soy milk and tofu and having a many months supply 😊 Such an exciting new world to get into
I buy tofu dried, in cubes about the size of large croutons. I rehydrate them with a flavourful liquid when I want to use them. I wonder if dehydration might be an option for you?
There is currently no safe and approved method for canning tofu.
I freeze the extra tofu
I never bother removing the cores from my tomatoes, just blend everything well :)
Thanks for this l been curious on how to pickle vegies,😊❤
I was taught that an easy way to get the peels off the tomatoes is to freeze them and then let them thaw out!
I’m too scared to can food but you go girl! Very interesting process
What a fun video!
It’s funny how, after discovering pickled red onions, there’s really no going back to life without them!
An instapot sterilises glass jars well.
Specific foods need to be pressure canned while others are water bath, no substitutions. Your book will have a section on this.
I just read up on the bottled lemon juice note today myself when making salsa for canning for the first time! Apparently, it has to do with it having a more balanced pH level. With fresh lemons, the pH can vary, so you can't be sure you're getting what you need for the acidity. If this isn't quite right - please someone chime in with the comments :) I'd love to learn more!
They call for acidifiers to make sure the pH is below 4.4, which is the level botulism can't grow.
great video
I loooove your videos and the wonderful things you learn :)
I made kimchi sauerkraut which is in my opinion the best two things combined in one. And you can choose how spicy you like it. :)
I’m sure you can can using an instant pot. I haven’t tried it as I’m too nervous. 😅
So cool video ❤❤ !
You should check out becoming a farm girl. Ms Cassandra has great tutorials on canning and other things.
hi! you need to have at least a 5% acidity to have a safe product. Fresh lemons are not consistent with their acidity, while I think bottled lemon is an abomination for most things, but it is absolutely necessary for a safe product. I prefer it over citric acid, and its just a splash so you dont notice it. I have seen electric pressure canners used by other UA-camrs, where you could omit the acid, bc pressure canning is for low acid foods....I haven't tried it, but that is also option. Anyway I love your calming voice and your recipes are very fun, while I am not a vegan I really enjoy your ideas.
O canal Vida no Campo | Horta e Amimais indicou-me o teu canal 💪💪💪🤜
Hi Imy, can you share your latest jalapeno pickle recipe?
just putting anything in a can isnt canning i really hope that everything went into your fridge to be eaten immediately or is thrown out because you did not sterilise the jars or can them. there's a channel called "that 1870s homestead" i believe that has a very solid beginner canning guide. i really recommend watching those videos before you try canning again especially if you want to be safe and avoid botulism, moulding, etc.
Oh I know. I made it clear that this was a learning experience to ensure I liked the recipes before deciding to go ahead and actually can them.
@@SustainablyVegan ive been seeing a lot of people promoting really unsafe canning practices lately so i wasnt fully sure! glad you're being safe!
Store-bought lemon juice has a consistant acidity whereas fresh lemons are not the same acidity....to allow for boiling water bath canning rather than pressure canning, you need a certain amount of acid in foods like tomatoes & pickles...
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Use your instant pot!
Does anyone know if you can preserve beans after cooking outside the fridge/freezer?
Dry them