I am canning today. For the first time ever. I wish my grandmother had made me pay closer attention. ;)
I bought my supplies at WalMart. Bought Ball's pickling salt because it had a recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles and my husband loves bread and butter pickles.
The part about reading them again? I used the whole bag of salt on my cucumbers and onions and wondered why it wouldn't dissolve. ;) It wasn't until after I was rinsing them out that I realized I was only supposed to use, like, a quarter cup.
Oops.
Second thing I learned? I need a BIGGER STOVE for canning. I can't keep the jars and lids hot, boil the cucumbers and syrup and heat the canner at the same time. :/ Just not enough space on the stove, or my counter either, for that matter.
Just how critical is head space, anyway? Is it okay to have a bit more, but not a bit less?
And another thing. How do you know the temp inside the canner, after you put the lid on?
Can you tell I am hopeless and clueless?
If any of these jars seal, and if the pickles actually turn out? I'll be really amazed. Do Bread and Butter pickles actually have to sit a month before you can eat them?
Oh, and the fan on my stove vent? It only works in high now, and it won't shut off. I suppose that's better than not at all?
Sorry for the quality of the picture. I didn't want to use the flash, and I couldn't figure out how to take a normal picture, haha. It's pretty sad when the equipment is smarter than the operator. ;)
Thanks for visiting me! It is that time of year,I have been pickling too!You did a great job on your first pickles,don't worry everyone is nervous when the first start canning,the more you do the easier it is! you do not need to know the temp in the caner,if you are hot water bathing you just have to boil covered for 10 minutes and if you are pressure canning you will go by your pressure gauge...also put you jars in your caner while you are boiling your syrup and that is one less pot on the stove! I hope I was helpful and not know it all sounding!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Melodie. And I appreciate the information! I definitely need all the help I can get, haha. Thanks again. :)
ReplyDeleteCanning is something I've ALWAYS wanted to do --- it'd be so nice to be able to utilize all of the tomatoes that we grow since we can't eat them fast enough! I'd love to can tomato sauces! How did the pickles turn out and did you do any more canning?
ReplyDeleteLana, the pickles were way too salty, even after leaving them age for several months. :P
ReplyDeleteI have not done any more canning, as my kitchen is just not big enough, but I will try again when we get the farm kitchen finished. :)
A couple blogs I follow, who do lots of canning, are Hickery Holler Farm - http://hickeryhollerfarm.blogspot.com/, and Mom's Cafe Home Cooking - http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/.
The latter is less personal and more professional in nature, but I've learned a lot from both blogs. :)
At least if I can remember it. ;) I'm sure they're more blogs out there, but these two spring to the top of my head. :)