Where you intimidated by canning when you first started?

[Hinotori]

I was scared of the pressure canner at first. Mom is afraid of them and put fear into me. I've finally gotten out of her that great grandma had a few eruptions with the pressure cooker that freaked mom out. I don't have any issues now.

Mom always water canned juice, jam, and jelly all the time when I was growing and I learned how to do that helping her.

 

[Mickey328]

I definitely recommend starting with something simple, in a water bath. First thing I ever canned was crabapple jelly...just because someone had given me a bunch and I didn't know what to do with them all. I got the Ball book about canning (this was back before the internet, LOL) and just followed the recipe in the package of pectin. Apples are pretty easy since they contain a lot of natural pectin, so they almost always set properly. I did water bath canning for several years and got really comfortable with it before I finally invested in a pressure canner.

 

[CountryKat]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to share it helps alot more than you might think. I am looking into getting some equiptment at the current.

CK

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

My initiation to canning was when my grandparents were away for two weeks during tomato harvest. I got a phone call from my grandma asking to can the tomatoes. She gave me rudimentary instructions, told me to follow the recipe, and figure it out. I had never canned anything or watched anyone do it, but I always do what my grandma says and I never complain!

Well, that was the year grandpa ordered 20 tomato plants and they came two in each LOL. We had already been eating tomatoes for every meal for a month plus giving them away by the bushel. We just needed to save up the end of the harvest. I canned 60 quarts my first time. I picked all the green ones for green ketchup. I wasnt intimidated because I didn't know enough about botulism. I figured if grandma did it for 40 years and nobody got sick, she must have been doing something right. I also didn't have time to think about it, cause there were too many dang tomatoes!

Now I do applesauce every year (born and bred in macintosh country) with my Roma food mill. I want to start using a pressure canner to store soups and stews. Other veggies and some fruits taste better frozen, so I freeze what I have room for. I am a little nervous using the pressure canner, but it's more because I've never even seen one used before. so I'm taking a class for pressure canning at the county extension office next month.

I think that others advice to "relax" is wise. Maybe your local extension office has classes available? Type into google search- your county and state plus "extension" and you should get some info. Have fun, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[Mickey328]

That was a "trial by fire" initiation, luvin! You're right though...sometimes you just have to get in there and do it and once you do, you get just that much more comfy with the process. You'll find pressure canning is the same. I was fairly familiar with the principles of using a pressure canner because Gran used one quite often. The canner was actually easier because it has a dial that tells you what the pressure is. A few things I learned by trial and error along the way...like don't put too much in the jars because the pressure can push the liquid out. LOL, first time I did green beans I ended up with perfectly sealed jars with about an inch of water in the bottom! I have a tendency to really want to fill jars and have had to learn to back it off...better too much head space than not enough.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

I hear you about the head space! My first "oops- not enough head space" was with applesauce. What gooey nasty mess!