Canning recipes, food preservation and food sales

[rbeau30]

Nope. Mine float as well. Before you use them, give them a shake. As long as the seals on your jars are good, and there's no sour smell when you open the jars, it's all good.

The tomatoes float because the fruit has oxygen bubbles inside. Did you raw pack them, or hot pack? Water process or pressure can?

I froze em all. Dipped them in boiling water for 2-3 seconds, skins came right off. Quartered them, simmered for 5 minutes and packed em in jars with lemon juice/salt. Processed in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.

[GilpinGuy]

FWIW, apples store best at 32-34F degrees. Large apple distributors store them in a darkened oxygen-free nitrogen gas environment for up to three years. Apples from USA that you buy in summer are last years Sept-Oct crop, and possibly from two years ago. The big distributors dump their old stock at cheap prices just as CO apple growers try to market their fresh crop. They fuck the farmers at the expense of the consumer. The old stored fruit goes bad quickly, lacks flavor, sugars and crispness which discourages people from buying apples. But, you can't beat the quality of a fresh Colorado apple in season.

Wow. I had no idea. Just like eggs at the store being a few months old.

I took a bite out of a Granny Smith today that looked awesome, but it was spongy and tasted like cardboard. From '13 I guess.

[TheGrey]

I froze em all. Dipped them in boiling water for 2-3 seconds, skins came right off. Quartered them, simmered for 5 minutes and packed em in jars with lemon juice/salt. Processed in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.

I froze mine, too, and skinned and cored them. I cut some in half, otherwise packed them whole in jars with vinegar and water. Used a pressure canner. They not only float, but look a little like red brains (the whole tomatoes do.)
Here's a mistake I made: after dipping into boiling water, I tried to skin too many at once and left them sitting in cool water. Tomatoes absorb water like nobody's business, and layers began sluicing off of them when I tried squeezing some of it out. Don't do what I did. Skin them in small batches.

[TheGrey]

FWIW, apples store best at 32-34F degrees. Large apple distributors store them in a darkened oxygen-free nitrogen gas environment for up to three years. Apples from USA that you buy in summer are last years Sept-Oct crop, and possibly from two years ago. The big distributors dump their old stock at cheap prices just as CO apple growers try to market their fresh crop. They fuck the farmers at the expense of the consumer. The old stored fruit goes bad quickly, lacks flavor, sugars and crispness which discourages people from buying apples. But, you can't beat the quality of a fresh Colorado apple in season.

This is GREAT to know- thank you! I'm going to start hitting farmer's markets and cutting out the middle man.

[Dave]

Chicken today as well.

I think I killed my foodsaver. Time to shop for #4.

I think we killed ours after two cases of zaycon chicken breasts last night....

[rbeau30]

I'll see how mine holds up soon, we are foodsavering half and canning half after I can get some quick chicken stock made up.

[RCCrawler]

My food saver is probably 5 years old and gets used all the time. It made it through 80lbs fine. What the hell are you guys doing to yours?

[TheGrey]

I had one Foodsaver give up the ghost just because- the damn handle stopped going down about halfway, so the sealer wouldn't engage. I think it died out of pure orneriness. I got a better Foodsaver (read: a more expensive model) that didn't have the handle you press, and it's been working like a champ.

[crays]

Mine was 8-10yrs. Hasn't automatically activated the sealer for about the last 2 yrs (I had to hit the seal button every cycle), but still pulled good vacuum.
About 3/4 or so through this batch, it seemed to be struggling to pull a good vacuum.

[TheGrey]

When searching for canning jars on sale, check Kmart, Walmart, Target, Big Lots, and big grocery stores (in addition to yard sales, craigslist, freecycle, estate sales, and friends that have stopped canning.) Big Lots sells the brand Golden Harvest, which are good canning jars. Walmart sells Mainstay jars which are okay for waterbath canning, but not for pressure canning- the jars tend to break or lose their seals. Right now, Kmart is having sales on jars, as is Big Lots. Walmart will match Kmart's prices, but may limit the amount.

Remember, when buying jars from used sources, run your finger along the lip of the jar to make sure there are no chips or cracks. Always use new lids when canning, unless you're using Tattler lids. Go forth and can!