Canning class/ Mylar class. FEB 13 class.

[jerrymrc]

I thought we had a good time today. Had 4 people show up.

I will start another thread soon for a Mylar date. Hope everyone had a good time.

[theGinsue]

I had a great time and found it to be exceptionally informative. Looking forward to attending the mylar class.

I got home and called my best friend and spoke with his wife for a few minutes. She does water bath canning and told me she wished her hubby had told her about this (he's not on the site but knew I was coming today) as she would have liked to have come too. She said she wants to learn how to pressure can but (thanks to her mom & grandma scaring her about pressure canning "blow ups") she is afraid to get started.

I told her that, barring another opportunity to attend one of Jerry's classes, I'd show her what I learned - if she bought her own gear.

It was also great to meet all of todays attendees (out of respect for your privacy, I won't call you out - but you could always post a response).

ETA: Jerry - If you would be so kind, please post your roll recipe in the recipe thread - those were delicious!

[ARgal]

I had a great time at the canning class also - it was very informative. I have been thinking about starting to do some canning for awhile now, and this has given me the information I needed to get started. Thanks so much Jerry for hosting it and sharing your knowledge with us.

And it was fun to meet some of the other forum members.

Debra

[ARgal]

OK - I ordered a pressure canner yesterday. Looks like the end of season sales are going on so it's a good time to buy if you are planning on gettiing one. Amazon has the Presto 23 qt with the dial gauge for $72. Can't wait to try it out. I think I will can some chili and maybe some spaghetti sauce first.

[jerrymrc]

OK - I ordered a pressure canner yesterday. Looks like the end of season sales are going on so it's a good time to buy if you are planning on gettiing one. Amazon has the Presto 23 qt with the dial gauge for $72. Can't wait to try it out. I think I will can some chili and maybe some spaghetti sauce first.

Sounds good. your more than welcome to drop me a line if you ever have a question.

[ARgal]

Sounds good. your more than welcome to drop me a line if you ever have a question.

Thanks Jerry! i'll do that.

[SA Friday]

The class was exactly what I was looking for. Jerry laid it out very well and cleared a lot of the smoke away about canning. I have looked quite a bit into pressure cooking and the equipment necessary both before and after the class. The class made a huge difference in my comfort level in this endeavour and I now know what I'm looking at in these searches.

I'm gonna cry once and wait till the tax return is back and get an All American 21 1/2 qt canner. I going to try out doing some pickles in water bath first though. It looks fairly easy and should be a fun project to break the ice.

Hopefully, the wife and I can get some semblence of a garden going this summer and I can jar up the results. At the very least, I'll snag some of the cheap basics over the coming months and get some food stocked up before Ginsue finely decides to stick the fork in the light socket and crash the front range power grid for a couple months.

[SA Friday]

OK, did pickles with a quick mix and water bath. I did a couple with red pepper and most without. Some of the cucumbers were too thick with seeds to be really crisp, but for the most part they came out really well.

Biggest learning part was just how long it takes for the jars to cool off and suck the lids down. also, cut the cucumbers as long as possible because they will shrink a lot.

I'm gonna play with some other veggies when I can get around to it and will post the results and just how easy it is. pickles with a quick mix are really easy.

BTW, I have a lot of fridge shelf space. what effect will storing the canned foods in the fridge have? Last longer after pulled out? No effect at all? Cause them to unseal? Don't have a clue.