| Author | |
Servant2theKing
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 13 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1505
|
| Posted: Aug 10 2011 at 5:30pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
We've been canning ~ jellies and syrups, so far.
I don't have enough room on our stovetop for all the pans we need; a five quart skillet to make the jelly or syrup in, a large stockpot for sterilizing jars, our largest stockpot to process filled jars, a large saucepan for lids and rims, and an extra kettle of water to add water when any evaporates from the other pans. Modern stovetops seem so much smaller than the ones I grew up with! There just isn't enough room for several large pans to fit on all four burners. Five or six burners sure would be nice on canning days!
I found a solution online when I read that someone put their washed jars in the oven to sterilize and keep them ready to fill. Today, after washing and drying them by hand, we put ours in a large baking pan at 225 degrees (to keep it around the temp. for boiling). It made a BIG difference while juggling things on the stovetop, since our second largest stockpot was no longer taking up so much space.
We also prepared extra berry juice the other day, when dh was helping. Having the juice already prepared and measured out in quart jars for each batch saved a great deal of time and energy. I told dh it might be a good idea to always prepare the juice from our berries one day, then do the canning of the jelly and syrup another day.
We used leftover printer labels (from another project), complete with a nice graphic of berries, saving additional time, compared to the labels we wrote out by hand the other day. I saved it in Print Artist ~ when we needed others for homemade berry syrup today, it was a snap to change the text and print out a few syrup labels!
Anyone else have any handy dandy canning tips or shortcuts? Of course having several helpers is the BEST!
__________________
All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Aug 10 2011 at 7:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't bother keeping the jars sterile. The jam/jelly/syrup will kill anything going into the jar anyway.  They are freshly washed and clean though.
I also often don't have time when I can get the fruit.. so I partially prep them.. depending on my time and toss in the freezer.. so I have strawberry measured out and ready to be made into jam. And I also have big bags of apricots that were washed, cut in half and pitted and frozen.. I'll finish the prep when I have time to make it into jam.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Aug 10 2011 at 7:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Just waned to add.. that not worrying about sterile jars when you're doing a hot pack.. especially with a boililng sugar mix.. is quite a bit different than if you were doing cold packs of low acid things that would need a pressure canner anyway.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Servant2theKing
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 13 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1505
|
| Posted: Aug 10 2011 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jodie, I love the idea of freezing things already prepped for canning! We made our first batch of jelly this year from last year's frozen berries, but they weren't proportioned ahead of time for canning. What a great time-saving idea! Thanks for the info. on not needing to sterilize jars for jelly 'n such! I'm all for saving time and energy any way we can!
__________________
All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
momtomany
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 505
|
| Posted: Aug 12 2011 at 2:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
If I am doing a large quantity of something hot packed, I will wash my jars in the dishwasher, and leave them there in the drying heat until they need to be filled. I also just wash the bands, and have a regular size sauce pan with one of those little racks for the flat lids to be heated in.
__________________
Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
wifemommy
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 10 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 732
|
| Posted: Aug 13 2011 at 7:50pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I put the jars in the boiling water pullout add jelly whatever and put it back in the same pot.So only need one big boiling pot and one smaller for lids. Annie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
juststartn
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 17 2007
Location: Oklahoma
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1321
|
| Posted: Aug 16 2011 at 6:57pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I do what she said ^! Also, I use my crock pot and roaster oven (the big electric one) whenever I can. Ketchup and fruit butters done in the crock pot (anything that needs that slow gentle cook-down heat), etc.
HTH!
Rachel
__________________
Married DH 4/1/95
Lily 3/11/00
Helena(Layna) 5/23/02
Sophia 4/19/04
John 5/7/07
David 5/7/07
Ava Maria, in the arms of Jesus, 9/5/08
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Care to share canning tips?
