canning

Peach Vanilla Jam

Gilliland’s Peach Orchard is located in Cleveland, TN and I am pretty sure they have the best peaches in world. People come from all over for their super sweet peaches. I love fresh peaches however, I do not like canned peaches- I think it is a texture thing. So this year I decided to make a run of peach jam. And at the very last minute, I decided to throw in some vanilla paste.

While I would love to tell you I created a sophisticated peach jam recipe, the truth is I followed the instructions on the back of the Sure Jell box. No need to reinvent the wheel. Full disclosure- this is my first time making peach jam.

For this run, I purchased a peck of peaches. The final result was 30 half pint jars of golden goodness. I had no idea I was going to end up with this much, and if I had it to do over again, a half peck would have been the perfect amount to begin this peach jam journey.

You may assume I am going to slather the jam on homemade biscuits, and that is true. But I am also going to use it on cheese boards, add to iced tea, hot tea, ice cream, pancakes and anything and everything else that comes to mind.

Helpful Hint: The easiest way to peel a peach is to drop it into boiling water for a couple of minutes and then straight into an ice bath. This method insures minimal waste. After peeled, I used a hand chopper to dice the peaches into consistent pieces. This yielded 20 cups of diced peaches, 5 quart.

To preserve the jam, I used the water bath method. A good water bath canner, Ball jars, Ball rings, and a canning kit all come in handy.

Peach Vanilla Jam

A beautiful jar of golden goodness.

Ingredients

1 peck of peaches, peeled and diced. Approximately 20 cups (5 quart)
14 cups sugar
2.5 boxes Sure Jell
1/8 cup vanilla

Directions

Bring all ingredients to a boil except the vanilla. Skim any foam that rises to the top. Let boil for 15-20 minutes until it starts to thicken. Stir in the vanilla and fill up the sterilized jars. Water bath for 20 minutes.

[notes]
Make this recipe your own. You could easily omit the vanilla or substitute almond extract.

Homemade Roasted Marinara Sauce for Canning – Recipe and Tips

Last year I canned the most wonderful marinara sauce. This year I knew I had to recreate it and double the amount. That is tricky because tomatoes can vary from year to year and the types that are available in my area also vary. The optimum variety for marinara in my opinion would be Roma or San Marzano. They have very little water and seeds which makes them perfect for sauce.

The tomatoes I had on hand this year were run of the mill “canning” tomatoes. But a little extra time cooking down the sauce will make these work. Last year I had Roma tomatoes and canned them directly from the blender without cooking them down. That is the joy of a good Roma.

I love roasting the ingredients because the char on the tomatoes and the jammy sweetness adds a wonderful layer of flavor in the sauce.

Dried herbs work best if you decide to use any at all. Keep in mind herbs can magnify when canned so be light handed with them if you decide to add them.

I do not peel or seed my tomatoes. Life is short and a good blender will take care of these. If I were canning just tomatoes and not sauce, I would peel the tomatoes.

Tomatoes in general are a good starting point for beginner canners because a simple water bath is all that is required- no pressure cooker needed.

I am a big lover of Ball jars and lids. Canning is a lot of work and you don’t want to waste your time, effort and vegetables on thin jars and cheap lids. Most local hardware stores carry canning supplies you will need and I encourage you to visit your local hardware store. As with everything, the cost of supplies is increasing, so if you find a good deal, snatch it up. I have found great deals on ball jars on FaceBook marketplace and just friends and family that want to get rid of some jars. I DO NOT reuse my lids. Once I “pop a top” I throw the lid away. I have purchased plastic lids that fit canning jars to use for storage, etc and I love them. If you are trying to decide between using regular jars or wide mouth, this is important to know- canners hold less wide mouth jars at a time. Wide mouth jars are a little more expensive and cannot always be found. I have a few that I choose to use for storage and quick pickles. Otherwise, I use the standard Ball canning jar.

I do follow Ball canning recommendations 99 percent of the time. Ball is the gold standard for canning and they have some great books with step by step instructions. If you are just getting started, I recommend purchasing one.

People that do not follow recommended guidelines are referred to as “rebel” canners. Here is my take on this. We all do what we have been taught to do by our mothers and grandmothers. It’s your kitchen. You make the rules of your kitchen. My grandmother was a rule follower and I chose to follow in her footsteps. I see so many arguments and confrontations over rebel canning methods. To each their own. Again, life is short, stay in your lane (kitchen).

Because I am adding other ingredients into my marinara (onions, green peppers) I am potentially lowering the acidity of the contents of the jar. Lower acidity contents require pressure canning. Coincidentally, I always add red wine vinegar to any tomatoes I cook or can. In my opinion it enhances the flavor of tomatoes immensely. I add 2tsps red wine vinegar to each jar, raising the acidity level back to appropriate water bath standards. If you are worried about this issue the solution is easy- you can just pressure can your marinara. Your kitchen and you make the rules.

I like to keep my sauce simple. It is easy after you open a jar to boost the flavor profile by adding additional herbs to align with the dish you are making.

Jars of marina make great gifts. A jar of sauce, a bag of nice pasta and a cute dish towel is a great hostess gift.

Canning Roasted Marinara Sauce

Vine ripened tomato flavor sealed into a jar-a simple blank slate.

Ingredients

1/2 box tomatoes- quartered
3 onions- quartered
2 green peppers- seeded and quartered
12 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/21 tsp dried oregano
2 tsps red pepper flakes

Directions

Roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until jammy. Place contents into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large stock pot and add 3 tsp salt and 1/8 cup sugar (optional). Cook down if needed and pour into sterilized quart jars. Add 2 tsps red wine vinegar to each quart jar. Water bath for 45 minutes.

If making a larger batch, you can cook it down in an electric turkey roaster.

Make this recipe your own. Add carrots for a sweeter, milder sauce. Omit all the extras and herbs and can just tomato sauce.

Canning Pinto Beans

Canning methods can be very controversial, especially in the social media world. My Memaw Young pressure canned everything and my Nannie Logan was terrified of a pressure canner and she water bath canned, so I have experienced on both sides of the coin. There are some really strict Ball Blue Book canners and there are rebel canners. It is a good idea if you are starting out to do some research. I consult the Ball Blue Book quite often. I water bath tomatoes, pickles and fruit (high acid content). I pressure can everything else. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

People can for different reasons. Some people can for convenience, some to save money, some to preserve what they have grown all year, some to capture the freshest taste and some so they will know exactly what they are putting into their bodies. I personally check off several of those boxes.

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to jars- I love Ball Mason jars. I have a friend that used Golden Harvest jars last year when jars were in high demand and hard to find. He had a good experience with those. You can expect jars to run $1-$1.50 each. If you find them cheaper, stock up. If you are just starting down the canning path, your money savings will come next year, when you reuse your jars.

I like to use pint jars for dried beans, mainly because there are only two of us in the house now and when there are more here, I can always open up more than one jar. Also, I wanted to share some of these with mom and the pints are more practical for both of us.

I started with 5lbs dried pinto beans. I soaked them in lots of water overnight. This morning, I poured off the water and rinsed them several times.

I washed the jars, rings and lids in very hot, soapy water with a splash of vinegar and rinsed them well. If I have time, I usually run them through the sanitize cycle on the dishwasher, but the dishwasher was full and sometimes life just happens. The lengthy processing time makes the handwashing process doable.

Always remember, put hot water into hot jars into hot pots. Put cold water into cold jars into cold pots. For today, I used room temperature jars/ room temp water/unheated pot. You absolutely could use the hot jar/ hot water/ hot pot method.

I placed 1 heaping cup of soaked pintos into each pint jar, this should fill the jar 2/3 full. I also added 1 tbsp chopped onions, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp canning salt to each jar and then filled the jar with hot water leaving 1 inch headspace. You can add anything you like, these are your beans. You can add bacon, chicken stock, vegetable stock, chili powder, cumin and the list goes on and on. Keep in mind whatever you place in the jar, the taste will be magnified during processing.

Take a butter knife, skewer or the end of a spoon and move the pinto around, removing any air pockets that may be in the jar. Amazon actually has a “canning kit” that includes a bubble remover and lots of other useful tools that you didn’t know you needed.

Take a clean paper towel and place a splash of vinegar on it and rub the rim of all the jars, this cleans and primes the rims for sealing.

Gently place on the lid and screw on the ring fingertip tight.

I have a Presto canner I purchased from a nearby hardware store. Be sure and read and follow the directions of your canner. I placed 3 quarts of water in my canner, placed the rack on the bottom, added a splash of vinegar and placed my pints carefully onto the rack. I placed another rack on top of those pints and placed another layer of pints on top. I securely closed the lid and turned the burner on high.

When the water begins to boil, steam will begin to come out of the “spout” on the lid. After there has been a steady stream of steam for 10 minutes, you can place your pressure gadget onto the spout. This will close the opening and allow the steam to build, creating pressure. I am located in Tennessee and the proper pressure weight for my area is 10lbs of pressure. After the pressure builds, your gauge will begin to climb. When it reaches 10 lbs you will need to lower the heat to keep it at a steady 10lbs. For pints, set the timer for 75 minutes. For quarts, set the timer for 90 minutes.

After the allotted time is up, turn the burner off and allow the pressure canner to do a “natural release”. This will take 30 minutes or more. Remember to always open the lid away from your face, as there will still be steam released.

Carefully remove the jars, set them on a towel, on the counter. Soon you will begin to hear to lids “ping”. This is the sound of the lid sealing. After a couple of hours, check the lids to make certain they all sealed. Any that did not seal, use immediately. After 24 hours, you may move them to your canning shelves or where ever you plan on storing them.

5lbs of dry pinto beans yielded 30 pints.

Christy Young Goza

Canning Tomatoes

I grew up with a huge garden at my Memaw’s house, probably close to a full acre garden. Summer weekends were spent harvesting vegetables and preserving for year round use. We sat on the front porch breaking beans, topping strawberries, hulling peas and cutting okra. We couldn’t all fit in the kitchen, and with the canner going on the stove, it was hotter inside than out. Papaw Young wouldn’t let you turn the air conditioner on until the sun went down. That was a rule. So the front porch was where we all wanted to be.

I can remember many things about those days- except the actually canning. Memaw was always afraid the canner would blow up on me, so when the canning started, I was exiled back out to the porch. So I have always been terrified of a pressure cooker, until recently. The good news is you don’t need a pressure canner for tomatoes!

I have vowed to learn or remember all the ins and outs of preserving. It is amazing the memories that have come back to me over the last few weekends in the kitchen. Before we get into the actual canning of tomatoes, I need to share an old wives tale, which my entire family 100% believes- if a female is having her monthly period and is in the kitchen during the canning process, the tomatoes will not seal properly. I learned this the hard way when I was 15 years old, when my Memaw asked everyone in the kitchen if anyone was on their period, just to double check. I didn’t say anything…mom glared at me… and I said “me”, and I was banished from the house. I can promise you every tomato canning season from there on out, I said I was having my period, whether I was or not.

For beginners, you need to know there is a canning bible, it is actually the Ball Blue Book of Preserving/Canning. There are many updated publishings of it over the years and it contains lots of valuable info. In an effort of full disclosure, please know I have read three versions recently, dug out all my Memaw’s canning recipes, had a crash course of canning with my friend, Michael Poore, and watched hundreds of TikTok videos. In the last three weeks I have canned 58 quarts of green beans, 24 quarts of tomatoes, 28 pints of spicy bread and butter pickles and 12 pints of dill pickles. I am not an expert. I do not know everything there is about canning. But I would love to share what I know.

There is only one rule you need to know- You can’t put cold things in hot jars and vice versa. You can’t put cold jars in hot water and vice versa. Cold goes with cold. Hot goes with hot. I know this sounds like 6th grade science, but I promise you, I tested this a few days ago…it didn’t go well.

You will need supplies. I have two large dishpans, a water bath quart canner (it is not my Memaw’s, but it looks exactly like the one she had- black enamel with white specks). I also purchased a canning kit from Amazon that had a canning funnel, magnetic lid pick up stick, and several other things that have been extremely useful. And of course there are lots of canning books on the market. You will also need jars. When you purchase jars, they come with a lid and a ring. The jars and rings are reusable. The lids are recommended for one time use. So go ahead and buy some extra lids when you find them. I prefer Ball, Kerr or Golden Harvest jars. I have ran across some other brands that are less expensive but they also seem thinner.

Now, to the tomatoes. You want really ripe tomatoes. I picked up two boxes this weekend at the Delano Market. The slicing tomatoes (pretty tomatoes) were $20 a box. The canning tomatoes (not so pretty and not uniform in size) were $10 a box. You can yield around 12 quarts of tomatoes from a box. If the tomatoes are not really ripe, you can bring them home and set them on the counter for a few days to reach their peak.

The acid content in tomatoes is high, so you have your choice between several methods:

You can put your semi cooled tomatoes in the jars, put the lid on and water bath for 20 minutes.
You can put your boiling tomatoes in jars right out of boiling water, put the lid on and done (Michael Poore’s method).
You can put your semi cooled tomatoes in the jars, put the lid on and water bath for 40 minutes (canning bible method).

Due to the high acid content, pressure canning is not needed.

There are many controversies around canning. I am going to tell you what I do. And you do what you want to do.

Controversy #1: Sterilizing vs. Sanitizing. Some people sterilize their jars (submerge and boil them for several minutes). Some people sanitize their jars (dishwasher on sanitize cycle). When I do tomatoes, I sterilize the jars, because I want them extremely hot when I put the tomatoes in the jar to accomplish method #2. So I take the jar right out of the hot water and fill them.

Controversy #2: With the many varieties of tomatoes today, and the many different acid levels, the canning bible recommends adding citric acid or lemon juice to each jar. I don’t know if I buy into that theory, however just in case, I add 1 tsp of red wine vinegar into each jar. Red wine vinegar is fabulous with tomatoes and it couldn’t hurt.

Here are the steps I take to can crushed tomatoes in quart jars:

Wash the tomatoes. I dumped a box into the sink and filled it with water. You can even put a splash of vinegar in the water if you want them squeaky clean. Drain the water in the sink and then place the stopper back into sink. Leave the tomatoes in the sink.
Cut an X on the bottom of each tomato.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the tomatoes in the sink and let them set for 5-15 minutes until the skin begins to peel off of the tomato.
Peel the tomatoes, core the tomatoes and cut into quarters, wedges, chunks, however you would like them.
Place jars into the water bath canner and fill with water, bring to a boil (if you have had water, add a splash of vinegar).
Place tomatoes in a large pot and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, skimming the “tomato foam” from the top and discarding. Stir often.
Place your lids in a small pot of water to boil.
You can begin to can the tomatoes at this point, or you can use an immersion blender to make crusted tomatoes, or tomato sauce.
Remove hot jar from the water bath canner. Insert the canning funnel into the hot jar, scoop the tomatoes into the jar, leaving approximately 1 inch of head space at the top of the jar.
Take a paper towel and place a splash of white distilled vinegar on the towel. Wipe the top of the jar clean.
Add 1 tsp canning salt or kosher salt. Just make sure your salt does not contain iodine.
Add 1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional).
Add your warm lid, add your ring and use your fingers to tighten, not your whole hand. This is referred to as “finger tight”.
Set the completed jar to the side and do not move or touch for 12-24 hours. You will hear them pop and seal.
You can press the top of each lid the next day to make sure they have sealed. If for some reason, you have a can that did not seal, store it in the fridge and use the contents in the next couple of days.
If you find the tomatoes and the juice separate in the jar, just tip the jar upside down and back up. This will mix the contents back up and it will usually stay mixed.

Store your canned tomatoes, in a cool, dark place. I have a finished basement, and I have some large shelves there that are perfect for storage.

I hope you enjoy canning as much as I have. I love knowing exactly what is in the food I am serving myself and my family.

Christy Young Goza