[jaydig]

Well done on getting a first for your chutney, Snowy.   You'll have to make some "1st" rosettes for the jars.

[snowdrops]

Thanks all, I got a big red rosette 😊 & cards for my other 2nd & 3rds. I think the recipe was a Mrs Bee one, I hope I can find it again as I tasted it when I got it home & it's lovely, I'd forgotten about the jars in the cupboard. Plus I've got a glut of courgettes

[mrsbean]

Thanks for the replies on kosher salt. Will look for the Mrs Bee recipe, will make a change from soup which i made last night.

[Beekissed]

This year's preserves thus far...still have to add about 40 more jars of various things to this before the season is over. 

This pic shows a variety of tomato based things and a few odds and ends that didn't have a large category.  In this lot are tomato soup, salsa, slumgulleon~just a medley of garden veggies along with pasta...this is usually heated up, thickened with cornmeal and eaten over potatoes, rice, bread, etc., and a few jars of chili base sauce.



This shelf is corn and a few jars of chicken from last year...those will be opened and placed into a chicken pot pie mix, which will be canned right back to the jar for easy use later.



This shelf was bowing from the weight of quart jars last year, so I only put pint jars up there this year....just a medley of salsa, tomato soup, hot pepper jam, corn, green beans, etc. 

[snowdrops]

My goodness Beeskissed,
A few qs......
how do you know how much to put by,   
do you eat it all in 1 yr,
Do your jars not have to be full
& can you take a photo of your canning pan?

[Beekissed]

My goodness Beeskissed,
A few qs......
how do you know how much to put by,   
do you eat it all in 1 yr,
Do your hats not have to be full
& can you take a photo of your canning pan?

I put up what we grow until it's all put up.  For the corn, we buy most of that from a local farm stand~though I grow some here it's not enough to cover our needs~ and I know about how much we can use in a winter/spring until next harvest time, so I just put up around 40 qts. 

 Not sure of what a hat is in regards to canning , but maybe you are talking about jar space?  It's recommended to be full but doesn't always have to be so...I've never had any problems with jars not full to the recommended fullness, especially a tomato product.  I've even done jars of deer and chicken that weren't entirely full before with no problems. 

If we don't eat it all in one year, we just move it to the front and place the newer canned items in the back, using last year's first. 

Steam canner (water bath equivalent) and pressure canner, respectively....

[snowdrops]

Thanks Bee, & hats was supposed to be cans, so you guessed correctly & thanks for the pics of your pans. Do you not find that everything you can is rather soft? Particularly the meats?

[jaydig]

I've always been a little afraid of using the canning, or bottling method of preservation in case I don't do it correctly and end up poisoning the family, but having seen everything you are producing, Beekissed, I am very tempted to give it a try.  I need to something, because I can't get one more thing in my freezer, and I hate to see stuff go to waste. 
I'm going to look online for some proper Kilner jars, etc., and have a go.  Does all of the canned stuff need to be kept in the dark, and is there anything that you would not recommend trying to preserve with this method? Thanks.

[Beekissed]

Thanks Bee, & hats was supposed to be cans, so you guessed correctly & thanks for the pics of your pans. Do you not find that everything you can is rather soft? Particularly the meats?

The corn is just like as if you've cut it off the cob it's so very crisp and tender.  The tomatoes, of course, cook down to softness and the meats are soft and tender, as most would prefer, moist and with a sealed in flavor.  That's the beauty of pressure canning..it can render an old rooster or hen as tender and soft as a young broiler.   Green beans are not mushy, but just like you've cooked them in a pot on the stove. 

[sunshineband]

Lovely lot you have there Beekissed. Well done to you!

I agree that bottled /canned veg do not have to be mushy. Our green beans and carrots are usually lovely and crisp. Good you have the storage space for it all. I have persuaded Mr S to re-organise in the garage to free up more accessible shelf space for preserves so we can more easily see what we actually have.

Easy to forget!!

Here is my latest offering: Yellow Tomato & Basil Jam. New venture, tomato jam but is seems great! I also have Chocolate Cherry & Chilli Chutney which is very hot (unlabelled as only just finished the test batch!) but oh so lovely. Used up lots of the tomatoes I have a huge number of, before the reds arrive for sauces

[mumofstig]

I've been knee deep in tomato sauce today and I used my new 0.5l Kilner Jars.
They really made a loud pop as they cooled -  made me jump 

[New shoot]

Tomato and basil jelly, grape jelly and a large jar of dehydrated cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters and dried.



The green and red tomato jellies are zesty and savoury/sweet.  I added a little wine vinegar to each to perk the flavour up and it really worked.  They will go well with cold meat or cheese.  The grape one is richer and sweeter, so could be eaten on toast, or with roast dinners or added to gravies to enrich them. 

My grape vine produces lots of flavourful but small, pippy dark purple grapes - probably because I don't faff enough and thin them    They make a mighty fine jelly though

[Beekissed]

VERY pretty!!!!      Looks yummy too. 

[chrissie B]

Heres my effort from yesterday its orange, grapefruit and lemon marmalade i got 9 assorted jars daughter pinched one even before it was cold ha ha .
chrissie b

[New shoot]

I'd of pinched one as well - looks yummy