[Trillium]

Fancy that. I didn't have any idea you can freeze cooked beans and pulses either.
Like it.

You can also soften the beans and pressure can them in mason jars for shelf storage, which is what I'll be doing soon. I never ever remember to set beans to soak overnight so this will be handier for me. My freezers are already too full for extras like these.

[devonbarmygardener]

I've thought of getting a pressure cooker for such things but I'm haunted by the thought of overcooked squidgy vegetables!!
I don't go much on squidgy greens!

[Trillium]

I tried carrots this year in the pressure canner and I'm not overly keen on them to be honest. I'd never pressure can soft greens like spinach because they'd simply melt during cooking. But you can do whole small beets in the pressure canner. The reason for pressure cooking them is their very low acidity level (or, high alkalinity) which necessitates the longer cooking.

But dried beans like pintos and kidneys can be partly soaked then pressure canned, ready for a recipe just like opening a tin of them.  A dozen or so jars at a time are very handy to have on hand.

Note that a pressure cooker and a pressure canner are not the same thing.

[Mrs Bee]

I've thought of getting a pressure cooker for such things but I'm haunted by the thought of overcooked squidgy vegetables!!
I don't go much on squidgy greens!

If you make lots of marmalade they are brilliant for softening the peel!!
Mind you you would have to make a load of marmalade to make it worthwhile.

[devonbarmygardener]

I do tend to make A LOT of marmalade!

I make a lot of any preserve actually. It's such a process I like to make enough to last a while. I store it or give as gifts to friends.
My 'citrus dandelade' went down well with chums.

Hi Trillium. I've seen the adverts for pressure canners, but I have seen people use pressure cookers for sealing jars as well. To be honest, I'm paranoid about bugs so I like to put hot preserves etc in hot jars that have been washed and sterilised in the oven best!
But I did consider pressure might be easier - I want lots of proof you don't get bugs growing after use!

[Trillium]

The pressure canners are easy to use if you read the instructions and don't get creative, nor leave the pot alone while it cooks. If something needs 90 minutes cooking time, you must stay there for 90 minutes.

Problem with substituting a pressure cooker for a canner is that the cooker has no specific pressure it cooks at, which is very important for keeping food safe, nor can you do quantities in it. Not knowing the right pressure is like not knowing if you have fuel in your car for a long trip. Guesswork doesn't cut it when it comes to food safety. The proper amount and time of pressure will kill anything in the bottles.

The canners have either dial gauges you read and keep the heat steady at for pounds of pressure, or, you set a special weight on the unit and it will self control, eg 10 lbs, 5 lbs, etc and you clock all of these depending on what you're making. The higher the pH level, the longer it needs to cook. eg a quart of meat will need 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure if you're under 1,000 ft altitude, 11 lbs above 1,000 ft. These are clearly outlined in instruction books that come with the canners.

I never bother pressure canning marmalades, etc as they already have enough sugar and acidity to keep them safe and can be safely water bathed for around 15 minutes (provided the contents are already very hot). Some folk don't bother water bathing jams and such, but I always do for the safety factor. I make a LOT and can't count on eating it up within a year, nor two. I've had jams 7 years old that still taste like the day I made them. 

Mostly, I pressure can all my tomato sauces because of digestive sensitivities. Water bathing and freezing just don't work for me, but pressure canning does and I can safely eat all tomato products I pressure can. I now do meat and butter in the pressure canner to save freezer space. They're very easy and safe to do. Check youtube for videos on them. 

[devonbarmygardener]

Thats certainly something I'm going to consider in the future.
Particularly if my (future dream) Italian house doesn't have mains electric and I can't have a freezer!
A couple I've looked at have light and water only. Roughly translated as daylight and a well!

Was hoping to have some home grown beans to store for this year, but all that rain we had late last year destroyed my Borlottis and Butter beans before I could harvest them

[Trillium]

Wishing you luck on your search.

There are 2 books I'd highly recommend if you do find your dream place. The Italians are huge fans of root cellars, aka caves, and Root Cellaring by Mike & Nancy Bubel is an excellent one that's been around for decades and reprinted several times.
Another, highly recommended, book is Preserving Food Without Freezing Or Canning by the Gardeners & Farmers of Terre Vivante. It's a lot of methods from France which are still in use today - Salting, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, drying cold storage and lactic fermentation. Amazingly simple methods used for many generations.

[devonbarmygardener]

Oooh thanks

[mumofstig]

but don't forget all the stuff that can be simply sundried on boards under netting 

[devonbarmygardener]

Of course.
But of all veggy fruity goodies - i don't like sundried tomatoes!

[mumofstig]

Of course.
But of all veggy fruity goodies - i don't like sundried tomatoes!

 :blink:

[devonbarmygardener]

Of course.
But of all veggy fruity goodies - i don't like sundried tomatoes!

 :blink:

I know I know!

I'm not keen on anything dry and chewy!
So that's all dried fruit like raisins, sultanas - don't mind mixed peel or glace cherries (like them in my panetone at Christmas!).
Sun dried toms are just chewy and unpleasant to my tastebuds.
I like my fruit and veg soft and tasty - not necessarily fresh - I loved tinned plum toms!
They might cause me to develop Alzheimers but hey!    

[Mrs Bee]

Tinned toms cause Alzheimers?

I thought they were supposed to really good for us.

[devonbarmygardener]

There is a school of thought that tomatoes particularly may absorb metal from the tin.

There's a thought that heavy metal absorption may contribute to Alzheimers.

My friend won't use aluminium foil anywhere near her food!