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dehydrated romas
In , on August 4, 2018 with No Comments

Dehydrated Roma Tomatoes

Are you overrun with tomatoes in your garden? Tired of canning them? Then break out your dehydrator and make some “sun-dried” tomatoes. I’ve always wanted to do this, so I decided this was the year. I’d already made my salsa and spaghetti sauce from my paste tomatoes, and there were still a few left in the garden. I hate wasting produce, especially when you have to baby them to get them to produce in the first place, so I decided to dehydrate the handful that were ready.

I dehydrated only my paste tomatoes this time, but you can definitely dehydrate whatever type of tomato you have. I had slicers in the garden, but they were slated to be used in a different recipe.




Dehydrating tomatoes (and everything else) is really easy. You wash the tomatoes, removing any stems, and thinly slice them. Place them on the dehydrator sheets, and turn on the machine. I have an inexpensive Presto dehydrator, which doesn’t have a thermostat control, but if you have a dehydrator that does have one, set the temperature to 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

I filled the 4 trays that came with the dehydrator. Try not to have the slice touch each other – air needs to be able to flow around them. Let tomatoes sit in the dehydrator until crispy. You can periodically turn the slices over to help them along. The time it takes will depend on the style of tomatoes you use and how juicy they are. My tomatoes processed for about 9 hours before they were done.

 

This is what I ended up with after 9 hours – all 4 trays of Roma slices fit into 1 quart jar! You can store them just like this and use in your favorite recipe that calls for sun-dried tomatoes.  You can store them in olive oil (then keep in the refrigerator). You can snack on them straight from the jar, or you can grind them up in a blender/food processor until it’s a fine powder. You can use the powder in soups, casseroles—anything you want to add a little tomato flavor to. You can also reconstitute the tomato powder with a little water to make quick tomato sauce to use in your favorite recipe.

I plan to keep dehydrating my Roma tomatoes as long as they keep producing this summer. It’s fun to have different items in my pantry, and it’s especially great to know that I don’t have to go buy that expensive little bottle of sun-dried tomatoes at the grocery store when I only need just a few in a recipe.

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crushed mexican tomatoes
In on August 4, 2018 with No Comments

Seasoned Crushed Tomatoes – Three Kinds

I’ve always wanted to can seasoned tomatoes, but most years after I finish canning salsa, spaghetti sauce, and soup, I usually end up just canning plain tomatoes as I’m getting tired of looking at them. But this year, the tomatoes ripened in batches, so it didn’t seem as if I was constantly in the kitchen working on them. I looked online at different recipes, but ultimately, I used the recipe from Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving. It lists 3 different kinds of spice blends for its herbed seasoned tomatoes, and I used that, but I wanted crushed tomatoes instead of doing quartered tomatoes as the recipe showed. It doesn’t really matter what form your tomato is in just as long as you put lemon juice in the jars.




The Ball recipe gives spice blends for Italian, Mexican, and Cajun. I just did Italian and Mexican, but I’ve listed all three here so you can use whichever one(s) you prefer. The recipe says that you will have enough spice blend for 6 pints of tomatoes, but I doubled and even tripled the amounts just to make sure I had enough made up since I was working with way more tomatoes than 6 pints. If you would prefer to use an already made Italian spice blend, use 4 tablespoons in place of the basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and sage in the recipe. If you have any spice blend left over after you’ve finished, just put the extra in a Ziploc baggie and use in your favorite recipe.

 

Seasoned Crushed Tomatoes

12 cups tomatoes, peeled and cored

Spice Blend (see below)

Bottled lemon juice

Salt (optional)

 

Italian Spice Blend

4 teaspoons basil

2 teaspoons thyme leaf

2-1/2 teaspoons oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons rosemary

1-1/2 teaspoons sage

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)

 

Mexican Spice Blend

6 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (optional)

 

Cajun Spice Blend

3 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

1-1/2 teaspoons onion flakes

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1-1/2 teaspoons thyme leaf

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Peel and core the tomatoes. Working in small batches, heat a few prepared tomatoes in the bottom of a large stockpot, crushing with a potato masher to get the tomatoes to release their juices. As they release the juice, keep adding tomatoes and crush with the potato masher until you have all the tomatoes in the stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

While the tomatoes are heating, to each pint jar add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of canning salt (if using), and 2-1/2 teaspoons of the prepared spice blend you are using.

Ladle hot tomatoes into jars, add lids, and tighten rings just until finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, reduce heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes. Remove jars and let set on the counter for 12 hours. Check to ensure jars have sealed. If you have some that did not seal (lid will pop back up when you test – you can usually see it before you even test), put those jars in the refrigerator and eat them within a few days. Remove rings, wash jars, and store sealed jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

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spaghetti sauce canned 2
In , on July 26, 2018 with 6 Comments

Spaghetti Sauce for Canning

I’ve canned spaghetti sauce for a long time, and I’ve tried several different recipes over the years. I’ve tried the ones you find in the Ball canning book. I’ve even tried one where I roasted the tomatoes, onions, and garlic and then pureed everything to make a sauce. But the one I keep coming back to, and the one my sons request the most, is a recipe I received from a cousin. I’ve never put it on my blog, and I keep having to ask her for the recipe because I lose it—so I’m finally remembering to post this so I can quit bugging her!




Her original recipe calls for peeled, cored, and diced tomatoes, and that’s how I’ve done it for years, but this year I decided I wanted to try a smoother tomato sauce base and then continue on with the recipe as written. I’ve decided I like the smoother sauce best, but it’s delicious however you want to prepare it.

For a smoother sauce, wash your tomatoes thoroughly, and place them in a large stockpot. (I had so many tomatoes that I had to use my water bath canner to cook them all.)

If you are using strictly paste-style tomatoes (Roma, San Marzano, etc.), add about a 1/4 cup of water to the stockpot to prevent the tomatoes from sticking when you start to heat them. Turn up the heat and stir occasionally to prevent sticking/scorching. The tomatoes begin to soften and release their juice. Let this cook over medium heat for about an hour or so—time will depend on the kind of tomatoes you are using (paste-type tomatoes usually take longer). Once soft, turn off the heat, and let everything cool slightly before you start to work with them.

After everything has cooled (so that you don’t burn yourself), run all the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the skins, seeds, and cores. I picked up a reasonably priced one on Amazon for less than $30, but there are fancier ones if you prefer. Place all the pressed sauce into a second large stockpot, and continue with the recipe as below.

 

 

Spaghetti Sauce for Canning

30 cups of tomatoes, peeled, cored, and diced (can use tomato puree —see instructions above)

6-1/2 to 7 cups diced onions (I usually use 3 large yellow onions)

10 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 1 head of garlic)

2/3 cup olive oil

30 ounces tomato paste

3 tablespoons leaf basil, crumbled

6 whole bay leaves

2 tablespoons salt

6 tablespoons oregano

5 tablespoons leaf thyme

2/3 cup sugar

**Note: If you use fresh herbs instead of dried, double the amount listed above.

Place diced tomatoes (or tomato puree if you use a food mill) in a large stockpot. In another pot, heat the olive oil, and saute diced onions for 5 minutes. Add minced garlic to the onions, and saute for an additional 5 minutes. You want the onions to be soft and translucent, not brown. Stir frequently to prevent scorching – and garlic burns easily, so keep your eye on it. When soft, add the onion mixture to the stockpot with the tomatoes.

Add remaining ingredients to the tomatoes, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. You don’t want it to boil but cook at a nice simmer. Cook until it reaches your desired consistently. This may take several hours depending on the type of tomatoes you use and how thick you like your sauce (I usually cook for about 2-3 hours). If it isn’t thick enough for you, you can add more tomato paste as well. Taste as you cook, and adjust spices and salt as needed.

 

When finished cooking, remove bay leaves (and other stems if using fresh herbs). Ladle hot sauce into prepared jars. Add lids and adjust rings until just finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes (quarts) or 35 minutes (pints). Remove from canner to the counter, and let jars sit for at least 12 hours before removing rings. Wash jars and store in a cool, dark place.

 

Yield will depend on how many tomatoes you do and how thick you make your sauce. I can usually get about 14 pints from this recipe when I use tomato puree. You may get more than that if you use diced tomatoes.

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sweet pickles
In on July 22, 2018 with 20 Comments

Grandma’s Crystal Pickles (Sweet)

This is my grandma Belle’s recipe for sweet pickles. It’s a labor of love as it is a 13-day recipe, but it isn’t hard to do. Most of your time will be spent waiting, and what you do each day doesn’t take very long. I have a 2-gallon crock that I use for this recipe, and when it’s full of cucumbers, that amount will last me roughly 2 years. I use these pickles in potato salad, tuna and chicken salad, and in homemade tartar sauce, plus they are terrific straight out of the jar. The number of pints you get will obviously depend on the size of the cucumbers you have, put I usually get about 11-14 pints per 2-gallon crock of cucumbers. The syrup amount listed will fill that many pints – if you tightly pack your jars with the pickle chunks. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to make a little extra syrup just in case so there is enough to cover the pickles in each jar.




If you don’t have 2 weeks to devote to making pickles, you can speed up this recipe. Once you get to Day 9 where you first prepare the syrup, you can heat up the syrup twice in one day to cut down your time. I’ve done this many times, and the pickles don’t taste any different than if you did it each day. The point is to get the syrup hot, pour over the cucumbers, and then let it cool completely before you heat them up again.

Crystal Pickles

Pickling cucumbers, washed (leave whole with stems on)

Water

Canning salt

Alum or Pickle Crisp

9 cups sugar

2-1/2 cups white vinegar

Box of cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon whole cloves

Cheesecloth

 

Wash pickles with stems on. Place in a stone crock, and soak with a mixture of 1 cups of canning salt per 1 gallon of water. Use enough to cover cucumbers completely. Weight down cucumbers so they are beneath the water mixture, and cover crock with a towel to prevent anything from getting in the crock.

Let cucumbers set for 1 week, but check daily to make sure none of the cucumbers are above the water level. Spoon off any scum, if any, from top of the water.

On Day 7, drain and wash the cucumbers. They will be lighter in color. Rinse out the crock.

Place the cucumbers back in the crock. Cover them with boiling water. Again weight down the cucumbers, cover crock with a towel, and let them set 24 hours.

On Day 8, drain cucumbers, and cut into 1-inch chunks.

Place chunks back in the crock, and cover cucumber chunks with boiling water that has 1 tablespoon of either alum or Pickle Crisp per gallon of water. Weight down cucumber chunks; cover crock with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

On Day 9, drain cucumber chunks. In a large stockpot, make a syrup of the white vinegar and sugar. Heat over low to medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Use the cheesecloth to make a spice bag, and add the cinnamon sticks and whole cloves to the spice bag. Add spice bag to the syrup mixture, and heat through. Remove spice bag and reserve. Pour hot syrup over cucumber chunks in crock. Weight down cucumbers so everything is beneath the syrup. Cover with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

On Day 10, drain the cucumber chunks over a large stockpot, reserving the syrup. Place cucumber chunks back in the crock. Add spice bag to the syrup, and heat until hot. Remove spice bag and reserve. Pour hot syrup over cucumber chunks in crock. Weight down, again making sure chunks are below the syrup. Cover with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

Days 11 and 12: Repeat same process from Day 10.

On Day 13, again drain syrup from the crock into a large stockpot. Add spice bag, and heat until hot. Tightly pack cucumber chunks into prepared pint jars. Add hot syrup to each jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rims, and add lids and rings, adjusting until just finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (not a rolling boil – that will shrivel the pickles – just barely boiling). After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Let stand 5 minutes before removing jars to a towel on the counter. Let jars sit for 12 hours before testing for seal. Remove rings, wipe down jars, and store in a cool dark place.

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sweetandsourchicken#2
In , , on July 9, 2018 with No Comments

Sweet and Sour Chicken for Canning

The second recipe on my Sunday can-a-thon is Sweet and Sour Chicken. I love Chinese food, and my youngest son especially loves it – any recipe, any type of meat. I thought I’d test drive this recipe to see if it meets our standards, and it definitely does. This will make a super easy meal on those nights when no one feels like cooking, and it’s still a homemade meal.




I don’t recall where I found this recipe or I’d post a link to the original website. I save so many pins on Pinterest, and this is where I found this one. I will say that in the ingredients below I doubled the amount of sauce ingredients than what I saw on the original recipe. There just wasn’t enough for the 5 quarts I had, which is what the original recipe said the yield would be. The amount of pineapple called for is correct, and you get approximately 3 cups of liquid from the 3 cans, but next time I will have a can of unsweetened pineapple juice on hand so that I can double the amount called for in the original recipe. When processing, the chicken does add to the liquid amount, but I like to have enough “sauce” to completely cover the ingredients in each jar before I place them in the canner. So, be aware that the sauce ingredients are doubled if you happen to stumble across the original recipe, and it should yield enough sauce for 5 quarts of product.

 

Sweet and Sour Chicken for Canning

4-1/2 pounds cooked chicken (I cubed mine but you can shred it if you like)

2 green bell peppers, large dice

2 medium onions, large dice

1 red bell pepper, large dice

3 15-ounce cans of pineapple chunks, drained, reserving liquid

Additional pineapple juice to equal 3 cups

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2-1/2 cups white vinegar

12 tablespoons soy sauce

8 tablespoons ketchup

2 teaspoons finely diced fresh ginger

In quart jars, layer chicken, onions, peppers, and pineapple chunks. Tamp down each layer to make sure everything is tightly packed to just below the 1-inch headspace level.

In a large saucepan, bring brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, and 6 cups total of pineapple juice to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Pour hot sauce over layered ingredients in jars, remove air bubbles, and adjust liquid as necessary. Wipe jar rims, tighten lids and rings to fingertip tightness.

Pressure can at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes.

Makes 5 quarts.

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pot roast in jars #2
In , , , on July 8, 2018 with No Comments

Pot Roast in Jars

I’ve been busy canning now that my garden is in full swing. I didn’t realize how much I missed canning, but going a year without a garden made me appreciate how great it is to have a pantry full of home-canned goodies. I’ve been busy with green beans (93 pints so far and counting), dill pickles, sweet pickle relish, dilly dog relish, and I have a crock with sauerkraut and 2 crocks with sweet pickles just waiting to finish and put on the shelves.




Since I had a little time on my hands today, I decided to try two meals-in-jars recipes that I’ve been wanting to try for some time. The first one is Pot Roast in Jars. I found the post on canningandcookingathome.com, and this recipe is from the All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving. It’s super easy to prep, and best of all, I now have 7 quarts of ready-to-eat beef on my shelves. What’s not to like?

I’ve listed the ingredients below per quart jar. Feel free to divide into pints if you like, and you can double/triple the amounts to can the number of meals you want. I ended up with 7 quarts, which will definitely come in handy those nights when I don’t feel like cooking and don’t want take-out.

 

Pot Roast in a Jar

1 pound boneless beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks

1/2 cup potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 cup onions, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup carrots, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup dry red wine (if you prefer, replace using room-temperature beef broth)

About 2 cups hot beef broth (liquid to top off jars)

 

Layer all ingredients except for the hot beef broth into jar. Pack meat, veggies, and spices tightly.

Add the red wine. Pour enough hot beef broth into jars to reach 1-inch headspace. Remove any bubbles. Add lids and rings, adjusting until finger tight.

Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour 30 minutes for quarts (1 hour 15 minutes for pints).

 

You can see from the picture I have plenty of room in my jars for the liquids. This will probably end up more like a soup/stew, but if that’s the case, it’s fine with me. Beef stew is one of my favorite comfort foods.

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strawberry rhubarb pie filling
In , on May 6, 2018 with 2 Comments

Canning 101: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

I moved this past winter, and the house where I moved had a huge established rhubarb bed, along with a nice area for a garden – both “must haves” since I wasn’t able to garden last summer at the place I lived. I haven’t canned anything in a long time, so today I decided to make some strawberry rhubarb pie filling. While it isn’t strawberry season in Iowa, I just couldn’t wait since strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my favorites, so I found some nice-looking strawberries at the grocery store. And I’ll freeze some rhubarb for later when it strawberries are ready.

I looked at a lot of recipes on Pinterest, but I decided on the one I found at sbcanning.com. I’ve tried several recipes from this site, so I knew this would be a good one too. The recipe makes 1 quart jar (enough for 1 pie), so you can double/triple it depending on how much fruit you have.

 

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

2-1/2 cups rhubarb, diced

2-1/2 cups strawberries, sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Clear Jel

1 cup water

4 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

Fill a stainless steel or Dutch oven with water, and blanch the diced rhubarb in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain but keep the heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot.

Combine the sugar, Clear Jel, and water in a pot, stirring on medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Fold in drained rhubarb and strawberries, and fill 1 quart jar with mixture, leaving 1-1/2-inch headspace.

Remove air bubbles, and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars. Adjust hot lids/rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 30 minutes at a full rolling boil.

 

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In , , , on April 3, 2017 with No Comments

Fermented Garlic Dill Pickles

I’ve made a lot of pickles over the past 25 years: garlic dills, sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled beets, mustard pickles, and even dilly green beans. I’ve made tons of cucumber relish and salsa too, but everything I’ve done in the past has been vinegar based. That’s great if you have a huge garden and want to preserve your veggies for winter storage. However, after working for a Paleo diet expert, I’ve come to the realization that I’m not getting much nutrient value from these types of pickles.

The best way to preserve your veggies and get the most nutrition from them is to ferment them. It’s so simple to do, and fermenting has been around forever. And the best part is when you eat fermented foods, you’re adding good bacteria into your digestive system.

It doesn’t take much for special equipment to ferment your veggies. I already had a ton of canning jars (although other jars will work fine). All I needed to do was purchase some air locks (can find a variety of styles on Amazon), and I was all set.

I wanted to experiment with some cucumbers before gardening season arrived so I could decide 1) if I liked fermented pickles and 2) how much garden to plant. Wal-Mart actually had a small bag of pickling-sized cucumbers, so I snagged those and proceeded to start my experiment.




I had enough cucumbers to do 2 quart jars of fermented pickles. One I decided to do as close to my usual garlic dill pickles as possible, and the other quart jar I experimented with some pickling spice. The recipe that was closest to my usual dill pickles turned out terrific, and my youngest son told me I had to make crocks of them this summer when we’re overloaded with cucumbers. These pickles did not last long. The second jar – not so much a success. It fermented as it was supposed to. I just didn’t like the taste of the pickling spice, so the chickens got a fermented treat.

For my experiment, since it was March and fresh dill just isn’t available in Iowa, I used a combination of both dill seed and dill weed in my quart jar, but come summer, I’ll be using fresh, probably a big head of dill per jar. I like lots of dill and garlic in my pickles, but if you prefer less, feel free to adjust the amounts. The red pepper flakes are also optional. Sometimes I would make my usual garlic dills with a small piece of pepper to kick up the flavor, but the pickles will taste just fine if you don’t want the extra heat. I also didn’t have any grape leaves or horseradish leaves ready in the garden yet since it’s March, but I do add them when available. However, these pickles were perfectly crisp without them, so if you don’t have access to the leaves, don’t worry about it. Just be sure to keep the salt-to-water ratio the same so that you have enough salty brine for the fermentation to take place.

The spices and brine recipe are for 1 quart jar. Double as needed depending how many jars of pickles you want to make.

 

Fermented Garlic Dill Pickles

6 to 8 pickling size cucumbers (whole or slice into chunks as you prefer)

1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled

1-1/2 tablespoon dill seed

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Grape leaf or horseradish leaf (optional – this provides tannin to help keep pickles crisp)

For the Brine (per quart):

3 cups water (room temperature)

3 tablespoons fine sea salt (can use canning/pickling salt too)

 

To each quart jar, add the grape or horseradish leaf if using, the garlic, and the spices. Pack your cucumbers in tightly. Combine brine ingredients until the salt is dissolved, and pour the brine over the cucumbers.

Add a glass weight to the jar to keep the cucumbers submerged in the brine, and place an air lock to the top of the jar. Let the jar sit on the counter for 2 to 3 days out of the sun. How fast fermentation takes place will depend on how warm the room is. Ideal temperature would be around 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so if it’s wintertime, it will take longer, and fermentation will definitely speed up when it’s hot.

You’ll see the brine turn cloudy after a day or two. Don’t panic – that’s what you want to happen. It means things are fermenting as planned. After a couple of days, remove the air lock and the glass weight, and taste a pickle. It should be crunchy and full of dill and garlic flavor. If it isn’t, replace the glass weight and air lock, and let the jar sit for another day before re-tasting. When you’re happy with the pickles, remove the air lock and glass weight, place a different lid on the jar (I use a new canning lid and ring), and put the jar in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Note: If you slice your cucumbers, the slices will ferment a bit quicker than if you leave the cucumbers whole in the jar. My whole cucumbers took about 4 days in mid-March before they were fermented all the way through, but my slices were ready in 2-1/2 days.

 

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In , , on January 31, 2016 with No Comments

How to Make Corned Beef

My family loves corned beef, and not just for St. Patrick’s Day. We could probably eat corned beef and cabbage on a monthly basis, but it’s not always possible to find a good corned beef when we get a craving for it. And when you do find it in abundance, especially around March, the price can sometimes be cost prohibitive.

 

Shop Taste of Home

We like to buy meat in bulk and repackage it into meal-sized portions. We do this with pork loin, ground beef, sirloin when it’s on sale and brisket. We stumbled across a large beef brisket that was on sale, so we picked one up and portioned it into several different meals. With what was left, Kevin decided he wanted to try making corned beef. I have no idea where he found his brine recipe, or I’d link a credit to the site, but the smell of it when he was finished made my mouth water, so I think he found a good one. The brine he used is plenty for an 8-pound brisket.

 

Homemade Corned Beef

8-pound beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat

2 quarts water

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup white vinegar

4 tablespoons sugar

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon mustard seed

Pinch ground cloves

4 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped or smashed

 

Trim beef brisket of as much fat as you desire. Fat does add flavor, so you may want to leave some on the brisket.

 

corned beef 2

 

Combine all ingredients except for the garlic cloves in a large saucepot, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cool to room temperature (or cool quickly in the refrigerator).

Put the beef brisket in a large, sealable plastic bag (or use a large plastic container like we did). Pour in the brine, and add the peeled and chopped garlic cloves. If using a plastic bag, squeeze out excess air and seal.

corned beef in brine

 

Place the sealed bag in the refrigerator for 6 to 7 days, turning the bag every other day. Remove the brisket from the bag, and discard the brine. Cook brisket as desired, or package meat for freezing for a later date.
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In , on January 31, 2016 with No Comments

Canning 101: Kidney Beans

kidney beans canned 2

 

Canning isn’t just for summertime and fall when the gardens are overloaded with fresh vegetables. While I do most of my canning then, I also do some canning in the winter. If the guys are lucky to get a deer during hunting season, I’ll often can quarts of venison, which makes a quick meal. Last winter I decided to try my hand at canning dry beans, and since then, I’ve been canning a lot of them. It’s so easy to do, and I can’t believe I’d been canning for over 20 years before I even tried it.

 

I’ve canned chili beans, pork and beans, black beans, and now I’ve canned kidney beans. The grocery store had packages of kidney beans in its discount bean – why I can’t figure out because dried beans don’t go bad or spoil – and being the frugal grocery shopper that I am, I scooped all they had to can. I came home with five 1-pound packages, each marked down to $0.50 – cheap eats when you consider a single can of kidney beans can be around $1.

 

The hardest part about canning dried beans is waiting. While you can do a quick boil on the beans the same day that you can them, I like to soak them overnight and process them the next day.

 

To can any kind of dried bean, first rinse the beans. You’d be amazed at all the dirt, little rocks and other debris that lurks in those packages. Once you’ve rinsed them, pour all the beans you want to can in a large container, and cover them with water, having about 2 to 3 inches of water above the beans. Let set overnight.

 

The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Place beans in a large stockpot, and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 30 minutes.

 

While the beans are cooking, prepare pint canning jars, leaving them hot until ready to use. When the beans are ready to can, fill pint jars 3/4 full with the beans. Cover with boiling water, or use the hot liquid the beans cooked in (which is what I do). Add lids and rings, and tighten the rings just until finger tight.

 

Process pint jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 70 minutes. Once the pressure reduces, remove the jars, and let set undisturbed in a cool place for 12 hours. Test lids. If a jar hasn’t sealed, place it in the refrigerator and use it fairly soon in your favorite recipe.

 

kidney beans canned

 

I started with 5 pounds of dried beans, and I ended up with 20 pint jars of processed kidney beans.

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