Canning carrots

It is interesting that I found it fun to write about, asparagus, corn, okra, beets, and green beans; yet when it comes to carrots, that topic just seems boring. Perhaps it is because I've never pickled them so they just seem plain to me. Perhaps it is because I've never liked them much to begin with.

There seem to be a lot of recipes for pickled carrots. I think this weekend I will pick one and try it. I might like it (even if it is carrots).


In the mean time here are instructions for canning plain old boiled carrots (sliced or diced). If you want to use salt, put canning salt in the jar before you add the carrots. Use 1/2 tsp for a pint jar, or 1 tsp for a quart jar.

You can boil the carrots for five minutes before you put them in the jars (that is called the hot pack method), or you can put them into the jars raw and pour boiling water over them (that is called the cold pack method). Either way leave 1 inch headspace, and process using the pressure canner method. Process pints for 25 minutes, or quarts for 30 minutes.


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Canning Okra

As an Iowa girl who never got outside of the midwest, I was 20 years old before I even heard of okra. When I was finally exposed to it, I liked it enough that I had to try growing it. It turns out that it actually grows quite well in Iowa. Though I occasionally have people ask me, "what is that?"

Growing it myself is the only way to get fresh okra here. Though I have seen frozen and canned okra in the grocery store, I have never seen fresh okra at the farmers market or in the produce section of the grocery store.



Since vegetables are low- acid, they have to be processed in a pressure canner. Okra can be canned by itself, but I am more likely to can it with tomatoes. I can eat this as is, add corn to it, or add it to soups.

To can okra, boil it for 2 minutes and drain. Fill hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. If desired, add 1/2 tsp canning salt to pint jars or 1 tsp to quart jars. Cover with boiling water. Process using the pressure canner method. Process pints for 25 minutes, or quarts for 40 minutes.

Here is the recipe that I use for okra and tomatoes.

1 quart sliced okra
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
cayenne pepper to taste
2 tsp canning salt (optional)

Combine all ingredient and simmer till soft. Fill hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Add enough boiling water to cover. Process using the pressure canner method. Process pints for 30 minutes, or quarts for 35 minutes.
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Canning Sauerkraut

A couple of my siblings won't eat sauerkraut because it reminds them of the smell permeating the house when Mom canned it. She made it in 5 gallon batches, so the smell did get rather strong. I still eat it, though. Making smaller batches is easier on my nose, and I can't give up eating it. After all, how could I pass up a Reuben sandwich.



By the way, to her children's surprise, my mother's 5 gallon crock sold for 3 times the price of a brand new 5 gallon crock. Nobody paid much attention to the other crocks at the estate auction, but the company name that was printed on the side of that one caught the attention of the antique dealers. I have no idea were she originally got it or how old it was.

Back to the topic. When I wrote about pickling, I said that there were two methods. You either add an acid such as vinegar to a food, or you add salt and let the fermentation process create it's own acid. Sauerkraut uses the second method.

It is traditionally fermented in a crock, but a container made of glass or food-grade plastic will work as well. For each medium sized head of cabbage, you need 1-1/2 Tablespoons of canning salt. Put about an inch of sliced cabbage in the crock, sprinkle it with salt, and stir it up. Continue with another layer of cabbage and more salt. By working in layers, you ensure that the salt is distributed well.

The salt will soon begin drawing water out of the cabbage, creating a brine. Pack the cabbage down either with your hands or with a potato masher. You should end up with enough brine to cover the cabbage, but there are occasional years when the cabbage just isn't as moist. When there is not enough brine you can add a brine made from 1-1/2 Tablespoons of salt and 1 quart of water.

Place a plate that fits in the crock over the cabbage and weigh it down, so the cabbage is submerged. As somebody who likes reading old cookbooks, I have noticed that older recipes usually said to weight it down with a heavy limestone rock. They said that the lime adds flavor to sauerkraut. I don't really know if limestone improves the flavor, because by the time I was born, this practice had generally been replaced by cleaner weights such as a canning jar that is filled with water. When the cabbage is fermented this way a scum (caused by the growth of yeast) forms on the top. This scum has to be skimmed off every couple of days.

In the book, "Pickles and Relishes: From Apples to Zucchinis, 150 recipes for preserving the harvest," Andrea Chesman introduced me to a nice improvement on the traditional way of doing things. Instead of weighing the plate down with glass jars, fill a large plastic food storage bag with brine, put that in another food storage bag, for extra protection, and use that as a weight. The bag molds itself to the shape of the crock and prevents air from getting to the cabbage. The lack of air, prevents the growth of yeast, so you don't have to skim scum off.

I have found that this works quite well, for a small batch of kraut. For a large batch, my question would be, "where do you get a large enough bag?" I would not use a garbage bag, because plastic that isn't made specifically for food storage leaches harmful chemicals into your food.

There is also a company, now, that makes a special crock that seals out air. I have never tried it but I assume it works as well as the plastic bag idea. With either of these new methods, you do not want to disturb the cabbage the whole time that is fermenting, because you don't want to let air in.

The crock should be kept around 60-75 °F during the fermentation process. As the cabbage ferments, it creates gas (which can escape around the plastic bag). You know the cabbage is finished fermenting when it no longer gives off gas bubbles. This takes 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the temperature.

You could actually just keep your kraut in the crock, but you would have to keep skimming scum off it so it is better to can it. Leave 1/2 inch headspace and process in a water bath. Process pints for 20 minutes or 25 minutes for quarts.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes
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Canning Ratatouille - and Creating Your own Canning Recipes

I love ratatouille, and it seemed to me that it should be more than just a summer treat. Since none of my canning cookbooks had a recipe for canning ratatouille, I started with my favorite recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, added bell peppers to it (because I happen to like peppers) and decided on canning instructions based on the instructions for similar food.

When you are unsure how much processing time is necessary to ensure that all bacteria is killed, it is better to err on the side of choosing too long of a processing time, rather than too short. I always check the processing time for each of the individual ingredients and make sure that I pick a time at least as long as the ingredient that has the longest time.


This method has served me well. While I may have some recipes that have not been tested in a professional test kitchen, I have yet to find a spoiled jar. If you do try coming up with your own canning instructions, then to be on the safe side, remember that the tell-tell sign of botulism is a seal that loosens while the jar is sitting on the shelf.

My canned ratatouille is kind of mushy compared to fresh ratatouille, but it allows me to extend my enjoyment of this dish beyond the harvest season. It is also nice to have something quick for those days when I am in a rush.
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Canning Corn

The sweet corn is not ready yet, but I felt like writing this post in anxious anticipation of one of my favorite foods.

It won't be too long before the sweet corn stands will be popping up on the street corners, and even people who don't have a garden will be stopping for a treat.


To can corn simply fill hot jars with cut corn leaving a little more than an inch of headspace. If desired, at 1/2 tsp canning salt to each pint or 1 tsp for each quart. Add Boiling water leaving 1 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure. Process pints for 55 minutes or quarts for 1 hour 25 minutes. For altitudes over 1000 feet use 15 pounds pressure.

I also can some corn relish, which I personally think is a great topping for burgers. The recipe is based on a recipe from the Ball Blue book. Yield is about 4 pint jars.

2 quarts cut corn
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 Tbs ground mustard
1 Tbs mustard seed
1 Tbs celery seed
1 Tbs turmeric
1 Tbs canning salt


Combine all ingredients and boil for 25 minutes. Fill hot pint leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes



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The Lost Art of Pickling

The term "pickling" refers to the process of preserving food by using acid to prevent the growth of bacteria. This can be done two ways. You can simply add an acid such as vinegar, or you can cover the food with salt water and allow the fermentation process to create lactic acid.


Some times both methods are used. The food is fermented for a certain period of time, then the salt water is removed and vinegar is added.

Spices are usually added for flavor. When the food that is pickled is small or is cut up into small pieces, the finished product is often called a relish. When a fruit is pickled, the finished product is often called "chutney."

Once upon a time (before the invention of canning jars) people simply put their vegetables in a stone crock, added the brine, and weighted it down to keep the vegetables submerged. While acid prevents the growth of bacteria, it does not prevent the growth of yeast and mold, so you occasionally had to skim this off from the top of the crock. Today we can prevent the growth of yeast and mold by canning our pickles.

Once upon a time, people pickled just about anything they could. After all, you don't want to starve to death during the winter. As the options for preserving food increased, the amount of pickling that is done, decreased.

Before writing this post I wandered through the grocery store aisles just to see how many pickled foods I could find. There was a very big selection of pickled cucumbers. There was also a nice sized selection of pickled olives and pickled cabbage (i.e. sauerkraut). Since vinegar is used as a preservative in canned salsa, that means that salsa also technically goes into the category of pickled foods. The Mexican section also had a nice selection of pickled jalapeños.

I also found a variety of other pickled foods such as okra, cauliflower, carrots, watermelon rind, etc. However all of these foods combined took up less space than half of the pickled cucumbers.

While I certainly would not want to go back to the days when not pickling food meant the possibility of not making it through the winter, I do think that pickling more than just cucumbers is a nice way to add fun and variety to my diet. Personally I always pickle some of my garden produce just for the fun of it.
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Canning Green Beans and a Recipe for Pickled Green Beans

I like planting bush beans for canning, because they are ready for the harvest all at once and you can get the whole winters worth put up in a short time. Personally I think pole beans are nicer for eating throughout the summer rather than canning. In any case, whether you plant bush beans or pole beans, green beans or yellow beans, the canning instructions for them are all the same.


Canning Beans

Wash, trim, and cut beans to desired length. Fill hot pint jars with beans. Add 1/2 tsp canning/pickling salt (if desired). Add boiling water, leaving 1 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a pressure canner at 10 pound pressure for 20 minutes

For quart Jars, use 1 tsp salt ( if desired), and increase processing time to 25 minutes.

For Altitudes above 1000 feet, use 15 pounds pressure.


Pickled Green Beans with Garlic and Ginger

Though I wrote this recipe for pint jars, 12 ounce jelly jars work nice for gift giving. After canning, allow a couple of weeks for the beans to soak up flavor from the brine.

2 pounds beans (green, yellow or a mixture of both)
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
4 cloves garlic
4 slices ginger root

Wash beans and trim ends, Cut to length to fit the jar. For standard pint jars, the beans should be about 4 inches long in order to allow enough headspace.

Combine vinegar, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil.

Place one clove garlic, and one slice ginger root in each jar. Pack beans into jars. Pour brine into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes


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Canning Beets and a Recipe for Pickled Beets

It is time to move past berries and start getting into vegetables.

In case you have ever wondered, the picture that I have been using for my header is a jar of pickled beets. I think pickles make as nice of gifts as jam, so nobody is surprised when they get a jar of pickles from me.


This pickled beet recipe is based on a recipe from Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook. I really like this cookbook, but it should be pointed out, that the canning instructions in it need to be updated, as this book still uses the open kettle method. Yield is 3 pint jars.

Pickled beets

3 pounds beets
3 cinnamon sticks (about 2 inches long)
6 whole allspice
12 whole cloves
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar

Boil beets until tender (20 to 40 minutes depending on the size of the beets). Drain and rinse under cool water. Remove the skin. If the beets are very small, they can be left whole, other wise either slice or cut the beets into chunks, whichever you prefer.

Combine vinegar, water, and sugar, and bring to a boil.

Place 1 cinnamon stick, 2 allspice berries, and 4 cloves in each jar. Add beets. Pour hot liquid into the jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add lids. Process for 10 minutes in a water bath.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes


Canning beets

Beets (like other vegetables) are low acid, so they must be processed in a pressure canner in order to prevent botulism.

Boil beets until skins slip off (15 to 25 minutes depending on the size of the beets). Drain and rinse under cool water. Remove the skin. Cut as desired (they can be sliced, cubed, or baby beets can be left whole). Place in pint jars. An optional 1/2 tsp canning salt can be added if desired. Fill with hot water leaving 1 inch headspace. Process with the pressure canner method at 10 pounds pressure for 20 minutes.

For quart jars, use 1 tsp salt (if desired) and process for 25 minutes.

For altitudes above 1,000 feet, use 15 pounds pressure.
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Canning Asparagus

When the asparagus first starts poking out of the ground, it is easy to feel that one just can't get enough of it. It seems to disappear as fast as it grows. Hopefully as the season progresses, there is enough to preserve some of it for later.



Like other vegetables, asparagus needs to be processed in a pressure canner (see food safety posts). Asparagus can be put into the canning jars while it is still raw. Salt is optional.

Thoroughly wash the asparagus and remove tough ends and scales. Fill hot pint sized canning jars with asparagus. If desired, put 1/2 tsp salt in each jar. Fill jars with boiling water, leaving 1 inch headspace. Place 2 piece lids on jars and process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. For altitudes over 1000 feet use 15 pounds pressure.

If you want to use quart sized jars, then increase salt to 1 tsp and increase processing time to 40 minutes.

I hope you enjoy your harvest. Read more...