My first foray into canning was a success! I’ve been wanting to try to can/preserve in jars, but moving into my house this mid-summer meant I didn’t have my act together in time to have any of the summer bounty canned for this winter. Not to mention, I had no idea how or what it really meant. But I wanted to try, especially as winter crept closer and I started to evaluate food storage options. I have my wonderful full-size freezer, and a happy “cool dry place” for my vast winter squash, potatoes, carrots, apples, parsnips, turnips, etc. I have dried apples, pears, etc. But if I could preserve, I could have blueberries next February, strawberries in January…. green beans and pickles…. all the things I have been missing. So I am determined to get this down.
My first venture was with apples. Makes sense, as that is one of the few things even available to can this time of year. Plus, as I learned, it can be done in a water-bath canning process (as opposed to pressure canning). I do have a big pressure canner, but I wanted to start with something a little less daunting somehow. But more than anything else was the amazing support I’ve gotten from the blogging community here, all the readers who took time to comment on my blog, and the many many whose blogs I combed over like a student cramming for a final exam in hopes of soaking up every bit of information and experience you have to offer before plunging in. Amber at Strocel.com pointed me to an extremely helpful site at the National Center For Home Food Preservation about canning/preserving that I read through many many times. In the end, I decided on doing a spiced apple mix – local Red Delicious apples with cinnamon (local, believe it?), nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves. Judy over at “My Freezer Is Full” made the great suggestion of using this over hot cereal, and…. well, it just so happened that the day before my canning venture I received my latest order from Wild Hive Farm (my local grain source) complete with some: hot oat mix cereal!
I don’t like Red Delicious apples “straight up” – almost any other apple is fine, but not those for some reason. But they were there in my storage, and I can’t waste them, so they were perfect for canning. I sterilized the jars, lids, and rings as instructed – terrified all the time that somehow it would go wrong and I would fall sick from improperly preserved food (you’ll see this as a recurring theme in the post!). The water was brought to a boil (I can do this, really….) Apples were chopped – I used about 7 lbs I think (with a bit of nibbling as I chopped, shhhh). Jars were filled. Here is where I started getting nervous again, making sure to leave the required headspace of at least 1/4 -1/2 inch. I actually measured (yes, I’m a bit of an obsessive one). I used the pressure canner as the vessel (as it was the largest one I had and it also has a separate regularly closing lid I could use) but I didn’t use the pressure feature. Into the canner they went.
And then, panic. I did 4 jars in the first batch of water. 3 sank as required, one floated. The rack was in the bottom, everything was okay-looking… so why the floater? (If anyone knows, I’d love to learn about it – I still am wondering). I held my breath and just closed the top once it was at a boil, and started the timer for 20 minutes. And waited. Longest 20 minutes. Of course, once the timer went off, I fell into my usual ways of over-doing things and let them boil for another 10 minutes. Why, I don’t know. (Though I do that the first time I bake a new recipe too, somehow I worry the dough will be raw and keep baking it and baking it – resulting in dry, burnt bread).
Took them out of the canner. Steam bath for my skin, and it was hard to lift them out! Even with the gripper tongs, they kept slipping. Which itself led to more worry – what if they got too banged around as I was removing them? I read that they shouldn’t be disturbed or banged before the seal, so would I ruin them? But too late now, I just had to get them out. They got onto a towel on the counter, and then I hovered. Hovered and listened for that “thwak” sealing sound.
All I can say is to repeat what Judy said: “I especially love the feeling when you hear a lid sealing. It’s like a little song of victory.” A little song of victory that became a joyous outburst that had me springing up and down in joy when I heard the first batch of 4 go “thwak”. Here are the pictures:
Sliced Red Delicious Apples
Jars waiting to be sterilized
Sterilizing the Jars - another panic point
The Canner
Filled with cooked apple chunks
Closed and ready to go into the water-bath
And out of the water-bath, processed and "thwaked"!
I am so proud of myself, that sound of the lids sealing was one of accomplishment. For those with more experience, each “thwak” is nothing to cheer about, I know – and many others would ask “Why bother doing all that work for some apples?”. But yes, I am proud of my first tentative steps. Now, of course, what comes next? Thoughts? What should/can I plan on over the warmer months?
