August 31st, 2008 - Some more canning
Doing some more canning on this long weekend. Yesterday, I picked up 2# of green beans at the farmer’s market–this time from the known organic farmer. They were $1.50/# and in far better shape than the beans I bought last week. The only problem? I should have written down how many I wanted before I went. I couldn’t remember and actually wanted about 4#, in order to make a fully kettle (7 pints) worth. Oh well. I also planned to make dill pickles, so I figured I’d do them at the same time to fill up the kettle.
After the market, we went to St. Vinnie’s to see if I could buy more pint jars–I usually use at least 13 for applesauce, I didn’t have that many left! I recently read someone who paid $1/jar at her thrift store, so I was hesitant. For her, it was cheaper to buy new, since you’d also get a lid and ring with it. To my delight, pints are only 25 cents at St. Vinnie’s, so I was in luck. (Quarts are 50 cents; blue jars–pint or quart–are $1.) I got 24 jars, including one wide half pint and about 8 wide mouths. I thought maybe those would work better for the dill pickles and I don’t have any. I also have a whole bunch of wide mouth lids and rings (bought at garage sales or inherited from Grandma/Grandpa Frost). I got all the wides they had, and all but 4 of the regulars. Unfortunately, my quick glance at each missed two with chips. The other blogger was figuring out how much money she spent canning, but even at $1/jar I wouldn’t figure the jar price into it because they can be used for years and years and years. I have canning jars that are decades old that are still usable! At that rate, they cost pennies. The real cost is the fruit and veggies if you don’t grow them yourself and the lids which can’t be reused.
And frankly, I don’t count the cost. It might not be cheaper (except for dill beans) to buy veggies and can them, but the taste is incomparable! I rarely buy pickles, never buy dill beans, never buy applesauce or apple cider, etc. The taste of the ones I make are simple impossible to find in stores. (In particular, I made chunky applesauce with no sugar, a rarity.) I think my ingredients are likely fewer in number and of better quality as well. Speaking again of applesauce, I leave the skins on which I doubt any commercial a’sauce does.
I also got lucky that a box was sitting next to the canning jars so I had a handy container for getting them home. Next time, I should be sure to bring my own box just in case. I had meant to, but just like with the pounds of beans, I didn’t think about it as I left home so it was forgotten.
So this morning, I made 4 pints of dill beans. One of them hasn’t sealed yet, so it might go in the fridge. Not terribly disappointed in that as I didn’t have any leftover beans this time (in fact, could have used a few more in the last jar). I absolutely adore these pickles but I would probably save the canned ones for the middle of winter, so having an unsealed jar to eat would be lovely! :)
And I made 6 pints of dill pickles. I realized that I easily could make more than 3, so I processed them separately. With pint jars, it took more cutting as none of my cukes were short enough. But I think I’ll prefer opening pint jars–unless Eric ends up loving these. Which I hope he does! But I tend to eat a few pickles for a few days, then forget about them. So a pint jar will easily last a few weeks or a month.
There were a few pieces left over and plenty of brine, so I tossed them in an empty jar along with some carrots and cauliflower. I also did this to the brine from last week’s dill beans. If I enjoy these flavors, I’ll make other dill pickles with excess veggies. Not that I ever have excess carrots–I love them too much. But I’m not a huge cauliflower fan and haven’t been eating up what we got from the farmer. I take them to work, but only like them with dip. But I’d eat them pickled straight up.
It takes 30 (pints)-45 (quarts) minutes for my canner to come to a boil before sterilizing jars. I never remember this year to year, despite having written it down a few times. Hopefully, this summer’s work will keep it in memory!
It would be far easier and faster to have a helper (I remember helping Mom as a kid!). For instance, once a jar is packed, someone else could put in the liquid and on the lid while I packed another jar. With just one person, you are doing all the steps!
I have a glasstop stove and have no problems canning with it (the reason I didn’t try for the first few years we lived here) despite warnings elsewhere. I have never tried pressure canning, but may this winter.
If you are thinking about maybe trying canning, I recommend jumping in. It’s not nearly as intimidating as I thought. And pickles are REALLY easy since you don’t have to cook the main ingredients first. I’m finding pints easier as well. For starters, they take less work and require fewer ingredients to get a good number of them. They also take less water to cover!
My recipes are similar to what you’ll find online and in books. But here they are from my relatives.
Garlic Dill Pickles Rita Frost (my Grandma)/ Ellen Bilstein Hamlein
Bring to a roiling boil:
2 c vinegar
1 c salt
12 c soft water (I just used my tap water)
Pack jars with one head of dill (dry or fresh) and one clove of garlic top & bottom. Fill with cucumbers and pout boiling solution to cover. Leave 1/4″ headspace. Seal 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Makes 8 qts (or 16 pints?)
I used wide mouth pints, took about 10 4″ quartered cukes per jar.
Crisp Dill Beans Rita Frost/Violet VanDeest EDIT: I think I’ll call these ZING! Dill Beans as they are really, really zingy, or at least the ones I put in the fridge w/o processing them are!
2# small tender green beans
1 tsp red pepper flakes/cayenne powder
4 cloes garlic
4 large heads dill
2 c water
1/4 c salt
1 pt vinegar (why it says pint instead of 2 c I have no idea!)
Stem green beans and snap to size if necessary. Pack uniformly in hot, sterilized jars. To each pint add 1/4 tsp red pepper, 1 clove garlic, and 1 head dill. Heat together water, salt, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and pour over beans. Seal in boiling water bath 15 min. Makes 4 pt. (Note: 1qt jar packed fairly well takes 1.5c liquid.) Notes: Due to time spent boiling, I ran out of liquid for 4 pints.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:57 am EDT
[…] I mentioned that when making the pickles, I put some cauliflower and carrots into the leftover brine. I’ve already enjoyed the ones I put in the Zing Dill Beans and they tasted just like the dill beans do, except with a different texture. In other words, lovely since I adore the dill beans. For lunch today, I’m eating the ones I put in with the dill pickle brine. […]