The Cooking Inn : Canning

Canning Recipes

Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations.

Acidification: To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes, add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use one tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with product. Add sugar to offset acid taste, if desired. Four tablespoons of a 5 percent acidity vinegar per quart may be used instead of lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes.

Recommendation: Use of a pressure canner will result in higher quality and more nutritious canned tomato products. If your pressure canner cannot be operated above 15 PSI, select a process time at a lower pressure.

Pickled Sweet Green Tomatoes

10 to 11 lbs of green tomatoes (16 cups sliced)
2 cups sliced onions
1/4 cup canning or pickling salt
3 cups brown sugar
4 cups vinegar (5 percent)
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp allspice
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp whole cloves

Yield: About 9 pints

Procedure: Wash and slice tomatoes and onions. Place in bowl, sprinkle with 1/4 cup salt, and let stand 4 to 6 hours. Drain. Heat and stir sugar in vinegar until dissolved. Tie mustard seed, allspice, celery seed, and cloves in a spice bag. Add to vinegar with tomatoes and onions. If needed, add minimum water to cover pieces. Bring to boil and simmer 30 minutes, stirring as needed to prevent burning. Tomatoes should be tender and transparent when properly cooked. Remove spice bag. Fill jar and cover with hot pickling solution, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations.

Recommended Process Times
		Boiling-Water Canner
Style of pack	Jar size	Process time	0-1,000 ft.	1,001-6,000 ft.	Above 6,001 ft.
Hot	Pints		10 min.	15 min.	20 min.
Hot	Quarts		15 min.	20 min.	25 min.

Green Tomato Pickles

4 quarts sliced green tomatoes, loosely packed
1 quart sliced onion, loosely packed
1 cup pickling salt, divided
2 pounds light brown sugar
6 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
2 small red chile peppers
1/3 cup mustard seeds
1/4 cup celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon whole allspice
2 teaspoons whole cloves

Place sliced tomatoes and sliced onion in separate bowls; sprinkle 3/4 cup salt over tomatoes and 1/4 cup salt over onion; stir both mixtures. Cover both bowls and let stand at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours. Place tomatoes in a cheesecloth bag, and squeeze gently to remove excess juice.

Repeat this procedure for onion. Discard the salt liquid. Combine tomatoes, onion, sugar, vinegar, chile peppers, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and pepper in a large kettle. Tie allspice and cloves in a small cheesecloth bag; add to tomato onion mixture. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, over low heat 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Pack tomato mixture and liquid into hot sterilized 1-quart jars (with 1 piece of the chile pepper in each jar - cut if necessary), leaving 1/2-inch headspace; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on ring bands. Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.
Store in a cool dark place. Store opened pickles in refrigerator. Makes 4 1-pint jars or 2 1-quart jars.

Canned Apple Cake

2/3 c shortening
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon (ground)
3 1/3 c flour
1 tsp cloves (ground)
1 c raisins
1/2 c pecans (chopped)

Grease 8 Wide-Mouth pint canning jars with melted shortening. Use a brush and avoid getting grease on the jar rims. Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and applesauce. Sift together the dry ingredients and blend them into the applesauce mixture. Add the raisins and nuts and divide the batter evenly between 8 widemouth pint jars. The jars will be more than half full. Bake open jars about 60 minutes in an oven at 325°F. When done, quickly remove one hot jar at a time and clean its sealing edge.
Immediately apply and firmly tighten a two-piece wide-mouth canning lid. The lid will form a vacuum seal as the jar cools. Jars of cooled bread may be stored on the pantry shelf with other canned foods or may be placed in a freezer. The bread is safe to eat as long as jars remain vacuum sealed and free of mold growth.

Note: The lady who contributed this recipe to the magazine noted that she had some of this cake that is one year old and is still delicious.

Recipe From: Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Vol. 77, #1, Jan/Feb, 1993.

Canned Cake Hints

Any cake can be baked in canning jars. Try one jar first--you have to know how much volume each recipe will give you. Fill one jar 1/2 full then bake it to see how high it rises. You don't want the cake to come out of the top of the jar, only to within 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the lip of the jar.
Once you've established how high the cake rises, you can go from there. The first time around is a bit tricky because you won't know how many jars you'll need. Most of the time you will end up using around 8 jars. Sterilize as many jars as you think you'll need and go from there. Also, the baking times will vary--the moistness of each cake recipe will determine the time.
Most of the cakes will bake in 35-40 minutes. Start checking the cakes at 30 minutes and go from there. The cakes do slide easily out of the jars, the Ball Quilted Crystal Canning Jars (#14400-81400) works best. They can be found at most grocery stores next to other canning supplies. Also, the 12 oz straight-sided (plain) jars work as well. The plain jars work fine too but they're not as pretty.
Remember, once summer's over with they're very hard to find, Ebay would be a good place then.
Make sure your lids are new, the rings don't have to be as the jars do seal, the cakes are as moist as the day you put them into the jars--sometimes more.
There will be a little condensation on the lids and some in the jars so when you seal them it's trapped inside. Don't worry about getting the water off of the lids before placing them onto the jars, the added moisture doesn't hurt the cakes in the slightest. Each jar makes enough for one or two people.

Canned Fish

Fillet fish, leaving the skin on makes for a stronger tasting fish.
Clean and scald pint jars, lids and caps.
Pack fillets in jars to 1/2" from the top.
add to each jar 1 tsp salt
1 tblsp vinegar
Pepper to taste

Put on caps and lids and screw down tight. Place jars in pressure cooker or canner. Pressure 2 hours at 10 lbs. pressure. Fish may be used for any recipe calling for cooked fish, such as fish cakes, croquettes, salads, dips, etc.

Canned Fish

Red Horse, Suckers, Northern, etc.
Clean and Fillet.
Soak in salt water in refrigerator overnight.
Cut into pieces, 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches.
Pack in sterilized pint jars.
To each jar add 2 tablespoons catsup
1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon salt.
Allow 1 inch head space. Put on lids. Process 90 minutes in pressure cooker at 10 pounds pressure. The little bones will soften in the pressure cooker and can be eaten. Use canned fish to make salmon loaf or salmon patties.

Canned Fish Hints

Make sure the fish is completly cleaned, especially be sure the gut cavity is clean. You may also wish to immerse fish for 24 hours in a brine solution of 3 cups of salt per gallon of water. Remove the fish, rinse well and drain. It is best to remove the fish head, tail and backbone.

Canned Pork and Beans

8 lb white beans
2 lb salt pork, cut in sm. pieces
1 1/2 lb brown sugar
1 c molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 qt tomato juice
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 bottle ketchup

Soak beans overnight. Drain. Cover with water and cook until they split, 20 minutes. Mix sugar with spices and seasoning. Add tomato juice and ketchup and cook for a few minutes. Pack in jars and pressure for 1 hour at 10 pounds pressure.

Canned Meatballs

6 lb ground beef
3 c oats
6 eggs beaten
4 tsp salt
6 tblsp chopped onions
2 c cold water

Mix together and fill jars to neck. Cover with tomato mixture. Pressure 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.

Tomato Mixture:

4 qt tomato juice
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tblsp butter
1 tsp salt

Bring to boil.

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