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RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 09-27-2012
Thread Necro:
SALSA!
Making and Canning (or freezing) Homemade Salsa from Fresh Tomatoes!
Making and canning your own salsa is something families remember years later. No store bought salsa, even if it is shipped from Texas, compares with the taste of that made from your own tomatoes from your garden or fresh-picked from a local farm! In the middle of the winter, you can have tortilla chips and your salsa and taste the summer flavor of fresh tomatoes.
Here's how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated. This method is so easy, ANYONE can do this! It's a great thing to do with your kids!
Ingredients and Equipment
Tomatoes - about 15 lbs (yes, quite a few - you remove the skins, seeds and a lot of the water, so it takes a lot to start.) You'll need about 3 quarts of prepared chopped tomatoes. This makes about 8 pints of salsa!
Salsa mix or your own seasonings - The Ball salsa mix sells for about $2.00 to $4.00 per packet. A packet will make about a 7 pint jars.
See step 7 below for seasonings.
Pint canning jars (Ball or Kerr jars can be found at Big Lots, Wegmans, Walmart and other "big box" stores - about $8 per dozen jars including the lids and rings). Pint size works best!
Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.
Jar grabber - (to pick up the hot jars)
Salsa mix or your own seasonings. The Ball salsa mix sells for about $2.00 to $4.00 per packet. A packet will make about a 7 pint jars. See step 7 below for seasonings.
2 cups Lemon juice (if you make your own seasoning) or vinegar (if you use the Ball or Mrs. Wages mixes)
1 Water bath Canner (a huge pot to sterilize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 - $30 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores. (Tomatoes are on the border between the high-acid fruits that can be preserved in a boiling-water bath and the low-acid fruits, vegetables and meats that need pressure canning)
1 large pot.
Large spoons and ladles
Jar funnel ($3-Grocery stores, local "big box" stores; sometimes even hardware stores have these)
Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sterilize them.
Process - How to Make salsa from Fresh Tomatoes
Step 1 - Selecting the tomatoes
It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality tomatoes!
At right is a picture of tomatoes from my garden - they are so much better than anything from the grocery store. And if you don't have enough, a pick-you-own farm is the pace to go! Here are 4 common varieties that will work:
Top left: Beefsteak
Top right: Lemon Boy, yellow
Bottom left: Roma, paste-type
Bottom right: Better Boy
I'm told that the best variety of tomato to use are Roma tomatoes also called paste tomatoes. They have fewer sides, thicker, meatier walls, and less water.
Also, you don't want mushy, bruised or rotten tomatoes!
Step 2 - Removing the tomato skins
Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough)
then....
Plunge them into a waiting bowl of ice water.
This makes the skins slide right off of the tomatoes! If you leave the skins in, they become tough and chewy in the sauce, not very pleasant.
Step 3 -Removing seeds and water
After you have peeled the skins off the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half. Now we need to remove the seeds and excess water.
Step 4 - Squeeze of the seeds and water
Just like it sounds: wash your hands then squeeze each tomato and use your finger or a spoon to scoop and shake out most of the seeds. You don't need to get fanatical about it; removing just most will do.
Step 5 - Drain and dice the tomatoes
Toss your squeezed tomatoes into a colander or drainer, while you work on others. This helps more of the water to drain off. You may want to save the liquid: if you then pass it through a sieve, screen or cheesecloth, you have fresh tomato juice; great to drink cold or use in cooking!
Next chop them up - I like 1/2 inch size cubes. You'll need about 3 quarts of peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes.
Step 6 - Get the jars and lids sterilizing
The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sterilize" cycle. I get that going while I'm preparing everything else, so it's done by the time I'm ready to fill the jars.
Be sure to let it go through the rinse cycle to get rid of any soap!
Lids: Put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes.
Note: everything gets sterilized in the water bath (step 7) anyway, so this just helps to ensure there is no spoilage later!)
Step 7 – Prepackaged mix or your own seasoning?
I'm told that either works equally well. The salsa mix for canning has the advantage of being tested and easy. It's basically corn starch, onion powder, salt and seasoning. It doesn't have any preservative to improve the canning, so the advantage is only that it is easier. However, I like my custom-made from fresh seasonings better, so here is the recipe for that:
I use an electric chopper (food processor) to dice the seasonings fairly fine, about 1/8 inch cubes.
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 six-ounce cans tomato paste (adds body)
• 2 cups bottled lemon or lime juice
• 1 tablespoon salt (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional - you use Splenda if you are on a sugar-restricted diet)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons oregano leaves
Step 8 - Mix ingredients in the pot and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer
Start with the chopped tomatoes in the pot...
Add the seasonings and bring to a gentle simmer, just to get it hot (180 F, if you have a thermometer) there's no need to cook it; only to get it hot enough to ready it for water bath processing to kill any bacteria and enzymes.. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste it as it cooks. If you like the sauce hotter, add 1 teaspoon of chili powder.
Step 9 - Fill the jars with sauces and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, seat the lid and hand-tighten the ring around them.
Be sure the contact surfaces (top of the jar and underside of the ring) are clean to get a good seal!
Step 10 - Boil the jars in the canner
Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for:
Recommended process time for Tomato/Tomato Paste Salsa in a boiling-water canner.
Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack - Hot
Jar Size - Pints or 8 oz jars
0 - 1,000 ft - 15 min
1,001 - 6,000 ft - 20 min
Above 6,000 ft - 25 min
IMPORTANT: The USDA says the only change you can safely make in this salsa recipe is to change the amount of spices and herbs. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe. Do not substitute vinegar for the lemon juice.
Step 11 - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight). You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually okay.
RE: Food preservation & preperation - Deutsch - 09-27-2012
Reading this thread is wonderful good
Thanks for all the info
These skills need to be shared
Now I am going to add a Rep for all that posted
Deutsch
RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 09-29-2012
APPLESAUCE
Made 8 pints of apple sauce last night, here is how:
The applesauce will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store, and by selecting the right apples, it will be so naturally-sweet that you won't need to add any sugar at all. Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 18 months to 2 years, and require no special attention.
Ingredients and Equipment
Apples (see step 1)
Cinnamon - Optional (I did not use any because my grandmother never has. Many people do though.)
Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars - optional, but makes life a bit easier)
Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sterilize them - optional, but makes life a bit easier)
Jar funnel )optional, but makes life a bit easier)
At least 2 large pots
Large spoons and ladles
Canning jars (Big Lots, Wal-Mart carry then - about $8 per dozen pint jars including the lids and rings)
1 Water Bath Canner (a huge pot with a lifting rack to sterilize the jars of applesauce after filling, You CAN use a large pot instead, but the canners are deeper, and have a rack to make lifting the jars out easier. If you plan on canning every year, they're worth the investment.
Sieve: I have a Foley Food Mill that I got at a yard sale for a couple dollars.
Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the apples
The most important step! You need apples that are sweet - NOT something like Granny Smith's. Yeah, I know you like them and even if I did, they still wouldn't make good applesauce - you'd have to add a lot of sugar. Instead, choose apples that are naturally sweet, like Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Rome and always use a mixture - never just one type. This time, I used Gala Red Delicious and Yellow Delicious. This meant it was so sweet I did not need to add any sugar at all. And the flavor is great! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.
Step 2 - How many apples and where to get them
You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. But for large quantities, you'll find that real* farmer's markets have them at the best prices.
You'll get about 12 to 16 quarts of applesauce per bushel of apples. Count on 13 or 14 quarts per bushel.
(Obviously, I used less apples, but this is the recipe and it doesn't change depending on the amount of apples.)
Step 3 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars, the water bath processing will sterilize
them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sterilize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot applesauce.
Put the lids into a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Step 4 -Wash and chop the apples!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the apples in plain cold water.
Chopping them is much faster if you use one of those apple corer/segmenters - you just push it down on an apple and it cuts it into segments. Note: You do not peel the apples! You will put the apple slices with skins into the pot to cook.
Step 5 - Cook the Apples
Pretty simple put about 1 inch of water (I used store brand apple juice) on the bottom of a huge, thick-bottomed pot. Put the lid on, and the heat on high. When it gets really going, turn it to medium high until
the apples are soft through and through.
Step 6 - Sieve the cooked apples
For this, I use a foley food mill. You just put the apples in and get cranking...
Step 7 - Season and keep the applesauce hot
Put the applesauce into a large pot. (optional) -> Add cinnamon to taste. You should not need to add any sugar. The applesauce does not need any further cooking; just keep it hot until you get enough made to fill the jars you will put into the canner.
Step 8 - Fill the jars and process them in the water bath
Fill them to within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe any spilled applesauce of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling.
If you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 min.
Step 9 - Remove and cool the jars - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like.
RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 10-03-2012
Found this recipe.. I think that I will try it next year... Hopefully I have the means to do so and there aren't zombies roaming the lands by then...
Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce - Your Pasta will Thank You!
One of the most popular tomato recipes last year was the Pasta Sauce. Most canners are looking to stop buying products they can make themselves and keep out all the preservatives from the commercial canning sources. The Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce was one of the hallmark recipes that now keeps me out of the pasta isle. It's been on in my Notes on the SB Canning Facebook page but seems to get lost. I want to add this and will add many of the lost recipe from Facebook so that we all have access to them quickly.
Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
by SB Canning on Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce(Adapted from Better Homes and Garden Canning Magazine)
6 bulbs of garlic
3 T. olive oil
Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
4 medium red, yellow and/or green bell peppers, halved and seeded
12 lbs peeled tomatoes
3 T. packed brown sugar
2 T. kosher salt
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 t. ground pepper
2 cups snipped basil leaves
1 cup assorted fresh oregano, thyme, or flat leave parsley
6 T. bottled lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees peel away the dry outer layer of the garlic bulbs. Cut top off and leave bulbs intact. Place cut side up on a casserole dish and drizzle with one tablespoon of oil. Cover casserole and arrange peppers cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
Roast garlic and peppers for 40 -50 minutes or until the pepper skins are charred or the garlic cloves are soft. Cool garlic on a wire rack until cool enough to handle. Pull up foil to enclose the peppers. Let peppers stand for 15 to 20 minutes or cool enough to handle. Peel off skin and discard. Set aside peppers.
Remove garlic by squeezing the bottom of the bulbs. Place garlic cloves in a food processor and add cut peeled tomatoes into chunks. Add some of the chunks to the garlic in the food processor. Cover and process till chopped. Transfer chopped garlic and tomatoes to a 7-8 quart stainless steel heavy pot. Repeat chopping the remaining tomatoes in batches in the food processor. Add all the tomatoes to the pot.
Add brown sugar, salt, vinegar, and black pepper to the tomato mixture. Bring to low boil and boil steady for 50 minutes stirring often. Add chopped roasted peppers to tomato mixture. Low boil for 10 to 20 minutes more or until mixture reduced to 11 cups and reaches desired consistency stirring occasionally. Remove from heat stir in basil and assorted herbs.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice into each of the hot sterilized pint jars. Ladle hot sauce into jars with lemon juice leaving a ½” headspace. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids. Process jars for 35 minutes in a water bath at a full boil. Makes 6 pints.
RE: Food preservation & preperation - Stonewall - 10-10-2012
Most Lowe's stores has all their canning supplies for 1/2 off, the one I was out was out of quarts but I got six dozen pint jars and two dozen half pints for under 40.00. Anyone that cans might want to check it out
RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 10-13-2012
Lowe's as in the home improvement store?
Maybe I'll make a trip out. There are a couple within 10 minutes of me
Montreal Pork Chops
Went to the store today and saw that pork chops were $1.79/lb so I thought I would get some and try to find a good way to can them...
Alas, I did. Here is how it was done.
Method obtained from here.
thesurvivalistblog.net Wrote:trim all excess fat from around the edges and sprinkle liberally with Montreal Steak Seasoning on the front and back and place in large aluminum rectangular cake pan with lid. This should hold approximately 8 to 9 pieces of boneless pork loin, (they will look like small filets). You can cook them very close together. Add chicken broth or chicken stock to pan and cover loins at least 3/4 of the way, add lid.
Bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours, removing the lid for the last 20 to 30 minutes to brown. You should still have a good amount of chicken broth in the pan that will be added to your pint jars for the liquid that is needed in the canning process. If your broth is low, you can add some at this point so it will mingle with the broth that has been cooking with the pork absorbing the flavors. After you remove pan from oven, cut loins in half and fill pint jars per your canners instructions and add hot broth to within 1″ of top of pint jars. I use pint jars because it is just the right amount of meat for my husband and myself for one meal. You must can the pints at 75 minutes and the quarts at 90 minutes, unless you have altitude requirements.
I used 32oz. of chicken stock and almost a whole bottle of Montreal Steak Seasoning on about 7lb of 1" pork chops
They came out fantastic!
Also, I got 6 pints out of it. Each pint has three chops in it (about enough for a serving for myself and Alpha_Q_Up.. when added with sides)
Lastly, it does not say, but I canned them at 10lb. pressure since that is what I have canned just about every other meat at.
RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 10-14-2012
Hey, ColdBlueSteel, Do you have a good canning recipe for sausage and peppers that doesn't leave the peppers complete mush?
I have been talking to my neighbor (65-ish year old country boy) about this and think I have come to the conclusion that I am going to use Kielbasa, Hot peppers, sweet peppers, and onion.
I have been considering boiling the kielbasa before canning it to help ensure I kill anything that could kill me. But this would obviously modify my canning approach
The plan is to slice the ring into like five or six pieces, put a little bit of liquid smoke in a quart jar, adding some onions and peppers then adding the kielbasa, then more peppers and onion until full. Our guess is that we can fill a quart jar with a ring of kielbasa and still have a bunch of room for veggies.
It would then be canned at 10lb for 75 minutes.
The down side is that I have been told that my peppers will come out very mushy and I don't want complete mush.. Do you have any ideas and / or suggestions on this process to make it better?
RE: Food preservation & preperation - Stonewall - 10-14-2012
Boiling the sausage prior to canning will not help with anything since you will have to can them at 10 for 90 minutes (quarts) anyway, reducing the cannin time or pressure can still let the bacteria lie that causes botulism. My only ida would be to can the ssausage by itself and dehydrate the peppers and onions
RE: Food preservation & preperation - ColdBlueSteel - 10-14-2012
(10-14-2012, 03:24 PM)Stonewall Wrote: Boiling the sausage prior to canning will not help with anything since you will have to can them at 10 for 90 minutes (quarts) anyway, reducing the cannin time or pressure can still let the bacteria lie that causes botulism. My only ida would be to can the ssausage by itself and dehydrate the peppers and onions
Gotta agree with Stonewall on the above. It's gonna be impossible to avoid the mush factor any other way.
RE: Food preservation & preperation - The_Colonel - 11-20-2012
chicken...
so easy, even Chicago Ted can do it...
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale by you again?
Good!
Buy some, chop them into 1"-ish cubes and put the cold, cut chicken into cold pint jars with 1 tsp canning salt per jar.
Add lids and rings.
Cook in pressure canner at 10lb for 75 minutes, done!