Preserving 101; fruits - Page 3

[JessicaS]

Bumping the canning threads.

[rosie29]

I have a question about making/canning jelly. The other day I was making jelly using a pectin package. I was directed to bring the 6 c. of juice, 1/4 c. sugar, and the pectin to a rolling boil. I started warming up the juice while I was finishing lunch, and then when I was ready to work, I added the other ingredients, and brought the temp up to med. high and then high. It took FOREVER to bring it to a rolling boil! Over half an hour! I was using a stainless steel stock pot (not a very heavy-duty pan). Does anyone have any tips?! I just didn't think it should take soooo long to cook!

[lmonter]

Was the juice room temperature or cold from the fridge?
What size stockpot?
I do my 4-cup-strawberry+3-cup-sugar+pectin+1-cup-water in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart stockpot so it has a lot of surface area on the bottom and heats up slightly quicker (but that also means you need to keep your eye on it a little closer). I think it took me about 45-min to make 2 batches of freezer jam the other day from start to cooling in the freezer jars. I had the berries already pureed and in the fridge, so the berries were even cold to boot.

[rosie29]

Lmonter, belated thanks for the suggestions. I used a different, heavier pan on my next batch and it worked quite well.

Next up: questions about food strainers and the mills. This week I see the Norpro food strainer on sale for 29.99 and the 3.5 qt foley food mill for 25.99. I want something to mainly use to make applesauce, but also for spaghetti sauce. Does anyone have advice for me? Are either of these items good products? If you have used both and can compare the two, that would be especially helpful. I just want something fast and easy!

[lmonter]

Splurge and get yourself the Victorio (is it Norpro now?). You can thank me later. Make sure you get the proper screen(s) for tomatoes/berries/sauce. I haven't used my pumpkin screen on my Squeeze in the last two years, just the other two screens.

The foley food mill kinda sucks for even a single batch of tomato sauce using just 40-60 romas. Takes forever, is a complete pain to clean (which, so is my Squeezo, but my Squeezo is much, much, much more efficient).

[JBeger]

Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it??

Originally Posted by jessemoon

Great!

I'll start with a question. Does anyone have a small batch recipe for homemade catsup? All of mine start with ridiculous amounts of tomatoes. I'm looking for something that starts with under 10 lbs of tomatoes.

Pretty sure there is a recipe in here

Check your library, they might have a copy!

[rosie29]

Originally Posted by lmonter

Splurge and get yourself the Victorio (is it Norpro now?). You can thank me later. Make sure you get the proper screen(s) for tomatoes/berries/sauce. I haven't used my pumpkin screen on my Squeeze in the last two years, just the other two screens.

The foley food mill kinda sucks for even a single batch of tomato sauce using just 40-60 romas. Takes forever, is a complete pain to clean (which, so is my Squeezo, but my Squeezo is much, much, much more efficient).

Lmonter, okay, great, I'm looking into the Norpro. Looks like it gets mostly good reviews on Amazon, too. You really love your Squeezo, right? I'm pretty sure I read that in a different thread. Will I regret getting the Norpro and wish I had gotten the Squeezo in the first place? Looks like it's almost all metal so will probably last longer...any other advantages?

[lmonter]

Yes, I puffy heart my Squeezo. I just quarter and steam my apples, toss in the Sqeezo, and boom, applesauce. Downfall? It's aluminum, and some metal that can and will rust. So you have to wash and dry right then - air-drying overnight can even do goofy stuff to the screens. I wish the screens and stand/handle thingie were stainless steel instead, but hey, it was the 70's. That would be the draw of the Norpro - stainless steel and the plastic can take a whirl on the top rack of the dishwasher.

[rosie29]

Originally Posted by lmonter

Yes, I puffy heart my Squeezo. I just quarter and steam my apples, toss in the Sqeezo, and boom, applesauce.

Oooh, that does sound awesome. Now I'm actually leaning towards getting a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I can borrow the attachments that I'd need, from a friend, and consider purchasing those at a later time. Thanks for the info!

[rosie29]

What's everyone canning these days? How's it going? I've been on a canning hiatus for a couple weeks due to traveling and my sister's wedding, but I'm excited to get back into it. I want to make several kinds of jam and jellies.

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by rosie29

Oooh, that does sound awesome. Now I'm actually leaning towards getting a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I can borrow the attachments that I'd need, from a friend, and consider purchasing those at a later time. Thanks for the info!

Again, fwiw, I have a KA, and when it dies (or I luck into winning something else) I want a Bosch mixer. No, I don't think I can grind meat with the Bosch (although maybe, there are also a ton of attachments!), but I'd get more daily use out of that sucker. We go through more bread than meat...

Originally Posted by rosie29

What's everyone canning these days? How's it going? I've been on a canning hiatus for a couple weeks due to traveling and my sister's wedding, but I'm excited to get back into it. I want to make several kinds of jam and jellies.

Finishing the last of my rotting nectarines, then pickles, then waiting for hubby to come home so he can bring me boxes and boxes of whatever's ripe next Friday (could still be peaches/nectarines, could be pears, you just don't know). Also freezing huckleberries I got at the farmer's market since I didn't get out to pick this year and it's supposedly been a horrid year crop-wise for huckleberries.

[jessemoon]

Originally Posted by JBeger

Pretty sure there is a recipe in here

Check your library, they might have a copy!

Thanks! I'll check it out!