Kitchen Quick Tips - Olive Oil

When shopping for olive oil, the word light refers to the colour and flavour of the oil, not the calorie content.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Preparing for the Busy Home Canning Season

Frugal homemakers have relied on home canning for decades to preserve the bounty from their gardens as well as take advantage of local in season produce.  For many, it is a viable way to preserve their catch from hunting and fishing.  Home canning saw a decline in the 1950's and 1960's with the availability of commercially canned foods, the introduction of home freezers and women going into the work-force.  Canning has always been a way of life for certain religious groups and has tended to be a more popular activity in rural areas.  As a newlywed, I canned as a way to stretch our food budget.  Those skills served us well while raising by today's standards a larger family.  Back then I would read through Mother Earth News and borrow cookbooks from the library but other than that, there really wasn't a lot of home canning literature available.  In 1994, the USDA revised their home canning guidelines effectively telling folks the only lids they recommended were the new two piece metal snap lids even though thousands of housewives had used the glass lids and glass inserts for ages.  Two reasons caused this to happen with the first being the companies producing the metal lids paying to have them tested and because there is a visible indentation when the lid seals, they were viewed safer regardless of the fact metal lids can give false seals.  Home canning grew in popularity amongst the back-to-the-land group then saw a sudden increase during the y2K scare.  Now, home canning continues to increase in popularity because there is a growing disillusionment with the food industry.  Folks are taking matters into their own hands by snubbing their nose at the food industry, choosing instead to put up their own healthy, preservative and additive free foods.  Into that mix comes another segment of the population interested in home canning, the ones who want or have to save money on food costs.

Home canning is one of the most frugal activities you can do.  You can save a substantial amount of money.  Like many home canners, I can year round but the busy canning time when local produce is in season here is from mid-May through mid-October.  During that time as each kind of produce comes into season, I try to can the amount we will need to get to the next season for that produce.  For example, when local asparagus is in season, I will put up enough to last until it is in season again the following year.  This takes a bit of planning.  My first goal is to can enough so we don't run out of that food item and second is to not can so much of one food item that the stock cannot be used within an eighteen month to two year time frame.

What this really means is I have to have a plan.  With a plan in place there is less chance of problems during the busy canning season when there is a tendency to be running the canner multiple times in one day.  It is easier to keep the focus on processing local, in season produce leaving those foods like meats, poultry and dried beans that can be canned year round to the quieter canning months.  That doesn't mean those foods that can be canned outside the busy canning season won't be canned then if the opportunity presents itself, just that I know they can wait while I get those foods canned that won't wait.  Here's how I create a plan for the busy canning season:

• the home garden - The home garden is where I like to grow certain fruit and vegetable varieties as well as fresh herbs that I cannot get in the grocery stores.  For example, if I have plans to make a particular tomato based sauce, I may plant a couple of different varieties of basil. 
• know the local growing seasons - If you want to save money on home canning you need to know when each fruit or vegetable comes into season in your area as well as how long it is in season.  For example, asparagus is the first vegetable to come into season here.  It lasts about three weeks.  The best time to can asparagus starts about four days into the season but avoid the last few days of the season as well as the asparagus can be tough.  There are several resources to help you determine when each crop comes into season.  Simply watching the grocery stores can give you a clue.  Foodland Ontario is an excellent resource for those home canning in Ontario.  Keep in mind that some local crops are available year round as they are grown in greenhouses.  For canning purposes, I choose the field variety of these crops leaving the greenhouse varieties for fresh eating during the rest of the year.
• size of jars -  I tailor the size of jar to the product being made always with the goal of preventing waste once the jar has been opened.  For example, we will use a 500 ml jar of green beans for one meal.  If I can them in 1 L jar, half the jar would go into the refrigerator where it could get pushed to the back and forgotten meaning half the jar of green beans is wasted.  Another thing I do consider when choosing jar size is processing.  I can process 7 - 1 L jars or 16 - 500 ml jars at one time in the pressure canner meaning if I use 500 ml jars I am actually processing one litre more than if I used L jars.  My favourite size is 500 ml (pint) used for some jams, most vegetables, condensed soups, mushrooms, meats, pasta meat sauces, dried beans, stocks, stews, fruits, sliced pickles, chili sauce and salsas.  Next is the 250 ml jars used for jams, jellies, condiments, some fruits, fish, poultry and ham.  I use the 1 L and 750 ml jars for pickles, tomato based sauces and some soups.  I use the 125 ml jars for specialty items (eg. fancy jellies, hot sauces).
• amount of jars - The easiest way to calculate the minimum number of jars needed of a particular food is number of servings per week X number of weeks.  For example, a 500 ml jar of green beans is two servings for us so I need 1 jar per meal.  If I serve green beans twice a week I need 2 x 52 = 104 jars, 500 ml size.  If I can them in 1 L jars so have the jar is used for one meal and the other half used for a meal a couple of days later then I need 52 - 1L jars.  Now, we spend a little over 2 months of the year at our vacation home so most in my position would reduce the number of jars of a particular food to factor that and I do for some but for others that is part of my 10% extra for entertaining and gift giving.  Another useful way to calculate the minimum number of jars needed for some specialty foods (eg. taco sauce, seafood sauce) is by recipe batch.  A recipe may make 7 - 250 ml jars of a particular food of which you may decide to only make one batch so you only need 7 jars of that size.  I continue in this fashion until I have calculated the grand total of number of jars needed.
• take food inventory - Once I have an itemized list of the number of each jars of each type of food I want to can, it is time to take inventory of what I have in the pantry.  My calculations may say I need 104 - 500 ml jars of green beans but my records show we ran out a month before the new green bean season started or I may find that last year I made 8 - 500 ml jars of bread and butter slices but have 6 left.  In both cases I will adjust the total amount of that food needed to be canned this year.  At the end of the inventory, I have a rather good idea of what I need to can and how many jars of each food that I am canning along with what sized jars needed. 
• take canning needs inventory - Next, I take inventory of all supporting ingredients (eg. Pomona's pectin, Clear Gel, sugar, citric acid, pickling spice, canning salt, etc) and canning supplies (eg. lids, jars).  With my food list in hand, I calculate how much supporting ingredients and canning supplies I need.  If anything needs to be ordered like Pomona's pectin or Clear Gel, I order it the first week of May in the amount that will last a good year.
• canning equipment check - The last thing any home canner wants is their equipment to malfunction during a heavy canning session.  My pressure canner is an All American so it doesn't  have a gasket but when I was using the Mirro pressure canner, I checked the gasket before the busy canning season.  I still check the gaskets on my pressure cookers that are often used in the prep of various foods to be canned.  I also check the Kitchen Aid strainer and grinder attachments to be sure they are in good working order. 

A Generous Gift with a Canning Lesson

As a home canner who processes well over 1,400 jars of food each year, I am always very appreciative of any free jars that come my way.  Sometimes the jars come filled with food that I have to discard then clean the jars and other times the jars come empty with only cleaning needed. At any rate when my husband recently brought me home three cases (36 jars) of 500 ml jars, I was elated.  After doing a bit of power canning, I am getting low on jars which is fine because that means the jars I have are filled but you know a home canner doesn't just can during the peak season of May to October.  Oh no, a home canner tends to can year round filling jars as quickly as they are emptied.

My husband brought me home 3 cartons of filled jars.  A friend was cleaning out a home and came across the jars so gave them to my husband.  I, of course was elated.  They were filled so I had to empty each of the jars which was not as easy of a task as you would think.  Still, free jars are free jars.  In this case, the jars were in their original cartons but unlabelled so I had no idea of the actual processing date, not that I was intending to use the contents.  Always put the month and year of anything you freeze or home can on the package! If going by the boxes, I would guess the jars were canned about 2 years ago.  The cartons were fairly new going by the UPC and store coding so the product was more than likely canned in 2010 or 2011.

The jars were filled with crushed tomatoes that actually looked nice.  It always bothers me to toss out someone's hard work.  In this case, the person had left the rings on the lids without washing and drying both jars and rings.  That meant the rings were almost welded to the jars. Most of the jars showed signs of seal failure (eg. centre button up, bulging lids) as shown in the picture and clearly the product was spoiled going by the smell.  I don't know whether the seal failures were due to improper canning methods or improper storage but it was quite apparent that the seals had failed.  The food waste disposal unit was in overtime but it handled things nicely.

Now, this is a clear example of what to look for in home canned foods.  If the lid is bulging, buckled or otherwise not sealed then do not consume the product.  Do not taste the product!  Metal lids will bulge or when pressed in the centre will give indicating the seal has been compromised.  Any product should be appropriately discarded.  If you are using Tattler lids or glass inserts, the lids will not bulge but rather the lid and rubber gasket will pop right off.  If that happens, do not consume the product.  Chances are the food is only contaminated with bacteria BUT food born illnesses are easily avoided and there is no point taking chances.  The rule of thumb with any food is if in doubt throw it out.

Home Canned Chili Con Carne

We do a lot of entertaining both at home and our vacation home.  One huge hit has always been chili dogs which basically are all beef wieners topped with chili, onions and grated cheese.  For years, I made chili with beans (chili con carne) from scratch then froze part for chili dogs.  Then a few years ago I decided to home can chili with beans as a homemade convenience product for the pantry.

Commercially canned chili con carne is available in the grocery store but hands down the winner in terms of flavour and price is home canned.  Home canned chili is processed in a pressure canner for 75 minutes at 10 lb pressure at altitudes under 1,000 feet above sea level.  This raises the internal contents of the jar to 116°C/240°F so the contents will still be boiling when the jars are removed from the canner.  While this temperature will destroy any botulinum spores that could produce toxin resulting in Botulism, it does produce a slight to pronounced textural change in some  foods.  Pressure canned meats can take on a slight rubbery texture some do not care for.  However, a nice selection of home canned meat products is ideal as homemade convenience products in the pantry as well as emergency supplies in the event of a power failure.

Home Canned Crushed Tomatoes

I am not a huge fan of home canning plain, basics as in tomato products.  The reason is two fold.  First home canned basic tomato products while versatile take up a fair amount of space in the pantry that could be better used for a home canned convenience product.  I would rather can the tomatoes in the form of ready to use sauce or quick meal than just plain tomatoes.  Second, there is little savings in canning a basic tomato product like whole, diced or crushed tomatoes.  This is not the case for me as my tomatoes are free to begin with but it is a factor for others who have to pay for their produce.

I decided to can a few jars of crushed tomatoes for the pantry.  Like most of my tomato products, I acidified and pressure canned both batches.  Pressure canning results in a healthier product that makes the beneficial anti-oxidant lycopene more readily available to the body and it save considerable time over processing in a boiling water bath canner (BWB).

I hot packed the first batch of crushed tomatoes (l jars to the back).  Plain tomatoes tend to be a bit problematic in that they will lose liquid during the canning process especially if raw packed.  I don't like that so hot packed the jars meaning I brought the tomatoes to a low boil using the method to prevent separation then processed.  There should have been no liquid loss but I suspected the venting time was a bit longer than it should have been for the first batch.  The batch was fine with all jars sealing just a bit more headspace than I like.  The second batch (500 ml jars to the front) had no leakage problems.  Once I removed the rings for storage, I was more than happy with the results.  The jars were picture perfect!

When it comes to home canning, pay attention to the required headspace.  This is a must and very important when processing using a pressure canner.  Be meticulous about the venting period before the canner is brought to pressure.  This allows any trapped air in the jar to be released before the canning process.  Most canner manufacturers recommend a 10 minute vent period.  Ignoring either of these will cause problems like liquid leakage and failed seals.  In the event a jar does leak during the canning process, as long as it seals during the cooling period the food is fine for storage although you might have a bit of a mess to clean-up in the canner.  If the jar does not seal during the 24 hour cooling process, put the jar in the refrigerator for use within a day or two or reprocess.

Home Canned Tomato Purée

One of my goals with home canning is creating a few convenience products for the pantry.  I have to tell you I don't can a lot of whole, diced or crushed tomatoes because I can take the tomatoes to the next level before canning.  This means I prefer canning tomato sauces and ready to use tomato products over plain tomatoes if I have to make a choice.  I canned 7 - 750 ml and 6 - L jars of tomato purée.  Tomato purée is thinner than tomato paste but thicker than tomato sauce.  It unseasoned so can be used as a base for tomato based sauces, ketchup, soups and tomato powder.

In their 1994 revision of home canning guidelines, the USDA warns against using some recycled jars (eg. mayonnaise jars) as there may be more breakage especially if processing using a pressure canner.  The reason for this is two fold.  First, the interior of the jar can be scratched from using metal utensils like knives.  Second, manufacturers have gone to a thinner glass for mayonnaise jars.  However, some store bought pasta sauces are packaged in 750 ml Atlas mason jars.  At one time, Atlas did manufacture mason jars specifically for the purpose of home canning.  Of note, the word 'mason' does not refer to the jar itself but rather the design of the threads.  I have about a dozen of the Atlas mason jars recycled from store bought pasta sauces  generously saved for me by family and friends.  They end up being used two or three times a year so have seen a lot of use.

The manufactures made a bit of a change realizing folks were reusing the jars for home canning although I think a more likely explanation was to cut down production costs.  They have gone to a smaller mouth, thinner thread on some of their sauces so the mason rings will not fit even though the jars continue to be embossed with 'Atlas mason'.  If you are buying commercial sauces specifically for the purpose of reusing them for home canning, take a mason jar ring with you.  Avoid any sauce with the thinner lid fitting the thinner rims.  Jars that can be repurposed for home canning will have a lid with a band the same depth as a mason jar ring.

The jars pictured have been in service for about 10 years without a problem.  I've had no more breakage than using regular mason jars which is minimal to begin with.  The risk of any scratches in the jar are minimal because any frugal homemaker would use a spatula not a knife to get the last remains from the jar.  The jars are 750 ml rather than 500 ml or a L which is an off size for home canning jars.  In this case the jars are processed to the next largest size so I processed according to the 1 L size (20 minutes at 10 lb pressure).

I canned the second batch of tomato purée in 1 - L mason jars.  While this is a new product in the pantry, it will be one that graces the shelves from now on.   Something tells me I did not can enough of it!

Tomatoes and tomato products tend to separate during storage due to the release of the enzyme pectase (pectinesterase) that is released when the tomato is cut.  A special process is used to prepare the tomato purée to prevent it from separating. This involves heating a small amount of the purée quickly over high heat then slowly adding in the remainder of the purée in small amounts while continuing to cook.  I started with about 750 ml of the purée.  Once that came to a boil I stirred in about 500 ml of the raw purée.  I continued in this fashion until all the purée had been added and was fully cooked then boiled the purée down a bit to get the right consistency.  The result was a beautiful tomato purée ready for the pantry and doesn't it just look lovely?

Home Canned Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

As mentioned yesterday, home canned spaghetti sauce with meat is a must have tomato based product in our pantry.  It puts any store bought pasta sauce to shame at a fraction of the cost.  I use my own developed after years and years of tweaking to where I finally have the perfect blend our family so much enjoys.  The original recipe, if you can even call it that, was taught to me by my mother-in-law as a newlywed.  It was a toss this in, cook, taste and adjust with nothing written down very much the same way I learned to cook from my Mom.  It is now been developed into an actual recipe for home canning purposes but I also continue to tweak for fresh use and freezing.

I ended up with 14 - 500 ml jars of ready to use home canned spaghetti sauce with meat.  It also has mushroom slices in it making for a rich, full bodied, flavourful sauce.  This sauce is used on pasta, in homemade lasagna and other casseroles.  I make oodles of this sauce so fourteen jars is nowhere enough for what we will need for the upcoming year but again, I don't mind making a large batch for fresh use and freezing during the cooler months.  It helps heat the house and smells heavenly when cooking.  Having a bit of homemade convenience in the pantry is nice for the days I don't have the time to make fresh!

Home canned spaghetti sauce with meat is low acid so has to be processed in a pressure canner.  While my spaghetti sauce with meat recipe will not be posted here, if you would like to home can your own check out the spaghetti sauce with meat recipe from the NCHFP is a good place to start.  The sauce on that site can be tweaked providing you do not alter the ratios.  I will note, NCHFP does not acidify their spaghetti sauce with met but I do.  Tomatoes are borderline pH 4.6 so the recommendation is always to acidify them and that applies to those tomato products that will be pressure canned as well.  I use citric acid to acidify my tomato products that do not specifically use vingar, lemon or lime juice.

Old Fashioned Chili Sauce

Yesterday, I started writing about my husband's hospital stay just as I was starting my fourth hamper.  While I had all of the ingredients prepped and waiting to be cooked for the old fashioned chili sauce, the tomatoes for the salsas were still draining.  The morning after he was admitted to hospital, I strained off the tomato liquid reserving it for tomato stock and froze those tomatoes then rushed up to the hospital to be there for the ultrasound.  After spending the entire day at the hospital, I headed home at 9:30 PM.  It was late and I was exhausted but knew the chili sauce had to be made and canned that night.  The reality is life doesn't stop because of canning and visa versa.  I had two choices, either make and can the chili sauce or let the produce spoil.

I have a few quirks when home canning.  I prefer my products to be canned in Canadian made jars.  At one time there were many small glass factories in Canada so I have several older Canadian made mason jars (eg. Consumers, Bernardin, Domglass, Dominion and Canadian mason).  Of those mentioned, Bernardin out of Toronto is still the leading Canadian home canning expert but a few years ago farmed the manufacturing of their jars to a US firm.  Now, don't get me wrong as I do use American made jars (Kerr, Ball, Golden Harvest and now new Bernardin) and I have a few Chinese made jars (Home Discovery), my preference is Canadian made.

I used old Bernardin and Consumers mason jars to can the chili sauce.  Many of these jars were purchased over thirty-five years ago when we were newlyweds so there is sentimental value to the jars as well.  Like my newer jars, the old mason jars see use both in the boiling water bath (BWB) canner and pressure canner (PC) every year and often several times a year.  When I pulled the jars from the BWB canner I noticed a white film on the jars from the first load.  This occurs because of minerals in the water.  The common solution is to add white vinegar to the processing water.  I had forgotten to add the vinegar for the first load but remembered for the second load. Notice how the jar on the right doesn't look hazy?  These mineral deposits can build up on jars that have been run through the canners without vinegar on one or more occasions.  If the build-up is minimal, simply wiping the jars down with white vinegar will remove the film, making the jars sparkle.  If the build-up is a bit heavier, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser quickly removes it with little effort.

Despite having less than four hours sleep, I was up early, antsy to get back up to the hospital Friday morning (Aug 30).  I ended up with nine lovely jars of home canned old fashioned chili sauce.  They had to sit until that night to check the seals and polish up the jars. 

I slipped home for an hour at 4 PM and set up the tomato liquid to strain in the refrigerator while I was gone.  I was back to the hospital by 5 PM until I was sure he was settled around 9:30 PM.  I rushed home to polish the jars of chili sauce.  I think they look rather lovely!  Then it was time to can the tomato stock before heading to bed for another short night of sleep.