Canning Supplies & Shortages

Folks, canning supplies were in high demand last year to the point we could not get jars or lids in our little corner of southwestern Ontario.  Our main sources are Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, Dollarama (lids only), Walmart and most grocery stores.  This was the first time I wasn't able to find jars but it was an odd year.  Now, I am a high volume home canner who cans year round averaging about 1,000 jars annually.  I have a very good supply of jars but what happens is some of those jars are gifted and while most of them make their way back, I lose a few each year.  Due to current restrictions, I'm down about two cases. 

In Canada, we have three jar mouth sizes:

• Standard - 70 mm
• Gem - 78 mm (very popular in our prairies), BTW, this size can be found under brand names like Imperial and Canadian Jewel but the size is always referred to as Gem
  
• Widemouth - 86 mm

Jars: 

• Bernardin, formerly Canadian owned is the best known and trusted brand in Canada.  I have the old Imperial pints and quarts as well as the new metric L, 500 ml, 250 ml etc.  Golden Harvest jars are available.  Back for y2K Home Discovery was available.  And there are numerous older brands still available used.
  
• Know your local prices!  Many resale venues are selling jars for well over their price new. 
  
• Buy ahead.  Yes you don't need 4 cases of jars right now but if you can't get them later you will be patting yourself on the back.
• Put the word out.  Networking is key to finding jars and there's always jars available given that each year some folks give up canning.  It's all about asking around and chances are they will give you the jars free for a filled jar of jam or salsa.
  

Lids: You can have all the jars possible but the barrier will always be the availability of lids.

• The most popular and heavily promoted lids are the single use metal snap lids.  This is a metal disc that uses a metal band during the canning process.  Both bands and snap lids are available for all three sizes.  The ping tells you it sealed.  Some of the rebel canners are reusing these lids out of necessity.  My concern would be seal failures.
  
• Glass inserts - Glass inserts require a rubber ring (Vicroy) and special metal (not the old zinc) bands  to use.  The rubber bands are still easily available.  These reusable lids are a must.  They are available for standard and Gem widths. 
• Glass shoulder lids - These are considered an antique, fitting the old Corona, Crown, Imperial and similar jars.  I have oodles of them for dry storage.  The rubber rings are available but my opinion is these jars should not be used in a pressure canner.  I'm iffy whether to use them in the steam/WB canner.  However, they are excellent for dry storage.
• Tattler reusable lids - Tattler's are amazing and I have 10 doz.  These are reusable plastic BPA free discs with rubber rings.  There's a different methods like the glass inserts so a learning curve.  The only problem I have with Tattler's at the moment is they aren't shipping to Canada.  I did find them on Amazon.ca but the reviews were not good as apparently the ones being sold aren't the real macoy.  However, if you have someone in the US they could send them to you.  Stock up on the rubber rings because they will be at some point the limiting factor.  You should be able to get 7-10 uses per ring and rings are very inexpensive.
• prices:  By far, Dollarama is the best price for snap lids, more expensive than last year but still the best price.  Their price has increased to $2.50 per box of lids so at 21 cents is still the best price.  You can order a case lot on line but have to pay for shipping which would increase the overall price to 29 cents per lid.  Still, delivery to your door is not a bad deal. Stay away from Amazon.ca for lids at 81 cents per lid.  The next best are Walmart/Uline (26 cents per lid), and Home Hardware, Canadian Tire (33 cents per lid)
  
• My opinion: Learn how to use the reusable lids even if you only use them for high acid foods.  If you are a high volume canner, it is the only way to go.  Aim for 10 dozen pllus extra rings.  Hands down, this is your best hedge to being able to home can.  Be sure to stock up on the rubber rings.  Buy a package every time you get a chance.  Stock up on snap lips as you will want to gift some of your goodies.  If you are high volume, 300 lids seems to be the amount most home canners are going for.
  

Pectin:

• I use Pomona's pectin.  I stock up when in the US but it is available in Canada at a rather inflated price but it really is the best.  It's non-GMO and shelf stable indefinitely.  I'm getting reports of Certo brand not setting properly but that could be a bad batch.  The biggest problem with the other pectins is availability.  Last year, after June you could not find pectin anywhere.
• green apples - if you have a source for green apples, you can make your own pectin and this is what I would consider a useful skill to learn.
• long cook - Many fruit jams can be made using no pectin but rather the long cook method.  Honestly, a very useful skill to learn!  Basically the fruit/sugar mixture is cooked to gel stage (220 degrees F) then bottled. 

Clear Jel:

• Clear Jel is the only USDA approved thickener for pie fillings.  I buy mine in the US but if you are lucky you can find it on Amazon.ca at a greatly inflated price.
• My opinion: If you are buying Clear Jel for a couple of jars of apple pie filling, don't.  If you want to can stews, gravies, etc. then yes.  There are a few recipes out there using flour for tomato soup rather than Clear Jel.  I've had wonderful results using that.  I typically use Clear Jel for stews, pie fillings and gravies BUT there are other ways to do it. 
  

Equipment:

• pressure canner - If you are considering buying a pressure canner, buy All American that does not require a gasket.  Folks have already sounded the alarm at not being able to find a gasket for their pressure canner.  Without a gasket, you cannot pressure can low acid foods but there are old school long boil methods.  These methods are not USDA approved but it's your kitchen, your rules.  And, I am well acquainted with many Amish families who put up all kinds of foods without a pressure canner.  My opinion is the USDA is another arm of government control without rhyme of reason sometimes.
• steam canner - Now available at a decent price on Amazon.ca.  This handy device replaces your waterbath canner.  It is about $70 CDN but well worth the price in time, fuel and water savings.
  

Canning Stock

I honestly don't cook with water if I can help it.  Why?  Water adds liquid but no flavour.  Stocks, juices, whey, milk and so many other liquids add that extra nutrition and flavour so necessary in pandemic cooking.  Meat stocks are one of the most frugal and easiest products to can.  It is the one product that I can never have enough of.

All meat stocks are canned basically the same way.  You need bones, filtered water, onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and bay leaves.  For best flavour, roast the bones for an hour before making stock.  Always add a little apple cider vinegar to increase the calcium content of your stock.  Apple cider vinegar causes calcium to leach out of the bones increasing the nutrient density of the stock.  I use a pressure cooker to actually make the stock because it is a lot quicker but you can make stock in a stock pot or slow cooker.
 

When you buy beef or other meats in bulk, you get thinks like soup and neck bones.  Our friend is raising chickens for us so I get necks and feet.  I'm working on freezer clean-outs because we have new meats coming soon.  This is the time of year that I like canning stocks using bones from the freezer. 

Home Canned Green Beans

The primary purpose for my foodie road trip along the shores of Lake Erie was finding cherries for my husband's coveted cherry jam.  That didn't stop me from taking advantage of some of the other great finds.  I was elated to find green beans, one of my favourite vegetables to can.  They are also one of our favourite home canned vegeables to enjoy during the winter months.  I even take several jars of home canned green beans to our vacation home. 

I haven't grown green beans since moving to our new house almost four years ago.  We are away in May which really has put a damper in putting vegetables in the garden.  Green beans go in the ground well before we get home.  While I am growing a fair amount, I have been restricted to patio plants and herbs.  It doesn't help that the backyard has been under construction either.  At any rate, for now I buy my green beans.

I bought an 11 qt basket of tender green beans.  The beans appear to be Blue Lake, one of the best beans for canning.  Blue Lake green beans are long, tender and uniform with a lovely flavour.    Kentucky Wonder beans are also a good green bean for canning.  At the end of the day, I had a yield of sixteen 500 ml jars of beautiful green beans ready for the pantry.   There were enough green beans left over to enjoy green bean foil packets with our grilled steak for dinner and a few for snacking. 

Green beans are pressure canned at 10 lb pressure for 20 minutes at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level.  Green bean foil packets are lightly seasoned with butter and sea salt then sealed and cooked on the grill until al dente, about 10 minutes.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jams

While I home can year round and have even taken to doing a bit of canning at our vacation home, this time of year through the end of September tends to be busier.  The canners (water bath, pressure) are going almost daily often several times in one day quickly putting up various fruits and vegetables as they are in season.  Unfortunately, I missed asparagus season.  There is still local asparagus available but the price is too high for preserving.  Strawberries just started.  We were on a road trip Saturday so I came home with a flat of local strawberries and fresh, free range eggs. 

I made three batches of low sugar strawberry jam, all using Pomona's pectin (low methoxy pectin).  This pectin does not rely on sugar to gel so it is possible to use sugar substitutes like maple syrup, honey, stevia or agave.  If sugar is desired, it is used at a considerably reduced about usually 2 cups or less per batch in comparison to regular pectin that uses about 7 cups of sugar per batch.  The end result is the ability to create gourmet low sugar jams.  However, reduced sugar also means a smaller yield since sugar is a bulking agent as well.  This small price is well worth it for me. 

I also used a secret ingredient (non-alcoholic) to enhance the flavour of the jam.  I am pleased with the flavour and texture of the jam.  However, there is a bit more floating fruit than I would have liked.  Floating fruit is common with jams even when following the guideline to stir for five minutes before jarring.  This does reduce but not eliminate floating fruit.  The easy remedy for floating fruit is simply stirring the jar of jar when first opened.  Floating fruit does not affect the texture or flavour of the jam but it is not a desirable visual element for competition. 

Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

One of my goals with using up the pantry and freezer surplus is creating minimal left-overs.  This differs from my normal cooking where I intentionally cook extra for planned left-overs for the freezer.  Despite this, there has been a few left overs just enough to use up the following day for lunch or as a side dish for dinner.  On the whole, I have been rather pleased as small pockets of space appear in both the pantry and freezers but there is a long ways to go!

I thawed two chicken legs with backs attached. I browned the chicken legs in a little olive oil then placed them in a baking dish and topped with a jar of home canned tomato pieces that I added about a teaspoon of Italian seasoning.  I baked the chicken covered at 350°F until the chicken was cooked (about 40 minutes).  I sautéed sliced white mushrooms to top the chicken. I served the chicken with left-over seafood pasta noodles and left-over  Greek salad (not pictured). 

It was an easy, tasty meal using what was on hand and while it doesn't seem like much, two more items were used up from the pantry and freezers.  Just as in any type of decluttering, baby steps can make a huge difference when done consistently.  And so the pantry and freezer decluttering continues...

Creamy Turkey Bake

We are in food crisis mode here!  Our pantry is overflowing, both chest freezers are stuffed and things are falling out of the refrigerator freezers.  Part of the problem stems from us being out of country for three months last year so we are using our pantry stores in the manner we were accustomed to.  My husband wants to extend our time at our vacation home to four months this year so for the foreseeable future, we will not be needing a full year's supply of food at home.  The bottom line is, I need to pare down the pantry and freezers so that means meals from both supplemented with fresh produce and dairy combined with reduced stocking.  I have a plan so we'll see how successful it is.

It is quite cold here so extra heat from the oven sounded good.  Last night's dinner used the rest of the milk, turkey and last roll of puff pastry from the freezer, a jar of home canned beans and mushroom soup from the pantry, two potatoes and Old Bay Seasoning to make a simple yet tasty casserole.  The bulk of the meal's ingredients came from the freezers and pantry, not bad for a start.  It doesn't seem like a lot but using something from the freezers and pantry to make a meal should make a difference.  It will be important to do this for every dinner so ideally five days a week since we eat out twice a week.  Some meals will use a bit more from both but others less.

There really isn't a recipe for this casserole.  I used one sheet of the puff pastry and about 2 1/2 c of cooked turkey cut into bite sized pieces, and a can of milk.  I cooked the potatoes in the microwave oven until just tender, then let cool enough to cut into bite sized pieces.  I drained the beans then mixed the turkey, potatoes and beans in a casserole dish.  I mixed the soup, milk and about a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning in a separate bowl.  I poured the soup mixture over the turkey mixture as pictured then placed the sheet of puff pastry on top.  The puff pastry didn't fully cover the top, leaving about an inch open on each end.  I baked the casserole at 400°F for about 30 minutes until the filling was bubbly and the crust golden brown.

This casserole did not cut into neat, tidy squares.  Cutting through the crust then scooping out with a large spoon worked well.  The yield was 6 generous servings.  The turkey bake topped with the light, flaky crust was rich and creamy, warm and steamy just perfect for a frigid winter dinner.  Overall, I was pleased with the casserole.  It was just a bit higher in sodium than I would like but other than that the nutritional values were good. 

The sodium came from the puff pastry and soup, mainly the soup.  This is a problem with all commercially canned soups, one reason I seldom use them.  However, cream of mushroom soup is a pantry staple I use for quick sauces.  I will have to rethink that plan once I've exhausted my supply.  Thank goodness I only have a couple more cans left!

Nutritional information per serving:  518 cal, 47 g carbs, 17 g fat, 34 g protein, 1,046 mg sodium, 8 g fiber

Perfect Gift for the Holidays - Apple Butter

Our little grandkids love apple butter!  Apple butter is one of those culinary delights that can be difficult to find in the grocery stores and if you do, it is likely filled with sugar, artificial flavours and colours or preservatives.  However, all natural apple butter can be found at farmer's markets as well as specialty food shops.  Apple butter is extremely easy to make!
 

Essentially apple butter is cooked down applesauce.  I don't add any sugar or seasonings but many do.  I wash the apples and quarter then place the unpeeled pieces in a stock pot with just enough water in the bottom to prevent sticking.  I allow the apples to cook until soft, stirring often.  Once the apples are cooked, I run them through the Kitchen Aid food strainer attachment to remove the peels, seeds and core.  At this point depending on the apple used, the purée is thick enough to be canned as applesauce.  Sugar and seasonings (eg. cinnamon) can be added at this point also.  If they are added, the sauce is reheated and boiled down to the desired thickness.  Applesauce is home canned in a boiling water bath canner for 10 min at altitudes 1,000 feet above sea level.  At higher altitudes, the processing time is 15 minutes. 

Once the applesauce is made rather than leave as is, it can easily be made into apple butter or apple leather.  Both are excellent for gift giving!  To make apple butter, pour the prepared applesauce into a large Dutch oven.  Cover partially then let bake at 120°C/250°F, stirring occasionally until reduced by about half.  The butter with be thick with a nice caramelization and mounds on the spoon.  Once it has reached the desired thickness, the apple butter can be ladled into hot jars and processed in a boiling water bath canner as per applesauce. 

Our grandkids will be elated to find a jar of apple butter for each of them under Grandma and Papa's Christmas tree!  Shhh...we won't tell them about the other jars of apple butter stored safely in Grandma's pantry :)

Home Canned Picante Sauce

I am constantly looking for as well as developing new, safe home canning recipes.  This fall I added home canned picante sauce to my ever growing list of must make recipes.  Picante means hot but the recipe I used was mildly pungent and stimulating.  The results were delicious!  I will do a bit of tweaking for the next batch but overall, I am quite pleased with the sauce.  This one is a keeper!

I decided to try the picante recipe in Bernardin's Tomatoes Canning & Specialty Recipes.  This easy sauce has the texture of a chunky salsa but different flavour notes.  Parsley can be substituted for the coriander if desired.  It can be served with a rice or meat dish, or used as a dipping sauce for chips and seafood.  This sauce can be puréed for use as an enchilada sauce.  It can be home canned chunky or puréed so be sure to make a batch or two of each!

Picante Sauce
source: Bernardin Ltd., Tomatoes Canning & Speciality Recipes (2000), Pp. 64

7 c coarsely chopped tomatoes
1½ c coarsely chopped Spanish onion
½ c finely chopped jalapeño pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c malt vinegar
1 can (5½ oz) tomato paste
1 tbsp pickling salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
1 tsp cumin

Prepare vegetables.  Leave ingredients as is for picante sauce or purée mixture if making enchilada sauce.  Place all ingredients except coriander and cumin into large saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil gently for 45 minutes.  Stir in the coriander and cumin.  Continue boiling for 15 minutes for picante sauce or 30 minutes for enchilada sauce.  Ladle sauce into hot 250 ml (half pint) jars.  Wipe rims and cap with metal snap lids, Tattler reusable canning lids or glass inserts as per instructions for type of lid used.    Process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.  Remove from canner.  Tighten bands fully if using Tattler lids or glass inserts.  Allow to cool undisturbed for 24 hours.  Remove bands and test for seal.  Wash jars and label for storage.

Yield: about 8 - 250 ml (half pint jars), 7 enchilada sauce

4ever Recap Reusable Canning Lids Warning

I am a high volume home canner with over 30 years of experience.  In addition to the two piece metal snap lids, I also use reusable canning lids (eg. glass inserts, glass lids, Tattler, and 4ever Recap).  I ordered one dozen standard and one dozen wide-mouth size of the 4ever Recap lids.  The 4ever Recap lids came in at 10¢ less per lid than the Tattlers and promised the lids with gaskets (treated properly) would last forever.  As a high volume canner, I knew that savings would make a difference.   I contacted 4 Ward Industries immediately upon receiving my 4ever Recap lids who did not resolve my problem or address my concerns.

I started testing the 4ever Recap lids in April of 2013, wrote about sealing problems with the 4ever Recap lids the same month, and wrote a review of the 4ever Recap lids in May.  I left the remainder of the jars using 4ever Recap lids in the pantry which is both cool and dark.  During the midst of the busiest of my canning while putting newly canned foods in the pantry I noticed a jar of stock with a 4ever Recap lid that looked strange.  Upon closer inspection I discovered the lid had actually popped up and the contents obviously spoiled.  I immediately checked through all my jars of stored food, no easy task given the volume.  Every jar with a 4ever Recap lid had come unsealed.  I have to tell you, I was beyond furious!

I have used the reusable lids often enough that I can tell just by a quick glance whether the seal has failed.  It is very, very subtle but there is less compression between the lid and the jar (orange arrow).  What caught my attention though was the clouding of the turkey stock (yellow arrow left).  What I found with the remaining jars with 4 ever Recap lids were clear signs of spoilage (yellow arrow right).  I carefully brought the jars to the kitchen for further investigation, taking pictures.  Of note, jars of the same stock canned on the same day in the same batches using Tattler reusable canning lids and metal snap lids were fine with no sign of spoilage or seal failure.  All of the jars were stored in the same pantry in the same conditions.

I know the jars using the 4ever Recap lids were sealed when they went into storage.  They were removed from the pressure canner, bands firmly tightened immediately then sat undisturbed for 24 hours as per normal.  In fact, I noted seal failures at a rate of 25% during this initial period but after reprocessing all had sealed and were sealed when put into the pantry.  I removed the bands and tested those seals before the jars went into the pantry.  The beauty of the reusable lids aside of being eco-friendly is they are either sealed or they aren't.  If a lid is not sealed it easily slides or lifts off the jar with no resistance.  It is would be impossible to miss a lid that wasn't sealed.

In my initial correspondence with Jackie Ward of 4 Ward Industries, I asked about the apparent gasket seat flaw that allows the gasket to move somewhat on the lid.  She did not address my concerns but rather brushed them off.  Pictured is a comparison of a Tattler reusable lid to the 4ever Recap lids.  The gasket sits firmly on the gasket seat of the Tattler lid.  It is tight against the flange (green arrow) with no possible room for movement.  The gasket sits loosely on the 4ever Recap lids with a fair amount of room for movement (red arrow).  It does not sit tightly against the flange but rather if the gasket is pushed tight against the flange it leave a wiggle room of 1/8 - inch. This movement makes placing the prepared lids on filled jars more difficult and definitely explains the higher percentage of initial seal failures fresh from the canner because the gasket actually has enough room to shift so as to not cover the rim of the jar properly.
 
Yesterday, a reader who wished to remain anonymous left the following comment on the 4ever Recap review post:

You may be interested in knowing that after finding out that their "superior silicone' rings will not stay sealed longer then 3 weeks, 4Ever Recap is now selling nitrile rings. Now if you have a superior product, why would you exact copy your competitors tried & true (which you claim to be inferior) product? Also interesting, if you type 4Ever Recap Trademark into your search engine you will find that the company is actually owned by Kang Investments LLC. You form your own opinions on that one!  

I decided to do some investigation:

According to their website, 4 Ward Industries LLC in Anna, Ohio "is the company that brings" you 4ever Recap owned by Jackie Ward (President).  Brandon Ward, her husband, is Director of Marketing and Sales.  The website 4everrecap.com is a GoDaddy domain with the registrant set as private and their IP 64.29.151.221 points to InternetNamesForBusinesses.com in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  I could find no real information on 4 Ward Industries LLC other than what is on their website which is rather odd.  Of note, Anna is a village of under 1,600 people and the Village of Anna Businesses does not list 4 Ward Industries as a business in Anna, Ohio but City Squares listed 4ever Recap (not 4 Ward Industries) at 114 West North Street in Anna.  It's interesting that Google Street View shows nothing that appears to be a building for manufacturing the lids but perhaps it is a small enough operation to fit in a large shed.  The 4ever Recap trademark is definitely owned by Kang Investments LLC (also not listed in the Village of Anna Businesses) in Anna, Ohio, filed by Matthew H. Swyers who appears to be a trademark lawyer for The Trademark Company in Vienna, Virginia.  The address given for Kang Investments is 12800 Wengler Rd. which appears on Google Street View as two rather impressive homes on a dirt road across the road from an empty field. .  My conclusion is that 4 Ward Industries is not who they say they are and may possibly be portraying themselves in a deceptive manner.  I don't feel they are actually manufacturing the lids themselves as their website indicates 'the company that brings you' not manufacturers of 4ever Recap lids.  It is unclear where these lids are made and may or may not be BPA-free.  At any rate there is evidence that 4 Ward Industries is simply selling someone else's product that mimics Tattler. 

According to their website, 4ever Recap is offering silicone (red) and nitrile (black) gaskets.  If the silicone gaskets were superior in the first place, inquiring minds would like to know why they are suddenly offering nitrile gaskets?  Nitrile is an oil-resistant synthetic rubber that has recently been used in the manufacturing of medical gloves as a less expensive alternative to latex gloves.  It is also used in applications such as gaskets where oil resistance is necessary.   Clearly, there have been seal problems with the 4ever Recap both immediately and during storage which is why 4ever Recap is again copying Tattler by offering nitrile gaskets BUT they are still offering silicone gaskets despite the gasket seating defects which would lead to seal failures and the problem in general with the seal failures using silicone.  My conclusion is both Jackie and Bruce are aware of the high level of seal failures AND have relayed that to whom ever is manufacturing the lids.  Rather than correct the problem, an alternative gasket is being offered.  Clearly, an alternative nitrile gasket would not be offered if there weren't known seal problems with the silicone gasket!  Based on the numerous complaints over seal failures using the 4ever Recap lids and the multitude of canning sites and forums recommending against their use, I would not be surprised to see a class action lawsuit in the near future!

The bottom line:

Regardless of the confusion over who actually manufactures the 4ever Recap reusable lids, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that they are not manufactured at the location implied by the Wards.  There is a question on the feasibility of a business built on a non-sustainable business plan selling a product designed to last forever meaning they are only interested in first time buyers not maintaining existing customers.  There is reasonable evidence to speculate that these lids may not manufactured in the USA which brings their safety into question.  There clearly is a recognized problem with the silicone gaskets that leads to a higher rate of initial seal failures as well as increased seal failures during storage.  Of note, all negative comments regarding the 4ever Recap lids have been removed from their Facebook page, something they do blame Facebook for but I have my doubts.  It's their page so they have the power to remove any comments as they see fit.  I fully believe they have removed the negative comments to prevent perspective buyers from seeing them which could influence them not to buy the faulty lids.

On a personal level, I was not happy with the correspondence from Jackie who failed to resolve my problem or address my initial concerns over the gasket seating.  Despite several emails, she did not answer my concerns at all!  She blamed seal failures on being a new user of 4ever Recap lids even though they are used exactly the same way glass inserts and Tattler reusable lids are used, both of which I have been using on a regular basis for a few years.  Every single jar with a 4ever Recap lid in storage had lost the seal by September.  While this is longer than the 3 week in storage failure some are reporting, it is still unacceptable.  I currently have a little over 12 dozen jars in storage using Tattler and glass inserts.  Some of those jars have been in storage over a year.  To date the only seal failures I have experienced during storage has been using the 4ever Recap lids.   I definitely will not be using these shoddy reusable canning lids!  I am not willing to waste my time, effort, cooking fuel and food using what is clearly a substandard, defective product!  I do not recommend these lids!

Mom's Pizza Sauce Ready for the Pantry

Shortly before leaving on the first leg of our fall vacation, I was busy canning, freezing and dehydrating. Despite having a large, walk-in pantry (formerly a bedroom), I still need to use the space frugally.  All foods in the pantry are rotated including home canned foods.  This requires an organized approach to storage but it ends up saving both time and money in the long run. 

I canned four dozen 250 ml jars of Mom's Pizza Sauce a few days before leaving.  Once the jars cooled for 24 hours I removed the bands, tested the seals then labeled and packed the jars into their original cases.  Berardin, formerly Canadian owned now owned by Jarden Home Brands has recently changed the way they package jars for sale.  Jarden Home Brands now manufactures Bernardin, Ball, Kerr and Golden Harvest canning jars. 

I really dislike the new packaging which consists of lids and rings on the jars that are in a half case then shrink wrapped.  I understand that this method of packaging reduces the amount of cardboard used and that the plastic wrap is less expensive for the manufacturer but it is less than ideal for the home canner.  As a high volume home canner, I use the cardboard cases for storage of both filled and empty jars.  The new packaging offers no protection to the tops of the jars even when stacked and the cardboard portion is not as sturdy as the old cases.  As far as the new packaging being eco-friendly, although less cardboard is used, the original plastic cannot be recycled so ends up in the landfill. 

A Taste of Home at Our Vacation Home

We arrived home last Wednesday night after spending three weeks at our vacation home in sunny Florida.  We spend three months each year at our vacation home spread over three separate trips, usually flying.  Flying is inexpensive and gets us there the same day unlike driving that ends up taking us two days with an overnight stop-over.  That means I am very restricted as to what food I can bring from home to our vacation home since liquids are restricted to 3 oz or less only in the quantity that will fit in a one quart zipper bag, one bag per traveler.  Thank goodness, I am not a make-up person!  We have also found that certain powders like Morton's Tender Quick will result in extra screening at the airport security checkpoints.  Now, as funny as that one was, and it was funny as the very friendly screening had never met someone who cured meats which led to an interesting conversation, I quickly decided in future to either mail these types of items to our vacation home or bring them with me when we drive.  We can bring dried foods as long as they fit in our backpack, more dried foods if driving but it isn't feasible to try bringing meats or fish by either mode of travel.

I was elated to find out that my husband had planned on this being a driving trip with a bit of sight seeing and a planned meal at Lady and Son's in Savannah, Georgia.  The plans were to drive down, stay for awhile, fly home, fly back then finally drive home towards the end of the year.  In total, we planned on spending a little over two months of the fall, early winter in the sunny south.

I brought a few jars of home canned foods with us for a taste of home.  It is surprising how much I've had to modify my cooking style at our vacation home simply because I don't have a lot of the ingredients, especially the home canned foods I am so accustomed to using.  I brought salsa, Old Fashioned chili sauce, zesty bread & butter pickles, Mom's pizza sauce, picante sauce, roasted tomato garlic sauce, beef stock, pork & beans, whole kernel corn, black cherry jam, Italian garden sauce with mushrooms (not pictured) and low sugar chocolate raspberry sauce (not pictured).  In hindsight, I should have brought another case of home canned foods so I may even mail more down before our return to our vacation home this year.

Eating at our vacation home is quite different than at home but I am finding that the more we are there, the more cooking from scratch we do.  The biggest problem we face is not being able to store much in the way of food with the exception of the fall trips as food can be left in the cabinets and refrigerator.  However, we rent the house out mid-January through mid-April, so all food that can not be safely stored in our homeowner's closet has to be cleared out.  We also leave the house tenant ready after our spring stay just in case.  Basically, we are restricted to storing a large Rubbermaid tote of food, mainly dried and commercially canned foods that will not be affected with the closet at room temperature.  I don't store any home canned foods in the homeowner's closet. 

Driving to our vacation home and back has a lot of benefits even though it takes longer.  We are able to bring a taste of home with us and take back some of the new foods we discover while there as well as along the way.  We also get the opportunity to do a bit of sight seeing along the way.  Of course, there are a lot of foodie stops!  Stay tuned for the foodie highlights of this leg of our fall stay at our vacation home...

Home Canned Pears

I was elated to discover three peach trees and a pear tree on our property when we bought our new house in September 2011.  I did a bit of research on caring for the trees then anxiously awaited the following spring.  Unfortunately, March of 2012 saw an unseasonable two weeks of summer-like weather with temperatures in the 80's (F).  This unseasonably hot weather caused the premature blooming of fruit trees in our area that immediately succumbed to the sudden hard frost followed by a cold, rainy remaining spring.  We ended up losing two of the peach trees, one which we suspected was close to being dead when we moved in.  The remaining peach tree and pear tree gave a yield of a couple of shopping bags worth of fruit, if that. 
This spring was cold to the point we were still wearing winter jackets a couple of days before leaving for our vacation home in Florida in May.  I figured it would be another year of low yield, small fruit.  Wrong!  The peach and pear trees flourished.

The peach tree was so overladen with fruit the branches bent to the ground!  The fruit was numerous but small and quite tasty.  The pear tree was also laden but the fruit was quite large.  Clearly we need to do some heavy pruning next spring.  I am beyond excited!  We are in the process of completely renovating our backyard.  The end result will see the majority of the backyard under decking leaving me just enough room for two 10' long square foot gardens for a total of 80 square feet growing space.  The peach and pear trees will be incorporated into the deck plans.  So, the spring of 2014 will see the start of utilizing a lot of small space gardening skills I've developed and mastered over the years.

We ended up with almost three bushels (about 150 lb) of pears which is really a nice yield for our first real pear harvest.  I expect the yield to be lower in 2014 as a result of the pruning but it should still be good, weather permitting.  Our pears are organically grown without the use of any pesticides.  Aside of the frost, the only problem we have had is the ripe pears attracting yellow jackets.  Since the pear tree is close to the pool, we were extra careful to clean-up any wind blown fruit.  This is good gardening practice anyway to deter pests and disease.  Other than that, our pear tree needs little in the way of maintenance but as this year showed, it has a big reward.

We gave a box of pears to a friend and another to a neighbour.  I canned pear quarters, two batches of 8 for a total of 16 - 500 ml jars.  The first batch was hot packed in a light syrup (pictured), the second raw packed in a light syrup (not pictured).  Both batches were processed in a boiling water bath canner.  The pears look lovely jarred up ready to be enjoyed during the winter months! 

Where are the Canning Police When You Need Them? aka Darwinism At It's Finest

If you have been following this blog you will know I do a lot of home canning and that I share the safe methods for home canning.  All home canned foods must be properly processed for safe storage.  Low acid foods (eg. meats, fish, stews, soups, vegetables) must be processed in a pressure canner.  High acid foods (eg. jams, jellies, pickles, fruits) must be processed in a boiling water bath canner.  There are no ifs, ands or buts!   Older methods that your grandparents or parents used may no longer be safe to ensure a proper canned food that is shelf stable.  Oven canning aka open kettle canning or inverting the jars is no longer considered safe as neither method kills off existing bacteria or mold spores, nor do they denature any botulin toxin that may be present.

<rant> Yesterday, a post came down on one of the forums I follow to check out a blog where the author actually told her readers how to oven can tomatoes and that vegetables should be put into a boiling water bath.  Now this is just wrong on so many levels!  Not only is she giving dangerous advice that could cause someone to get quite sick or worse she is opening herself up to one or more lawsuits should someone follower her advice.  I don't care whether her mother, her aunt, her friends or anyone else used oven canning for thousands of years, it is still bad advice.  She erroneously claims the FDA is too strict on their home canning guidelines.  Hello!  Even as a Canadian home canner, I know it is the USDA not the FDA who has done the research and is the leading home canning expert.  Even if she oven canned tomatoes and cold vegetables in a boiling water bath herself she certainly should not be telling others to do so.  It is akin to giving a child an unlocked gun to play with!  Not only could she ultimately be responsible for someone's death she can and should be held liable!  Several from the forum left comments to indicate her advice could end causing illness or worse but she deleted them all which is entirely up to her.  I just hope we don't read in the news about illness or death caused by improper canning following this person's advice!  Honestly, she is practicing Darwinism at its finest!</rant>

The USDA has done a tremendous amount of research on home canning.  They do not approve or disprove anything but rather make recommendations based on the results of their research.  They may not recommend using a certain ingredient (eg. corn starch) or canning a certain food (eg. broccoli) because the resulting quality is less than acceptable.  They may not recommend canning a certain food (eg. thickened stew, pureed pumpkin) because it presents a safety issue as the heat cannot penetrate to the centre of the jar to ensure a safe product.  The problem is, the USDA does not disclose whether their recommendation is based on safety or quality. 

The best course of action is to follow all USDA recommendations with respect to food safety in home canning.  After all, the goal is to put a safe product on the table for you and your family.  That does not mean you cannot use older recipes or tweak flavours as long as it does not interfere with the safety of the final product.  For example, substitute white wine vinegar for white vinegar in a recipe to get a mellower flavour.  This is a perfectly acceptable substitution as long as the white wine vinegar you use is 5% acetic acid by volume.  In general, the exception being pickled products, salt is optional when home canning.  You don't need to add salt to something like green beans.  You can but you don't have to as this is a taste issue not a food safety issue.  Older recipes can be converted to be processed using current safe canning guidelines providing they are similar to recipes recommended by the USDA or tested recipes in the Ball Blue Book and Bernardin's Complete Guide to Food Preservation.  Keep the ratio of vinegar to low acid vegetables or when making a pickling brine the same if processing in a water bath canner.  Have fun canning and stocking your pantry but always, always, always put food safety first!

Mom's Pizza Sauce

My busy canning season like the rest of the year has been a bit odd.  In the past, my husband would pick up two hampers of tomatoes at a time so I usually made four to six products sometimes more.  In the end, I would usually process ten hampers of tomatoes over a seven to ten day period which meant long, tiring days back-to-back.  This tomato season has been slow and relaxed.  So far, I've processed two hampers of tomatoes into three products - pizza sauce, dehydrated tomatoes and tomato powder.  I won't reach the ten hamper mark which is fine since I've been busy canning a lot of other foods as well.  This busy canning season is also a bit different in that I am doing a lot of tweaking and fine tuning of flavours to create unique home canned foods tailored to our family's tastes.

We use a lot of pizza sauce and I make extra to give to the kids.  This year I tweaked the pizza sauce recipe that I had previously modified from Bernardin's Tomatoes Canning & Speciality Recipes (2000).  Pizza sauce must be acidified so both the original and modified versions include lemon juice as the acidifier.

In my newest version, Mom's Pizza Sauce, the acidifier is citric acid added on a per jar basis just before sealing.  I tweaked the seasonings and added that little extra touch of flavour that sets this pizza sauce apart from the ordinary.  My husband determined the exact consistency he wanted for making homemade pizza.  While I make the dough, he usually shapes the dough and does the toppings.  The end result was a delicious, tasty tomato based pizza sauce worthy of being called Mom's!

Pretty in Pink - Low Sugar Chocolate Raspberry Sauce

There has been a breast cancer awareness badge on this blog since it was first created.  Like many, breast cancer has, in more than one way, affected our family.  I was delighted when Brad Steig, President of S&S Innovations, Corp invited me to promote their limited edition pink Tattler reusable lids.  This was an offer I could not refuse!  I have been using the Tattler reusable canning lids for over three years now and cannot say enough good things about them. 
 

I wanted a special product to showcase my new pink Tattler lids.  I chose my original low sugar chocolate raspberry sauce because I thought the pretty pink lids would compliment it nicely.   The original recipe has a firmer consistency which makes the sauce perfect to topping cream cheese or as a dessert topping.  This time I made changes to my original recipe to give a softer texture sauce suitable for use as an ice cream topping.  With a bit of tweaking of the sugar and adding vanilla for a little warmth, I ended up with a delectable ice cream topping worthy of the limited edition pink Tattler lids.  My husband poured some of the left over chocolate raspberry sauce over French vanilla ice cream.  He declared it a winner and went for a second helping with a huge grin on his face.

I'd like to thank Brand Steig and S&S Innovations, Corp for sending me a sample of the limited edition pink Tattler lids.  They perform just as nicely as the regular white Tattler lids except 35% of proceeds from their sale is being donated to the Munson Medical Center Women's Cancer Fund in Traverse City, Michigan!  If you would like to buy some of these lids in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, you can you can click the pink button for the sale on the Women's Cancer information page on the Tattler website on October 1.  I just know you will enjoy these lids as much as I do!

Put a Lid on Cancer!

Over the course of authoring this blog for over seven years, I have had the great pleasure to form online relationships as well as endorse products I use and believe in.  Quite some time ago, I did extensive testing of the Tattler reusable canning lids and wrote a review on them.  I've been using Tattler lids for a little over three years now.  They quickly became and remain my preferred canning lid to use wherever possible.  I should clarify the 'possible' which really means I don't like using them on home canned foods that will be gifted as they are meant to be kept and reused multiple times.  Earlier this month, I received an email from Brad Steig, President of S&S Innovations, Corp. manufacturer of Tattler Reusable Canning Lids asking me if I would be interested in promoting their limited edition pink reusable canning lids in support of breast cancer awareness month with 35% of proceeds from their sale being donated to the Munson Medical Center Women's Cancer Fund in Traverse City, Michigan.  Through this program, 100% of donated funds go directly toward assisting women in meeting the financial burdens associated with battling cancer.  This request was one I could not turn down!

Nearly 1.5 million world wide were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010.   While this statistic includes both male and female diagnosed with breast cancer, the disease remains the most common female cancer world wide.  North America along with the UK and Australia/New Zealand have the highest incidence rates world wide, making these countries a priority for breast cancer awareness.  October is breast cancer awareness month.  Breast cancer affects everyone.  Someone you know is now battling this disease or have lost their life to it.  Like most, we too have been affected by breast cancer which is rather prevalent on my husband's side.  In 2001 we welcomed our beautiful daughter-in-law into our family and hearts.  Little did we know that we would see her go through the devastating pain of losing a sister from breast cancer who left behind a husband and two very young children. 

The S&S Innovations, Corp sent me four boxes of their Tattler reusable lids as pictured.  Two of the boxes were their limited edition pink reusable canning lids, one box of wide mouth and one box of standard!  They are gorgeous, the perfect shade of pink for breast cancer awareness month.  I will be using these lids for something special and share the results with you.

How can you get these gorgeous limited edition lids?  On October 1 you can click the pink button for the sale on the Women's Cancer information page on the Tattler website.  Be sure to get your special, limited edition pink Tattler lids to support this worthy cause!

Home Canned Beef and Mushrooms

Throughout the seven years that I have authored this blog, I have given considerable coverage on home canning.  Home canning is one of the most economical and eco-friendly activities a frugal home cook can do.  The bottom line is home canning very much fits in with my philosophy of home cooking so a lot of the dishes I make use my own home canned foods.  Like many who cook from scratch, I do appreciate using certain convenience products.  Unlike many, the vast majority of the convenience products I use are also homemade. 

One homemade convenience product I made with some of the mushrooms I recently bought was home canned beef and mushrooms.  This is a very versatile product that can be used as a soup or stew base, a sauce addition or the juice can be thickened for a rich beef and mushroom meat serving or meat pie filling.  The possibilities are endless.  A jar of beef and mushrooms combined with a handful of frozen vegetables along with pasta, rice, potatoes or bean and a mouthwatering dinner can be on the table in 15 minutes!  I made seven 500 ml wide mouth jars of this delicious homemade goodness that will be a welcomed addition in our pantry. I think the jars of beef and mushrooms look great!

Canning meats at home is not difficult and it can save considerable time and money.  It is a wonderful way to take advantage of those great meat sales you find.  Meats are low acid so must be processed in a pressure canner.  I use an All American model 921 pressure canner for all of my low acid canning needs.  I prefer using wide mouth jars for canning meat products if at all possible as it is easier to remove the contents for reheating later.  Standard mouth jars can be used but the shoulders can make it a little more difficult to get some meat products out of the jars later.  The jars pictured are the older Bernardin embossed pints that are slightly taller than their newer embossed 500 ml jars. 

Meats invariably have fat that can cause a seal failure.   Meats should be trimmed well before canning to remove excess fat and connective tissue.  I wipe the rim with alcohol to remove any grease that could prevent proper sealing.  A layer of fat will form on most home canned meat products once they have cooled.  Ideally, this will be minimal as pictured.  This fat can easily be removed before reheating if desired. 

Home Canned Mushrooms and Mushroom Stock

While writing about out great road trip/camping adventure, a tangent came along that saw me quite busy processing mushrooms, peaches and pears.  I recently bought 20 lb of mushrooms because we were on another road trip that took us by one of the area mushroom farms.  Produce is always very much being at the right place at the right time.  So, I took advantage of the opportunity.

Mushrooms are a must have in our home.  We go through pounds and pounds of them!   Home canned mushrooms are a convenience pantry product for those rare times when I don't have fresh mushrooms on hand.  This is one of the very few products I make that hovers near the  price of store bought however it is a superior product in comparison to commercially canned mushrooms.  Despite a large number of mushroom farms in North America, commercially canned mushrooms are imported from China.  Unfortunately the food safety issues in China are horrid with report after report of unsafe food originating from there.  While I don't boycott other products made in China, I will not use food grown or produced in China.

Home canned mushrooms are easy to process using a pressure canner.   There is no metallic taste as there is with commercially canned mushrooms.  I put up ten 500 ml jars of home canned mushrooms which used up about 5 lb.  This will be enough home canned mushrooms to last us 6 months.  I make a few stops at the mushroom farm throughout the year so can always restock my pantry supplies as needed.
 

One of the ways a home canner can make a high cost product more economical is canning a by product in addition to the main product.  So it is with mushrooms.  Mushroom stock is a very easy to make stock originating from the preparation of mushrooms for other purposes including home canning.  I canned six 1 - L jars of mushroom stock, a welcomed addition to the pantry.  This rich, tasty stock will be used for soups, stews and gravies.  Six litres will be enough to last us for 6 months.

With mushrooms and mushroom stock canned it was time to move on to other ways to use up the mushrooms.  Trust me, we had no problem doing that!  We went through the entire 20 lbs of mushrooms in less than a week but almost half was preserved for later use.  I'll have to make another trip to the mushroom farm!

Great News From NCHFP Regarding Reusable Canning Lids

Social media really is the place to keep up on a lot of food related information.  I am on both Twitter and Facebook one a personal and blogging basis.  A couple of days ago, I spotted an interesting post regarding reusable canning lids.  Now, in technicality, the only recommended closure for home canning is the metal two piece snap lids consisting of a metal disc with attached plastisol and a metal band.  Notice that I say recommended not approved?  The USDA does not approve anything including recipes, it only makes recommendations, something the canning police fail to recognize.

At any rate, reusable canning lids have been used for almost a hundred years.  I have used both glass lids and glass inserts as well as Tattler and 4ever Recap reusable canning lids.  Glass lids and inserts have been in use since at least the forties and while neither are no longer made as well as the gaskets for the standard mouth glass inserts, the gaskets for the glass lids and Gem jars are still in production.  Tattler lids are a plastic disc with a rubber gasket that has been in production since 1976 and 4ever Recap lids has only been in production a few years.  If the folks who are adamant about following the USDA guidelines to the point of it being a fault aka the canning police had their way, no one would be using the reusable lids.  Seriously, some of these folks are so insistent on the USDA guidelines that no substitutions are allowed in any USDA recommended recipe meaning sea salt should not be substituted for regular salt which is utter nonsense but that is another story.  What they fail to realize is the USDA makes their recommendations based on testing and that testing is paid for by manufacturers.  Recipes submitted to the USDA to be tested for home canning safety are tested at a cost to the submitter.  So, the large scale manufactures like Ball and Kerr in the US paid to have their closures, the metal two piece snap lids tested to the point the USDA would recommend them.  Note, recommend not approve.  Bernardin, a Canadian owned company and leading expert in home canning in Canada were purchased by Altrista Corporation (now Jarden Corp) in 1993.  They remain the leading Canadian home canning experts and are still well known for their jars, closures and publications.  Their jars and closures also are recommended by the USDA.

To date, the reusable canning lids have not been tested by the USDA even though many experienced home canners including myself feel the reusable canning lids are safer than the metal snap lids as the possibility of false seals is eliminated.  Not only are they safer, they are the eco-friendly choice for home canners.  The the United States, university extension services do testing for the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) on behalf of the USDA.  The University of Minnesota Extension service made the following announcement in their June 2013 newsletter:

Reusable canning lids have been around for 40 years and today, there is renewed interest in these lids. When using the lids, carefully follow the manufacturer’s (Tattler®) instructions. This lid should not impact the safety of the product as long as the food was processed properly. Currently, there is no research that looks at seal failures, rates, number of reuses or performance throughout reuses. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recently received a grant to study the performance of these lids with results available in 2014 or 2015.

This is amazing news!  Home canning is not exactly a high priority with respect to funding for testing.  On a per capita basis, home canning is a activity that is mainly low level and quite seasonal focusing mostly on jams, jellies, and pickles.  Those with higher level canning volumes tend to be rural folk, survivalists, and religious groups but there are a growing number of folk wanting to take control of their food supply.  These folks like myself want to put good, healthy foods on their table that are preservative free, additive free, and not laden with all those things the food industry puts into our foods that in turn are causing health problems.  Home canning is seeing a revival and has since the y2K scare as more realize it is a frugal and eco-friendly way to enjoy good food year round.

Like many home canners, I will be keeping a close eye for the results of the NCHFP's results testing the Tattler lids.  While the testing is specific to Tattler lids, the result will apply to the Gem glass inserts with rubber gaskets as well as the 4ever Recap lids.  The only differences are the discs for Gem are glass and the gaskets for the 4ever Recap are silicone.  Hopefully this will lead to the testing of the 4ever Recap closures.  I doubt testing will be done on the glass inserts because the inserts themselves are no longer in production and most Gem jar usage is in the Canadian prairie provinces.  At any rate, I am excited to hear about the testing and hope the results will finally put the minds of the canning police at ease!

Best Bread and Butter Pickles Revisted

Every year I develop and/or try new home canning recipes.  Of those, some are duds, others are keepers and then there are the one or two outstanding recipes.  In many ways this is to be expected.  The duds are simply not to our expectations based on flavour and/or texture BUT that doesn't mean the recipe can't be tweaked to become a rather good recipe at some point.  This is especially true of some of the basic recipes in Bernardin Complete Guide to Home Canning, Ball Blue Book or recipes for jams and jellies using traditional pectins.  I often tweak these recipes for the trial run just based on experience and know what can be safely tweaked, substituted, added or omitted.  The end result is a creation tailored to the tastes of our family. 

Last year, I made a lot of pickles.  One of the recipes I used was Best Bread and Butter Pickles modified from Small-Batch Preserving (2001) by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard.  I did a bit of slight tweaking ingredients as well as added calcium chloride to the jars in this recipe even though I had not made it before.  These pickles were a huge hit!  They are delightfully delicious, better than any store bought bread and butter pickle!  They aren't too sweet and have a nice tang without a bite.  They are quite pretty presented in a pickle dish for serving.

If you are looking for a nice flavoured, sure to please bread and butter pickle, do try these pickles.  You won't be disappointed.  The recipe is quite easy but the results are above average!