I have been TERRIFIED of canning for the longest time. I don’t really know why I was so scared – I guess just fear of the unknown?
But learning to can is not only something that can help save money by stocking up on fruit and veggies when they are in season, but it is also a basic homesteading/survival skill that might prove handy to have in the future!
I recently got a LOT of okra at a local organic farm and I needed to do something with it. I was able to freeze a lot of it to use for gumbo and fried okra, but I still had tons left.
One of my favorite things at a salad bar is pickled okra, so I thought I would face my fears and try to make (and can) some!
And guys, it is SOOOO easy! Why was I scared?
For a GREAT illustrated tutorial on canning pickled okra, you can go HERE.
Pickled okra seems to be a good thing to start with and I hope to be canning MUCH more in the future.
Here are some of the pictures from my experiment:
Anyone have any other good canning recipes for me? 🙂
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Rachel, If you have a pressure cooker you can even can your leftovers. If we fix a big pot of stew, soup, etc. I can whatever is left and it's so convenient to just open a jar, add a little water (most condense a bit when canned) and I have a quick and fast lunch for the kids when I'm in a hurry.
I am also going to be doing some canning this weekend! Hope ironic! I'm canning apple sauce since we have two large trees. You can use it as filling for apple cobbler as well (you just can it rather chunky).
Do you have to use a pressure cooker. I would love to learn how to can but I don't have a pressure cooker. Thanks Tosha
Hi Tosha!
From the little bit that I have gathered about canning, there are foods that you need a pressure cooker for, but then there are foods (like anything pickled and tomatoes) that you can just use a water bath canning method… which is super easy!
I think the rule is: for acidic foods you can just use a water bath canner, but for non-acidic foods you have to use a pressure canner.
You're right. Highly acidic foods such as oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes & those which require a good deal of vinegar for picking can be canned in a hot water bath. But… for safety sake it's best to use a pressure cooker for everything else. While the processing time in the cooker is a generally a bit longer (1 hour or more), I've not found it to be any more difficult to use. Most of them have instructions, time & weight charts included in their manual.
I canned for the first time this year. I canned salsa, tomato juice and dill and sweet pickles. I don't have a pressure canner yet either.