Canning, how to get started......

[Dib's]

Hey there-the old books for recipes can be good, but the parafin and water bath method times have changed, so you will need to know your fruits and veggie's timetables. For me and my family-I wouldnt use parafin wax and don't recomend it. the only reason I mention it is I have my Grandmothers 1941 cookbook and it has a ton of canning recipes in it and half of them need to be re-worked, now knowing what we know today. Di

[Nancy Sneed]

The pressure cooker is also a big timesaver for canning and it comes with a book that tells you how long to cook everything. It really helped to speed things up for me. I was a farmer's wife so we used to plant a 2 acre garden and my folks helped. Every year it seemed to get bigger and bigger and we were feeding the entire countryside. Be sure if you plant enough for friends and neighbors to INVITE them to come PICK YOUR OWN.....lol...otherwise you'll spend all your time out there! Have fun! Nancy

[gran]

I was so excited to see this topic - and to see someone wanting to get started canning! Food Pres. is a way of life for us -- if we want to eat, we try to do it ourselves. We average 1,000 jars on the shelf (includes dried, etc.) Don't you have a Cooperative Extension Office in your county? They're a mountain of info, the very best resource, and probably have classes scheduled for hands-on experience, and can help you with SAFETY! Botulism is a very dirty word and canning should not be taken lightly. CLOSE to the instructions does NOT count! Cheater recipes -- Mrs. Wages puts out a marvelous mix product for pickles, chili, salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc. I won grand champion at the county fair last year with Mrs. W's (and mine)catsup. I'd love to hear your success stories.

PS The marinated bean salad in the ball book is really good and it's instant food -- just pop the lid and dump in a bowl! You can't get much better than that. It also uses small quantities of different beans, good for a beginning gardener.