# Favorite canning recipes - what are yours?



## goshengirl

I'm feeling a need to can coming on.....  

So far I've canned beef, chicken, chicken broth, and spaghetti sauce. Feeling the need to branch out.  What are some of your favorite canning recipes? 

We're expecting some snowfall this week, and there's just something about canning in the kitchen while it's all snowy outside. I'm just going to have to find out what's on sale and stock up for a day of canning!


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## mmszbi

One of my favorite recipes for canning is Southern Spiced Peaches. So much way gooder than any canned peaches you can buy.

24 medium sized peaches, skinned and pitted, sliced into wedges (messy, but fun)
4 sticks cinnamon
couple tablespoons of whole cloves
6 cups sugar ( or less, I usually only do about 4)
3 cups white vinegar

wrap cinnamon and cloves up in a cheesecloth bag
heat vinager and sugar until dissolved, add spice bag, boil for 10 minutes
add peaches and bring to slow boil for about 1-2 minutes.
using strainer spoon, spoon peaches into canning jars until about 1 inch headspace, then fill with liquid to 1/2 inch headspace, removing all air pockets
Waterbath can for 20 minues.
Very simple and oh so yummy!


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## Jason

DW made a praline syrup to be used as an ice cream topping. She just made a few jelly jars' worth, but man it was good. I'll have her look up the recipe then I'll post it. It's good to can the meat and potatoes (literally) but having some homemade sweets and goodies put back is nice too.


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## Jason

Ok...here's the praline syrup. Her note in the margin says it makes three 8oz jars. It's actually from the Ball Home Preserving book, p.200.

2 cups dark corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla

1.Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. In a stainless steel saucepan, combine corn syrup, water, and sugar. Heat over meduim heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to med. high, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat and stir in pecans and vanilla. Boil gently, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.

3. Ladle hot syrup into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.

4. Place jars into canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove, cool, and store.


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## goshengirl

*Thank you!*

mmszbi, those peaches do sound yummy! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, too - how to add just a little spice to canning. And my in-laws live near a big peach-growing area in IL, so I can really see this coming in handy!

Jason, pralines 'n cream is an old-time favorite for me, from back in the days when I lived in New Orleans. That recipe sounds fabulous! And you're right, it'd be good to have some sweets canned away, too. It would also be a good recipe to make up a bunch of jars to give away at Christmastime. Thanks!


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## Jason

Since we had the recipe out, DW made some praline syrup. This is a double batch.


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## horseman09

Jason said:


> Since we had the recipe out, DW made some praline syrup. This is a double batch.


Jason, I hate to tell you but the only way a tractor that size would move jars that big would be if you'd trade it in for a John Deere.


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## Jason

Actually, that's a full size tractor. They're really big jars. Let alone the HUUUUUGE giraffe in the corner of the pic.


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## carolexan

Grandma Victoria's' recipe
Chow-Chow - Green Tomato Relish:
5 cups coarsely chopped green tomatoes (about 5 tomatoes)
5 cups coarsely chopped cabbage (about 1 1/2 pounds cabbage)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped yellow onion or sweet onion
2 cups coarsely chopped bell pepper, add 1 red for color 
1/3 cup pickling salt
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Combine the chopped vegetables in a large bowl. 
Add the salt and stir. Cover and let stand for 4 hours or refrigerate overnight. 
Prepare the canner and jars. Add water to a canner with rack and heat to a boil; reduce heat and keep at a simmer. The water should be high enough to be at least 1 inch above the filled jars. I usually fill it about halfway and I keep a kettle or saucepan of water boiling on another burner to add to the canner as needed. Wash jars thoroughly and heat water in a small saucepan; put the lids in the saucepan and bring almost to the boil; lower heat to very low to keep the lids hot. 


Drain the vegetables and rinse thoroughly. 

In a large nonreactive kettle, bring the vinegar, brown sugar, and seeds and spices to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and continue simmering for 5 minutes. Add the drained vegetables and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes. 

With a slotted spoon, pack the vegetables into prepared jars. Cover vegetables with the pickling liquid, leaving about 1/4-inch headspace. 

With a clean dampened cloth, wipe the rims of the jars. Place the flat lids on the jars then close caps with screw-on rings tightly, but do not over-tighten. Arrange the filled jars in the canner and add more water, as needed, to be at least 1 inch above the jars. Bring to a full boil. Cover and continue boiling for 10 minutes. Remove the relish to a rack to cool completely. 

Check for seals (the middle of the caps should have made a popping sound while cooling and will stay depressed. 
Makes about 4 pints.

This recipe has been through 4 generations now and still a favorite..


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## *Andi

Chow-Chow - Green Tomato Relish ... :2thumb:


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## Clarice

One of DH favorites is so easy. When we have a spoonful or cup of veggies leftover after a meal they go into our soupmix bag in the freezer. When we have enough to fill a canner we thaw the mix add chicken broth and can the best veggie soup ever.


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## DJgang

I am looking for a hot pepper relish recipe ... But I do not want it sweet.

We love pepper sauce on things, especially turnip greens, my hubby cuts up lots of the peppers from the pepper sauce, so I thought, if I could just go ahead and make some sort of relish...

I think that I could come up with one on my own, but thought I would ask....

thanks


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## *Andi

Goshengirl - want to share your spaghetti sauce recipe for canning.


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## goshengirl

*Andi said:


> Goshengirl - want to share your spaghetti sauce recipe for canning.


recipe? LOL 

When I was younger I would ask my mother for a recipe, and she'd give instructions like "just add enough such-n-such until it looks right" - drove me nuts! What looked right? But alas, I've now become my mother. 

Spaghetti sauce was my first experience canning, but we found that the sauce didn't taste so great when it was canned. I'd read in a canning book that some herbs are altered and end up tasting bitter when processed for canning, and I think that's what happened. So I tell you how I make spaghetti sauce, and then I'll tell you how I keep it for storage.

Spaghetti Sauce:
large slow cooker (6 qt)
canned tomato sauce (105 oz - the food service can at Sam's Club)
canned tomato paste
dried oregano
dried basil
dried rosemary
dried marjoram
dried sage
dried thyme
92% (or better) lean ground beef, browned and drained (3 lbs)
Pour tomato sauce into the cooker, add tomato paste. (How much paste I use depends on how much I have and what mood I'm in.) Then add dried herbs until, well, it looks right.  (If I'm in the mood, I'll add ground oregano in addition to the dried oregano.) Finally, add ground beef. Then cook in the slow cooker for several hours to allow it to thicken up. Use either the 'low' or 'warm' setting on your cooker, never the 'high' setting, as the sauce will scorch. This makes LOADS of spaghetti sauce - when the family is finished eating, I take what's left in the cooker and divvy it up in FoodSaver bags, and store in the freezer. Then I've got sauce all ready to be defrosted and heated and ready to go for the next spaghetti meal.

As I said, I used this recipe (such as it is) for my first canning experience - freezing the sauce worked great, but I wanted to store some without the need for electricity. But since the taste was off, I've changed my storage ideas. Sauce and paste can stay in their own cans (I don't make my own yet, but plan to when the garden produces, hopefully, this summer). Dried herbs can stay in their own containers. And now I dehydrate ground beef, and a quart of dried beef works with the above amounts. I still freeze excess sauce because it really is convenient to just thaw and heat up - but for non-electric storage I don't bother actually making the sauce before canning it. If I do can anything, I might try processing the sauce, paste, and beef together and see how it goes to add the herbs later after opening up the jar.

Ha. You asked a simple question. Apprently I was in the mood for giving a disseration today...


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## stayingthegame

*canning eggplants*

I canned over 70 jars of eggplant last year. I peeled the eggplant,cut up the eggplant, and cooked for about 10 -15 min. Just enough to soften it. Then I pressure canned it with only the cooking water and 1/4 tsp. salt. You can use it to make eggplant casserole or any thing else that calls for cooked eggplant or squash.:woohoo:


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## kathyd

Creative Canning

Creative Chicks: Canning

Try some of these canning recipes.


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## neldarez

goshengirl said:


> recipe? LOL
> 
> When I was younger I would ask my mother for a recipe, and she'd give instructions like "just add enough such-n-such until it looks right" - drove me nuts! What looked right? But alas, I've now become my mother.
> 
> Spaghetti sauce was my first experience canning, but we found that the sauce didn't taste so great when it was canned. I'd read in a canning book that some herbs are altered and end up tasting bitter when processed for canning, and I think that's what happened. So I tell you how I make spaghetti sauce, and then I'll tell you how I keep it for storage.
> 
> Spaghetti Sauce:
> large slow cooker (6 qt)
> canned tomato sauce (105 oz - the food service can at Sam's Club)
> canned tomato paste
> dried oregano
> dried basil
> dried rosemary
> dried marjoram
> dried sage
> dried thyme
> 92% (or better) lean ground beef, browned and drained (3 lbs)
> Pour tomato sauce into the cooker, add tomato paste. (How much paste I use depends on how much I have and what mood I'm in.) Then add dried herbs until, well, it looks right.  (If I'm in the mood, I'll add ground oregano in addition to the dried oregano.) Finally, add ground beef. Then cook in the slow cooker for several hours to allow it to thicken up. Use either the 'low' or 'warm' setting on your cooker, never the 'high' setting, as the sauce will scorch. This makes LOADS of spaghetti sauce - when the family is finished eating, I take what's left in the cooker and divvy it up in FoodSaver bags, and store in the freezer. Then I've got sauce all ready to be defrosted and heated and ready to go for the next spaghetti meal.
> 
> As I said, I used this recipe (such as it is) for my first canning experience - freezing the sauce worked great, but I wanted to store some without the need for electricity. But since the taste was off, I've changed my storage ideas. Sauce and paste can stay in their own cans (I don't make my own yet, but plan to when the garden produces, hopefully, this summer). Dried herbs can stay in their own containers. And now I dehydrate ground beef, and a quart of dried beef works with the above amounts. I still freeze excess sauce because it really is convenient to just thaw and heat up - but for non-electric storage I don't bother actually making the sauce before canning it. If I do can anything, I might try processing the sauce, paste, and beef together and see how it goes to add the herbs later after opening up the jar.
> 
> Ha. You asked a simple question. Apprently I was in the mood for giving a disseration today...


goshen, when you say you put them into foodsaver bags, do you mean the vac. seal bags?


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## goshengirl

neldarez said:


> goshen, when you say you put them into foodsaver bags, do you mean the vac. seal bags?


Yep. Since it's a liquid it's tricky to vac seal, so I fill the bag (about 2/3 of the bag) with the sauce and put it in the freezer overnight - then vac seal the frozen bag in the morning. That short amount of time when it's not vac sealed doesn't seem to be a problem. Also, when I put it in the freezer I close up the bag with a 'chip clip' (those big clips used to keep bags of chips or pretzels closed). I fold down the top with several little folds before putting on the clip.

Hope that helps.


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## neldarez

goshengirl said:


> Yep. Since it's a liquid it's tricky to vac seal, so I fill the bag (about 2/3 of the bag) with the sauce and put it in the freezer overnight - then vac seal the frozen bag in the morning. That short amount of time when it's not vac sealed doesn't seem to be a problem. Also, when I put it in the freezer I close up the bag with a 'chip clip' (those big clips used to keep bags of chips or pretzels closed). I fold down the top with several little folds before putting on the clip.
> 
> Hope that helps.


wow you're smart!!:congrat:


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## Ur5hittingMe

How about pickled hot peppers stuffed with cabbage. YUM

I do have a question, first time ever I pressure cooked beets, they turned pink? Can you tell me why? The book said 15 lb pressure for 30 mins. Didnt open one up yet to try, but even the liquid is pink.


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## Emerald

I don't freeze tons of liquids but I do a few soups and such and found that if you freeze your soup/sauce/broth etc.. in the square sandwich type plastic (think rubber maid or glad) overnight and then pop them out the next day and vac pack them it makes a nice neat square stackable package. It works really well for me. I've had problems keeping my freezer neat with the weird shapes lately. Might go to packing all my veggies in the squares too just to freeze them and then pop them out and vacpack.. only problem I see is getting a good "air removal" with the veggies.


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## partdeux

No problem with air removal. I blanch and freeze broccoli, and then vacuum seal.


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## goshengirl

I hear you on the shapes, Emerald. I think I'm kinda OCD about the whole thing - gotta have everything line up and lay just right.


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## partdeux

Back on topic...

I think my three favorite are a Luna Bianco white wine jelly
Spaghetti sauce
and my own version of V8 Bloody Mary mix


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## timmie

i found a website for pie filling using cornstarch or clearjel. i personally prefer cornstarch because i always have it on hand. the website is canning.usa. just thought i would toss it in there as down here in the south we have dewberries and blackberries already getting ripe.tomorrow is berry picking day.


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## goshengirl

Thank you!
I've never done anything with blackberries or raspberries, but I'm determined this year to learn. Kinda figured pie filling would be a good thing to learn for a lot of fruits.


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## lilmissy0740

timmie, I canned apple pie filling once. Can we say..YUK?  It could have been the recipe but it was almost like eating paste. Maybe I am spoiled and like fresh apples in my pie.


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## timmie

lilmissy,how did you can the apple pie filling,withcornstarch or clearjel? if it tastes like paste i don't want to do it. maybe i'll just can the berries and make the pie from the canned berries.


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## partdeux

Don't use corn starch in canning, only use clearjel


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## catsraven

Pickled Beets

7 to 8 lbs of Beets
4 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
1½ teaspoons canning or
pickling salt
2 cups sugar or Splenda
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves - about 1
tsp
12 allspice nuts (whole) -
about 1 tsp
4 to 6 onions
(approximately 2 to 2½-
inch in diameter)

Take a sharp knife and trim off beet tops, leaving an inch of stem and roots to
prevent bleeding of color.

Wash the beets!
Put similar sized beets (hopefully, they're ALL of a similar size so they take the same time to cook) together with enough boiling water to cover them and cook until tender. Drain and discard the liquid

Just cool them enough so you can handle them to remove the skins,stems, roots and then slice or quarter them.

Trim off the roots and stems. The skins should easily slide off. Slice the beets into ¼-inch slices. You can leave the beets whole (if they are small, say
1 inch or less), or quarter them or slice them into 1/4 inch slices. This is to help more fit in the jars and to help the seasoning to penetrate them better.

Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar (or Splenda if you need a no-sugar version) and fresh water in a large pot. Put the spices in cheesecloth bag and add to vinegar mixture. Bring to a boil. Add beets and onions to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove the spice bag.

Fill the jars with beets and onions, leaving ½-inch headspace. Pack the jars fairly tightly, but be sure to leave ½-inch of space at the TOP of the jar. That is called "headspace" and is needed for expansion during heating in the water bath

Use a ladle to carefully fill each packed jar with the hot vinegar solution, again allowing ½- inch headspace. The beets should be covered and there should still be 1/2 inch of airspace left in the top of each jar. Put the lids and rings on. Process for 30 minutes

Yummy yum yum I just love this recipe!


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## lilmissy0740

Oh geez, I think I used dutch gel. It looked so nice in the jars with cinnamon. But the pie was pasty. Even tried to add fresh apples to the pie with each jar and still no luck. But I know there has to be a good recipe out there.


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## dmkoza

goshengirl said:


> recipe? LOL
> 
> When I was younger I would ask my mother for a recipe, and she'd give instructions like "just add enough such-n-such until it looks right" - drove me nuts! What looked right? But alas, I've now become my mother.
> 
> Spaghetti sauce was my first experience canning, but we found that the sauce didn't taste so great when it was canned. I'd read in a canning book that some herbs are altered and end up tasting bitter when processed for canning, and I think that's what happened. So I tell you how I make spaghetti sauce, and then I'll tell you how I keep it for storage.
> 
> Spaghetti Sauce:
> large slow cooker (6 qt)
> canned tomato sauce (105 oz - the food service can at Sam's Club)
> canned tomato paste
> dried oregano
> dried basil
> dried rosemary
> dried marjoram
> dried sage
> dried thyme
> 92% (or better) lean ground beef, browned and drained (3 lbs)
> Pour tomato sauce into the cooker, add tomato paste. (How much paste I use depends on how much I have and what mood I'm in.) Then add dried herbs until, well, it looks right.  (If I'm in the mood, I'll add ground oregano in addition to the dried oregano.) Finally, add ground beef. Then cook in the slow cooker for several hours to allow it to thicken up. Use either the 'low' or 'warm' setting on your cooker, never the 'high' setting, as the sauce will scorch. This makes LOADS of spaghetti sauce - when the family is finished eating, I take what's left in the cooker and divvy it up in FoodSaver bags, and store in the freezer. Then I've got sauce all ready to be defrosted and heated and ready to go for the next spaghetti meal.
> 
> As I said, I used this recipe (such as it is) for my first canning experience - freezing the sauce worked great, but I wanted to store some without the need for electricity. But since the taste was off, I've changed my storage ideas. Sauce and paste can stay in their own cans (I don't make my own yet, but plan to when the garden produces, hopefully, this summer). Dried herbs can stay in their own containers. And now I dehydrate ground beef, and a quart of dried beef works with the above amounts. I still freeze excess sauce because it really is convenient to just thaw and heat up - but for non-electric storage I don't bother actually making the sauce before canning it. If I do can anything, I might try processing the sauce, paste, and beef together and see how it goes to add the herbs later after opening up the jar.
> 
> Ha. You asked a simple question. Apprently I was in the mood for giving a disseration today...


Hey goshengirl, I am curious on how you dehydrate ground beef?? All of your recipes sound delish. I am adding to my recipe list. Thank you!!


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