When August hits, my house is way too hot to do any more canning. Eventually I end up tossing the rest of the ripe, whole tomatoes into gallon-size freezer bags and stuffing them in the freezer until winter.
My house is chilly in the winter and the warmth from an all-day canning session is very welcome. That's when I make and can tomato sauce. Another advantage of using frozen tomatoes is that the skin slips right off when you submerge the tomato in water for a few minutes. You don't have to blanch and then chill them first.
If you froze bags of apple peels and cores after making applesauce, you could use them to make harvest apple jelly.
Mason jars of chili or soup are quick and easy to heat up for lunch or for dinner on hectic nights, so why not make a big batch and pressure can some? Soups with noodles or potatoes are best canned without those ingredients, then add them when you open the jar and heat the soup for dinner.
Just remember that while fruit can be waterbath canned, vegetables and meat - anything other than fruit - has to be pressure-canned.
You don't have to stop canning food just because gardening season is over. Take advantage of winter vegetables, frozen fruit, homemade broth, and sales on dry beans to fill your pantry with Mason jars of delicious food.
Canning Tips and Tricks
Frugal Canning
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This post has great ideas! I love to can and was just thinking of doing some carrots.
ReplyDeleteI love having jars of carrots on the shelves; I bet you will too, Helen.
DeleteThank you so much for sharing this on The Homesteader Hop! I am impatiently waiting to get a pressure canner, and like you my house gets pretty chilly in the winter making it the perfect time to can!
ReplyDeleteWinter really is perfect for canning. :-) I hope you get your pressure canner soon, Staci... maybe for Christmas!
DeleteGreat ideas Kathi! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Lori!
DeleteI'm canning our turkey broth today! Love having it ready for soups, etc. I also do my own canned beans in the winter. Love the idea of tossing the tomatoes in the freezer for making sauce later--going to have to do that!
ReplyDeleteYes, Kim! I love having chicken and turkey broth on the shelves. I use it a lot. What kind of beans do you can?
DeleteBoy, are you right about it being more enjoyable in the winter. Although I've only done water-bath canning so far. I'd like to pressure can, I even have one, but I'm afraid of it.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, you might try calling your county extension office and see if they offer canning classes. It helped me to do it under someone's supervision the first time. :-)
DeleteKathi, you're brilliant! Yes, why do this in August when you can do it when it's cold?! I've been freezing a lot of things this year, including a jar of homemade turkey broth and some turkey gravy.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense, doesn't it?
DeleteI love this Kathi. :) This is also when I make up large batches of chili or soup, have a small portion for dinner and can the rest. Much nicer than when it's hot out.
ReplyDeleteLady Locust, it's much more bearable, isn't it?
DeleteWinter is the best canning season of all! We do our soups, jams, jellies, beans, etc.! Bonus! We can turn down the heat!
ReplyDeleteTammy
www.simplypreparing.com
I really *like* canning in the winter. It sounds like you do too, Tammy!
DeleteGreat info! I was just looking for a tutorial on canning frozen tomatoes! Thanks for being on the Homesteading Blog Hop! Hope to see you next Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it was helpful, Sarah.
DeleteHi Kathi, Great post! I like to can Pineapple Jam and Cranberry Sauce in the winter, too. Blessings, Janet
ReplyDeleteThose both sound delicious, Jan. I've never heard of pineapple jam before.
DeleteI really enjoy canning in winter! It's so busy with the garden during harvest, it can be hard to find time to can. We ended up freezer all our fruit and just lately have been getting it back out to make jam. It works great. (And it warms the house up.)
ReplyDeleteWhere we live, certain fruits like citrus and pineapple don't come into season until winter anyway. It's a great opportunity to make marmalade.
Haha, so I don't think you're crazy -- if you are, I guess I am too!
Thanks for writing!
God bless,
-Christina
Marmalade sounds wonderful, Christina. I'm glad we can be crazy together. :-)
DeleteI have never actually done any canning but I know a lot of folks who do so I've pinned this post to share it, Kathi. I didn't realise you could can (thawed) frozen produce - I'm always interested in learning more about these things. Thank you so much for being a part of Hearth and Soul. Hope to 'see' you again this week!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, April.
DeleteWhen we have a big event in our family, suxh as a wedding, I serve a salad bar. Leftovers from that make an amazing vegetable melange for the canner. Also, if I serve any meat, that also can be used to make a vegetable soup from the salad veggies. (Lettuce is as good as cabbage in soup.) I use quart jars and label them according to the event, such as "Mary's Wedding Soup" instead of the actual date. :)
ReplyDeleteSo if we were to have a winter wedding, that would be another source for us of canning contents.
That is such a special tradition! I love it, and especially the way you label the jars. I had no idea that lettuce could be used in soup; that's good to know. Thanks!
DeleteHi Kathi, I always learn so much from you. As a city chick, who is not used to all this stuff, I have a hard time keeping up with all the produce I grow. Of course it makes perfect sense to throw it in the freezer until it gets cold. Who wants to can in the middle of summer in Texas? Hoping for a pressure canner for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Dash! I don't want to can in the summer in Oklahoma - especially since we don't have central a/c - and I'm sure it's worse in Texas. I hope you get your pressure cooker for Christmas. :-)
DeleteI love to can in the winter. Especially when someone has a cold, the humidity is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteAnd the warmth is so welcome when the house is chilly.
DeleteGreat tips for canning in winter. Plus the steam in the air is always nice for me. My skin gets so darn dry too!
ReplyDeleteThe steam is a nice side benefit too, Christine. Thanks!
DeleteNice tips, thanks. I have left a few batches of cleaned and chopped tomatoes in the freezer last year - when it was time to make and can juice we had a stream of visitors coming to stay with us - within 40 days in a row we had people for 30 days..No way I could do any canning! So, winter time it was.. Since it worked so well, this year I also did the same thing (not that many visitors) because I didn't want to buy extra tomatoes - my garden had plenty, but they were ripening at different times..So, the ripe ones went to freezer to wait the rest.. The only real winter canning that I did last 3 years was meddler marmalade - but since we had too much leftover and I made tons of apricot jam..(our apricot trees don't give fruit every year) I skipped meddler preserve this year, we are just eating them fresh.. and sharing with everyone who love them...
ReplyDelete