My Very First Canning Venture went well... pretty much.

15 years ago

Hello,

Well, I finally took the plunge - canned up six pints of pickled asparagus and 16 half-pints of blackberry jam (sugar free, low sugar and high test).

Not difficult, but I was surprised by a few things:

I thought I'd packed the asparagus tightly, but now that it's floating around in the jar, it seems not. Should I be concerned? I got 4 pints of pretty spears, and two pints of the still-good stuff that had to be trimmed off to fit the tops in the jar. We'll eat that on salads - waste not, and all that jazz.

I wasn't expecting the sugar to make as much difference in the yields as it did. All three blackberry jams were made with 4c of mashed berries (picked last summer and frozen). The sugar-free and reduced sugar jams were made with the Ball no-sugar pectin. Each batch included 1c of unsweetened apple juice - the only difference is that I added 2 cups of sugar to one of the batches. They seem to be jelling just fine, as near as I can tell. The third batch was full sugar (4c berries, 6.5c sugar) made with Ball liquid pectin - nothing fancy about any of these. All tasty though, based on the old spatula-licking taste test.

Ah yes, I also learned to stir carefully, 'cause spattering jam burns!

Question: I didn't wash the pan between the first two batches, since they used the same pectin etc. - just scraped well first. I made the sugar-free first, so no sugar found it's way into the sugar free. Does it matter that I didn't wash between? I did after the second batch, but that was mostly because it was getting pretty gunky and I didn't want to risk anything that was stuck to the side of the pan scorching and finding its way into that third batch.

I learned another really valuable thing too - even blackberry jam doesn't stain my granite counter tops, whew!!!

I must admit, I feel pretty self-satisfied when I look at those cute jars cooling in my kitchen - and now I know that sound you all refer to; that musical 'ping' of sealing canning jars!

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Comments (4)

jimster
15 years ago
Congratulations!

Jim
melva02
15 years ago
Congratulations Robin! That's an ambitious first canning session. My first was 4 half-pints of pickled garlic using a jelly kit my roommate had surprised me with, because she knew I was interested in canning.

Your asparagus is fine and safe. You don't want it packed too tight or you could create a situation where air bubbles get trapped, which makes the heat processing less effective. Pickled asparagus or dilly beans packed too tight are not safe. Packed too loose is fine. I believe some people can the leftover brine by itself with no veg in it (remember it must come up to the proper headspace, no excess air). Then you can open the brine to use in the next batch.

I make dilly beans with as many jars of long ones as I can, then do the trimmings in their own jars. The short pieces seem to stay crisper, I think. Also they are just the right size for oil & vinegar potato salad.

There's no safety issue with not washing the pans, but it could cause a quality problem. 1, that smidgen of leftover pectin is getting cooked a long time as the second batch boils, which could affect texture. 2, the stuck-on stuff could burn (as you mentioned) or get overcooked and make the next batch taste less fresh. But if you're just talking about a thin coating of leftover liquid, you could just rinse it, or wipe it out with paper towels. If it's starting to jell I would wash it.

So glad you had a good experience! I'm still picking out which weekend this month to pick raspberries for jam. Can't wait!

Melissa
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robin_d
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm eyeballing the strawberries (I grow them as groundcover in my rose beds) and there just *may* be enough for a batch of strawberry jam. Guess I'll have to pick tomorrow and find out!

The funny thing is that I don't have much of a sweet tooth and won't eat much of this jam... but between DH, 3 kids, and 2 grandkids, it will NOT go to waste. :-)

I may bogart the 'gus. :-)
rachelellen
15 years ago
Congratulations!

I never ate much jam either, as I don't have a sweet tooth, but I do find myself eating a bit more since I started making my own. The flavor is just so much better!

Home-canned goods make such lovely gifts too. My husband and I are both self employed, and have found that my canned goods are the perfect little gift for clients to say "thanks for your business".

The first year I planted cukes, I ended up with so many that I started canning pickle relish just for something to do with them all, and we haven't bought a jar since...home made is just so much tastier.

My Very First Canning Venture went well... pretty much.

Comments (4)

jimster

melva02

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My Very First Canning Venture went well... pretty much.

Comments (4)

jimster

melva02

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