Carol, Re your peach example. You are talking about mixing the leftover peaches in with the next batch then canning all together right? NOT taking the leftover full jar from the fridge and just processing with the next batch. NOT going from fridge straight to canner, rather go from fridge to mix with the new stuff to canner. Going down in size... for gifts or something, is ok then? It's only up that may cause problems. I do hate to waste as well. For the dilly beans, I put the parts I cut to make them fit in the jar in a seperate jar. It doesn't look nearly as pretty, but I think it will pickle fine and taste the same, you'll just have to pick them out with a fork. =0) Teenage boys do not seem to mind things like that! *LOL* When you are canning, does it seem like you are making an awful lot of stuff and there's no way you're going to use it up in the next year? Like right now I have 6-7 jars of 5 different kinds of jam and while making them didn't seem like a lot, looking at them all in one place does. Then when I consider that those are only the strawberry recipes..... Do ya'll keep a notebook or something that tells you how much of what you canned this year, so you can make adjustments next year? I'm thinking I want some kind of way to keep track of that. Maybe with the recipe or page number on it. The books I already have are the Big Ball Book, the Blue Ball Book, Small Batch preserving (NOT exactally what I thought it was) and Blue Ribbon Preserves. Then there are the recipies copied from here. =0) Right now, any that I look for online, I'm running against the basic recipes in those books to see if there is a great difference in acid (Does the TYPE matter? Vinegar vs: Lemon or Lime juice?) or amounts of fresh products. I'm kind of using this year as my "learning year". As in I'm not going to get too upset over something that doesn't work for us, and I'm trying lots of new stuff.... like chutney. =0) Learning things like yes, you DO want to take the seeds out of the peppers if you like your tonsils, even if the recipe does not specify. Peppers get hotter the longer they are in, and Chutney taste terrible if you forget to add the sugar. And I did not make nearly enough Strawberry Lemonade. Anyhow, thank you for your answers and taking the time out of your day. =0) It's a little frustrating to hear "I don't know" from my mom, and what I know to be unsafe things from the other ladies I asked about it. And since I only know a little, it's kinda scary. Can I ask about a specific recipe or should I do another post? The recipe is Strawberry Lemonade. It calls for half fruit (6c hulled, which turns out to be about 4c pureed), half lemon juice (4c), and half sugar (6c). It it canned in pints, and I'd like to do quarts. I'd also like to change the lemon juice to lime juice.... and maybe decrease the sugar by a cup or two. You heat it to 190 degrees, then put in pint jars and BWB for 15 minutes. (Pg 192 in the Big Ball Book) I'm thinking that there shouldn't be a problem with changing the lemon and lime juice as they would both serve as the acid, and I'm not looking to change the amounts. Other than sweetening, not sure what the "preserving" quality of the sugar is. And of course going from pints to quarts. Thanks again. Mil

Depends on the amounts and types of peppers you use. As long as you stay with the 10 cups total you can use any mix. Last year we made it with 8 cups of sweet bells and only 2 cups of jalapenos and it was good with just a hint of bite. We don't like really hot relishes but wanted a bit more heat in the aftertaste so this year we made it with 7 cups of sweets, 2 cups of jalapenos and 1 cup of anchos - too hot for me!!! so the boys will get those jars. Can't imagine what it would be like with habs. But the jalpenos seem to taste hotter this year too than last year so likely the 1/2 and 1/2 sweets and jalapenos would be too hot for our tastes. We are hot pepper wusses. :) Dave

Normally an undiluted 5% vinegar solution is sufficient for safe processing as long as the amount of vinegar is great enough to swirl around all the pepper pieces when it's in the jar. That may mean ultimately it's necessary to drain off some of the solution before consumption but considering it's undiluted vinegar and you're cooking the ingredients (i.e. acidifying) in the vinegar before bottling, I don't think there's a risk as long as you meet the criteria in the preceding paragraph. As you are aware, however, there will be a more pronounced vinegar flavor and some aging will help reduce the sharpness. It's up to you to decide if you'd rather continue with the current recipe and refrigerate or make the necessary changes for canning but risk changing its character. Carol

"my understanding is that green chilies (I think they mean green peppers such as Anaheim or Poblano??) are usually peeled and it says nothing about peeling them here (same at NCHFP). " "Green chilies" can be any one of a a hundred of hot pepper varieties - Hatch, Poblano, Aneheim, Jalapeno, Serrano, Chilaca, Habanero, etc. - it's your choice. The amount of heat in the finished sauce all depends on the type and amount of peppers you use. You can always reduce the amount and even leave out the dried peppers if you wish The NCHFP recipe I linked clearly tells you about the different methods for peeling. Peeling is recommended depending on the variety of pepper used - some have thick skins, some thin. But peeling them is optional, not mandatory. No the fresh preserving recipe is not the same as the Salsa Verde recipe in the BBB. Do you not have a BBB? You really need to have one if canning things. If you want the tomatillos roasted then why not use the Roasted Tomatillo recipe there. https://www.freshpreserving.com/roastd-salsa-verde---ball-recipes-br3573.html Dave