Category: Water Bath Canning

How to Can Rhubarb Juice

Posted on by craig

Every year we’re faced with the same problem with the produce that we freeze—how the heck are we going to fit it all in the freezer?

Until last year, our freezer space was limited to our fridge freezer (we have a side-by-side fridge/freezer, so it’s a bit more room than a top-only freezer), a big chest freezer at my mom’s place, and (for emergencies only) my mom’s fridge freezer. Every year we try to preserve more and more with the goal of providing a year’s worth of food, and to do that means having the space and equipment. And those three freezers simply weren’t enough.

So, late last summer we bought a smaller chest freezer for our place…and quickly filled it up and ran out of room. About a month or so later, we bought a second smaller chest freezer, which we keep at my mom’s place. That did the trick for last year!

This year, though, we were faced with a record rhubarb haul—115 pounds—which is something we normally store in the freezer. We have SO MUCH frozen rhubarb. The big chest freezer was entirely rhubarb and nothing else, and half our fridge freezer was also rhubarb. We also juice cucumbers and freeze the juice, which filled one of our small chest freezers to the brim. It was fine for a while, but now as the peppers, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and more cucumbers are coming in—all of which go in the freezer—we were faced with the question of if we need to buy yet another freezer.

I was determined not to spend that money, so I thought about what the key problem is.

It’s the rhubarb.

We needed to get some of it out of the freezer.

We had to leave some as frozen rhubarb for my step-dad who makes pies every summer (so he’ll use this summer’s rhubarb for pies when he’s back next summer), we use some for flavouring kombucha, and we have some extended family that want some bags of rhubarb. But, in all, those uses account for maybe a sixth of what we have.

So, I started juicing.

A big batch of that juice went straight into a bucket for some rhubarb wine, but the rest I canned.

Canning rhubarb juice is quite simple and safe; rhubarb is acidic enough on its own that nothing is needed to make it safe for canning. Most recipes call for some optional sugar to counter the tartness of rhubarb, but it’s optional.

So, over the course of two days, I canned about 35 pints (17.5 litres) of rhubarb juice. Now the next challenge is to see if we use all that juice over the coming year, to see if it’s a useful project. I have some ideas of how to use it—but those are at the end of the post!

Step one: Juice the rhubarb

There are two ways to juice rhubarb—both are just as effective, but one is far easier and quicker.

Last year I bought myself a steam juicer. It’s a handy contraption of three interlocking pots—the bottom one boils water, and the steam gets vented into the top pot where the fruit/veg is kept. The steam heats the fruit/veg and eventually the juice bursts from it, dripping and draining into the middle pot. The middle pot has a drain hose built into it to drain the juice.

To juice rhubarb using a steam juicer, simply set the pots up, fill the bottom one with water, fill the top one with chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen), and turn it on and let it do its work. I find it takes about 45 minutes for the rhubarb to fully juice with a steam juicer.

In the absence of a steam juicer, you can juice rhubarb using a pot on the stove. To do that, simply put twelve cups of chopped rhubarb in a pot along with four cups of water (and you can use this 4:1 ratio for larger or smaller batches). Simmer it until the rhubarb breaks down and the liquid turns a bright pink; this takes about twenty minutes.

Pour the pot’s contents into a jelly bag and let the juice drip out into a bowl or pot below. Let it drain for at least two hours and do not squeeze or compress the bag, or else you’ll get solids coming through and making a cloudy juice. In the absence of a jelly bag, you could likely use a wire mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. It may take 1-2 hours to fully drain.

Canning rhubarb juice

Rhubarb juice is acidic enough for canning straight as is, but most recipes suggest adding sugar to improve the taste and cute down on the tartness. Knowing what you’re going to use the juice for would help determine if you want to add sugar or not. If it’s for drinking, then I’d recommend adding sugar. But if you’re going to eventually use it for jelly or other recipes that call for rhubarb juice, I’d recommend not adding sugar since the recipe is counting on the juice to be free of added sugar.

I chose to go with no sugar since I didn’t know what my final usage of the juice would be. Besides, I could always add sugar when I open it if I need to.

Safely canning rhubarb juice relies on the juice going into the jars warm, so start by heating the juice on the stove, bringing it to a simmer. If you’re adding sugar, now’s the time to do so, and give it a good stir to ensure all the sugar dissolves.

When it’s thoroughly heated, transfer juice to canning jars, leaving a quarter inch headspace. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with vinegar and then seal the jar with two part canning lids, screwed to fingertip tight.

Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes, with the ten minute timer starting once the pot is brought to a full boil. The pot must boil for the entire ten minutes. When the ten minutes is over, remove the pot from heat and let it sit for five minutes. Then carefully remove jars using a jar lifter and place them on a thick towel on a table or counter overnight to cool and seal. In the morning, check that jars have sealed (lids bend downward). If they’re sealed, they can be stored on a shelf for a year or more before being consumed; if any jars are not sealed, put these in the fridge and use them first.

Using rhubarb juice

There are a number of uses for rhubarb juice that come to mind:

  • Use juice to make rhubarb ginger gin using my recipe here. Just pour in rhubarb juice instead of chunks of rhubarb. I haven’t made this from juice yet, so you will need to experiment with how much juice to add. It’s best to start with less than you think you need since you can always add more juice, but you can’t remove juice if you put in too much. This recipe alteration also lets you reduce the sugar if you want a dryer gin, since you’re not relying on the sugar to draw the juice out of rhubarb.
  • Use juice to make rhubarb wine. Instead of letting the sugar and rhubarb sit, just use rhubarb juice and all other ingredients (including sugar) in the same proportions. I’ve found rhubarb wine made from juice rather than letting rhubarb and sugar sit results in a much smoother and more pleasant wine.
  • If you added sugar to your rhubarb juice, you could drink it as-is or mix it with other juices for a tasty blend.
  • Whip up a batch of rhubarb jelly.
  • Make a batch of rhubarb simple syrup—equal parts sugar and rhubarb juice—and use it for tasty cocktails and youth-friendly mocktails. We’ve also used rhubarb simple syrup in place of plain simple syrup for other cocktail and baking recipes.

Rhubarb Juice

Easy and tasty, canned rhubarb juice keeps the taste of summer fresh all year round.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Canning Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Beverage
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • Steam Canner (Optional)
  • Water Bath Canner
  • Canning Jars and Lids (Pint size or smaller)

Ingredients
  

  • 12 cups Rhubarb, slice in small pieces
  • 1 cup Sugar (Optional)

Instructions
 

  • Juice the rhubarb.
    With a steam juicer:
    Load rhubarb into steam juicer and place on stove. It should take about 45 minutes for the rhubarb to fully juice. Make sure the pot at the bottom doesn't boil dry.
    Without a steam juicer:
    Place 12 cups of rhubarb and 4 cup of water in a pot. (Use this 4:1 ratio if you have more or less rhubarb.) Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer; the rhubarb should break down in 10-15 minutes. Strain mixture using a wire mesh strainer or a jelly bag. Resist the temptation to squeeze the bag or press the rhubarb against the strainer as this will push solids through and you won't have a clear juice. If you leave it for 1-2 hours, it should fully drip through.
  • Transfer juice to a pot and bring to a simmer. Add sugar, if using, and stir until dissolved.
  • Transfer hot rhubarb juice to canning jars (pint size or smaller). Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Screw on two-part canning lids to fingertip tightness.
  • Process in a water bath canner for ten minutes. (Put jars on rack in canner and fill canner with hot water until jars are submerged by at least an inch of water. Bring pot to a boil and start the ten minute timer when it's boiling. The canner must boil for the full ten minutes; if it stops, bring to a boil again and restart the timer.) When done, remove from heat and let sit for five minutes.
  • Transfer jars to a thick towel on a counter or table and let sit undisturbed overnight. In the morning check that jars have sealed (lids are curved downward). If they're sealed they can be stored for at least a year before using. If any did not seal, put these jars in the fridge and use them first.
Keyword rhubarb juice

How to Make Bread and Butter Pickles

Posted on by craig

I’ve heard it said that in every relationship, there’s one person who loves pickles and one person who hates pickles, and whenever they have burgers, the pickle-hater donates their pickles to the pickle-lover.

That’s certainly the case with me and my husband. I do not like pickles and he will gladly take my pickles so he can have double pickles on his burger. It happened last night, in fact.

But when you garden and you grow a ton of cucumbers, it’s hard to not pickle them. It’s easy to do, it uses up cucumbers, it looks pretty on the shelf, and it keeps one half of this relationship happy.

When I do up a batch of pickles, my favourite is bread and butter pickles. This is partly because this is the only and only type of pickle I find reasonably tasty—but please don’t fear, because I regularly get requests to make these pickles, so for pickle lovers these ones are amazingly tasty!

The other reason I like making these is because I find them much more visually appealing than other types of pickles. In addition to cucumber slices, bread and butter pickles also have slivered onions and spices like mustard seed and celery seed.

Preparing the cucumbers and onions

We have a habit of letting our cucumbers grow too large. We primarily use them for juicing, so larger cucumbers means more juice. For pickles, though, you want smaller cucumbers. Since these will be sliced cucumbers, though, it’s okay if they’re a little on the large side.

Start by slicing ten cups of cucumbers. Slices should be approximately 1/4 inch thick.

Then thinly slice or sliver four cups of onions. I usually cut my onion in eighths so the slices are not too long, but this can be personal preference. I aim for about 1/4 inch thickness on the slices so they match the cucumbers.

Toss the cucumbers and onions in a glass or non-reactive metal bowl with half a cup of canning or pickling salt. Mix everything around really well, then cover and let it sit on the counter for about two hours. The salt will draw some of the water out of the cucumbers and onions, as well as remove the bitterness that might be in the cucumbers.

After two hours, drain the cucumbers and onions and give them a good rinse to get as much salt off as you can.

Preparing the brine

The brine is a vinegar and sugar mixture with spices added. This is what will actually pickle and flavour the cucumbers.

In a large pot, combine three cups white vinegar, two cups granulated sugar, two tablespoons mustard seed, one teaspoon celery seed, and one teaspoon ground tumeric. I typically use the yellow mustard seeds you can buy in the spice section of the grocery store, but if you have access to brown or black mustard seeds, you can use these instead. In general, the darker the mustard seed, the more intense the flavour and heat, so if you like a spicier pickle, it might be worth your while to seek out darker mustard seeds. (We grow mustard in our garden and we get black seeds, so sometimes I will throw these in.)

Bring the brine to a boil and stir or whisk to ensure all sugar is dissolved.

Making the pickles

The next step is to add the drained and rinsed cucumbers and onions to the brine. Bring the mixture back to a boil, then remove the pickles from heat and transfer them to pint jars.

This can be quite messy, no matter how careful you’re being.

I use a slotted spoon and a canning funnel to divide the solids into five pint jars. The canning funnel helps me stop from spilling all over the place but it’s still somehow the messiest recipe I make. Once everything is evenly divided between the five jars, then use a ladle to add brine to the jars, bringing everything up to a half inch headspace.

Because of how the cucumbers layer in the jar, there’s a good chance that air bubbles are trapped. While it’s impossible to completely remove them, you do want to do your best. Using a bubble remover tool, a wooden chopstick, plastic cutlery, or any non-metal utensil, jostle the contents of the jar to remove bubbles. If the fluid level goes down, add more brine to bring it back up to a half inch headspace. If you run out of brine, you can add white vinegar.

Canning the pickles

Because I find this recipe to be oddly messy, you’ll want to take extra care to wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. If there is any sugary brine left on the rim, it may prevent a proper seal.

Once the rims are cleaned, put on the two-part lid and screw to fingertip tightness.

Process in a boiling water canner for ten minutes.

If you’re newer to canning, this means to put them in a water bath canner and submerge with hot water until the water level is one to two inches above the top of the jars. Bring the water to a roiling boil and then start the ten minute timer. If the pot ever stops boiling, bring it back to a boil and restart the timer.

Remove from heat and let the pot sit for five minutes before carefully removing the jars with a jar lifter. Set them on a thick towel on a table or counter and let them rest overnight. In the morning, check to see that the lids have sealed (they bow downward). If they have, then they can sit on a shelf in a cool, dark place for approximately a year. They can sit longer, though quality (but not safety) can degrade after that. If any jars have not sealed, put them in the fridge and consume them first.

Bread and Butter Pickles

A sweet and savoury sliced pickle, perfect for sandwiches and burgers.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Course condiments
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • Water Bath Canner
  • 5 Pint Mason Jars

Ingredients
  

  • 10 cups Pickling Cucumbers, Sliced ¼ Inch Thick
  • 4 cups Onion, Sliced ¼ Inch Thick
  • ½ cup Canning or Pickling Salt
  • 3 cups White Vinegar
  • 2 cups White Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Mustard Seed
  • 1 tsp Celery Seed
  • 1 tsp Ground Turmeric

Instructions
 

  • Combine cucumbers, onions, and salt in a large non-reactive bowl (glass or stainless steel). Mix until cucumbers and onion are fully coated. Let sit for two hours.
  • After two hours, drain the cucumber/onion mixture and rinse well to remove most of the salt.
  • In a large stainless steel pot, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, ensuring sugar has dissolved. Add cucumbers and onions to the pot and return to a boil.
  • Remove from heat and start filling jars. Using a slotted spoon, scoop solids equally into five pint-size mason jars. Top with brine, bringing contents up to ½ inch headspace. De-bubble the jars with a wooden chopstick or plastic utensil. Top up with brine to return to ½ inch headspace. If you are short on brine, you can add white vinegar.
  • Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with vinegar, then put on two-part lids and screw to fingertip tightness. Place in water bath canner and cover with hot water until jars are submerged by 1-2 inches of water. Process in canner for ten minutes; once the water starts boiling, start the ten minute timer. If at any point the water stops boiling, return to a boil and restart the ten minute timer.
  • When processing time is over, turn off heat and let canner sit for five minutes. Then, carefully using a jar lifter, remove jars from canner and place on a thick towel on a counter or table and let them sit undisturbed overnight.
  • In the morning, check to see that lids have sealed (they dip inward). If so, they can be stored on a shelf for up to a year; after which safety does not change, but quality may degrade. If any jars did not plea (they click when you press on them), store these jars in the fridge and consume them first.

Notes

If using quart jars, add 5 minutes to processing time.
Keyword bread and butter pickles

How to Can Cherries

Posted on by craig

I’ve spoken a fair bit in the past month of the tart Nanking cherries we harvest from a friend’s parents’ tree, but it’s a bit annual thing for us. It’s this one-time harvest of dozens of pounds of cherries and they need to be used ASAP before they go bad.

For the most part, we freeze the cherries as soon as we get them because they’re in the height of summer when we’re being overrun with foods that we’re harvesting. But once my schedule starts to open up, I juice the cherries and can the juice, and then at a later point when I’ve got more time, I start a batch of cherry wine (which is incredibly tasty).

While I’m generally not a fan of cherries, I do find that I enjoy eating these tart Nanking cherries as I pick them. I figured it was time to attempt canning cherries—for eating later in the year but also for garnishes on fancy drinks.

Canning cherries

Canning cherries is easy and safe. Cherries—both sweet and tart—have an acidity level that makes them safe for water bath canning.

Canning cherries is an easy beginner-friendly water bath canning recipe, so if you’re new to canning and have worried about the safety of canned food, this is a great starter project.

The only downside is pitting all the cherries. There are different tools and gimmicks for pitting cherries, from a cherry pitter, to stabbing a chopstick through the cherry (to push the stone through), to using an unfolded paperclip to scoop out the pit. But I found that none of these tricks worked, so I carefully used a sharp knife to slice open every cherry and pull out the pit. While this means I don’t have any whole uncut cherries in my end result, that’s really not as big a deal as it might feel like.

Tart cherries like mine can easily brown while you’re in the process of pitting them all, so to stave off that browning, you can put pitted cherries in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice mixed in.

Your choice of syrup (or water)

Cherries are acidic enough that they could be canned in just water, but canning them in a syrup of sugar-water complements the taste of both sweet and tart cherries perfectly.

Following the advice of a couple websites, I chose to go with a very light syrup of three-quarters cup of sugar, dissolved in six and a half cups of water. It’s light enough that the tart cherries should retain their tartness and the sweet cherries shouldn’t become overly sweet.

When I eventually opened a jar of my canned cherries and ate my way through the cherries, I found that it had indeed reserved that sharp tartness. Perhaps a bit too sharp. If I can cherries again next year, I may look at using a heavier syrup to see how it affects the taste; hopefully the sweetness will counter the sourness a bit, but still allow that distinct tart taste to shine through.

If you want to start off with a heavier syrup, consult the chart below for various syrup “heaviness-es”. For what it’s worth, the National Center for Home Food Preservation (which is where this chart comes from) recommends a medium syrup for sweet cherries and heavy syrup for sour cherries.

Syrup TypeCups of SugarCups of Water
Very Light3/46-1/2
Light1-1/25-3/4
Medium2-1/45-1/4
Heavy3-1/45
Very Heavy4-1/44-1/4

How to can cherries

You can raw pack cherries by placing the cherries in the jar, covering them with syrup, and then processing the jars in the canner. However, the hot pack method produces better results as the pre-canning process removes some of the air from the cherries and they then sit in the final jar better, and it also reduces the processing time in the canner.

To hot pack cherries, start by making your syrup. The ratios in the table above should be fine for 11 pounds of cherries (weighed before pitting), so if you’re dealing with a larger or smaller batch, you’ll want to adjust your syrup quantities. I tend to over-do the syrup quantities a bit whenever I’m canning because I find I usually need a little more than the recipe calls for.

In a large pot, bring syrup and cherries to a boil. As soon as the boiling point is reached, cherries can be transferred to jars.

Whether you’re raw packing or hot packing cherries, fill jars with cherries and syrup to a half-inch headspace. Using a bubble remover tool or a non-metal chopstick, remove bubbles from the jar and add extra syrup if needed to bring the headspace back to a half inch. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar, to remove any stickiness that might impede a proper seal. Place lids on, then screw ring on to fingertip tightness.

Place jars in a water bath canner and top with hot water until jars are submerged by 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for the appropriate length of time on the chart below. If the water ever stops boiling, the water must be brought to a boil again and the timer restarted.

Hot Pack
(Pints or Smaller)		Hot Pack
(Quarts)		Raw Pack
(Quarts or Smaller)
Elevation
0 – 1,000 feet		15 minutes20 minutes25 minutes
Elevation
1,001 – 3,000 feet		20 minutes25 minutes30 minutes
Elevation
3,001 – 6,000 feet		20 minutes30 minutes35 minutes
Elevation
6,001+ feet		25 minutes35 minutes40 minutes

Once the processing time has finished, remove the pot from heat and let sit for five minutes. Then, carefully using a jar lifter, remove jars from the canner and place on a thick towel on a counter or table and let them sit undisturbed overnight. In the morning, check if jars have sealed, if so, they can be stored in a cool dark place and should be consumed within a year—after a year, the food is still safe provided the seal is not broken, but quality may degrade. If any jars have not sealed, place jars in the fridge and consume promptly.

Canned Cherries

Canning cherries is simple and easy to do, and keeps that fresh taste of summer preserved for the depths of winter.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Fruit
Cuisine Fruit

Equipment

  • Water Bath Canner
  • Mason Jars with Lids and Rings, quart size or smaller

Ingredients
  

  • 11 pounds Cherries, Sweet or Tart, weighed before pitting
  • Sugar, as per preference in the instructions below

Instructions
 

  • Wash, stem, and pit cherries. Tart cherries may turn brown after pitting, so they can be temporarily put in a large bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice mixed in.
  • Prepare syrup, as per your preference, dissolving sugar in water. This can be done on the stove, heating until fully dissolved.
    Very light syrup: ¾ cup sugar, 6½ cup water
    Light syrup: 1½ cup sugar, 5¾ cup water
    Medium syrup: 2¼ cup sugar, 5¼ cup water
    Heavy syrup: 3¼ cup sugar, 5 cup water
    Very heavy syrup: 4¼ cup sugar, 4¼ cup water
    Cherries can also be canned in water only. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends medium syrup for sweet cherries and heavy syrup for tart cherries.
  • For raw pack canning:
    Fill jars with cherries and syrup, leaving half-inch headspace. Debubble and add syrup if needed. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Put on lids and screw rings to fingertip tightness.
    For hot pack canning:
    Add cherries to pot of syrup and bring to a boil. As soon as mixture boils, fill jars with cherries and syrup, leaving half-inch headspace. Debubble and add syrup if needed. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Put on lids and screw rings to fingertip tightness.
  • Put jars in a water bath canner, fill with hot water until jars are submerged beneath 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, process for the indicated time below. If at any time the water stops boiling, bring to a boil again and restart the timer.
    For raw pack canning (quarts or smaller):
    0-1,000 ft: 25 minutes
    1,001-3,000 ft: 30 minutes
    3,001-6,000 ft: 35 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 40 minutes
    For hot pack canning (quarts):
    0-1,000 ft: 20 minutes
    1,001-3,000 ft: 25 minutes
    3,001-6,000 ft: 30 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 35 minutes
    For hot pack canning (pints or smaller):
    0-1,000 ft: 15 minutes
    1,001-6,000 ft: 20 minutes
    6,001+ ft: 25 minutes
  • Remove canner from heat and let sit five minutes. Carefully using a jar lifter, remove jars from canner. Place jars on a thick towel on a counter or table overnight. In the morning, check that jars have sealed. If so, jars can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year. If any jars have not sealed, place them in the fridge and consume promptly.
Keyword canning cherries

How to Can Tart Cherry Juice

Posted on by craig

I’ve spoken a few times on this site so far about the friend’s parents’ place that has a cherry tree and a few apple trees. Earlier this summer we went and harvested the cherries and we made sure to get every last cherry we could reach, and ended up with a record harvest of around 45 pounds (compared to 25 pounds last year).

Their cherries are Nanking cherries, which are quite tart. And it was with these cherries that I learned I actually do enjoy eating some cherries. These are very delicious, if a little mouth-puckering sour at times. My mom later gave me a sweet cherry to try, to see if I liked it, and, well, I didn’t. Tart cherries are the one for me! (It’s the same with grapes—I enjoy the sourness of green grapes but really don’t like sweeter red grapes.)

When we harvest the cherries, we wash them all, let them dry a bit, and then bag them up and freeze them. We very rarely use fresh cherries.

(If I’m feeling ambitious, this cherry liqueur is phenomenal when made with tart cherries. Do this recipe exactly the same, just with tart cherries instead of sweet cherries.)

For the rest, I turn the cherries into juice and make wine from the juice.

This year, with a record cherry harvest and a record rhubarb harvest (115 pounds versus our previous record of 85 pounds), I needed to clear out the freezer to prepare for the oncoming haul of peas, corn, broccoli, and peppers that are destined for the freezer. I wasn’t ready to start a batch of cherry wine, so I decided to juice them and then can the juice, so it’s ready to go when I want, but it’s not taking up freezer space.

Once the garden season slows down in the late fall / early winter, I’ll pop these jars open and get started on a batch of tart cherry wine, which is incredibly delicious.

The safety of canning tart cherry juice

I did enter into this project with great trepidation. I couldn’t find recipes or guidance on canning cherry juice from the official websites / organizations that fully lab-tested recipes to ensure safety. With canning, if done improperly, you run the risk of botulism, which is undetectable when opening a contaminated jar and can kill you.

However, I dug a little deeper. There are food bloggers that fully explain the safety of food and their reasoning in determining if something is safe. If I could find that, I’d be good to go. Thankfully, that’s where I found the information I needed. I found a few websites that talk about the safety of canning tart cherry juice and, most importantly, why it’s safe. As I suspected, tart cherry juice is acidic enough to be safely canned. However, please use your own best judgement in assessing if this is right for you, since, as I said, there are no lab tested recipes from the most-trusted sources.

How to can tart cherry juice

This recipe applies only to tart cherry juice and not to sweet cherry juice. There are different levels of acidity and sugar, and I have not researched sweet cherries since I do not have access to them.

The first step is to juice your cherries. I pulled out my steam juicer to tackle this project. I’ve posted previously on using a steam juicer to juice cherries, so check out that post if you want the step by step breakdown.

If you don’t have a steam juicer, there are other options for juicing—this website lists a variety of ways to juice cherries.

Once you have clear, sediment-free cherry juice, you’re ready to start the process of canning.

You can use any jar up to the half-gallon size; the only difference between the sizes is the half-gallon has a longer processing time.

Fill jars with tart cherry juice, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Place lids on and screw on bands to fingertip tightness.

Place jars in a water bath canner and add water to ensure jars are submerged by at least two inches of water. Turn stove on high and once the water is boiling, let boil / process for five minutes, or for ten minutes if you’re using half-gallon jars. If the pot stops boiling at any point, bring back to a boil and restart the timer. If you’re at a higher elevation, adjust your processing time using this chart.

When the processing time is over, remove the pot from heat and let sit for five minutes. After five minutes is up, carefully use a jar lifter to remove the jars from the pot and set them on a thick towel on the counter overnight.

The next day, check the jars to ensure they have sealed—the lid is curved downward. If so, jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for at least a year. If not, place these jars in the fridge and consume promptly.

Canned Tart Cherry Juice

Sour cherry juice is easy to make and safe to can, and makes an excellent base for mixed drinks or even enjoying as-is.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course Drinks

Equipment

  • Water Bath Canner
  • Mason Jars, with Lids and Rings

Ingredients
  

  • Tart Cherry Juice

Instructions
 

  • Fill clean mason jars, up to half-gallon size, with tart cherry juice, leaving ¼ inch headspace.
  • Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Place on lid and screw ring to fingertip tightness.
  • Place jars in a water bath canner, fill with water until submerged by 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, start the timer. For jar sizes up to one litre / one quart, processing time is five minutes. For half-gallon sizes, processing time is ten minutes. If the water ever stops boiling, bring to a boil again and restart the timer. If you're at a higher altitude, adjust your timing as necessary.
  • When process time is up, remove pot from heat and let sit an additional five minutes. If you're at a higher altitude, adjust your timing as necessary.
  • Using a jar lifter, carefully remove jars from canner and place on a thick towel on a counter or table and let sit undisturbed overnight.
  • The next morning, check if jars have sealed (lid is depressed), and store in a cool dark place for up to a year. If jars have not sealed, place in the fridge and consume promptly.

Notes

This recipe applies to tart cherry juice only, as tart cherries are acidic enough to be safely water bath canned. This recipe does not apply to sweet cherries.
Keyword nanking cherry juice, sour cherry juice, tart cherry juice

How to Can Apple Juice

Posted on by craig

Fruit trees are something we’ve always been interested in, but there’s just no room for them on our property. Thankfully, a friend’s parents have a few fruit trees and don’t do anything with the fruit, so raiding their trees is a summer tradition for my husband and I.

Three of those trees are apple trees. Unfortunately, one of them didn’t get a single apple this year and another still needs about another month before the apples are ready—but the third tree was ready this past week, so John and I headed out for our first apple tree raid of the year.

We managed to get 142 pounds of apples from the one tree! We’re being more diligent this year about making sure we take everything. Last year, we took most of the fruit, but not all. I ended up juicing the apples and we soon learned we loved having apple juice on hand in the fridge. Our supply of juice last year ended up lasting almost a full year. We drank our last one about a month ago.

Last year we got 285 pounds of apples, so about double what we’ve harvested so far this year. We don’t think the second tree will give use enough to match or beat last year’s haul, but fingers crossed it’s still a heavy yield.

Juicing the apples

How you juice the apples is up to you.

Last year I did them with a traditional juicer with the spinning grate. The benefit of this is that it’s quick. I managed to juice all my apples in one day. The drawback is there’s a lot of sediment in the juice and it gets very messy when doing large batches. I was constantly cleaning the apple pulp out of the juicer, which meant it was often accidentally splattering all over the place.

I collected the juice in a large pot and skimmed off all the foam that was forming, as this often had a lot of sediment in it.

This year I pulled out my new steam juicer. WOW was it ever cleaner and easier to do—I chopped up the apples, put them in the juicer, and let the thing do its work. The drawback though is how long it takes. It took me three full days to juice all 142 pounds of apples. But the juice was sediment free and required no filtering.

A steam juicer is a three tiered pot where the bottom level contains the boiling water, the top level is a colander that holds the fruit, and the middle level collects the juice that drips down from the colander. The steam heats up the fruit and makes the juice burst out of the fruit. Here’s a more detailed post from when I juiced cherries with a steam juicer.

Whether you’re using a mechanic juicer, a steam juicer, or some other device, follow the instructions that came with the device if they differ from what’s written here.

If you don’t have a juicer, here’s a post on WikiHow that explains how to do it on the stove or in a blender.

You want the juice to be as clear and sediment free as possible. A steam juicer does a great job, but a mechanical juicer can create some sediment, and the methods in the WikiHow article could also create sediment. You can strain the apple juice through a sieve lined with several layers of cheesecloth to filter this out. Alternatively, if you’re doing a smaller batch, you can store the juice in the fridge overnight so the sediment settles, and then carefully ladle the juice out into a clean pot.

Safely canning apple juice

However you choose to juice your apples, once you’ve got apple juice, the juice can be easily canned with a water bath canner.

I found some difficulty in nailing down a recipe for safe apple juice canning. The recipe I used last year required no lemon juice as it was assumed the apple juice is acidic enough on its own. In researching again this year, I found a recipe that called for 3 tablespoons of lemon juice for a three-liter batch (which is a tablespoon per liter), and then found a recipe that called for 3 tablespoons of lemon juice for a six-liter batch (which is half a tablespoon per liter).

While I had no reason to doubt any of the sources, I went with the last one—3 tablespoons per six liters—as that was from my Bernardin canning book (the Canadian version of the well-known Ball canning book), which is a very trusted source.

The next step was figuring out how I was going to do this. The recipe calls for juicing apples, adding the lemon juice to the apple juice, pasteurizing it, and then canning it. But I wasn’t doing the exact 24 pounds of apples the recipe calls for, I was doing 142 pounds. Plus, I don’t think these apples are as juicy as the ones they used in the Bernardin recipe. So I altered the recipe to add the lemon juice straight to the jar, which makes the recipe highly adaptable to any amount of apples and apple juice.

How to can apple juice

Once you’ve got clear, sediment-free apple juice, transfer it all to a big pot and heat it on the stove until it reaches 190 degrees Farenheit, and hold it at that temperature for five minutes. A candy thermometer is helpful for this step. I have one of those laser temperature readers, which seems to give a pretty accurate reading. This step pasteurizes the juice to get rid of any bacteria or yeast on the apples.

While the juice is warming, prepare your jars. I find I don’t need to immerse the jars in boiling water, but running them under a hot tap for a moment can help warm the glass and prep them for hot apple juice.

Add lemon juice directly to the jars:

  • 1/2 Tbsp of lemon juice for a liter / 1,000 ml jar
  • 1 tsp of lemon juice for a pint / 500 ml jar
  • 1/2 tsp of lemon juice for a half-pint / 250 ml jar

Make sure to use bottled lemon juice rather than fresh squeezed lemon juice. You need to reach a certain level of acidity for safe canning and bottled lemon juice has consistent acid levels, whereas fresh lemons can be highly variable.

Ladle hot apple juice into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.

Wipe the rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. This removes any juice and sugar from the rim that might prevent a proper canning seal from forming. Screw on lids to fingertip tightness.

Place the jars in a water bath canner and fill with hot water, submerging the jars with at least an inch of water. Bring to a boil on the stove. Once the canner has reached a full boil, remain at this boil for ten minutes. (Putting a lid on will prevent your kitchen from getting too steamy.) If you turn down the temperature and it stops boiling, bring it back to a boil and re-start the ten minute timer. If you’re in a higher elevation, adjust your processing time with this chart.

When the ten minutes is over, remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for five minutes, then using a jar lifter carefully remove the jars and let them sit on a towel on the counter or table overnight. In the morning, check that a seal has formed (the lid is depressed). Sealed jars can be stored in a cool dark space for at least a year. Any jars that did not seal should go in the fridge and be used immediately.

Canned Apple Juice

If you're making homemade apple juice, canning the juice is a great way to keep it fresh all year long.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • 1 Water Bath Canning Pot
  • Mason Jars Size and quantity depends on how much juice you're canning

Ingredients
  

  • Apple Juice
  • Lemon Juice

Instructions
 

  • Start with clear, sediment-free apple juice.
  • In a pot on the stove, bring the apple juice up to 190℉ and maintain this temperature for five minutes.
  • In a mason jar, add lemon juice — ½ Tbsp for one litre jars, 1 tsp for pint (500 ml) jars, ½ tsp for half-pint (250ml jars) — and then carefully ladle in hot apple juice, leaving a ¼ inch headspace.
  • Wipe jar rims with a paper towel wetted with white vinegar. Put on lid and screw band to fingertip tightness.
  • Process in a water bath canner for ten minutes. Once the water boils is when the timer starts, and the water must boil throughout the ten minutes. If it stops boiling, bring to a boil again and restart the timer. If you're in a higher elevation, adjust your processing time using this chart.
  • When timer is finished, remove pot from heat and let sit for five minutes.
  • With a jar lifter, carefully remove jars from pot and transfer to a thick towel on a counter or table and let cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. If seals have formed (lid is depressed downward), jars can be stored in a cool dark place for at least a year. If seals have not formed, place jars in the fridge and consume promptly.

Notes

This recipe can be used for one litre (1,000ml) / quart jars, pint (500ml) jars, and half-pint (250ml) jars.
Keyword apple juice

How to Pickle Garlic Scapes

Posted on by craig

One of the things I love about growing garlic is that you get two different harvests from them—the garlic, of course, but also the garlic scapes.

Backing up a bit—there are two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Hardneck is more weather resilient and can overwinter, so we plant it in the fall and it’s one of the first things to pop up in the spring. Hardneck garlic grows a thick flower stem, called a scape, that can be harvested and used in various recipes. (For more on the differences between hardneck and softneck garlic, I found this webpage informative.)

There are many ways to use garlic scapes, such as barbecuing them, turning them into pesto, and even a garlic scape jam that I want to try next year. I’m also currently attempting a fermented garlic scape hot sauce that I’ll post about when it’s done.

One of the easy crowd-pleasing scapes dishes is pickled scapes.

How to harvest garlic scapes

At a certain point in the life cycle of hardneck garlic, the plant will shoot out its flower stem. It gets really tall and then circles back in on itself, sometimes creating several circular loops. Toward the end there will be a bulb forming—this will eventually become garlic seeds.

Garlic scapes must be harvested before a flower forms on the scape. If the flower is allowed to form, the garlic bulbs will stop growing, but if you harvest the scape before the flower forms, the plant will refocus all its energy on growing the garlic bulbs.

There are two schools of thought on how best to harvest the scapes. One is to use scissors or a blade to cut it off at the base of the top leaves. The second is to grasp the stalk and tug the scape; theoretically, the scape will break further down inside the plant and you get a longer scape.

I normally cut them, but this year tried to tugging method. There was no difference; it broke at the spot I would have cut it. However, it meant I didn’t have a pair of scissors or a blade in one hand, meaning I could move a little quicker since I had two hands.

Once you’ve harvested them, it’s a good idea to give them a quick rinse to get rid of any dirt or insects clinging to the scapes.

Scapes can be stored in the fridge for up to a few weeks. However, their firmness does reduce over time, so if you like the crispiness of a fresh scape, it’s best to use them as soon as possible.

How to make pickled garlic scapes

There are different flavour variations for garlic scapes. Last year I did straight-up normal pickled scapes, and this year I did spicy pickled scapes. Both variations are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. An internet search can bring up a variety of recipes if you’re looking for a different spice combination.

The first step is to put the spices in the bottom of the jar.

Next, cut scapes to appropriate lengths and stuff them into jars. I generally find I’ll have jars of mostly straight scapes all standing upright, and jars where the curly scapes circle the inside of the jar and a handful of straight scapes will fill the centre void. I usually end up with lot of little bits of scapes from all the trimming, so I top off the jars with these. You can pack them in tightly.

The next step is to boil some brine, which is a combination of water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Pour the brine into the jars, leaving a half inch of headspace. Wipe rims and put on lids.

If you’re refrigerator pickling these you can put them straight into the fridge. If you’re canning these, they can be processed for 10 minutes, adjusting for elevation as needed. Refrigerator pickling will result in crisper pickled scapes that are a brighter green and have a bit more of a flavour bite to them. Canning them will result in softer scapes that are a muted green and the bite of garlic will be a bit milder since they cook while processing and that reduces the flavour a bit, but canning them will give you a much longer shelf life. Regardless of which preserving method you use, give the scapes at least a few days to fully pickle before opening a jar and enjoying them.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Pickled garlic scapes perfectly preserve the scapes from the garlic plant in the form of a tasty appetizer with some zing.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Processing Time 10 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Pickles

Equipment

  • Canning Jars with Two-Part Lids, either 2x pint or 4x half pint sizes
  • Water Bath Canning Pot, if canning

Ingredients
  

  • ½ pound Garlic Scapes

Regular Pickled Garlic Scapes

  • 1 ¼ cup Water
  • 1 ¼ cup Vinegar, can be white, white wine, cider, or any vinegar as long as the acidity is 5% or greater
  • 1 ½ Tbsp Canning Salt
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tsp Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp per pint jar
  • 2 tsp Black Peppercorns, 1 tsp per pint jar

Spicy Pickled Garlic Scapes

  • 1 ¼ cup Water
  • 1 ¼ cup Vinegar, can be white, white wine, cider, or any vinegar as long as the acidity is 5% or greater
  • 1 Tbsp Canning Salt
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, 1 tsp per pint jar
  • 2 tsp Black Peppercorns, 1 tsp per pint jar

Instructions
 

  • Cut scapes to appropriate size and pack tightly in jars. Add spices directly to each jar (mustard and black peppercorns for regular scapes, red pepper flakes and black peppercorns for spicy scapes).
  • Create brine by bringing water, vinegar, salt, sugar to a boil, dissolving sugar and salt.
  • Add brine to jars, bringing up to ½ inch headspace. If you're short on brine, top up with vinegar. Wipe rims and put on two-part lids.
  • For Refrigerator Pickles
    Put jars in the fridge and let sit for at least a few days before consuming.
    For Canned Pickles
    Put jars in a water bath canner filled with hot water, with the jars submerged by at least an inch of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. (Adjust for elevation as needed.) Remove canner from heat and let sit for five minutes. Remove jars using a jar lifter and let sit undisturbed overnight. If jars are properly sealed, then they can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year before quality (but not safety) starts to degrade. If any jars did not properly seal, they should be put in the fridge and consumed first. Allow jars to sit for at least a few days before consuming.

Notes

This recipe is intended for two pints of scapes, but can easily be divided or multiplied for smaller or larger quantities. I usually pack the jars first to see how many pints I get before figuring out the brine, and then I usually do a little extra brine just in case. (If you’re dividing or multiplying, ensure your math is correct so you get the correct ratios of ingredients.)
Feel free to add more spices to the jar if you want spicier scapes.
Refrigerator pickles will result in crispier and bright green scapes, but canned pickles will result in shelf-stable scapes that can sit in a cupboard for several months before opening (but refrigerate upon opening).
Keyword garlic scapes, pickled garlic scapes, refrigerator pickles

How to Make Dandelion Capers

Posted on by craig

It was only a few years ago that I discovered just how truly versatile—and tasty—dandelions can be.

It started with one project: dandelion wine. I’d just recently gotten winemaking experience under my belt and was eager to try something that wasn’t an expensive store-bought kit. I soon found dandelion wine, and looking out at the dandelions in our then yard (we have no yard space now, only garden), I knew it wouldn’t be hard to collect what I needed.

While the end result wasn’t perfect, I knew the mixed results were largely due to my limited winemaking experience. Every year since I’ve worked on perfecting my dandelion wine and it’s now a year-round staple at our place, and one of the first projects every spring is a new batch.

From there, I started to explore the other offerings of this “weed” that people were so desperate to get rid of.

  • There was dandelion green pesto—which wasn’t quite our thing but was well-liked by some family members.
  • Then there was dandelion cordial—which is nice and tastes quite refreshing served over ice.
  • Soon following was dandelion jelly—or poor man’s honey, as it’s sometimes known. While my husband and I generally don’t eat jelly, this was indeed tasty and it’s an easy giveaway gift.
  • This year I ventured into dandelion root coffee to great success.

And the remaining dandelion recipe in my arsenal is dandelion capers.

What are capers?

For the longest time, I thought capers were seafood. I didn’t know exactly what they were, but I’d always believed they were from a fish or a clam or an oyster or something. Maybe it was the slightly salty taste they sometimes have.

So when I first heard about dandelion capers, I was beyond baffled.

Regular capers are pickled and seasoned flower buds—nasturtium flowers, to be specific. Suddenly this food that I typically avoided at all cost were mildly intriguing.

And when I learn of a new canning recipe, especially a unique one, I have to try it.

Picking dandelion buds

To start, you want to pick dandelion buds. Not soon-to-bloom buds on the end of long stems. You want the buds that are tightly nestled at the centre of the leaves. Sometimes after you pinch off a bud, there are even smaller ones beneath that.

(This year my step-dad picked all the buds for me, so I don’t have a picture of what this looks like, so you’ll have to use your imagination! I’ll try to remember to update this page with a pic next year.)

The quantity needed is entirely up to you. You can pick just enough for one jar or go bananas and make gallons of capers.

It’s best if you process the buds the same day. However, we couldn’t work that timing out this year so my step-dad froze the buds and I used them within a couple weeks. There does not seem to be a reduction in quality for having been frozen, but I’d recommend not letting them stay frozen for long—ice buildup and freezer burn will certainly degrade the quality of the final product.

When sorting through what you’ve picked, you want to keep the tight bugs that likely don’t have any petals formed yet. A bud that’s close to opening or which you can see hints of yellow poking through are too mature and should go in the compost. Ideally, the buds you want are about the size of a pea or smaller.

Once the buds have been picked, rinsed of dirt and bugs, and sorted so you have all the best buds, you can begin the process of pickling them. From here you can look to the recipe card lower down for the full directions, which include boiling water, vinegar, and salt to create a pickling brine.

You can choose to refrigerator pickle them or water bath can them. Processing in a water bath canner will get you a longer shelf life since they’ll be properly canned, but refrigerator pickling them (just sticking the jar in the fridge and not processing them) will likely result in a crisper texture since they’re not being boiled.

How to use dandelion capers

You can use dandelion capers any place where you’d use regular capers. Which, I must admit, I rarely do. Given my earlier aversion to capers, caper recipes are not in my personal stash of dinner recipes.

With a quick google search you can find some great recipes that use capers.

Personally, with my wide variety of pickled and canned goodies, I often serve them at a barbecue. I’ll have a “choose your own appetizer” spread set out with a baked brie and crackers at the centre, dandelion capers, pickled beets, pickled garlic, and whatever pickled or fermented produce I have in my fridge. It’s a great way for people to taste test a bunch of projects and also a great way to use up something I don’t often personally eat.

Dandelion Capers

Turn dandelions from your yard into tasty, tangy capers.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Equipment

  • Mason Jars

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Dandelion Buds
  • ⅔ cup Vinegar, either regular or cider, as long as it's at least 5% acid
  • ⅓ cup Water
  • 1 tsp Salt

Instructions
 

  • Clean dandelion buds and discard any that are too large, close to opening, or in bad shape. Pack dandelion buds into mason jars.
  • Combine vinegar, water, and salt in a pot and bring to a boil, ensuring salt is dissolved.
  • Pour brine over dandelion buds, leaving a ½ inch headspace.
  • Refrigerator pickles:
    Put lid on and place jar in the fridge. After a week or so, they will be ready to eat.
    Water bath canning:
    Wipe rims and screw lids on to fingertip tightness. Process in a water bath canner for ten minutes. When the ten minutes is over, remove pot from heat and let sit for five minutes. Carefully remove mason jars and set on a towel on the counter to sit overnight. In the morning, check that the lids have popped / sealed; if they have, they can be stored in a cool dry place, if any jars haven't sealed, refrigerate them and consume them first.

Notes

Any size mason jar can be used. I tend to use one-cup or half-cup jars.
If you have more or less dandelion buds, this recipe can be easily multiplied or divided as needed.
If you find you’re short on brine, top off jars with vinegar.

How to Make Chive Blossom Jelly

Posted on by craig

It seems like every food gardener has an arsenal of jam and jelly recipes. After all, it’s a sweet, tasty, and easy way to preserve fruit and, in some cases vegetables and herbs, for the year ahead.

The problem is that my husband and I rarely eat jam or jelly, so most of these recipes don’t appeal to us since they’d just sit on the shelf. I still have some dandelion jelly from two years ago that I’m unlikely to ever eat.

Every once in a while, though, I come across a jelly recipe that does appeal to us. We tend to like savoury jellies, partly because they have wider uses than “spread it on toast”. Later this year I’ll do up a batch of hot pepper and wine jelly, which goes phenomenal on a baked brie.

My discovery this year is chive blossom jelly.

The first harvest of spring

Dandelions and edible weeds aside, chives are often the first produce to come up in the garden and the first to be harvested.

So in the spring our garden looks like this…

…with the ground mostly barren and the only plants showing life being the perennials, trees, and bushes.

But the chives are quickly growing and very soon look like this…

They’re the first burst of colour in the spring. And they bring with them a tantalizing aroma that you can sometimes smell just being in the vicinity of them.

There are two common types of chives — onion chives and garlic chives. These are onion chives. (We bought some leek seedlings and planted them and our neighbour says he thinks the plant was mislabeled and we bought garlic chives instead. So now we might have both?)

Onion chives have a green onion taste to them — oniony and fairly strong, but without the harsh bite that green onions can sometimes have in the bulb area. Both the green stalks and the purple blossoms are edible.

The only problem with chives is that they are difficult to preserve. You can freeze them, but they lose their flavour pretty quickly. You can dehydrate them, but they lose their flavour even faster.

I’ve got a batch of chive blossom vinegar on the go as a way to preserve the flavour and I’m attempting a fermented chives recipe I found (and I’ll report back when they’re done). Chive blossom jelly is a new preservation method added to my arsenal.

Frankensteining a recipe

I sort of Frankensteined this recipe together.

There are chive blossom jelly recipes out there, but they all call for low-sugar pectin which, to the best of my knowledge, is not easily found in Canada. The grocery stores don’t have it, Amazon has it for super expensive, the nearby department stores with canning supplies (Canadian Tire, Walmart), don’t have it. I couldn’t find an easy way to adapt a low-sugar pectin recipe to a full-sugar pectin recipe, so I half-invented this and half-adapted this to work with regular pectin.

You start by boiling and then simmering chive blossoms in a mix of water, white wine (optional, you can use additional water instead), and cider vinegar to leech out the flavour and some of the colour from the blossoms. I had some chive blossom vinegar from last year on hand, so instead of using cider vinegar I used the chive blossom vinegar for some extra chive-y taste. After it simmers for a while, you strain out the solids and let the liquid cool to room temperature.

From there it’s a pretty standard jelly recipe involving pectin, boiling, adding sugar, hard boiling, and canning. All instructions are in the recipe card below.

For an extra splash of fun, I picked apart some chive blossoms and added them to the jar before pouring in the hot jelly.

After canning, this is the final result…

Uses for chive blossom jelly

Chive blossom jelly has a very vibrant chive taste and even though it’s a full sugar recipe, it doesn’t seem too sweet to me, which opens it up to several different uses.

There’s, of course, the obvious use of spreading it on toast, but here are some ways I’m looking forward to using it:

  • As a topping on sandwiches. I make an excellent bagel breakfast sandwich with mayo, cheese, egg, and bacon, and I find a thin layer of savoury jelly often caps it off perfectly.
  • As a topping on a baked brie. During BBQ season I love to bake brie cheese on the grill and putting a thick layer of savoury jelly on top just adds a little something special to an already delicious appetizier.
  • As a side for a charcuterie or a cheese board. A little slathering of jelly on a cracker served alongside sharp cheese or cured meats would be heavenly.

Chive Blossom Jelly

Savoury, chive-y, and slightly sweet, chive blossom jelly looks gorgeous, tastes delicious, and can be used for savoury breakfasts, charcuterie boards, and baked bries.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Appetizer, Breakfast

Equipment

  • 1 Strainer
  • 1 Water Bath Canner
  • 4-5 1-Cup Canning Jars with Lids (Or 8-10 Half-Cup Canning Jars with Lids)

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Chive Blossoms, plus a few extra for garnish
  • 1¼ cups Water
  • 2 cups Dry White Wine (cooking wine is fine)
  • ¼ cup Cider Vinegar
  • 1 box Powdered Pectin (57g)
  • 4 cups Sugar

Instructions
 

  • Clean blossoms. Be sure they're free of insects, dirt, and debris; wash/rinse if necessary.
  • Place blossoms (except the few saved for garnish), water, wine, and vinegar in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for twenty minutes, stirring regularly.
  • Strain to separate blossoms from liquid. Leave to drip for 1-2 hours. Discard solids. Let liquid cool to room temperature.
  • Measure sugar and put aside so it can be added quickly when needed. Prepare canning jars by ensuring they are clean and warm. Pick petals off the saved chive blossoms and drop into the jars. When jelly is added later, the petals will float to the top and be part of the jelly.
  • Put three cups of liquid in a large pot. A larger pot is necessary as the jelly will foam up in the next few steps. Whisk in powdered pectin until it dissolves.
  • Bring to a boil. Whisk in sugar and return to a boil. Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly.
  • Working quickly, remove pot from heat and skim off any foam. Immediately ladle into the jars, leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims. Put on lid and screw to fingertip tightness. Place jars in canner and cover with an inch of water.
  • Process in canner for ten minutes. The ten minute timer starts when the water is brought to a full boil.
  • Remove canner from heat and let sit for five minutes. Carefully remove jars using a jar lifter. Let sit undisturbed on the counter overnight.
  • In the morning, test if lids have "popped" — they bend downward, indicating a seal was made. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool dry place. Unsealed jars (ones that did not "pop") should be refrigerated and consumed first.

Notes

If you’re located at more than 1,000 feet above sea level, you’ll need to adjust the processing time. This chart will help you figure it out.
If you’re avoiding wine, you can use water instead.
Cider vinegar can be replaced with any vinegar that has a mild or complementary taste, such as white wine vinegar. When I made the batch pictured here, I had chive blossom vinegar on hand, so I used that for an extra burst of chive-flavour.
Keyword chives blossom, jelly

How to Make Butter Chicken Sauce (with Canning Instructions!)

Posted on by craig

Tomatoes are always a problem in our garden because we always have too many.

In summer of 2022 we somehow ended up with 49 tomato plants. This year, we swore not to do that again…and ended up with 60. It’s partly a “too many cooks in the kitchen” kind of thing—we buy tomato plants and then our neighbour who we share garden space with will surprise us with tomato seedlings he grew at the end of winter. We gave away a handful of plants, but still had an over-abundance this year.

But after making lots of salsa, pasta sauce, and tomato juice—and given that we still have leftover ketchup, green tomato chutney, and tomato soup from last year—I needed more recipes.

The Idea…

One way we like to think about gardening and food processing is to look at what we buy in the grocery store and ask ourselves if we can do that ourselves at home. We landed on butter chicken and curries.

I tried looking for butter chicken canning recipes and came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. There appear to be no lab-tested recipes. Further, people who cook butter chicken and curries from scratch often write about how the freshness of the ingredients is what makes it really good, and canning would dampen that freshness.

If I were to make it from scratch, though, I’d be using dried spices since I’m not going to find a lot of fresh Indian spices in Winnipeg unless I perhaps go to very specific grocery stores.

So… my determination to do this project in hand, I set off in new directions.

In the strictest of senses, this would be considered “rebel canning”, which are canning recipes that are not lab-tested and thus can’t be guaranteed for safety. However, I decided to work within the canning rules and I’ve come up with something that works. You are allowed to swap out dried spices in a recipe or adjust the dried spices, provided you’re not putting in huge gobs of dried spices and turning a sauce into a thick paste.

With that in mind, I looked at my super easy canned pasta sauce recipe. Really…butter chicken is a tomato-based sauce with Indian spices. There’s a bit more to it—like adding butter, which is a no-no for canning—but a good sauce base would give me what I need to make a super convenient dinner.

Finding a standard butter chicken spice mix was my next challenge. There does not seem to be a standard.

I eventually settled on this:

  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

This make more than you need—which is just two or three tablespoons—but if you’re like me and you’re swimming in tomatoes at the end of the season, you’ll likely be making multiple batches.

This year when I was looking for something in the spice aisle at Safeway, I discovered they carried a premixed butter chicken spice. After quickly checking there was no cornstarch in it (which is sometimes added to prevent caking, but is a strict no-no for canning), I bought a couple bottles and used this rather than the homemade spice mix.

(If you don’t have a lot of spices at home already, buying a premixed spice mix is way cheaper than buying half a dozen individual spices.)

(I fully recognize that as a person who does not share this heritage, I am basing my tastes on Western ideas of what butter chicken should taste like. If you have a more authentic spice blend, I would love to hear about it!)

Making Butter Chicken Sauce

Maybe “sauce base” is more accurate, since during the dinner-cooking stage, you can add coconut cream and/or butter.

Anyway, it’s fairly straight forward, so I won’t write out the whole thing in this post. (It’s identical to the pasta sauce recipe, just with different spices.)

In a nutshell, you put the tomatoes in your slow cooker. If you’ve got oodles of cherry tomatoes, just wash and de-stem them and load them into the slow cooker. If you’ve got bigger tomatoes, chop them up a bit and perhaps de-core them if they’ve got dense cores.

Throw on some of your seasoning—I used about two tablespoons for a 12-cup slow cooker’s worth of tomatoes—and let it simmer on high for about two and a half hours or on low for about five hours.

Once everything is cooked, blend it all up with a handheld / stick blender. Give it a taste and add more seasoning if you feel it needs more.

From here you can either use it fresh if you’re using it in the next day or so. You can freeze it in dinner-size portions. Or you can can it in a water bath canner.

I find one-cup / half-pint jars make enough sauce for two people, so I do them all up in this size. You’ll want to add half a tablespoon of lemon juice to each jar (or a tablespoon to a pint jar, or two tablespoons to a quart jar) and add in sauce, leaving a half-inch headspace. Wipe the rims, put on the lids to fingertip tightness, and process for 35 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary).

Using Your Butter Chicken Sauce

When it’s dinner time, I fry up some chicken and veggies in a pan and then dump in a jar of butter chicken sauce. If I feel it needs a little more “sauciness”, I might add in a small can of coconut cream. And since it’s butter chicken, I add a dollop of butter and stir it until it melts and fully incorporates. Serve over rice and with a side of naan.

Delicious.

Butter Chicken Sauce

A tasty and highly customizable sauce that makes for easy weeknight dinners. Plus, it can be canned so it's shelf-stable until you're ready to use it. This recipe is more of a template without exact quantities, but safe canning instructions are included.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Canning Time (if canning) 35 minutes
Course dinner
Cuisine Indian

Equipment

  • Slow cooker (See notes for alternatives)
  • Hand blender, blender, or food processor

Ingredients
  

  • Cherry tomatoes (Can use regular tomatoes. See notes for more details.)
  • Butter chicken spice mix (See notes)
  • Olive oil (Or a neutral oil like canola oil)
  • Lemon juice (If canning the sauce)

Instructions
 

  • Wash and de-stem tomatoes. If using tomatoes larger than cherry-sized, chop them into halves or quarters, depending on their size.
  • Fill the slow cooker with tomatoes. Add a drizzle of olive oil, no more than a few tablespoons. Add in seasonings (see notes for details). Stir.
  • Cover and set slow cooker to high and let cook two and a half hours, or until everything looks fully cooked (the juice has released from the tomatoes, cherry tomatoes have popped, etc.). If you prefer to use the low setting, let it cook for five hours.
  • Using a hand blender / stick blender, blend everything until a smooth consistency. If using a regular blender or a food processor, process in batches until everything is a smooth consistency.
  • Sauce can be used immediately or refrigerated for next-day use.
    If freezing, put sauce in meal-size portions in ziplock bags or jars. If using jars, be sure to use jars that do not have "shoulders", and leave some headspace in case the sauce expands while freezing.
    If canning, add a tablespoon of lemon juice per pint jar or two tablespoons per quart jar. (Do not use a larger size. If using half-pints, add half a tablespoon of lemon juice.) Leave a half-inch of headspace. Wipe rims clean and put on two-part lids, fingertip tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 35 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary, see notes for a link). After processing, let sit in canner for 5-10 minutes, then remove jars from canner and place on a towel on a level surface and let sit for 12-24 hours. After this time, check that jars have sealed—unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a few days, sealed jars can be stored for up to a year and a half (after which point the flavour quality may degrade, but the safety remains indefinitely). See notes for more information on canning. I find one cup / half pint jars the ideal size for two servings.
  • See notes for suggestions on how to use this sauce.

Notes

Alternative Methods to Cook the Tomatoes:
This can be made in a slow cooker or in the oven. If using the oven, lay out an even layer of cherry tomatoes in a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes at 450 F, until the cherry tomatoes are wrinkly and bursting. You may want to line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. This can create a nice roasted flavour. I’ve also done a large batch of pasta sauce (which is the same as this, just different seasonings) in my dutch oven—all the steps were the same as the oven directions, but in a dutch oven rather than a rimmed baking sheet.
Butter Chicken Spice Mix:
The first year I made this, I whipped up my own butter chicken spice mixed based on some recipes I found online.
To make your own butter chicken spice mix:
  • In a bowl, combine:
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 2 tsp smoked paprika
    • 3 tsp garam masala
    • 2 tsp ground coriander
    • 1 tsp ground cardamom
    • 2 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 tsp ground ginger
    • 2 tsp ground turmeric
    • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
If you’re buying a pre-mixed package of spice, read the ingredients to ensure there is no cornstarch in the spice mix.
Whether using pre-mixed spice or home-mixed spice, add one to two tablespoons to the tomatoes. After blending the fully-cooked tomatoes, take a taste—add more spice and blend, if necessary.
General Tips:
While the recipe works great for cherry tomatoes, this works equally well with larger tomatoes, cut into either halves or quarters, depending on the size. If the larger tomatoes have a thick/firm core, you may want to core the tomatoes as well.
This sauce tastes super good fresh, and just as good frozen or canned. The first year I did this, I froze all the sauce, but for the second year I did this, I canned the sauce. There’s really no difference in quality or taste either way. I prefer canning because freezer space is limited, but if you have freezer space and/or canning intimidates you, freezing is an excellent option.
If you are new to canning, click here for a Canning 101 to understand some of these terms and steps. If you have to adjust for altitude because your elevation is greater than 1,000 feet, click here for more information.
Please note that this recipe has not been lab tested and in the strictest sense would thus be considered rebel canning. However, when canning it is acceptable to swap out dry spices without affecting food safety. This recipe is based on safe pasta sauce recipes, just with different seasonings.
How to Use the Sauce:
When cooking your protein and vegetables together in a large pan, simply pour the sauce on top and let simmer until fully cooked, hot, and fragrant. Butter chicken usually has butter mixed in, so feel free to add a good dollop of butter to the pan and stir as it melts and mixes with the sauce.
If you prefer the sauce to be a little creamier, feel free to add a small can of coconut cream to thicken it up. Alternatively, you could create a slurry of one tablespoon of cornstarch and one tablespoon of water and then add this to the sauce in the pan.
Do not add coconut cream or cornstarch to the jars before canning as this is unsafe for canning. These ingredients can only be added in the final cooking stage.
Serve the protein, veggies, and sauce over a bed of rice and a side of naan.
Keyword butter chicken sauce, canning meals, curry sauce, easy dinner ideas

How to Make Pasta Sauce (with Canning Instructions!)

Posted on by craig

When the tomatoes first start ripening in the garden, it’s a time of joy. Nothing beats a fresh tomato!

But a few weeks later when they all start ripening, it becomes a time of great distress—because how on earth am I going to use up all these tomatoes???

We have a tomato problem.

Two years ago, we had a decent amount of tomatoes and I was able to preserve everything and we enjoyed it throughout the year.

Last year, I got in a bit of a panic that we wouldn’t have enough tomatoes, so I bought extra plants. While I was doing this, our neighbour whose passion seems to be growing tomato seedlings for our shared garden, brought out dozens of tomato plants for us to have. We ended up with 49 tomato plants last year.

When the first frost hit in early October 2022, we panicked and harvested all the remaining tomatoes. Before this frost-harvest, I was already overwhelmed with tomatoes—there were just too many! But once that emergency harvest happened, our kitchen was filled with crates and crates and crates of tomatoes. I couldn’t go through them fast enough, so some started rotting and our kitchen was filled with fruit flies. We ended up throwing out hundreds of tomatoes, if not thousands. We swore to never repeat that.

When we started the garden this year, we decided to limit our tomato production, so we only bought a few plants. And then our neighbour brought out the 40—yes, 40—that he’d grown in his house. We suddenly had somewhere around 60 plants. We gave some away, but planted most of them in our garden.

So… what does one do with a million tomatoes?

One of the easiest answers is pasta sauce.

There are a million pasta sauce recipes out there—some safe for canning and some not. Some take a lot of work, and some are fairly easy.

Last year, I stumbled across a cherry tomato pasta sauce recipe (as we had a dozen cherry tomato plants last year) and it quickly became my go-to pasta sauce recipe because of how darn easy it is. It’s also highly adaptable to what you have on hand and how you want to do it. Further, it works perfect as a fresh sauce, a frozen sauce, or a canned sauce.

The best part is that you don’t have to peel the tomatoes—a laborious step in nearly every other pasta sauce canning recipe! Nor is a food mill required at any point. Tomato peels are safe for canning, there are recipes that use unpeeled tomatoes after all, but they’re usually peeled in the case of pasta sauce because they can sometimes turn bitter in the canning process. I’ve never noticed any bitterness with this recipe, so I’m never going back to one where you have to peel them.

Step One: Tomatoes

The recipe I was following was for cherry tomatoes, but a little note said that it was good for all types of tomatoes, but you might want to chop them up if they’re too large.

When I did the batch of sauce where I took photos for this post, I had an abundance of plum tomatoes. Since they’re not much bigger than cherry tomatoes, I left them whole for this recipe.

The first step is simple—wash and de-stem the tomatoes. If they’re large, cut them into chunks. (And if they have a tough core, de-core them as well.)

Then just dump it all in your slow cooker.

(If you don’t have a slow cooker or don’t like using it, I’ve got oven adaptations in the recipe notes at the bottom of this page.)

I have a 12 cup slow cooker, but the beauty of this recipe is that it can be adjusted to any amount. In terms of canning safety, if you choose to can it, we will be adding lemon juice directly to the jars before canning, so there’s no need to worry about acidity levels and how much acid to add to the slow cooker.

Step Two: Add Seasonings

This is rather vague. The recipe I based this off was rather vague too. I tend to be a cook that’s comfortable flying by the seat of my pants, but I know that’s not everyone’s style. (My mom panics if there aren’t super-specific quantities listed in a recipe.)

If you’re the super-specific quantities type, this works for an 8-cup batch:

  • 1 Tbsp onion powder
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

If you have a 12-cup slow cooker like myself, filled to the brim, that would work out to 1.5 Tbsp onion and garlic and 1.5 tsp oregano and basil.

Nowadays, though, I just open the seasoning packets and dump in whatever looks good. You’ll see in the photo below that I used fresh garlic, which the original recipe indicated could be done and still be safe for canning. I generally prefer garlic powder, though, just to be on the extra safe side.

Step Three: Add Oil, Stir, and Cook

Add a healthy drizzle of olive oil or a neutral oil. (Have you seen the price of olive oil lately? I used much-cheaper canola oil.) Give it a good stir, if you can. Mine was a little too full to stir well, so I just kind of nudged things around a bit.

Put the lid on, set it to high, and let it cook for a few hours. If you prefer to set it on low and let it cook for half the day, that’s fine too.

What you’re looking for, regardless of how you cook it, is that the cherry or plum tomatoes have burst and their skins are wrinkled and the juice has been released. If you used big chopped up tomatoes, you’re similarly looking for them to look fully-cooked.

Step Four: Blend

If you have a handheld blender / stick blender, stick it in and blend it up. Make it nice and smooth.

If you’re using a food processor or a traditional blender, you can do this in batches, but be careful not to burn yourself as the sauce is quite hot.

(I forgot to take a picture of this stage.)

I’d suggest taking a taste because if you want to add more of any seasonings, now is the time to do so.

Step Five: Choose Your Storage Method

If you’re using this the same day or the next day, it can be refrigerated until ready to use.

If you’re freezing it, separate it into dinner-size servings in Ziplock bags or jars. The first year I did this, I froze it and it was wonderful when I thawed and reheated it. I normally don’t care for freezing, but this works just fine. If you’re using jars, try not to use jars that have a “shoulder”, and be sure to leave some headspace in case the sauce expands as it freezes. I don’t know how long things keep in the freezer, but the other day I found a frozen jar of sauce from last summer (so about a year ago), which I used it up and it was perfectly fine.

If you’re canning it, the instructions are fairly straight-forward:

  • Add one tablespoon of lemon juice to each pint jar or two tablespoons to each quart jar. Do not use larger sizes. If you’re using a smaller size, do the appropriate ratio (like, a half-pint jar would require a half-tablespoon of lemon juice).
  • Wipe the rim, then put on a two-part lid to fingertip-tight.
  • Process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary).
  • After processing, let sit in the canner for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove jars from canner and place on a thick towel and let rest for 12-24 hours. After this time, check that the seals have popped, if any haven’t put them in the fridge and use within a few days (or just throw them in the freezer and have them whenever).
This jar looks a little on the orange side because it was made with a mix of orange and red tomatoes.

Step Six: Using Your Sauce

Use this how you would use any pasta sauce.

I like to make this a little more substantial when I make it part of dinner, so I usually fry up a little bit of ground beef, throw in some onions and mushrooms, and then add in the sauce. This goes perfect on top of pasta and served with your favourite cheese and a side of garlic bread.

Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

A tasty and easy pasta sauce with a lot of versatility, perfect for using fresh, frozen, or canned. This recipe is more of a template without exact quantities, but safe canning instructions are included.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Canning Time (if canning) 35 minutes
Course dinner
Cuisine Italian

Equipment

  • 1 Slow cooker (See notes for alternatives)
  • 1 Hand blender, blender, or food processor

Ingredients
  

  • Cherry tomatoes (Can use regular tomatoes. See notes for more details.)
  • Dried seasonings of your choice (Suggestions include onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, and pepper. See notes for more details.)
  • Olive oil (Or a neutral oil like canola oil)
  • Lemon juice (If canning the sauce)

Instructions
 

  • Wash and de-stem tomatoes. If using tomatoes larger than cherry-sized, chop them into halves or quarters, depending on their size.
  • Fill the slow cooker with tomatoes. Add a drizzle of olive oil, no more than a few tablespoons. Add in seasonings of choice (see notes for details). Stir.
  • Cover and set slow cooker to high and let cook two and a half hours, or until everything looks fully cooked (the juice has released from the tomatoes, cherry tomatoes have popped, etc.). If you prefer to use the low setting, you'll want to let it cook for five hours.
  • Using a hand blender / stick blender, blend everything until a smooth consistency. If using a regular blender or a food processor, process in batches until everything is a smooth consistency.
  • If using fresh, serve on pasta or dish of choice. Sauce can be refrigerated for next-day use.
    If freezing, put pasta sauce in meal-size portions in ziplock bags or jars. If using jars, be sure to use jars that do not have "shoulders", and leave some headspace in case the sauce expands while freezing.
    If canning, add a tablespoon of lemon juice per pint jar or two tablespoons per quart jar. (Do not use a larger size. If using half-pints, add half a tablespoon of lemon juice.) Leave a half-inch of headspace. Wipe rims clean and put on two-part lids, fingertip tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 35 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary, see notes for a link). After processing, let sit in canner for 5-10 minutes, then remove jars from canner and place on a towel on a level surface and let sit for 12-24 hours. After this time, check that jars have sealed—unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a few days, sealed jars can be stored for up to a year and a half (after which point the flavour quality may degrade, but the safety remains indefinitely). See notes for more information on canning.

Notes

Alternative Methods to Cook the Tomatoes:
This can be made in a slow cooker or in the oven. If using the oven, lay out an even layer of cherry tomatoes in a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes at 450 F, until the cherry tomatoes are wrinkly and bursting. You may want to line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. This can create a nice roasted flavour. I’ve also done a large batch in my dutch oven—all the steps were the same as the oven directions, but in a dutch oven rather than a rimmed baking sheet.
Seasoning Tips:
The seasonings are flexible. For canning safety, as long as you’re not adding immense amounts of dried seasoning so that it becomes paste-like, it should be fine. If you’re using the sauce fresh or freezing the sauce, feel free to use fresh onion, garlic, and herbs, if you’d like.
I generally eyeball the seasoning to whatever feels right, but if you’re the type that needs a recipe to follow, for every eight cups of tomatoes, use 1 Tbsp of onion powder, 1 Tbsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp of oregano, and 1 tsp of basil. My slow cooker holds 12 cups, so if I were going by this formula, I would use 1.5 Tbsp onion powder, 1.5 Tbsp garlic powder, 1.5 tsp oregano, and 1.5 tsp basil. For any amount of seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste.
If you’re using fresh ingredients for fresh or frozen sauce, you could switch these out with a medium onion, two cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of oregano, and a few sprigs of basil. If you are using fresh oregano/basil and you are oven-roasting the tomatoes, add the herbs during the blending step, not the roasting step, otherwise you’ll have burned herbs (but be sure to pull the oregano leaves from the stem so you don’t have chopped up stem in your sauce).
General Tips:
While the original ingredients and recipe called for cherry tomatoes only, this works equally well with larger tomatoes, cut into either halves or quarters, depending on the size. If the larger tomatoes have a thick/firm core, you may want to core the tomatoes as well.
This sauce tastes super good fresh, and just as good frozen or canned. The first year I did this, I froze all the sauce, but for the second year I did this, I canned the sauce. There’s really no difference in quality or taste either way. I prefer canning because freezer space is limited, but if you have freezer space and/or canning intimidates you, freezing is an excellent option.
If you are new to canning, click here for a Canning 101 to understand some of these terms and steps. If you have to adjust for altitude because your elevation is greater than 1,000 feet, click here for more information.
Keyword canning recipe, cherry tomato, pasta sauce