Sunday, May 25, 2008

Canning 101

Today was my first attempt at canning. We have about 40 lbs of strawberries from Haven's party yesterday, and I have a family who LOVES strawberry shortcake and jam.

I decided to make some preserves today and it was my first time using my new canning pot. Everything went well until I tried to process the jars, the bottom of the pot started smoking a lot and there was all this residue being left on my stove top. I stopped processing and checked the bottom of the pot (that I had washed before use) and cannot figure out what the problem was. Right now I am trying to reprocess the four pints of preserves that I had in my large stockpot. I can't use my rack, but I am hoping I can get the jars sealed.

Tomorrow I plan to hull a few quarts of berries for freezing, and if all goes well with the new pot, I will pack whole berries and process as well.

Ryan seems to think we need more strawberries (scary I know) so if I get through these, I will take him with me to the farm and we will pick a few more flats (10-30 lbs) Maybe this year we will have enough berries to last us the year.

If anyone has any advice regarding the canning pot, I really could use it. I have a lot to do this summer, so I need a pot that works well :)

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