Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Canning Green Beans

As you all know I got my canner in the other day and I am very excited. After reading the instruction book from cover to cover I decided that I was ready to give it a try. I went to the garden today and picked green beans, I had enough for 5 qts.. The canner can handle 7 qts. but I thought this would be a good time to hone my skills with the canning process. All went very well, the only difference was that instead of a boiling water bath the jars went into the canner instead. My booklet said to co0k at 11 lbs pressure for 25 minutes. The hardest part was maintaining the pressure at 11 lbs. It took a little time and effort to keep the canner at this pressure ( very easy to get the pressure to high ) but I guess with practice things will get a little easier. Anyhoo, I canned 5 qts. of fresh green beans and they look great to me. As with most things I do, time will tell. I am very happy with the ease of use of this canner and the great instructions that can with it. If you're interested in this canner check out the amazon add at the left of this blog for more information. I think if you purchase one through my blog I get like a buck or something. haha!! Either way I just hope you all find the canner / cooker that's right for you. I sure did.



Canner holding steady at 11 lbs. pressure.


5 qts. canned and ready for the pantry.

10 comments:

Rook said...

Now that is some great bean footage there. Glad everything went well.

I will be posting some pic's of my garden tomorrow on my blog.

Keep up the great work.

Working on the moat...

Rook

http://foragingprepper.blogspot.com/

Marie said...

Congratulations on another success! Your pantry must be getting full. I've always been a little intimidated by pressure cookers, but it looks like if you follow the directions, everything goes well. I don't think our garden yields enough to merit buying one, but if it ever does, I think knowing how to work one would be a great skill to have.

The Scavenger said...

Rook, thanks, everything went as the booklet said it would. Thank God !!

Marie, Thanks for your comments, I always look forward to reader input. The pantry is filling up pretty good now. I too was intimidated by pressure canners but was not gonna let that stop my food storage effort. It's not hard at all, I just followed the instructions and all went great. I did use extreme caution though !! I have heard too many stories of people blowing thoses things up, probably do to their own carelessness. This canner has a lot of saftey precautions. I feel very confident using it again and again.

Chris

WrethaOffGrid said...

Don't worry too much about blowing things up, they are very safe, my dad is bringing a pressure cooker out when he comes to visit, it may need a new gasket seal, but other than that, it should be good to go, you have inspired me!

Wretha

Lisa said...

I just wanted you to know that I linked you. You are doing all the things I wish we could do!!

Anonymous said...

I like to use the Mirro pressure canner - it's weighted so there is no need to monitor a guage and there's no need to get the guage calibrated every year.

Congrats on your canning! Next time try canning some meat. I found 10# of chicken meat at the store for 7.99. I got 5 pints of meat and 9 pints of GREAT chicken soup/broth/Jewish penicillin.

Anonymous said...

The beans look yummy! Great job! Isn't it fun? I've always liked pressure canning better than water bath canning. Don't you just love to sit in the pantry and stare at your jars? (I take pictures each year of what I've canned!) I love it when a guy is the one interested in food preservation!

For your reader, Marie,...If you need to save money, look at garage or estate sales for old canners that will be much cheaper (so many older folks have them for sale 'cuz canning didn't get passed down to their kids). I have one store-bought canner and 2 garage sale purchased canners. They are the kind with the weight on top so I knew there was virutally nothing that could be wrong with them (except for the seal, possibly). They both work great! (Your local extension can check them if you're concerned.) You can also find lots of canning jars through those sales! Gen--IL Homesteader

Anonymous said...

Glad we found your page... Food Preservation is a VERY interesting topic for us. Your detailed info is very helpful. We'll be searching out the pressure cooker option I'm sure. Thanks for the comments on the propossed solar setup... Its a work in progress but we'll be updating often, feel free to ask us any questions as we go as well. Take Care

Anonymous said...

Congrats Chris, those look great. You can get another rack and do two racks of pints in a canner that size. I can some of my vegetables in pints just for adding to soups. Mostly I use quarts because of the expense of lids, but pints come in handy.
Great job, I won't be canning beans until late August I bet. Our blackberries are just blooming! You guys really have a long growing season. What elevation are you?

Anon is right about the weighted gauge being good for canning meats, since it is hard to keep that pressure constant for 1 1/2 it takes for meats, but you're a stickler for details, so probably no worries there.

Wait'll you try your cooker for cooking meats for dinner. You'll love it!

The Scavenger said...

Wretha, I may have been a little too cautious. lol I glad that I have inspired you to get to canning.

Lisa, thats for the add. You too can grow and can food.

Anon's, thanks, we will try to can some meat in the near future, just want to get the veggies right first. We wil be butchering a steer this fall, maybe then. Yes I do love to see the canning jars full, we have some pickles just sitting around the kitchen for decoration. hehe!! Food Preservation should be very important to everyone these days.

Nita, I will be getting another rack for the canner. My elevation is 1220 ft. and the garden is doing very well. I picked some blackberries today and plan to make jam tonight.