Canning

[pneu-engine]

Marmalades are citrus based.

Jelly consists of the juice only of a fruit and is clear (not colorless - without fruit bits).

Jam has pieces of fruit.

Preserves is typically the whole fruit.

"Butter" is smooth processed pulp of a fruit w/o the seeds. This is what I make with my strawberries and blackberries. I make it just like jam except I put the fruit through a strainer first to remove the seeds.

YOWZA!!!!!!!! This thread is making me soooooo hungry for fruit from own berry patch. We were very careful last year to get everything started, and now I see blossom-clusters on the black raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and even the grape vines.

I'll have to take some pix when the rains stop. :Green

[pneu-engine]

Another thing' date=' I've had the most repeated success making jams and jellies when using Sure-jell. Some older ladies have told me before that they never use it, only sugar but I don't have very good success that way and you also have to cook it longer which destroys color and flavor. My seedless strawberry jam is very bright red and the flavor is preserved wonderfully because very little cooking time is involved.

My wife and I also prefer Sure-Jell above all other brands. It is pure pectin, and provides the necessary jelling ingredient.

Jess, just as you mentioned, reducing the liquid by prolonged boiling will have a deleterious effect on the flavor and dramatically lengthen the cooking time. When that method is used the resultant product is ultra-sweet but almost devoid of the original flavor content. :sad .

[Kayla]

Go to http://www.pickyourown.org to locate pick your own farms in your area. Scroll down until you find your state and then the farms are listed by county.

I would love to have my own chickens for eggs and meat.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Salyan]

I got to go help a friend with her applesauce/jelly canning yesterday -- what fun! They'd already done the prep work, so we only had the easy stuff to do. :Green And the best part was taking home 3 jars of jelly and some applesauce afterwards -- that I helped can!

[Bakershalfdozen]

Awesome! I was able to process a bunch of apples a few weeks ago into 18 pints of apple butter, 6 quarts of applesauce and many, many bags of frozen apples.

[zealyouthguy]

It makes me happy to see people interested in canning.

We weren't able to do a garden this year due to the timing of our move. Normally we can quite a bit of things. This year it will probably consist of applesauce and some cider, since I have one AWESOME apple tree (we call him Old Man Apple) and a couple of trees that i think will make good cider. We'll probably do some crab apple jelly soon also.

[HappyChristian]

I miss the days when I canned. One year I babysat for a lady who had grape vines (concord!!), but didn't want the grapes...so we picked 'em and I made grape jelly. Mmmmmm!! We didn't grow a garden again this year. I really miss fresh veggies and am hoping we can do something next year.

My mom still cans a lot. She makes the best apple butter I've ever tasted! I can almost drink the stuff!

[Salyan]

I'd like to try some jelly-making on my own (hopefully for Christmas presents, if they turn out). I have some apples to make juice with, and rudimentary instructions that a lady gave me on how to make the juice (they're rudimentary because of my memory, not because of her instructions :frog ). Does anyone know the 'correct' way to make apple juice? All I can remember is cut off the stems, pour boiling water over them until they're covered, cover, and let sit for a few hours.

[pneu-engine]

Apple Juice:::::::

1. Make apple cider first.

1.1. Wash the apples thoroughly. Do not stem, core, peel, or any other such thing.

1.2. Shred the apples in a shredder/pulverizer.

1.3. Place the apple-shreddings into a layered press (hydraulic or jack-screw, it matters not.) Actuate the press.

1.4. Catch the juice as it runs out and bottle it. Filter it well.

2. Pasteurize the apple cider. You now have apple juice.

Follow the recipe in the sure-jell box for the best jelly-making results.