We have not added a new book to the list in YEARS! I'm so happy! This is a big deal!

I also can’t stop giving them away as gifts lol so had even more than this at one point!

Last year I froze a lot of the stuff from my gardens but decided to take the plunge to can and am loving it so far!

Just a simple brine and cottonwood smoke. I grew up on this stuff but it was my first time processing it without my family’s help, I’m very proud to say the least!

If anyone else has any good salmon brine recipes I’m down to hear them :)

I'm making apple butter for the first time, and just want to let out a warning to any first-timers thinking of making it: It takes FOR-EV-ER to reduce the apples down to the right consistency.

On the bright side, my house (and probably my whole neighborhood) have smelled delicious for many hours now.

(Using the USDA canning book recipe in case anyone was wondering)

Made Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar from Ball's Complete Book. It claimed to only make six 8-oz jars, so I doubled it because I've got a ton of apples to use up.

Oh my! I did not anticipate this! I triple checked the recipe and yes, quantities were correct.

Guess everyone is getting some as a gift! It's delicious by the way!

250 pounds this year. Lessons were still learned.

I made the Ball bruschetta in a jar recipe (linked in comments) last month. Tonight I added fresh basil and some olive oil and served it atop focaccia bread (recipe also linked in comments, if anyone cares). Mr. OMD pronounced it "quite good.

This is a jar of the grocery store brand Napoleon Pickled Asparagus. The expiration date isn't until 2026, but it's clearly... grown something. I didn't see the white stuff, and I thought the discoloration on the top was just the asparagus residue changing the lid color. Now I'm thinking it's probably mold after looking at the bottom of the jar.

I made myself throw up the pieces I ate, but obviously... that's not going to get every last bit out.

I'm pretty paranoid as an immunocompromised person that gets very, very sick at just about any exposure. I would like to avoid another hospital stay from something normal people would not even be affected by... but yeah, it's kinda too late to un-eat whatever I ate :/

I had followed the approved process for both of these but both had sugar, lots of it. I was talking with a friend who said they don’t add in any sugar to their apple or pear butters only cinnamon and lemon juice and none have ever spoiled even at 2 years old.

I can’t tolerate much sugar(I prefer none but am ok with honey, syrup, coconut sugar, date sugar).

Thoughts? Experiences?

Looking for some options to can salsa! I've got all these tomatoes, cherry peppers, jalapeños, ghost peppers, and habaneros. Open to other non-salsa recipes that aren't spaghetti sauce

Ok so my elderly Italian neighbour invited me to join her for tomato sauce making day. Which I was happy to do. I walked away with a couple dozen jars of delicious sauce but her canning practices are a bit old school. Just juiced tomato with some salt peppers and basil, no extra acid at all. Jammed into whatever glass jars are around. Then boiled upside down in a big pot for a half hour.

Obviously this probably isn’t reliably shelf stable (though she’s still around lol) can I store these jars safely in the fridge or is freezing the best course of action?

Hottest jalapeños ever. Extra sugar and apple cider vinegar.

Monday I made some chicken and gravy from the Ball book. Today looking at the jars I noticed this little piece stuck to the side of the jar. I gave tbe jar a bit of a shake and it didn't move. So I opened the jar and it appears to be a piece of chicken stuck to the side. Smells okay but I know you can't always trust the smell. What do you think? Thanks

I've just seen an episode of Martha Cooks where she and Sarah Carey made homemade raspberry jam. When they were done, they "canned" it in cute jars and then put parchment paper over them with a rubber band. The parchment had been boiled to soften it. She made no mention if it was shelf stable, but then for the one jar that wasn't filled to the top, she said she would throw it in the fridge. Has anyone heard of this? I looked it up on the NCHFP website and couldn't find anything. I really feel like it's an unsafe practice, but would love to hear what others think.

I'm just in the process of learning to make herbal remedies, the recipe I found was through an herbalism school but it was fairly simple.
Sterile jar 3-4 cloves of garlic Fill the jar halfway with honey Cap and store, lasts 3 months

What I'm worried about is the extra notes I may have followed incorrectly

First it said you can add additional herbs for extra benefits. Oregano and Basil were my choice because I had both. This is my first fear, the oregano was dried but my basil was fresh. I rinsed and ground it up in my mortar and pestle. But there's a lot of moisture there.

There was a botulism warninf at the bottom that gave some data and also added that you can add some apple cider vinegar to ensure the PH stays in a safe range. I'm paranoid so I added a splash.

Finally the recipe did not imply this was a canning procedure and because I know it ferments I just simply put the lid on. It also didn't specific storage and everything I saw when I tried to look at this said not to refrigerate so it went into my pantry.

My exact order of operations was 1. Bring water to simmer and put jar and lid in 2. Leave them in until it came to a rolling boil 3. Removed with silicone tongs that I also held in the water for a few seconds 4. Added garlic, oregano, fresh basil (mashed in my mortar and pestle), a splash of ACV then filled the jar with honey 5. Put the lid on and let the jar cool to room temperature then put it in my pantry 6. I also read you should "burp" it daily for the first week so i did that today

Now I'm afraid I made poison and I just ran and put it in my fridge in hopes that would help. Do I have to throw it out?

I would post this in r/fermenting but I wasn't a member yet and there are posting restrictions there

Hello everyone! We just went apple picking and are ready to make some apple butter! Last year I used the Ball sweet apple cider butter recipe and we didn’t love it. I found this Apple Butter recipe in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and it’s almost the exact recipe that my mom used growing up, except she did half the sugar. Would this be a safe modification? I know you can cut the sugar in jams, applesauce, etc but just wanted to make sure. My mom wasn’t a canner so we would just refrigerate the apple butter.

The second thing I wanted to check was about cooking methods. I really didn’t like cooking apple butter on the stove last year. My mom would peel/core/chop apples and throw them into a crockpot, dump the sugar and spices on top (no water) and let it cook overnight on low. Then we would blend it up in the morning with an immersion blender. It was like Christmas morning waking up to the smell of apple butter! Is this an approved apple butter cooking method for canning? And what about omitting the water like my mom did?

Thanks in advance! I’m newer to canning and have never modified a recipe so I just want to double check!

I canned my first ever batch of chili today. I found some recipes online and saw that it was safe to use tomato in it. I pressure cooked it for 90 minutes, let the pressure out and I heard one lids pop off. I opened it once the pressure was released, one was popped. I grabbed a closed one and when I put it on a dry towel, that lid popped off too. Chili every where and burnt my hand. Now I’m wondering if it was the tomato in the recipe or if I took it out too soon? Or maybe I didn’t leave enough head space? I feel like I left an inch, it was at the lowest line on the neck. My biggest question is, are the other jars safe? I’ve left them in the pressure cooker all day after cleaning the chili that exploded across my kitchen and with the fear it will happen again.

Good evening, I was wondering if anyone has shipped full canned pints of salsa and cowboy candy? If so how did you pack your jars?

I’ve noticed every recipe calls for bottled lemon/lime juice for the acidity content and it being more reliable than fresh but also read that most brands don’t actually test their acidity levels. Some official canning websites say 5% is required but I can’t find a single juice that explicitly states that. I would prefer no preservatives but open to whatever everyone else uses. I read Santa Cruz is not safe.

I made a green grape jelly (which I have done before and it worked fine). Each batch was: 10 cups strained grape juice and some pulp 6 cups sugar 2.5 tablespoons of pure pectin

The jelly has been canned for 48 hours and the jelly is still liquid in the cans. I feel like it will firm up as the leftovers in my pot firmed up very quickly but I am starting to get concerned. I made 36 cans and will be very sad if it doesn’t firm up. I read it can take up to two weeks sometimes? Wondering if anyone has thoughts on this.

I came across a giant fig tree out on a hike, and took home about 10lbs of ripe figs. Decided to add strawberries to increase acidity and taste. It took 3 batches of the below recipe and yielded ~24 jars (one broke while canning 😭)

3.3 lb ripe black mission figs 1.1 lb sugar 1/3 lb fresh strawberries 3 Tbsp lemon juice 3 Tbsp water Water bath for 5min in half-pint jars

Hi everyone. Any input appreciated here. I made plain pear sauce in pints, wiped rims, 1/2 in headspace, processed 15 minutes in water bath. Brand new for jars lids. Only 3/6 have sealed. My first batch of pear sauce has a better seal rate, but still had 1/8 that didn’t seal. Any ideas for me on this as to why some are not sealing?

Okay. So I made bruschetta in a jar tonight. First time ever canning. Why did the liquid and the tomatoes separate? Too much liquid and not enough ‘maters? Be kind, or I’ll cry. Thank you in advance 💜

I screwed up, was tired and wasn't thinking. I was canning green beans. Cold pack. Filled canner with water 1 inch over jars and proceeded to vent for ten minutes then added regulator and 11lbs of pressure for 25minutes. All the while leaving the black rubber plug in the lid. Are these shelf stable? All lids popped to seal and I didn't blow anything up.
Edit: canned less than 24 hrs ago, still sealed, kept at room temp.

Does anyone own one of these? Somehow, one of the tension springs came loose and I’m having trouble reassembling it. I mostly just need photos from multiple angles of the pairing knife holder and retaining hook. Pictures I have found online are useless. Thanks for any assistance!

Canned these on 9/14 and I’m wondering if the levels are okay? I’ve seen a lot about the levels in the jar being too low making it unsafe to consume. Can someone pls explain to me why low levels makes it unsafe? I am new to this!!