Danger, Will Robinson!

A gas generator (1)

I keep an eye on the weather throughout the day using a website called Wunderground. This morning, they sent me an email saying that their usual "winter preparedness" email series was being suspended because they wanted to do an emergency preparation series instead, ahead of the storm that's heading our way. I went to their website to check out all the details. The storm we need to watch, called Sandy, is currently (2:30pm EDT on Thursday, October 25, 2012) a category 2 hurricane coming through Haiti and into the Florida area.

Go grocery shopping (2)

Sandy may be downgraded to a nor'easter by the time it gets to New England where we are, but they are warning not to consider that lightly. Apparently, it's a 50% chance whether it'll head out to sea, or hit us square on. NOAA and other weather agencies are urging people along the coast and throughout New England (and New York City as well) to be prepared for emergency conditions. Part of the problem right now is that the autumn weather is not cooperating. They can't tell which way the wind will blow things, nor can they tell whether it will be warm and produce rainfall, or if it'll be cold and come down on us as hail, sleet or snow.

The bottom line is, be prepared. This doesn't mean you need to be ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, but it does mean making some common sense decisions now, well in advance of the possible storm.

Let's look at the whole Rule of Threes thing in regards to our potential storm. Those of us who may be in the storm's path should do what we can so that we're not a burden on the system. We can last three minutes without air (first aid), three hours without shelter, three days without water, three weeks without food and three months without hope.

Three minutes without air in this storm translates into being ready for possible household emergencies.  Is your first aid kit stocked up? Do you have bandaids, enough of the usual medications and vitamins, and a good supply of ibuprofen and acetaminophen? Consider the kind of injuries you might have to deal with during a three day storm with no power, and be ready for them.

Three hours without shelter isn't as difficult when you're already in your own home. If you lose power and have no other means of heat, wear several layers of clothing, close off all but one or two rooms of your house, and keep everyone in that small, confined area. Cover windows with thick blankets at night to hold heat in, and let the sun in during the day for as much passive solar energy as you can get. Break out the winter coats, gloves and shoes, and don't forget hats! A sleeping bag can keep you (or you and a child) warm, but you might be warmer if you and your whole family snuggle together in one place under the same batch of blankets. There's a reason Alaskan sled drivers used to sleep with their dogs!

Got fuel? (3)

Of course, if you have a fireplace or wood stove, make certain you have enough wood or coal on hand to see you through the emergency. Have the fuel in a spot that's easy to get to, and as much out of the elements as possible. Have tinder and small pieces of wood on hand to make starting your fire easier. If you run a generator, ensure it's full, and have an extra gas can on hand, and don't run it all the time (turn it on long enough to cool your fridge and freezer and run the hot water for bathing, then off again to conserve fuel).

Three days without water is unlikely to be a problem during a storm in New England, but having clean, potable water might be problematic. Do you have a way to filter water so it's safe to drink? Can you store some in clean milk jugs just in case you need it? At a minimum you'll want one liter of water per person per day, but if you're at home and you have the ability to store more, then do so. Water can be used for washing, drinking, flushing the toilet manually, brushing teeth, cooking, and a hundred other things.

Three weeks without food should not be a problem for anyone with the amount of advance warning we're getting about this storm. If you're not the type to keep a lot of food on hand, pop out to the store now and get some extra bread and milk, and any other staples that will be easy to cook with what you have on hand and that will last in the pantry if you don't have to use them.

Three months without hope doesn't seem to be something that would be an issue with the upcoming storm, but don't dismiss it so quickly. You may be stuck in the house with children or friends for a few days, and having some cards on hand for poker or euchre, or a board game or two, is easy to do. Pick up some popcorn at the store and have an old fashioned night of popcorn and story telling. Grab a few books and have them stashed in the room you'll retreat to if you lose power, and maybe have a craft or two ready to work on as well.

Cars get buried. (4)

All of the above might seem like over-kill, but consider for a moment the possibility of this storm (or another) catching you unawares in your vehicle. You've become blinded by snow or driving sleet, and you pull over. You're prepared, having a "get home" bag available to pull some food out of, and some warm clothes. You decide to wait it out, a sensible thing to do. Come morning, you wake up to find your car is thoroughly buried in snow, and you can't get out. What happens now?

If you're prepared, it's not going to be a problem. People will have at least a vague idea of where you are. You can expect outside help within a reasonable amount of time. If you're prepared, it might be uncomfortable but it won't be a panic situation, nor will it be a disaster.

Be prepared! Don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking "preppers" are just doomsday prophets calling for the end of society. In reality, "preppers" were (and are) people like your grandparents, who put up food from their garden and who saved every penny to make sure they had what they needed. They're people who have the necessities on hand or know how to make them should something (like a surprise snow storm) happen. They're you, and me, and your neighbors, ready for whatever the New England weather throws at them.

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
You may also be interested in:

Cooking without electricity
Making dilled green tomatoes
Ham and Bean soup
Learning at the Freehold
The Fall and Winter Update, 2012


1) Image by Calvin Ho Jiang Lim / Wikimedia Commons
2) Image by David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons
3) Image by MJCdetroit / Wikimedia Commons
4) Image by woodley wonderworks / Wikimedia Commons

Making dilled green tomatoes

The last of the tomatoes from the garden

Sometime in October, it happens. The frost comes, and suddenly your tomato plants are drooping and have blackened leaves. It's time to pull them up and put your bed to rest for the winter. Yet what do you do with the tons of green tomatoes you probably still have left on the vines? Dill them!

Don't use this one

I pulled up all the plants, then carefully went over each branch to make certain I had pulled every green tomato off the vines. The bowl above was the result of my final tomato harvest, a happy sight. Green tomatoes can be fried, or made into relish, chow chow, salsa, or any number of other delicious things. My favorite is always dilled green tomatoes, though. The recipe can be made from any kind of green tomato, too: roma, grape, cherry, beefsteak, etc. I mix them all together. Be sure to go through each and every tomato separately and make certain that you only use the perfect ones. If there's a blemish or mark or split, set it aside.

Cut them up

All the tomatoes should be cut. Little ones, like this one, can be cut in half. Larger tomatoes can be sliced or quartered in the most convenient way. I try to use a wide variety of shapes and sizes, while keeping each piece bite size. Cutting the tomatoes not only makes them fit better into the jars during the canning process, it allows the brine to touch all the parts of the tomato, in and out, which makes them quite tasty. Stick with green tomatoes, too, by the way. Orange or red ones will become mushy, while the green ones stay crisp.

Aren't they beautiful?

I love the way my hands smell after I've been working with tomatoes for a bit. They are very earthy, the smell of autumn to me. The cutting up of the tomatoes, which were mostly cherries in my case, was rather meditative and I found myself getting into a rhythm and singing along with my Pandora station.

All cut up

The variations of color in green tomatoes is huge. Some are almost pink, while others are dark green. Still others are pale and almost sea-foam in hue. Once the tomatoes are all cut up, you can set them aside while you make the brine and clean up the mess that sometimes happens when you're sorting through tomatoes fresh from the garden. You can even salt the snail you accidentally brought in, and discover that they really do bubble and that you think you can hear them screaming...

My favorite cookbook!

You don't find a lot of recipes in modern cookbooks for green tomatoes. This is because we've become a nation of pre-ripened tomatoes. No one buys green tomatoes, and if you grow them yourself, you probably try and encourage them to color up. You might even have stuck the greener ones into a paper bag with a banana, trying to get the ethylene to ripen them for you. The work-around for this is to turn to older cookbooks. I use my favorite McCall's Cook Book , which was put out in 1963. It has a variety of ways to use up green tomatoes, and a large array of other useful recipes that you won't find in anything made after 1990. My copy is getting old and ratty, but I don't want to give it up!

The original recipe

Keeping in mind this is an older book, I checked out my new version of Putting Food By, and verified processing times. In 1963, they said to process the jars "as manufacturer directs." Not very helpful! But Putting Food By says that tomato pickles should be processed for 10 minutes (for pint jars) in a boiling water bath.

Salt in water

The brine is made by mixing together 2 cups of white vinegar with 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. It's a very simple brine; you bring it to a rapid boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for five minutes. The acidic scent of the vinegar is very pungent, burning the nose slightly. I used the fan on my stove to keep the fumes to a minimum. When boiling vinegar, never use an aluminum pot (unless it's coated). Use steel or cast iron instead.

Tomatoes in the brine

When the simmer is finished, add your cut tomatoes and bring to a boil again. Turn off the heat, and then it's ready to spoon into the jars. Speaking of the jars, they should be in your water bath canner, upside down with a couple of inches of water in the bottom. Bring the water to a low boil, then turn it down to keep the jars hot and ready for you. There are racks (like the one in this Canning Kit ) to make getting the jars in and out easier, or you can use a jar lifter like I do. Just don't stick your hands in there - it's hot!

The tools: cookbooks, jar lifter, hot pad, spoon, ladle

Take a hot jar out and set it on a steady surface. I like to put mine into a metal bowl with a flat bottom to minimize mess if I spill. Use a Wide Mouth Funnel to get the tomatoes into your jars. I used pint jars and one jelly jar for these because I wanted them to be for gifts at Christmas and Yuletide. Jelly Jars are very pretty with their diamond pattern, and hold a couple of servings worth of tomatoes, just perfect for being wrapped up.

A filled jar

In each jar, before adding the tomatoes and brine, put a split clove or two of garlic and a small head of fresh dill (or a half teaspoon of dry). Using a slotted spoon, put the tomatoes into the jar, then top it up with brine. The tomatoes should be about 3/4" from the top of the jar, and the brine should completely cover them. A good rule is to add the brine until it touches the bottom of your funnel. Use a long knife or plastic tool to release any bubbles in the jar, top up with brine as necessary, then put on a hot lid and ring. Put your jar right back into the canner, right side up this time. Repeat this process until all your jars are filled.

Jars in the canner

When all the jars are filled, lidded, and in your canner,  you'll need to add more water. For water bath canning, you want to have an inch to an inch and a half of water over top of the lids. Sticking a finger into the water (before it's boiling!) you should be able to get almost to your second knuckle before touching the jars. Bring the heat up to a boil, and once the water is boiling, put the lid on your canner. If you're using a pressure canner like I do, be careful not to lock the lid in place - this is not a time when you want the pressure to build up.

The finished product, looking awful nice!

Once the lid is on your canner, set your timer for ten minutes if you're using pint or smaller jars, and 15 minutes if you're using quarts. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat and wait for the boiling to subside, then take off the lid and use your jar lifter to take the jars out. Set them neatly and carefully on a counter or other flat space where they can be undisturbed for at least a couple of hours, until they are cool to the touch. I always put mine onto an absorbent dish towel, which protects my counters from the heat and keeps them from dribbling water all over.

If you want to give your canned dill tomatoes as gifts, you can try your hand at decorating them. It's pretty easy, and there are lots of ways to do it. Some people like to sew fancy 'hats' for the jars, held on by ribbon or string. Others will use stamps to create little tags and tie them on with seasonal ribbon and appropriate decorations like jingle bells. You might enjoy making lid labels using scrapbooking or wrapping paper. There are dozens of ways to do it, and you're limited only by your imagination (and your budget).

 To fill 5 pint jars, you will want to follow these directions:

Ingredients

• 3 lb medium green tomatoes, washed
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 3-6 cloves garlic, peeled and split
• 5 fresh dill springs or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill per jar

Remove any stems from your tomatoes, and cut into bite size pieces. Cherry and grape tomatoes need only be split in half. In a saucepan, combine vinegar with 1 cup water and the salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for five minutes. With a slotted spoon, ladle the tomatoes into the hot jars. To each jar add 1/2 clove of garlic and a dill sprig. Fill with the vinegar brine to within a half inch of the top. Add the lid and ring, and process for 10 minutes for pints, 15 minutes for quarts.
-- Adapted from Dilled Green-Tomato Pickles from McCall's Cookbook 1963 Edition.

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon or the ads on my site, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
You may also be interested in:

Ham and Bean soup
Learning at the Freehold
The Fall and Winter Update, 2012
Making your own fire starters
Using a FoodSaver

How to make liquid laundry soap

All you need to make your own laundry detergent!

I'll admit to a certain amount of skepticism when I started seeing articles on homestead blogs and Pinterest talking about simple it was to make laundry detergent. After all, I had a vague idea of what went into our laundry soap, and there were a lot of words I couldn't pronounce. How could four simple items make laundry detergent that stacked up against the commercial brands?

Of course, I'm not one to let a challenge pass by. I'm also very interested in saving money and being thrifty. My laundry detergent costs me between $4.50 and $5.00 per container, and has between 34 and 60 loads. My usual brand, a store brand with no scent, costs me about $0.10 per load if I can get it on sale. I consider that a pretty good deal.

When I sat down to do the math for this home made detergent, I got very cocky at first, because my initial numbers said it would cost me $0.22 per load to wash my clothes with it. The problem is, I didn't add up all the numbers. So I'm going to write it all out, then explain the caveat after.

The Borax cost me $3.49 for the box, and the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda was only $2.69. Neither was on sale. The soap I got was Jergens , a brand that doesn't set off anyone's allergies and is very gentle. I got three bars for $0.99 at Job Lots in Peterborough, which made me a happy lady. I also picked up a single bar of Fels Naptha , because it can also be used to make this detergent, although I didn't use it for this tutorial.

So, let's add together $3.49 plus $2.69, plus $0.99 to get a total of $7.17 for all the ingredients. That seems like a lot, but I divided it by cups. There are 16 cups in a gallon, and we end up with about 2 gallons of finished product. $7.17 divided by 32 cups comes out to $0.22 per load.  That's where my math was wrong. I don't use a whole cup of the detergent per load. I use a half cup. That means I am dividing my $7.17 by 64 half cups, and so the correct total is $0.11 per load.

But wait! That's not entirely true. I only used one cup each of the Borax and washing soda, and there are several more cups in each box. There are two more bars of Jergins soap. I believe it is quite safe to say that I could make two more batches of this without depleting my supply of powdered ingredients. That means I would be getting not 64 loads out of the finished product but 192 loads! $7.17 divided by 192 loads gives us a total of $0.04 per load.

Wow. Okay, I can look at that and say that's thrifty. That's one third my usual price for detergent! Having done the math, I decided it was definitely time to try making this laundry detergent, and see what all the fuss was about.

Jergens and grater

The first step in creating laundry soap is to grate up a bar of soap. My research told me that any hard soap would be fine for this but that softer soaps (like our home made lye soap) would not be adequate. I opted for Jergins because it doesn't set off allergies and has a very mild scent, and it doesn't contain a lot of junk. I also wanted to have some Fels Naptha on hand for a second batch, but had been warned that I should do half milder soap and half Fels Naptha, because the plain Fels is very hard on clothing. When I make up the Fels Naptha batch, it will be labelled clearly and set aside, to be used for jeans and oil stained things, items that will withstand being treated roughly.

Grating the soap

I grated the soap right into my big aluminum pot. I used an old cheese grater with big holes, and when I was done I clearly labelled it "for soap only." The grating went very easily, and made the cutest little curls in the bottom of the pot. It took me less than five minutes to grate the whole bar. I was surprised it went so quick; I had been expecting at least a bit of difficulty with the end, if nothing else, but it was smooth sailing.

Adding warm water

To the grated soap you want to add one gallon of water. It can be hot or cold, and I chose to use hot tap water. I used a one gallon plastic jug I'd been saving just for that purpose. It had been a milk jug at one point, and I had cleaned it within an inch of its life with soap and water, then with bleach. I then allowed it to air dry on the porch before bringing it in and storing it until I needed it. Milk jugs are not great for storing food items like rice or potato flakes, both because of the small neck and because they tend to leach plastic over time. They are ideal for storing detergents and cleansers, though, and are wonderful for quickly measuring out one gallon of water.

Mark things "for soap only"

I used a large wooden spoon that had seen better days for my mixing. I clearly marked it "for soap only" because I don't want to ever use it for food again. The same thing happened to my pot and the funnel I used. Once your water is in the pot with the soap bits, bring the temperature up to medium high and stir until all the soap is dissolved. A few suds do come up during this process, and you will have to move them aside with your spoon to see if the soap is fully dissolved. This part of the process took me about five to ten minutes, and wasn't difficult at all. If the children had been home, I would have let them do the stirring.

Add the Borax and washing soda

Once all the soap is dissolved, you can add your other items. You want to pour in one cup of Borax and one cup of washing soda. I found the washing soda at Market Basket and the Borax at the local WalMart, but I suspect most places would carry them. WalMart also had the washing soda but it was more expensive. Bring the temperature up to high and bring your mixture to a full boil. This takes a bit of time. I waited about ten minutes before it was boiling. Once that full boil is reached, set your timer and allow it to boil for one minute only.

Cold water

At the end of the boil time, turn the heat off and immediately pour in one gallon of cold tap water. Stir it up very well. It should have a bit of a pearly sheen to it, and it's very soapy. There were not a lot of suds at this point, and my research turned up that this was normal. Suds don't equal cleaning power, especially in laundry detergent. In fact, some machines like the new High Efficiency ones, work better when there are little to no suds, and this detergent works just fine in HE washers and cold water. The finished product should be somewhat creamy in texture, and should coat the spoon lightly when it is dipped in.

Fill up the containers

I had my one gallon water jug to use as a container for my newly made detergent, and one empty detergent container with a half cup cap (how convenient!). The pot was too hot and heavy at first to pour directly, so I scooped with my measuring cup into the jugs. Once it got a bit cooler and lighter, I poured it directly into the funnel. I quickly filled the milk jug and the laundry detergent jug, and ended up filling two quart canning jars as well. I believe the final amount came to a bit more than two gallons, but I didn't measure it out when I was filling the other containers.

The finished product smells nice. It's not too strong, but has a faint smell that I can say is just plain "soap." You can use oxy booster with this detergent, just as you would with others. You pour in a half cup to your laundry as you would with any detergent, and your clothes should come out feeling very clean, and with very little scent.

For some slightly different recipes, try out:
Homemade liquid laundry soap
How to make homemade laundry detergent
Homemade laundry soap (dry)

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button). If you purchase items I have linked through Amazon, I receive an affiliate portion of the sale. If you find the items are useful, please purchase from my site!
 
You may also be interested in:

Creamy Crab Pesto with pasta
Pressure canning - don't be scared
Canning tomatoes in a water bath canner
Make your own stewed tomatoes
How to care for your pressure canner

Pressure canning - don't be scared!

Canned baked beans

I'm a firm believer that if you're going to cook something, go big. Leftovers can be made into lunches for the following day, recycled into other meals, and in some lucky cases, can be preserved for enjoyment later in the year. Baked beans are one of those items you can can up, and since they do take quite a bit of time and effort it is worth the effort of making extra.

Just a note to people who are more experienced in canning: This blog is for everyone who cans, from the most experienced to the person who's doing it for the very first time. I may mention things that seem like common sense (don't touch hot jars). Don't be insulted. Instead, think about when you were just starting out, and canning seemed like brain surgery and you were afraid of exploding your pressure canner. If I miss a safety tip, PLEASE make a comment below.

Baked beans need to be pressure canned. A water bath will not have enough heat to destroy hidden bacteria, either in the beans or the small amounts of meat in them. The timing for pressure canning the baked beans are for the recipe I used here, and if you use a different recipe (for instance, with tomatoes in it), you will want to check out the times for processing them. The size of your jars also matters, as well as your height above sea level.

Heating the jars

As with all canning, start with clean, heated jars. I like to run my jars through the dishwasher on the "sanitize" mode, but that's because I'm lazy. It's just as adequate to clean them in hot, soapy water and rinse them well. To heat the jars before adding your beans, you need to turn them upside down in your canner, with about two to three inches of water in the bottom. The water should be brought to a boil, and the steam will fill the jars (and some of the water will, too), sterilizing them and heating them.

Don't pick up hot glass jars with your bare hands. Use a jar lifter or tongs, and always use hot pads or oven mitts. Be aware that when you lift out your jars, not only will they be hot, but they'll be filled with boiling hot steam. As you stand the jar upright, that steam will come out, so keep all body parts away from the jar opening until that steam has escaped. Hot steam will burn you!

Hot jar, ready to fill

Place your jar onto a cutting board or safe surface, or into a shallow bowl. This will help contain the mess which often happens during canning. Using a funnel (as I did in this post on canning tomatoes) also helps keep the mess under control. Put a metal knife into your jar, both to help conduct heat away from the glass and to help you get rid of any air bubbles in your beans after they've been added.

Using a large spoon or ladle, fill the jar with the hot beans. The beans should reach the bottom of the neck portion of your jar, which is about an inch or less from the rim. Use the knife (or plastic spatula) to gently move the beans around, releasing any bubbles. If there were large ones, you may need to add more beans to bring it up to the right level.

Cleaning the rim

Once the jar is appropriately full, remove the funnel and carefully clean the rim of the jar with a hot, moist cloth. Visually inspect the lid for any beans or sauce and clean them off if you find any. Place a hot canning lid onto the jar, followed by a hot ring (don't forget those hot pads!). Tighten the ring "finger tight" but don't wrench it on or you may ruin the seal. Put the finished jar back into the pressure canner, right side up this time. Repeat the process until all your jars are filled and sitting in the pressure canner.

Pressure canner with beans

Your pressure canner may hold a different number of jars from mine. Make sure you check your manual (many are available online for free) to be sure you've got it right. Mine, a 21.5 quart model, holds seven quarts or 18 pints (you stack them on two levels of nine jars each). While it's perfectly fine to use the pressure canner with less jars in it, I personally feel that it reduces problems such as breakage when the canner is full. Also, you'll use the same amount of energy and water for three jars as you will for seven, so you might as well process a full pot.

For pressure canning, the water should only be about two to three inches up the sides of the jars. This is different from water bath canning, where you want the jars completely covered. Do not cover (with water) the lids of jars that you are pressure canning, or you will have problems with seal failures.

Locked and loaded

Put the lid on your pressure canner and follow the directions of the manufacturer for sealing it tightly. My All American canner has six screws around the lid which fold up and screw down to hold the lid securely in place. The screws should be tightened in twos, on opposite sides of the canner. Tighten two, rotate slightly, then tighten another two, continuing until all the screws are secured. Then go around once more and re-tighten to be sure they are fully secured. At this point, you can begin bringing up the heat under your pressure canner.

You want to bring your water to a full, rolling boil to start. Once it is boiling, you can lower the temperature until it continues to boil but isn't spitting out liquid. Your pressure canner should be allowed to vent (blow off steam through its vent hole) for 10 minutes before you put the weight on or start your timer. This lets the temperature build up inside, while venting off the air you won't need. After then 10 minutes are up, put your weight on. For baked beans with pork, you want your weight (or rocker, as it's sometimes called) to be at 10 (see picture above). This will keep the pressure in your canner at the right level for your beans.

Now the waiting begins. You want to process your beans for 65 minutes if you have pint jars, and 75 minutes if you have quart jars. Start timing as soon as your weight is on the vent. Your weight should not be bobbing around on the vent like a crazed squirrel. It should be gently rocking back and forth making the occasional "pfffffft" sound as steam escapes. Slowly (very slowly) lower the temperature on your stove until you reach that gentle rocking. Make note of the setting, because next time you can something in that size jar,  you'll have an idea of what temperature to lower it to, making it easier on you.

Labeled and ready for storage

When the timer alerts you, turn off the heat under your pressure canner. Do not move the canner for at least one hour, and preferably not until it is cool to the touch (which may take several hours). When you can touch the canner without a hot mitt, you may remove the weight. Use a hot mitt to remove it, even if the temperature seems cool, because there may be bottled up steam inside. Taking off the weight allows that steam to escape, and lets the canner depressurize and cool down.

When it is quite cool you can open the lid of your canner. Check the pressure gauge to see if it is at zero, and then gently pull the lid off. If it doesn't come off right away, you may need to let it sit a bit longer, or you might need to encourage it with a wooden spoon handle (sometimes the seal doesn't want to let go). Never try to take the lid off before the pressure is at zero and the canner is completely cool to the touch!

Remove your jars, then check the seals on them by pinging them on the lid with the back of a metal spoon. "Pings" mean the seal is good, and a "thunk" means it didn't take. Any jars with bad seals should be immediately refrigerated and used soon.

If they need a wipe, do so with a damp cloth or sponge. Label your jars and  put them away in your pantry. Over the winter, if you get a craving for those sweet, delicious baked beans you can just pull out a jar and heat it up  in a pot or the microwave. You may need to add a bit of water, depending on how thick your sauce was when you canned the beans.

Check back often for information on canning, preserving, general homesteading and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button).

You may also be interested in:
Canning tomatoes in a water bath canner
Make your own stewed tomatoes
How to care for your pressure canner

Canning tomatoes in a water bath canner

Finished jars

There's something special about going to your pantry or cupboard in January and pulling out a home-canned jar of tomatoes for a recipe. You can taste the flavor of summer, and perhaps smell the scent of the hot sun on the tomatoes as you crack the lid open. The effort might be a bit more than you're used to, but the results are more than worth every moment of work.

For the recipe to the stewed tomatoes, please check out my Examiner article on cooking them.  Today we'll be dealing with how you can up the results of your tomato processing. It should be noted that, while it's possible to make stewed tomatoes and can them in the same day, it's often more comfortable to do them on two separate days. Especially at this time of year, the kitchen can get hot very quickly, and each stage of this process takes up a lot of room.

Jar lifter in metal bowl

First, you'll want to assemble all your tools. It's absolutely necessary to have your stewed tomatoes on hand and hot, your jars, lids and rings, a clean, moist cloth, and some hot pads. For the most comfortable canning experience, it's worthwhile picking up a canning kit, which includes a magnetic lid lifter,  funnel, jar lifter (pictured at right), and a plastic or wooden spatula. Some kits also include a lid sterilizer rack, which makes that part a breeze. I also like to have extra kitchen towels on hand, and a large metal or ceramic bowl to catch the drips.

Lids and rings, heating

Add two to three inches of water into your canner pot and put your clean jars in upside down to sterilize and heat them. Bring the water to a rolling boil then turn it down to just a simmer while you get everything else ready. Lids and rings should go into a small pot and be covered with water. Never boil the lids, as it can damage the rubber rings and cause your jars to not seal correctly. A light simmer is more than adequate.

Jars heating up

Have your pot of stewed tomatoes sitting beside the spot you'll fill them at, with the jars in the canner beside that.  This keeps you from spilling tomatoes into your pot of hot jars and keeps your mess and reach to a minimum. Beware; as you remove the jars from the canner, they will be hot! Use hot pads and your jar lifter to get them in and out of the pot. Never put your fingers or hands into the opening of the jar as you turn it right side up, because the hot steam coming out of the jar can and will scald your skin.

Jar with funnel and spatula

Pull out one jar with the lifter and put it right side up in your bowl. Slide the funnel into the mouth of the jar, and put the spatula into the jar itself. The spatula does a two things for you. First, it spreads the heat out a bit more evenly, which isn't as important today as it was in the past, but is still a good idea. Second, it helps keep bubbles from forming in the jar. Before removing the spatula from the jar, move it around a bit in circles then up and down, allowing all bubbles to rise to the surface. This helps create a good seal during the canning process.

Filling the jars

Slowly and carefully begin scooping the stewed tomatoes into the hot jar. The funnel will make this much easier and will keep the mess to a minimum. When you get near the top of the jar, fill slowly. The last quarter inch or so should be liquid, and the jar is considered full when it reaches the top of the rounded part of the glass. Do not fill the jar up into the neck, as it will be too full and may boil over while canning. Wipe the neck and rim of the jar with your cloth, making sure that there are no bits of tomato or spattered liquid there. A little extra vigilance here will mean a better seal later. Don't rush.

The magnetic lifter works well

Using tongs or your magnetic lifter, retrieve one of the lids from your other pot, and let it drip for a moment. Place it gently but firmly onto the rim of the jar, being sure to center it well. Get a ring from the water, and add that on top of the lid, securing it in place. You should only make the rings "finger tight". This means only use your fingers and not the palm of your hand while tightening, and don't try to screw it down very hard.

Ready to be canned

When the lid and ring are secure, give the jar a wipe with another cloth and return it to the canning pot. It should slide right back into the space it left, but this time it will be right side up. Repeat this procedure until all the jars are filled and returned to the pot. An average canning pot will hold seven quarts or nine pints comfortably. I used quart jars for my stewed tomatoes because that's the amount of tomatoes we generally go through in a meal. You may want to use smaller jars for yours. You should always can in jars that are the size you want to pull out of the cupboard to use, so there is no waste.

Jars in the canner

I use my pressure canner as a water bath canner, but there are water bath canners that are sold just for that purpose. There are different sizes of each of these. Mine is 21.5 quarts in size. As a water bath it holds the standard seven quarts or nine pints, but when I am pressure canning I have an option of adding a tray and stacking pints double high, allowing me to pressure can up to 18 pints at a time. The water in a water bath canner should be an inch to two inches above the lids of the jars. If you can, boil water in another pot to add to the canner, to speed up the heating process.

Don't click the lid shut!

When using the pressure canner for water bathing, be sure not to click the lid closed. You don't want to build up pressure when water bath canning! Bring your lidded canner to a boil, then slowly turn the heat down until it reaches a point of boiling without completely rattling the jars around inside. For stewed tomatoes at 1000 feet or less above sea level, you want to process the jars for 45 minutes. You can check processing times online, or pick up a book like the Blue Ball Book Guide to Preserving or Putting Food By for reference. I prefer the latter book, which has information about more than just canning.

When your processing time is over, turn off the heat and let your canner stop boiling. Avoid opening or moving it before the boil stops, as it can jostle the lids and rings, and cause sealing failure. Use your jar lifter to remove the jars as soon as you safely can, and set them carefully on a dry kitchen towel. Let them rest, undisturbed, at least overnight and preferably 24 hours.

There are some tricks to checking to see if the seals are right. Many books (including the ones I mentioned above) will tell you to visually inspect the lids, then press gently on the top of the lid to see if the "button" is popped down. If it is, then your food is properly sealed. However, the act of pressing down can actually cause the seal to break every once in a while, so it's better to use what I call the "ping ping bong" test.

Using a metal tea spoon, gently let the bowl of it fall onto the center of each lid. You should notice that your jars have a "ping" sound. If one or more has a distinctly deeper "bong" tone, it is likely not sealed fully and should be put into the refrigerator immediately. Use unsealed food as soon as possible to avoid spoilage.

Ready to be put away

Sealed jars can be labeled and put away as soon as they are completely cool to the touch. If there is any stuff on the outside of the jar, wipe it down before storing it away. Most people label the tops of their jars, but others have fancy labels they affix to the side of the jar. The choice is yours! Be certain to label them somewhere, though, because stewed tomatoes look a lot like salsa, spaghetti sauce, and even baked beans once they've been in the dark pantry for a couple of months.

No ring, Ma!

Sealed jars can be put away without the rings, if you need them for sealing up other jars. The lids stay on by themselves, held on by the pressure created during canning. Rings are handy to have on hand, though, even if you don't store your jars with them on. If you open a jar but don't use the entire contents, you'll want to put it in the fridge. A ring will hold the lid in place for you.

Rings can also be used in decorative fashion. Some people like to cut a scrap of quilting fabric and put it over the lid, then screw the ring in place. If you do this with in-season fabric, it can be a beautiful gift. Others will use raffia to tie home made labels to their jars. There are places online to print your own labels, either for the metal lids or for the side of the jars. You can also buy sticky labels at most grocery and hardware stores.

Check back next week for information on pressure canning and more. If you have questions or comments, please write to me below. I love to answer questions! You can follow the blog via Network Blogs and Google Friend Connect (see the left hand column for the button).

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