Canning Apple Pie Filling

This post is especially for my sister, Linda. She's a wonderful woman who lives far away. I miss her and think about her often.

If you are new to canning, visit this link: National Center for Home Food Preservation

They have lots of free resources for canning and preserving at home.

I used the recipe found in this section of their online (downloadable and free!) book called

USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

The two most important things to remember about canning are:

1. Use USDA approved recipes. They have done all the testing and know that the recipe is safe to can at home. No one wants botulism! 
2. Making sure you've processed the food for the correct amount of time at your altitude. 

These are the best way to avoid botulism.

Here's a good analogy:
Many people grew up just fine without car seats. I don't know any parents or grandparents who would drive their toddler around without one now. We know better now, so we do better now.

If you are using Granny's secret family recipe, toss it!

Let's get started!

Here's the recipe I used.
It's found in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, section 2, page 26.

I love this canning book. I own 7 canning books (including the Ball Blue Book) and I come back to this free book time and again. I love that I can make a single quart (or pint in some recipes) to try out the recipe and make any adjustments.

I also love that I don't have to do any altitude math. They've done it all for me. Since I live at 4500 feet above sea level I process my quarts for 35 minutes. (Time, temperature, and correct acid level is what prevents botulism).

Before you start washing and peeling apples, wash 7 wide mouth quart jars and rings. I usually put them in the dishwasher to wash. They stay warm in the dishwasher, which is helpful because you want the jars to be warm when you fill them with the apple pie filling.

Also put 7 new wide mouth lids (they come with new jars, or you can purchase them separately) in a pot with some water. Set the pot on the back burner to simmer while you make the filling. They don't need to boil, but they do need to get hot because the red sealing compound needs to soften.

Apples.
These were free from a neighbor's tree. I take what I can get.
A mix of apples is good, too. Tart apples like Granny Smith are best,
but I'm all for free!

Peel and slice the apples.
I have a peeler/corer that I love.
It makes the job go much faster.
You'll need at least 6 quarts of apples. I usually use 7 quarts of apples because we like more apples in our pies.

I have a big bowl of water with 2 tablespoons of citric acid mixed in to keep the apples from going very brown. They still brown a little, but not as much as if I didn't put them in water and citric acid. You can also use some lemon juice or Fruit Fresh if you don't have access to citric acid.

This is a 2 gallon bucket overflowing with the peels and cores.
The chickens, goats, and cows all love the leftovers so nothing goes to waste.
If you don't have livestock, dump the leftovers in your compost heap.

Boil the apples a few quarts at a time. I use a pasta pot that my Dad gave me years ago.
Make sure the water is boiling before you put the apples in.
Use at least a gallon of water to boil 6 cups of apples.
Why? Because the apples won't cool down the water as much at that ratio.
Boil for about 1 minute. 

The apples won't be fully cooked in 1 minute of boiling,
but they will look much prettier, and they will be
pre-heated before putting in jars.

Put the drained apples in a place where they will stay warm. I put them in a big pot with a lid on.

Combine the sugar, ClearJel (don't use flour!), cinnamon, and nutmeg in a
large pot. Stir the dry ingredients together until well mixed.
Add the water and apple juice and stir.

Heat until it becomes thick and bubbly.
It will turn caramel colored and won't be as cloudy looking
as when you started mixing.
It usually takes 4-6 minutes to get the mixture to thicken.
Add the lemon juice and boil for 1 minute.

I don't add my apples to the filling mix, I add the mix to my apples.
Use a large spoon to mix thoroughly.

Take the jars out of the dishwasher and sit them on a towel on the counter.
You can put them directly on a counter that isn't cold, but mine is granite, so it's cold!
Another benefit of using towels is that you have less counter clean-up to do.
The towels go right into the washing machine!

You'll need a wide-mouth funnel. I like my Bottle Mate canning funnel found at this link. Any funnel that will fit both wide and regular mouth jars, and cover the rim of the jar is helpful.

You'll also need a ladle. My favorite is the Home Canning Scoop found here. It's big, comfortable to hold, and is shaped to get into the corners of pots. I use it for more than canning!

Okay, fill the jars!
Headspace (the space between the top of the jar and the top of the food) is important.
Pie filling needs 1" of head space because the food will expand while it's processing.
I've got a handy gadget called a Bubble Remover and Headspace Tool (here).
You can use a ruler, just make sure you have the proper headspace.

This gadget is home-made. It's a chopstick with a magnet glued on the end so that I can use it to take the lids out of the hot water.
You can buy a 'real one' in the grocery store in your canning section
or online.
I've had this for years and it works great, so I haven't bothered to buy one.

Wipe down the rims of your jars with a moistened paper towel or clean microfiber cloth.

Put a lid and a ring on each jar. Don't screw the rings on tightly. They should be on 

enough to keep the lids on, but not come unscrewed in boiling water.

Fill a canning pot with water.

If you don't have a canning pot, make sure the water covers your jars by at least 1".

You can buy a small batch canning kit from Ball. I have one and I love it for small batches, or if my batch ended up with an extra jar full that won't fit in the big canner.

Or you can serve the leftovers to hungry sons.
Tastes great with a scoop of ice cream, too!

You're water bath should be about the same temperature as the bottles of pie filling.
If it's a little warmer, that's okay. Don't shock the jars (and break them) by putting filled jars directly into boiling water.

Put the lid on and bring the water to a boil. Start your timer AFTER the water starts boiling, not before.

The water doesn't need to be at a full rolling boil for the whole time, but it does need to be boiling, not simmering. If it's boiling hard the jars will knock into each other and have a chance of breaking, and the water will evaporate more quickly.

A nice easy boil is just right!

When the time is completed, lift the jars out of the water and let them sit above the water for about 5 minutes.
If you're doing this in a big soup pot with no rack, lift them out one at a time and sit them on a towel on the counter.

I use a jar lifter to lift my jars out of the boiling water bath canner. You can see what they look like here.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of one.

Let them cool overnight.

If you have jars that didn't seal, you can process them again with a new lid within 24 hours of the first processing.

It's normal for a little of the pie filling to leak out of the jars while it's being processed.
After the jars have cooled, take all the rings off and wash the jars, jar rims, and rings.

Most home canners don't store the rings on their jars. It's okay to do, but you need to put clean rings on clean jars or you'll have bacteria and botulism growing in the food that didn't get cleaned off.

I make simple labels for my canned goods that include the what I canned,
the recipe I used,
and the date that the batch was canned.

You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to can. It's helpful, and it makes canning go more smoothly, but you can bottle food in smaller jars in your soup pot to decide if you like canned food, and if you like processing and storing on your own.

Remember to follow the recipe, especially using lemon juice when needed, and processing for the correct amount of time.

It's okay to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe, but it will change the flavor, texture, and appearance of the final product.

Happy Canning!

4Ever Recap Lid Recall

There is currently a voluntary recall on 4Ever lids. Since most people don't 'register' their lids or sign up to get emails from companies like this, I thought it would be a good idea to spread the information as well as I could.

Attention valued customers:  Please note that there is currently a voluntary recall on red silicon seals due to a higher than anticipated rate of seal failure while in storage when used in pressure canning and water bath canning.  

If you have used these seals for pressure canning or water bath canning, please check all jars.  Silicon seals are being replaced by nitrile seals at the customer's request.  For more information, please email us at 4wardindustries@gmail.com .   

Note:  The silicon seals are fine to use with lacto-fermentation, storage of dried goods and freezer "canning."  We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

I don't use the resealable lids but I know others do. If you used some (especially the 4Ever brand), please go check your seals. People that I know of are experiencing a 40% - 60% failure rate. It takes a few months for the seals to break, so now is a good time to check.

You can find the information here:
http://www.4everrecap.com/

Mini-Crock Pot Keeps Lids Warm!

My kitchen is a good size for our family. It is not huge, however.

Especially when I'm canning.

I usually have to play a sliding puzzle game while I'm preparing the food to go in jars. Trying to keep a small pot on the stove to heat the lids has been quite a challenge with some recipes.

I remembered a small crock pot I had tucked away in the closet and brought it out. I filled it with hot water and turned the setting to high. I put in the lids I would need for this batch of grape juice, and started the juicer.

By the time the first jar was ready to be covered with a lid, the mini-crock pot had the lids simmering nicely!

Here it is with a few small lids inside.
You can't tell from the photo, but the water is steaming and is keeping the lids very hot, even when I turned it down to low.

I will be using this little gem again! It saves me a burner on the stove, and I can put it in a spot that saves me some counter space for food preparation.

Bottling Rhubarb

Whenever I teach canning I always teach about canning small batches. I love small batches!

Don't get me wrong, I love big batches, too.

There are advantages to small batches which include trying a new recipe or being short on time or being short on produce.

Today I canned 2 quarts of rhubarb. That's it, just 2 quarts. I didn't have to get out my big pots, which is also a nice benefit to a small batch.

2 Quarts of rhubarb took me about 1 hour 20 minutes, including harvesting the rhubarb.

We'll be using this for pie at Thanksgiving so we don't really need that much. If I had more, I would have bottled more because the pot I used would have held another quart or two and it wouldn't have added more than 5 minutes to my time.

Here is the recipe I used. It is from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and is found on page 2-22. You can find the entire guide at the above link. It's a great canning resource, and it's free!

I trimmed the leaves from the stalks before I cut the stalks from the ground. You can clip the stems and then trim the leaves, but I wanted to make sure there was no oxalic acid backwashing into the stems. We've had that problem before and it was no fun!

Here is my pile of leaves ready for the trash. Here is a great tutorial on how to harvest rhubarb.

Washed stems ready to cut into 1" or 1 1/2" sections.

Chopped and ready for the pan. This is about 8 cups of rhubarb, which will be about 2 quarts.

Add 1/2 cup sugar per quart of rhubarb. Let it sit until juices appear. That will take about 30 minutes or so. After the juices start flowing, slowly bring the pan to a boil.

Quickly fill hot quart (or pint) jars with rhubarb and juice. Leave 1/2" headspace (that's what the green thing is for.) It's important to have the right amount of headspace to insure a good seal and prevent the food from spilling out over the top. I didn't have quite enough liquid so I added a little bit of very light syrup to make sure I had the right amount of headspace.
Screw on the hot lids and bands so that the bands are finger tip tight.

Since this isn't my normal canning pot, I use an old cake stand in the bottom of the pan to keep the jars from touching the bottom.

As long as the pot is deep enough to cover the jars with 1"-2" of water, you can use the pot for canning. I use my headspace measurement wand to make sure that the water is at least 1" above the top of the jars.

This is the pan I use for small batches. It is filled with water that is already at 140˚F.

Bring the water to a boil and start your timer. At my altitude, I process the rhubarb for 20 minutes.

Pull the jars out with a jar lifter and sit on a towel on the counter. If your kitchen is cold, then cover the jars with a towel so they will cool slowly and not crack.

All done and ready for the rings to be removed and the labels to be put on!
You'll probably notice that my liquid level is low. This usually happens when my water is boiling too hard as I'm processing the food. It was this time, I was out of the kitchen and when I came in to check, I had to turn down the heat. The only thing that will happen is that the food above the liquid line will discolor, there isn't anything wrong with the food itself. Since these will be stored in a dark, cool room and they will be used within 6 weeks, there may not be any discoloring at all.

Grape Juice

I've been bottling the last few weeks. Today I'm processing grape juice. I have a juicer that my mother-in-law gave me many years ago. I've used it almost every year. That's the kind of investment I like!

Here are the directions I use.
Grape Juice

I USED to use the open kettle method of bottling grape juice. Open kettle means that you put the hot product in a hot jar, put a lid and ring on the jar, and call it 'done'.

Not done! "True home canning is when the food is heated enough to destroy or sufficiently acid enough to prevent growth of all spores of Clostridium botulinum (that causes botulism) and other pathogens during room temperature storage on the shelf."

I process everything properly after learning more about botulism. I met a woman last week who is a nurse. When she lived in Idaho she took care of 3 members of a family that died from botulism from eating home canned food.

I rinse the grapes and make sure there are no spiders and no grapes with mold on them. Then put them in the steam juicer.

I add lids and rings and let the jars sit in the hot water until I have gotten all the juice from one juicer load of grapes.

At our altitude I process the grape juice for 20 minutes since I don't sterilize the jars before I start (although they have been washed in the dishwasher).

It's important to keep the juice hot since the processing time includes the juice beginning at a higher temperature.

I usually get about 5 quarts of juice from one juicer load of grapes.

Freezing Aspargus

I've processed more asparagus in jars this week than I want to admit. I had 6 bunches left to process and I wanted to try freezing some.

We haven't eaten any of the processed asparagus in jars, so I'm not sure how it turned out. But I am confident that it's safe to eat and I've been saving asparagus casserole recipes just in case it is mushier than we want to eat straight out of the jar.

I hot packed about half of the asparagus in 1 1/2 pint jars because they are tall. I raw packed the other half in pint jars. I prefer processing it raw pack in pint jars because it's faster and I waste less space in the jar because I can cut the spears right in half and they fit.

Onto the freezing experiment!

Here's my set up:

I used my steam canner because the pot is big enough that I can fit the whole bunch in one pot without having to cut any spears in half. I lined my canner basket with a round cake cooling pan so the asparagus wouldn't fall through the bottom of the basket. I use the same set up when I process 1/2 pint jars of jam, too. Small jars seem to sit on the rack without tipping when loaded on the cake cooling pan.

 Blanching foods kills the enzymes (gasp! I know there are lot of people who will never allow this in their home, but since we are not able to eat fresh, raw foods every day, we like to be able to have food available to eat all the time.... even if we have no income!)

Killing enzymes stops the food from breaking down and spoiling. It also kills any harmful bacteria that might be along for the ride.

Place the asparagus on the rack, lower into the boiling water, and blanch for about 2 minutes. I make sure the water is boiling for at least 1 of the 2 minutes.

Immediately remove from the boiling water (the canning rack with handles helps do this very quickly) and place in an ice water bath. Leave the asparagus until it is completely cold... not cooled of... completely cold. This usually means leaving it in the ice for at least as long as leaving it in the boiling water.

Take the asparagus out of the ice water bath and place in a (mostly) single layer on a cookie cooling rack and place in a freezer. The more asparagus (or other vegetable) you are trying to freeze at once, the longer it will take to freeze. The quicker you can freeze the asparagus, the better texture you will have when you eat it in the future.

When the asparagus is completely frozen, seal it in freezer bags with as much air removed as possible, or use a FoodSaver. Label it, place in a deep freeze (if you have one) or the regular freezer and use within one year.

 That's it!


It isn't possible to flash freeze foods at home (I can't afford a freezer that will freeze my food in 12 seconds!) so the texture isn't the same as what I buy in the store. However, it's nice to be able to process food at home and to know there won't be a recall on it.

Canning Asparagus and Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

I started canning today. I have a lot of stuff to can and I'm not sure if I can get it all done before it gets old.

There is more asparagus (scroll down the linked page until you get to "Guide 4" and download the PDF) cooling off in the canner. These were hot packed. I might try raw packing because it will be faster. I still have about 16 bunches to go. And that's after I gave away 4 bunches!

Strawberry Lemonade concentrate. Vet2Be loves it! I had a bunch of lemons in the fridge so one batch is made with real lemons, the other batch is made from RealLemon lemon juice. I'm sure the fresh lemons will taste a bit better. But it was lots faster to make the batch with the RealLemon!

This is what the kitchen looks like right now... a big mess! (Don't pay attention to the fact that I still haven't painted the walls and the electrician hasn't come back to finish the lighting in the ceiling.)

One of the handy tricks I found out at my class was using a roaster to keep jars and water hot, but not take up any room on the stove. They are great for scalding tomatoes and fruit to get the peels off, too. I found the small roaster at Savers for $20, it was brand new. It still had Styrofoam on the inside and plastic on all the parts!

The new Presto pressure canner I got through Amazon comes up to pressure much faster than the old pressure canner I have.

Some people are worried about aluminum pressure canners, but if you treat them right (follow the manufacturers instructions) they are fine. I don't cook in it so I'm not worried about my food getting aluminum in it.

I still have 1 1/2 flats of strawberries, some to be made into no sugar jam, some into low sugar jam, and more into strawberry lemonade concentrate. I've also got 6 not-quite-ripe pineapples that will be dried. And behind the pineapples are 12 apples that will be dehydrated, too. Some will have cinnamon sugar on them and some will be plain.

Oh, man! There's still a lot of canning to be done this weekend!

Here's the page from the USDA Food Preservation Guide. I like their book because it has altitude adjustments on every recipe. There isn't a comprehensive index, just an index at the beginning of each section.

Master Food Preserver Program

I just finished taking the Master Food Preserver Program through the USU Extension Service. Not only did I have a great time and meet some wonderful people, I learned alot!

Today we finished up with Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate, which Vet2Be has almost finished. Along with some Pickled Corn Relish. Along with a few other great recipes which I'm excited to try.

If I pass the test, my next responsibility will be to volunteer for 40 hours in our community teaching how to properly preserve food.

Hopefully I'll be posting some of the food projects here, how they turned out, and how much time it takes from fresh food to finished product.

I think I've over booked myself for this weekend. On the list of foods to preserve: 2 flats of strawberries, 21 pounds of pineapple, and 28 lbs of asparagus.

My married daughters and I started participating in Bountiful Baskets, and they had strawberries, pineapple, and asparagus available.

The plan:
Some of the strawberries will be dehydrated, some will be made into jam
Some of the pineapple will be dehydrated (Son1 said he would help) and some will be canned.
Some of the asparagus will be canned, and some will be frozen.

I ordered a Pineapple Corer Slicer Peeler Cutter because a few of the women in our class have it and love it! Hopefully it will be here by Friday.

I also ordered and already received a Progressive International Canning Scoop. I love it! I canned some ground beef last week and the shape of the scoop made it so easy to get into the corners of the pot. It holds 1/2 pint, which is so much nicer than a regular ladle, it has a hook so it sits on the edge of the pot, and the shape of the handle is comfortable to use.


I also have been using my new embroidery machine like a crazy woman, but I'll post some of those projects later.

I've also had alot of chances to babysit my grandson, which has been so much fun!

I haven't planted the garden yet, so many things are keeping me busy that I haven't blogged for months! Hopefully the garden will get some seeds next week.

Canning Turkey Broth

One of the projects I got done today was canning some turkey broth. I pressure cooked all the bones with about 4 onions, 6 cloves of garlic, and 6 carrots yesterday. After straining the bones and chunks out, I put the pot in the fridge overnight.

This morning I skimmed the fat off the top and simmered it for about 2 hours to condense it a little bit.

I pressure canned the pints at 15 psi for 20 minutes.
One didn't seal so it's in the fridge and I'll use it to make some Turkey soup this week.

Canning USA has more information about canning broth.

If we don't finish off the turkey by Sunday, I'll be canning the rest of the turkey, too.

I'm not letting any turkey go to waste this year!

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde

I've got great friends and neighbors! Two friends had more than enough tomatillos this year and shared the rest with me and one of them had a recipe for Salsa Verde.

The last batch of red salsa I made wasn't hot enough for Fly Boy or Son1, so this time I left some of the seeds in .... we'll see what they think now!

This recipe comes from Carol Jean Gibson who is an economist at the Utah State Extension Service.

Yes, I use a steam canner. The FDA says no, but Utah State Extension Service says it's okay with precautions. You can find the info here.

Green Tomato Salsa
5 cups green tomatoes or tomatillos, chopped
1 1/2 cups long green chilies (Anaheims are a good choice), seeded and chopped
1/2 cup jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4 cups onions, chopped
1 cup bottled lemon or lime juice (must be botled to guarantee acidity)
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon ground cumin (optional)
3 Tablespoons oregano leaves (she substitutes 1/2 cup well pressed fresh chopped cilantro)
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix, then bring to a boil in large pan and simmer 20 minutes (She simmered it for more like an hour and a half).

Before canning she runs it through the blender

Can in pints, 20 minutes with usual precautions.

I followed the directions, but forgot the pepper. It smelled wonderful while it was cooking on the stove!

My friend told me that you can substitute lemon or lime juice for vinegar, which I didn't know. Of course, it makes sense.

Here's how they stack up on the pH scale.
Lime Juice: 2.0-2.35
Lemon Juice: 2.0-2.52
Vinegar: 2.4-3.40

Tomatoes: 4.5

I might try substituting lemon and lime juices for vinegar more often. We like the citrus flavor alot in this house!

Bottling Beef

My neighbor wanted to come by when I was canning pork, but since I don't plan my days out to the minute, she wasn't able to come when I called.

I decided I would do a step-by-step tutorial on bottling beef just for her! I like her.... she lives behind us and loves to look at our animals.

Here's the recipe from the current Ball Blue Book (page 62) (Click to visit Ball's website.)

Use beef or other meat suitable for stewing. Cut into 1 1/2-inch to 2-inch cubes. Remove fat and gristle. Simmer meat in water to cover until hot throughout. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar if desired. Pack hot meat into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure cooker.

I don't cook the meat since I process the pint jars for 1 hour and 25 minutes. We have to process for a bit longer up at our altitude.

Here's my step-by-step photos:

I estimate about 1-pound of meat per pint jar ("a pint's a pound the world around" as Hubby's grandma used to say.)

I found roasts on sale at the grocery store. I bought 2 to put into bottles.
Just like the recipe, I trim off the gristle and fat, cut up the rest into 1 1/2-inch to 2-inch cubes and pack into clean, sanitized jars.

1/2 teaspoon of salt added to each jar. I use non-iodized salt.

Simmering lids. There is extra water in the pan because I use the hot water to fill the jars.

Add water to fill the jar. Use a knife to release air bubbles.

Put more water in the jars until it is about 1-inch below the rim of the jar.

I don't have the canning kit for my small pressure cooker. I found an old round cake cooling rack that happens to fit in the bottom of the cooker.

I can fit 7 pint jars into my small pressure cooker. After putting the jars into the cooker, add water until the water level is about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the jars.

Lock the lid and set the pressure cooker for 10 pounds (or high pressure in a small canner).

Light the burner before putting the pressure cooker on it.
Let the cooker get up to pressure and then start the timer for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

After processing for 1 hour and 25 minutes, turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker release its pressure on it's own, that means leave it alone until the lock releases.

Then take off the lid, but Sheepy taught me to leave the jars in the hot water until the water is luke warm. If you don't, the liquid seems to escape from the jar.

All done and ready to go into the storage room!

Well, not all of it will go into the storage room. Son1 is home this weekend and he'll take two or three jars back to school with him.

Someone's gotta feed those starving college students!