Preserve

How To Use a Waterbath Canner

~ mrsgooses ~ 1 Comment

This is a separate video on how to use a waterbath canner. It’s really easy and means you can make and keep so many yummy jams, jellies, marmalades, etc.

Here’s the equipment I find useful:

Waterbath Canner Starter Set – http://amzn.to/1veExnU
Half Pint Jars – http://amzn.to/1tGft3L
Oxo Ladle – http://amzn.to/1FLqkln

How To:
– wash jars and lids with hot and soapy water and rinse well.
– to sterilize jars, place jars in canner with just simmering water. Leave the jars in there until ready to use.
– warm lids (do not boil) in smaller pan.
– remove jam, jelly, etc. from heat and ladle into hot jars. Fill jars according to your recipe.
– make sure there’s no jam on the rim of the jars that could affect the seal. Clean with a damp cloth if needed.
– place lids on top of jars and screw on bands until finger tight.
– place jars in canner and lower into water. Make sure there’s at least 1-2 inches of water over the top of the jars. Bring water to a boil and process jars according to your recipe. Use the following chart to adjust water canning times for different altitudes:

Altitude (feet) Increase processing time

1001 – 3000 5 minutes
3001 – 6000 10 minutes
6001 – 8000 15 minutes
8001 – 10000 20 minutes

– turn off heat, remove lid and allow jars to sit for 5 min.
– remove jars from water and place on a towel for at least 12 hrs. During this time you’ll hear each of the lids pop as they seal.
– check the jars have sealed properly – they shouldn’t move up and down when you press in the middle of the lid. If a jar hasn’t sealed, you can refrigerate it and eat it or you can process the jar again using a new lid.
– keep processed jars in a cool, dry and dark place.

If you’re interested in some recipes, here are some of my other videos:

How To Make Homemade Strawberry Jam

How to Make Homemade Blueberry Jam

How to Make Homemade Peach Jam

Homemade Seville Orange Marmalade

Homemade Seville Orange Marmalade

~ mrsgooses ~ 4 Comments

Seville orange marmalade is one of my favorites. It has the best sweet and tangy flavor. Seville oranges are often called sour oranges because of their bitter taste and they have lots of seeds. This makes them bad for eating, but perfect for marmalade!

You can adjust this recipe bases on the weight of your oranges, so there isn’t a specific starting quantity. When you get your oranges, weigh them whole. Double that amount and that’s the amount of sugar and water you will need to add. For example, in this video, I have 1.3kg of oranges, so added 2.6L of water and 2.6kg of sugar. It’s a 2-day process to make this recipe, but well worth it.

Ingredients:

Seville oranges
Water
White sugar

Equipment you’ll need:

Large preserving pan – http://amzn.to/1E545sy
Smaller saucepan
Strainer/Sieve – http://amzn.to/1FIoPDt
Reamer – http://amzn.to/1DlH6UX
Knife – http://amzn.to/1FLbvze
Muslin/Cheese Cloth – http://amzn.to/1pKASx2
Water bath canner – http://amzn.to/1veExnU
8 x Pint Jars – http://amzn.to/1tGft3L
Jar lifting tongs
Funnel
Ladle – http://amzn.to/1FLqkln

Day 1
– Wash your oranges.
– Cut oranges in half, ream out the juice into a bowl with a sieve on top (you want to catch all of the seeds and pith), and scrape out the remaining pith as well.
– Place all of the seeds and pith into the muslin and tie into a bag.
– Slice or chop orange peel into desired thickness/size you want for your marmalade.
– Place juice, peel, bag of seeds, and water into your preserving pan or a large stockpot and soak overnight.

Day 2
– Wash jars in warm soapy water and sterilize in water bath canner for 5 min. Leave them in the hot water until you’re ready to pour in the marmalade.
– Have the smaller saucepan on the stove with hot (not boiling) water and place the jar lids in the hot water to soften the rubber.
– Place a couple of small plates in the freezer.
– Place your preserving pan/stockpot of juice, water, peel, and bag of seeds on a medium heat and slowly bring to a boil.
– Boil for 1-2 hrs, until the peel has become translucent and breaks apart when squeezed between your fingers.
– Turn off the heat. Carefully squeeze all of the pectin out of the seed bag and into the oranges, then set seed bag aside.
– Stir all of your sugar into your oranges.
– Heat over a low heat, stirring, until sugar has completely dissolved.
– Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the marmalade to a boil over a medium-high heat, stirring until it reaches a boil.
– Boil for 10 min. without stirring.
– Turn off the heat. Test for set point – remove a plate from the freezer, place a small amount of marmalade on the plate and return it to the freezer for 1 min. After 1 min, remove the plate and run your finger through the marmalade. If it wrinkles at the sides and leaves a space where your finger went through, the marmalade has reached set point. If not, boil marmalade for another 2 min. and try again.
– Remove jars from hot water and ladle marmalade into jars. Wipe off any excess marmalade on the rims, add lids, and screw on bands until finger tight.
– Return to canner, bring to a boil, and process jars for 10min.
– Remove jars to a tea towel and let cool for 24 hrs. The lids will pop over this time.
– Check that all of the jars have sealed properly. If not, process again with a new lid or place in fridge to eat.
– Sealed jars will keep for about 1 yr in a cool, dark place.

How to Make Homemade Crabapple Jelly

~ mrsgooses ~ Leave a comment

Crabapple jelly is fun and easy to make! It takes a little longer than jam as you have to strain it first, but it’s definitely worth the extra effort.

I used 5.5 lbs of crabapples, which made 10 x 125ml (1/4 pint) jars.

Buy equipment you need:
Jars – http://amzn.to/12mVzVR
Waterbath Canner Starter Set – http://amzn.to/1veExnU
Cheese Cloth – http://amzn.to/1pKASx2
Potato Masher – http://amzn.to/1yIcwpA

– place trimmed crabapples in a large saucepan and add 1 cup of water for every pound of crabapples.
– bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
– boil for 15 min and then crush crabapples with a potato masher and boil for a further 5 min.
– strain the crabapples through a jelly bag or cheese cloth into a container for at least 2 hrs or overnight.
– place a small plate in the freezer for checking set point later.
– place juice in a saucepan and add 2/3 cup sugar for every cup of juice.
– bring juice and sugar gently to a boil while stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 15-18 min while stirring.
– after 15 min, remove the plate from the freezer and add a small amount of jelly onto the plate and return to the freezer for 1 min.
– remove plate again and run finger through the jelly. If the jelly wrinkles, it’s ready. If not, continue to boil jelly for another couple of minutes and test again.
– remove jelly from heat and skim any foam/scum off the top.

To preserve:

8 qt. pan for jam
Smaller pan for lids
Large pan/stockpot for canning – I use a 21 qt. canner that has a jar rack as well.
Mason jars
Funnel
Jar-lifting tongs

– wash jars and lids with hot and soapy water and rinse well.
– to sterilize jars, place jars in canner with just simmering water. Leave the jars in there until ready to use.
– warm lids (do not boil) in smaller pan.
– pour hot jelly into jars.
– make sure there’s no jelly on the rim of the jars that could affect the seal. Clean with a damp cloth.
– place lids on top of jars and screw on bands until finger tight.
– place jars in canner and lower into water. Make sure there’s at least 2 inches of water over the top of the jars. Bring water to a boil and process jars for 10 min. Use the following chart to adjust water canning times for different altitudes:

Altitude (feet) Increase processing time
1001 – 3000 5 minutes
3001 – 6000 10 minutes
6001 – 8000 15 minutes
8001 – 10000 20 minutes

– remove jars from water and place on a towel for at least 12 hrs. During this time you’ll hear each of the lids pop as they seal.
– check the jars have sealed properly – they shouldn’t move up and down when you press in the middle of the lid. If a jar hasn’t sealed, you can refrigerate it and eat it or you can process the jar again using a new lid.
– keep processed jars in a cool, dry and dark place. They will last for about 1 year. Enjoy!

How To Make Homemade Strawberry Jam

Video ~ ~ mrsgooses ~ Leave a comment

Strawberry jam is easy to make, tastes great and is a perfect gift.

Ingredients:
1 kg fresh strawberries
1 kg jam sugar

Equipment:
Preserving jars with lids and bands
Jam funnel
Jar lifting tongs
Strawberry huller
Large pot for canning

Directions:
– Preheat oven to 110 C.
– Wash and hull strawberries.
– For a chunky jam, leave strawberries whole. For a less chunky jam, chop strawberries.
– Place jars, lids and bands on trays in oven for a minimum of 10 minutes (or just leave in oven while cooking jam).
– Place strawberries and sugar in a large pot and heat over a low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.
– Once sugar is dissovled, insert jam thermometer if using, and bring jam to a boil.
– Skim off any foam while boiling.
– Continue to boil until jam setting temperature is reached – 104 C on a jam thermometer or you can also check for setting point using a plate out of the freezer and checking if the jam wrinkles. (Before starting the jam, place a plate in the freezer, after boiling the jam for about 5 min, take the plate out of the freezer and place a small amount of jam on the plate. Leave for about a minute and then push your finger through the jam, if it wrinkles, then the jam in done. If not, boil for a few minutes longer and try again).
– Once the jam is ready, remove from the heat.
– Take your jars out of the oven and carefully ladle the jam into the jars using the funnel, leaving about 1 cm from the top of the jar.
– Place lids and bands on jars.
– Place jars in one layer on the bottom of a large pot or canner. Make sure you have a tea towel or trivet between the bottom of the pot and the jars, so that the jars don’t break.
– Boil jars, in batches, in water for 10 minutes and then remove them to a cooling rack.
– Cool for 12 hours to allow jars to finish sealing.
– After 12 hours, check lids are sealed – press on lid to see if it springs back. If it springs back, then the lid hasn’t sealed properly and will need to be canned again. If the lid doesn’t move, then the lid has sealed properly.
– Label jars and enjoy.

You can also follow me on Twitter @goosesgoodies