Heading Home: Canning: An Update

Originally, I debated puting off my first attempt at canning until summer, when some sort of produce was in season and my co-worker could teach me how to do it. However, I rescued a lavander Bumbo chair from the landfill, and bartered with a soon to be mom to get some canning jars in exchange.

Bumbo Chair Rescued from Landfill

Jars which were bartered for Bumbo

I then found a bunch of apples for a very low price from a local produce seller. What do apples and canning jars mean to you? To me they mean apple butter. I had been buying a jar of apple butter from a local farmer every other week for about $4. Now we have our own stock for about $5 for 8 jars.
How do you can if you've never done it before and don't have any specialized equipment? First, you can only can certain things without a pressure canner. Since I used boiling water in a large pot usually used for brewing beer, I could only really do fruits, certain vegetables, and pickles. Since apple is a fruit, I was okay for using my canning method.

I found this You Tube video really helpful, although they have a bunch of equipment I don't have. Specialized canning tongs, for instance. Sheesh. Just use a big pair of tongs that are sturdy enough to lift the jars. Another site I found useful is the Food in Jars blog. She has tons of recipes and instructions on how to can. If you are lucky enough to live in Philadelphia and have some money floating around in your pocket, she also has courses which I hear are quite good. In fact, the recipe I used for my apple butter is from her site.