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Sheena, there's nothing to be afraid of. You're an experienced cook and can follow instructions, right? You really don't even need any special equipment other than jars and lids; you can process acidic foods in a water bath in any old stock pot. Start out with something very easy and fool proof, like applesauce, to build your confidence. You'll be hooked in no time, and will spend your days wondering what you're going to can next.
I just scored a half bushel of peaches for $10 at an orchard. What shall I do with them, besides salsa? I was thinking about spiced peaches in an ultralight syrup, and/or spiced peach jam.
I would like to do canning but I have always been afraid of it. The health risks.
There really is nothing to be afraid of: if you use something that is pickled or with lots of acid like tomatoes, you just follow the recipe and use a hot water bath, this goes for jams and fruits as well. For non acitic vegetables and meats you need to use a pressure cooker/canner. I have gotten to the place, I only can what can be done using the hot bath. For veggies etc I depend on the freezer, same with pesto. There are a lot of cook books available on line. Give it a try, start small and you may get addicted like so many of us have. My parents did some canning and jam making, but not a lot, I started with jams the frist year I was married. I was pregnant during the summer, wasn't working, lived in a 1 bedroom apt and we could get peaches (not perfect ones) for about 3 cents a lb. Please do not ask what year, use your imagination. From there I graduated to other fruits, then tomatoes and eventually started canning with my oldest daughter about 25 years ago. We would can as many as 400 jars, now we are down to closer to 100 or a few more. I do some wihtout her.
I think I am doing something wrong doing my Spaghetti Sauce it should yiled 7 Quarts and I get like 12 Quarts .... it wants 11 lbs of prepared Tomatos which I do ,,,,,,, I dont understand . I am just worried that I dont have enough acid in it as it only calls for 1 Tabl of Lemon Juice...
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