When I was faced with a tree full of plums one Summer, I knew that I had to do something with them. Here is how I got into canning. There is something about canning that makes you feel quite accomplished in the kitchen! Probably because it is laborious yet easy to learn.
A Basic Canning Kit:
Large canning pot or a large stock or soup pot with lid Canning rack which will fit inside your pot, or the strainer insert for a large pasta pot Metal spoon Ladle Canning funnel (this is a funnel with a wide mouth) Paper towels Clean dish towels A dishwasher with "sanitize" and "heated dry" functions (if you don't own a dishwasher, another large stock pot or canning pot that you use to boil water in to sanitize your jars, lids and seals) One package of mason jars with lids and seals half pint or pint size to start One extra pack of canning jar seals (because some times the seals are bad) A timer Oven mitts or pot holders Jar lifter or tongs, but I really suggest a jar lifter! Depending on your desired recipe: pectin. (I don't often use this except for jelly)
About Canning: 1.)Use fresh ingredients and stay away from unnecessary preservatives if you can 2.)Check your jars, seals and lids for defects before you use them 3.)Only use clean sanitized jars, lids and seals. *You CAN: re-use your canning jars by washing and sanitizing them *You CAN re-use screw cap lids. *You CANNOT re-use seals. Use once, then discard. *You CANNOT re-use containers that once held store bought sauces, jams, syrups.
A Basic Recipe:
Plum Jam 3 lbs. Fresh plums (black or red) 4 cups granulated sugar 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
A Basic Water Bath Canning Method:
First wash your plums, remove any stems or stickers from the store. Place your sauce pot next to you and begin crushing the plums. I remove all pits, and every other skin. The skins are a bit on the sour side, if you add all skins your jam will be more sour, and if you removed every other skin, less sour. So that's up to you. I hand crush each and every plum and place it, and any juice in the sauce pot. After all plums are crushed add sugar and lemon juice. I use fresh lemon juice but you can use lemon juice concentrate if you are not allergic to sulfites. Store bought lemon juice has sulfur dioxide in it. I can't ingest that. Stir to combine and leave alone for 1 hour. The jam needs "quiet time". 80)
Then I get to work on readying the jars for canning. I figure that for this recipe I'll need at least 4-6 half pint jars. So I bring out 4-6 jars, lids and seals, plus a couple extra seals in case some are bad. I check them for any cracks or dents. I put them in the dishwasher and make sure I choose "sanitize" function. If you don't have one, wash them in hot soapy water and rinse very well. Set in a drying rack. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove and place the jars, seals, and lids inside for several minutes to sanitize them. Keep the jars, lids, and seals hot, leave them in the water until you are ready to fill them. I leave mine in the dishwasher once the cycle is complete and I choose heated dry so that they remain very hot until I am ready to use them. Don't put the seals or lids ON the jars, keep them all separate when you wash and sanitize them, you wouldn't want to seal an empty jar.
Once the jam has rested for an hour, I turn on the heat. I also get my canning pot ready with the rack inside it and bring the water to boil at this time. Bring the jam to a boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil for 16 minutes, or until the jam begins to sheet off the back of a metal spoon. This means the when you dip the spoon into the boiling jam and pull it out the jam runs off the back of the spoon in a sheet. You'll know it, when you see it. If any foam accumulates on the surface of the jam, spoon it off and discard it. Get your jars, seals and lids out. Put on an oven mit or use a pot holder to hold the jar in one hand, rest the canning funnel into the jar and using a ladle add jam to the jar leaving a 1/4" headspace. Headspace is the air space between the contents of the jar and the seal. You want to leave 1/4" there for expansion during the sealing progress otherwise your jar will, blow up! Wipe the rim of the jar to remove any jam, a clean rim equals a good seal. Place the seal on the jar, and screw on the lid. DO NOT tightly screw on the lid, just screw it to close it snugly.
Once I have the jars that will fit inside my canning pot (only 4 at a time) filled and my water is boiling, I use my jar lifter to place the jars inside it. Keep the jars from touching the sides of the pot and touching each other if you can. Boil jars for 20 minutes. At some point during the process you will hear an audible *POP!* That's your seals popping into place! That's good. Sometimes when I can, I don't get pops. When I remove the jars they'll pop or the seals will just go into place while the jars cool off. The only thing you have to remember here is: *Boil the jars for 20 minutes. *Press down on the center of the seal and see if it pops back up once the jar has cooled. Most likely it will not, if it does either the seal didn't take or is bad. Your jar is not safe to store this way. Re-boil it for a little longer or just decide to eat that jar first and place it in the refrigerator.
I let my jars of jam cool upside down for 30 minutes, then turn them right side up to cool the rest of the way, this will let the skin and chunks of plum settle in the middle, top and bottom, not just all at the bottom.
Once fully cooled you might notice a fine white powder on the metal lids. This is the boiled down minerals in your water like calcium. Don't worry about it, wipe it off but it might not come off. I store my unopened jars in a cool dark place for years. I open them one at a time and enjoy them year after year. Those that I didn't give away that is..I can't keep this plum jam in the house, everyone likes it so. But alas, my plum tree for the past few years has refused to give fruit so--no jam. But it was good while it lasted. Opened jars can be stored in the fridge for 1 month. Don't re-tighten lids. Just make sure they are not at all loose.
Now that you know the basic method, feel free to incorporate new recipes using the method here..one you know the method it's all down hill from there.
Orange-Watermelon BBQ Sauce (My Version of Todd's): Use the basic recipe from Todd and add 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, and the zest of one orange.