Tag: Water Bath Canning

Honey Spiced Apple Butter
Preserving · Recipes

Honey Spiced Apple Butter

Sarah

Apple butter is to me what Fall is made of. Apple harvesting and spices filling the house.

This apple butter is cooked in apple cider, to deepen the flavors and is lightly sweetened with honey.

Recipe adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Honey Spiced Apple Butter

Ingredients:

  • 6 pounds apples,  peeled, cored & sliced
  • 2 cups apple cider
  • 1 cup raw honey
  • 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into a slow cooker (used a 6 quart Instant Pot with a glass lid). Cover and let cook on high for 6 hours, stirring every hour or so.

Mash up well, and test for thickness by mounding on a large metal spoon. If it is still too thin continue cooking but leave the lid off until as thick as you like.

Meanwhile, when the apple butter is nearly ready place 5 pint jars in a canning kettle. Fill jars up with water, and the kettle about halfway full. Bring to a boil.

Add the lids and rings to a small pot, bring to a simmer.

Sterilize a canning funnel, ladle and air bubble popper in the hot water in the kettle.

Drain the jars into the kettle, place warm jars on a clean kitchen towel.

Fill with hot butter, leaving a ¼” headspace.

Run the bubble popper in each jar.

Wipe the rims with a new damp paper towel.

Place a drained lid on each jar, then finger tighten the rings.

Place the jars into the kettle, lower the rack in. Make sure the jars are covered with water.

Bring to a boil, process for 10 minutes.

Remove the jars, let cool on a towel covered rack.

Remove rings, check that each lid is flat and sealed.

Mark contents on lid, use within a year.

Makes about 5 pints.

~Sarah

Lower Sugar Pepper Jelly
Preserving · Recipes

Lower Sugar Pepper Jelly

Sarah

There is nothing quite like handcrafted pepper jelly, spread on a sandwich in winter. It adds so much depth. Using Pomona’s Pectin, and based off their recipe, you can make a lower sugar version quickly. Pomona’s Pectin can seem at first to be a bit harder to use, but after a few canning sessions you won’t ever want to go back to the other brands. More so, one box will often do 2 batches of canning, and it lasts forever in the pantry. This pectin has no preservatives, no added sugars and you don’t need 7 cups sugar to make a small batch of jelly! (Also, you can use honey to make jam with it.) No more need to buy super sweet $7 a jar pepper jelly in delis. And you know exactly what has gone into it.

Lower Sugar Pepper Jelly

Ingredients:

  • 1 large green bell pepper
  • 1 large red bell pepper
  • 2 to 4 Jalapeños
  • 2 2/3 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 4 tsp calcium water*
  • 4 2/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Pomona’s Pectin

Directions:

Add 7 12-ounce mason canning into a water bath canner. Fill jars with water and the pot about halfway. Bring to a boil.

Add the bands and new lids to a small saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a simmer.

Wash the peppers. Remove seeds and discard. Finely chop all peppers. Measure 1 cup green bell, 1 cup red bell and 2/3 cup Jalapeños (How many you will need depends on size. Try to buy large ones.)

Add to a large non reactive stock pot (stainless steel is best). Add in apple cider vinegar.

Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Measure 1 cup of the sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into the cup of sugar. Set aside.

Add calcium water, and mix well

Add pectin-sugar mix, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

Add remaining sugar once pectin is dissolved. Stir well and return to a full boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.

Drain canning jars, place on a clean kitchen towel. Sterilize ladle.

Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean with a new damp paper towel. Place a drained lid on each jar, screw band on finger tight.

Place filled jars in canning pot, lower rack in. Make sure the jars are covered with water. Bring to a boil, and maintain boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level).

Remove jars from water. Let jars cool on a clean kitchen towel. Remove bands and wash, check seals on jars; lids should be sucked down.

Consume within 1 year, once opened eat within 3 weeks. Jelly should sit for a few days/week before eating, as Pomona jelly/jam can take a bit longer to fully set up.

Note:

You can use whatever size mason jars you have on hand. I had about 5¼ cups jelly to can. Your amount may vary on how much your mixture cooks down while simmering. You may get more.

*To make the calcium water, follow the directions in the Pomona package. It is the smaller of the two packets in the box. It keep nearly forever once mixed with water in your refrigerator.

~Sarah

Canning Boozy Huckleberries
Preserving · Recipes

Canning Boozy Huckleberries

Sarah

Our land has been generous to us this summer – in giving red and evergreen huckleberries to forage. Gathering 6 cups worth is a lot of effort to say the least, so I wanted my project to be worthy of the time I invested. And there is nothing quite like infusing wild berries into a sugar syrup, heavily infused with brandy. They need to sit for a few weeks before enjoying, but are amazing over ice cream or in drinks. They are alcoholic though, so adults only!

Boozy Huckleberries

Ingredients:

  • 6 to 8 cups huckleberries*
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 7 Tbsp+ brandy

Directions:

Add 7 half-pint mason jars to a canning kettle, fill about half way full of water, bring to a boil.

Add the lids and rings to a small saucepan, fill with water and simmer.

Follow the directions in the notes on cleaning the berries.

Add the sugar and water to a large stainless steel pot, bring to a  boil.

Add in the berries, gently stirring in. Let return to a boil, turn to medium-low and let gently simmer for 5 minutes to heat the berries.

Take the hot mason jars out, drain and place on a clean kitchen towel. Sterilize a canning funnel, ladle and air bubble popper in the hot water.

Ladle out the berries, draining off the liquid and divide between the mason jars equally.

Pour a generous Tablespoon of brandy on top of the berries in each jar.

Add the hot syrup to the jars, and releases air bubbles running the bubble popper through each jar, leaving a ¼” headspace at the top, topping with more syrup as needed.

Take a damp new paper towel, and wipe the rims. Place on a canning lid, and a canning ring, securing finger tip tight. Place the jars into the rack, lower into the water in the canning kettle. Make sure the jars are fully covered by water. Return to a boil, process for 10 minutes at a full boil.

Remove from pot, let cool on counter on a dry kitchen towel. Once cool, check lids are flat and sealed. If not, store in refrigerator, use within 2 weeks.

Store in a cool, dry and dark area, use within a year for best results. Once opened, use up in 1 to 2 weeks time.

Makes about 7 half-pint jars (8-ounces).

Notes:

*You can use fresh or frozen berries. As they are so small, I collect and freeze them in advance. I sort through them to remove any duff and stems, then rinse the frozen berries in a colander. Fresh, do the same.

As for the amount, the more berries the better, but use what you have!

Spiced Honey Apple Butter
Homesteading · Preserving · Recipes

Spiced Honey Apple Butter

Sarah

In the Pacific Northwest the end of summer and September brings apple season.

If you don’t have trees, ask around. You’d be amazed how many people don’t want their apples and will happily let you glean the trees for free.

I had just picked a bunch of apples, off an ancient tree, that tend to be very tart. Great for making apple butter! The cook down quickly and take on the spices added in.

Spiced Honey Apple Butter

Ingredients:

  • 8 pounds apples
  • 4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups raw honey
  • 4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • 8 pint mason jars with rings and lids

Directions:

Wash and dry the apples. Peel apples, quarter, and core.

Place the apples into a large stockpot, preferably stainless steel, with 4 cups water.

Bring to a boil and cook until apples are soft, mashing often to break them up.

Add sugar, honey and spices, stir until boiling, then lower heat to medium. Let cook, stirring often (tip: wear an insulated glove while stirring, the apple butter can and will spit at you). When the apple butter is looking thickened, and mounds up on a spoon nicely, it is ready to can.

Meanwhile, wash and rinse the jars; put them into a canning pot; cover the jars with water and bring to a boil; turn off the heat. Let stand in hot water until you are ready to fill.

Add the bands and lids into a medium saucepan, fill with water and bring to a simmer, let sit until you are ready to screw them on the jars. (Use new lids each time, bands can be reused.)

Grab a jar with a jar lifter, empty the water out of your jar, set on a clean kitchen towel and fill to ¼” of the top (a sterilized canning funnel works great) with hot apple butter. Use a canning bubble popper to run around the inside, add more butter if needed.

Wipe the rim with a new damp paper towel, removing any spilled butter, especially on the rim.

Place a lid on top and tighten a band around each jar. Repeat till all jars are full.

Place the jars into the canning pot using a jar lifter, using the canning rack to lower in. Make sure all jars are upright and that jars are fully submerged, with at least 2″ of water above. If not, add some of the hot water out of the pot that held the lids. Cover the pot and bring to boil.

Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Turn off the heat, take out carefully using a jar lifter. Have a clean kitchen towel on the counter, place each jar on it and let cool for at least 6 hours, overnight is better. Listen for the “popping sound” and keep track of how many times you hear it. Check after cooling that the lid is firm when pressed on, if it pops up and down, it isn’t sealed. If that happens, refrigerate that jar and use within a couple of weeks.

Once cooled, mark the lids, and store the jars in a pantry out of direct sunlight for up to 12 months. Once opened, store in the refrigerator and use up within 3 to 4 weeks.

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Canning Dandelion Jelly
Homesteading · Preserving · Recipes

Canning Dandelion Jelly

Sarah

Right at the end of the Spring bloom, the first crop of Dandelions have nearly disappeared (oh, they will come back!), so I set the youngest outside to pick a bucket for me. This jelly’s hardest work is the picking, and then stripping of the flowers, but it goes fast. Although you might have green and yellow fingers for a day!

Dandelion Jelly

Ingredients:

Infusion –

  • 3 cups tightly packed fresh dandelion flowers
  • 4 cups boiling water

Jelly –

Directions:

Infusion –

Pick dandelion flowers in the early morning. After measuring out, strip the flowers from the stems. Pop your fingernail under the bottom of the flower, pinching through to release the yellow flower parts. Discard as much of the green as you can. Make sure you only use flowers that are untreated, and not from near a road.

Measure and put in a heat safe bowl. Cover with the boiling water, cover bowl and let rest a few hours, or up to overnight.

Strain, using a jelly bag, gently squeezing to get as much liquid out as you can. Discard flowers in compost pile.

Jelly – 

Fill canning pot half full with water, add in 6 8-ounce mason jars. Bring to a boil. Place new lids and rings in a small saucepan, fill with water. Bring to a simmer. Sterilize a soup ladle and canning funnel.

Add dandelion infusion (if you are short at all, just use water to make the amount), lemon juice and pectin in a large stainless steel or non-stick stock pot.

Bring to a boil over high, stirring well.

Add in sugar, stirring to dissolve. Bring back to a boil, stirring often. Once at a hard boil, time for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Lay out a clean kitchen towel on counter, drain out the jars and place on towel. Fill each jar to within a ¼” headspace. Wipe the rims with a new, damp paper towel. Place a drained lid on each jar, screw on band. Place jars in canner, lower into water, making sure the jars are covered with water. Return to a boil, let boil with pot lid slightly ajar, for 10 minutes.

Take out jars, place on a clean dry kitchen towel. Let cool, check that all lids are flat (you may hear pings). Use within a year of canning, store opened jars in refrigerator.

Makes about 6 8-ounce jars.