Home Preserving

This weekend at the farmer's market I bought several pounds of green beans and wax beans. Probably around 15 to 20 pounds. Then I spent all morning and part of the afternoon driving around Topeka looking for canning supplies. Several stores later I am the proud owner of a water bath canner and rack, a pressure steam canner, canning tools, 36 mason jars, lids, and bands of various sizes, canning labels, and two books on canning (Balls Blue Book Guide to Preserving and Balls Complete Book of Home Preserving).

The steam pressure canner took the longest to find. I also wanted a particular type of gauge. In case you don't know, there are two types of gauges available for pressure cookers or canners. The more recent are the weight gauges (these have a little dial on them that shows the pressure). The older style is the toggle gauge (this has a small piece that rocks back and forth based on the pressure). I really wanted the toggle gauge because there is less of a chance of an accident from the gauge flying off and I didn't have to watch it all the time. The weight gauge must be watched for the entire time it is being used and cannot be left for a second. The toggle gauge can be left as long as you can hear the rocking motion.

The steam pressure canner was necessary for this weekend's canning because I was canning low acid vegetables. Perhaps next weekend I can try using the water bath canner; which is for high-acid fruits, vegetables, pickles, and relishes.
Anyway, I spent several hours (in the middle of the night) canning the green beans and a few hours (during the day) canning the wax beans. Both use the same method because they are the same type of beans. I used a raw pack method instead of a heat pack method because I don't own a blancher and I was being lazy (having already spent 2 hours preparing the beans for canning).

Other things I want to can before the season is over includes:
Applesauce
cherry pie filling (if I can find cherries)
apple pie filling
salsa
diced tomatoes
jellies/jams
corn
vegetable soup

(sorry about the poor quality of the pictures. They are from my phone, maybe I will post some pictures from my camera later)