A Prickly Pear Excursion

All along the roadsides here in North Central Texas you see a lot of prickly pear cactus.  In the spring/early summer they have lovely yellow blooms and in August/September they have red fruit that is ripe for picking, the darker the better.

The fruit or tunas as they are called are a gorgeous dark red outside and magenta pink on the inside.

A friend picked them last year and made jelly which is very popular and can be quite pricey.  So we set out early one morning about 8 am, before the temps went up, down a little used road and picked two 5 gallon buckets almost full.

Picking the fruit was the easy part, you have to use metal tongs and watch where you put your hands and feet.  Keep body parts away from the long spines on the cactus pads and definitely away from the little fuzzy dots on the fruit. 

Those dots have clusters of invisible hair-like spines that easily get in and irritate your skin.  We were careful but still got a few in our fingers.  Elmer's glue does a good job of pulling some out, tape will get a few but it will take a couple of days for the others to work their way out.

In order to remove some of those spines called glochids, we put some in a paper grocery bag and shook them.  It did knock some off, but being hair-like and invisible they kind of float in the air.  My friend did a second batch and rinsed them in water a couple times too to get rid of the glochids.

After last year's trial run and nearly ruining her tomato strainer, my friend invested in a Mehu-Lisa steam juicer.  This thing is worth any amount you pay for it.  She has juiced all kinds of fruits with little to no work.  As the steam did it's work and softened the tunas she used an old fashioned potato masher to squash them.  The skins can be tough and the insides have little rock-like and rock hard seeds that you don't want so the steamer made life so much easier.

The juice drains into a canning jar and is the most gorgeous color, a bright magenta just like a beet.  It was strained through a coffee filter before bottling to make sure we got all the hairy glochids out.

For my half which was about 4.5 gallons, I got nearly 5 quarts of juice.  This was pretty much an all day affair so my friend did hers the next day.  She said the fruit was much softer and she got 6 quarts from the same 4.5 gallons of fruit so we will be picking one day and waiting a day to make juice next year.

The juice is mild tasting and I'm told makes a wonderful mix for lemonade.  I'm going to be trying it in smoothies too.  I may also try a little fabric dying with it.

I love free food, don't you?  

(The small canning jars on the counter are bone broth my friend canned the day before.)

Are #10 Cans Too Big For You?

Sometimes I buy food in #10 cans, those big commercial size cans you occasionally see in the grocery store.  But unless I was throwing a party there is no way I can eat all that food before it goes bad, so I can it!

From 1 can of pork & beans I canned up 7 pints and enough to go with dinner left over.

I heated up the beans first and I added some water to make sure they were not too dense in the jars.  Then canned them according to the Ball Blue Book.  I actually added some ham to mine so I canned for 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure (low altitude).  I'll need to drain some of the liquid off when I reheat to eat them, but I thought this was a pretty good deal for $2.68, much cheaper than buying 7 regular cans.

How Long Does Home Canned Food Last?

Many people new to canning wonder how long the home canned food lasts.  The answer depends on a lot of things but most especially on how the jars are stored.

This is a half pint of carrots I used today in a pot of chicken & rice soup.  They have been stored out of the light which can deteriorate foods at a faster rate.  They have not been stored at an even temperature however, that can vary from 60 degrees to 85 degrees depending on the season because I don't run the a/c if I am not home.  If kept at 70 degrees in a dry and dark environment, I have no doubt these carrots would still be tasty and hardly discolored after 15 or more years, though there would probably be some loss of nutrients.

So how old is this jar?

Just over 5 years.  And they look and taste the same as the day I canned them.

Last week I used a jar of turkey that was 4 years old and it was perfectly fine and tasty and the cats will vouch that the broth it was canned in was tasty too.

My oldest jars are from 1998 when I was given a glut of pears.  There are only a couple jars left and the pears have turned a bit brown but taste just fine and their texture is still semi firm.

So if you can food properly and store it as best as is possible, it has a very long shelf life, longer than it would take most folks to eat it all up.  

Canning Hamburger - - Second Try - - Success!

A couple of years ago I canned some hamburger.  I fried it up, drained and pressed out all the grease I could and canned it in beef broth.  A lot of work for something I could not eat.  The texture was like cat food and it had almost no flavor even though it had been in broth.  I felt pretty much the same about the meatballs I canned in broth and they were used in spaghetti sauce.  At least the cats got a treat.

So I tried again after watching several videos on YouTube from folks that had the same experience I did.  They canned it without liquid so I did too.  It turned out MUCH BETTER!  

This jar was full when I canned it but processing compacted it.  I drained the meat but did not press out all the grease.  I used a 73/27 burger mix and I think a leaner meat would do better--but it was not on sale.

I opened one jar and made sloppy joes with it as it was and it was pretty good.  It would be better to re-fry it to crisp it up first and definitely do something with it that involves spices or flavorings as it is extremely bland.  I did not use any salt or any other spice when I canned it as I wanted it to be versatile.

This is something I will do again, it is perfect for sloppy joes, tacos, chili and that sort of thing.  

From 5 lbs of hamburger I canned up 5 pints of meat and 2 half pints of tallow.  The tallow can be used for frying things (not my first choice) or can be mixed with kerosene to be used in some oil lamps or can be used to make homemade soap.  

Fun With the FoodSaver

A while back I picked up an older model FoodSaver at the thrift shop for $2.  I used it to seal some mylar bags (with oxygen absorbers) of oatmeal and rice I had gotten on sale.

I recently found some Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills flours as well as some masa, wheat and unbleached flours marked way down at the discount grocery I frequent and I sealed the small bags in plastic that came on a roll.  

The larger bags of flour I transferred to quart jars and got to try out the jar sealers I bought a week ago on Ebay.  This was rather fun watching the plastic bags shrink down as the air was sucked out.

The flours from the larger bags each filled 4 quart jars and it could not have been easier.

These will be kept in the bottom of the refrigerator to help keep them fresh as I don't have a separate freezer.  

While the FoodSavers are rather pricey at nearly $100 to $175 depending on model, I highly recommend getting one.  The jar sealer attachments average about $10-12 and the roll of plastic I got which can be cut to size was about $8.99 at Walmart.  Keep checking your local thrift shops to see if anyone has donated one, they are much more affordable that way.  Also you can save your used canning lids if they are not bent for sealing stuff in jars rather than throwing them out.

I spent $24 for equipment and $8.99 for the plastic bag roll, 1 box of jar lids as I had no used ones $2.37, a pretty good investment for something I can use over and over.  The plastic bags like the mylar bags can be re-used, they will just be smaller.  The FoodSaver will also come in handy for sealing things I want to freeze.

Why Didn't I Think of That?

How did I never think of this?

It will only work with thinner books, but hey, I can use all the help I can get.

Slow Roasted Beef ~ On Sale!

In case you didn't know, one of the best ways to save money on groceries is to stock up when something is on sale.  I don't do much couponing because they are usually for processed foods I don't buy.  So I read the store flyers every week and decide where I will shop based on their sales.  

This week it was Kroger's and all because they had beef roast on sale for $1.99 a pound!  I can't buy hamburger that cheap.  I had been wanting to get some beef so I could can it.  $1.99 was too good to pass up.  There was one catch though, it was a limit of 2 packages with an additional $10 purchase.  Eh, that's ok, I can work with that.  So far I have been to Kroger 4 times in as many days, I may make one more run tomorrow before the sale ends.

So far I have 8 roasts ranging from 2.75 to 4.25 pounds.  I am slow roasting them in the oven so I get rich broth and very flavorful and tender meat.  I had a sandwich at lunch today and it was wonderful.

To slow roast you put the meat in a pan or pot, I use a glass, deep baking dish because it fits in my toaster oven.  (My regular oven does not work so I have a large toaster oven.)  I chop up a small onion and add that to the top & sides, liberally sprinkle garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper, add water but don't fill to the top as the meat will make more juice.  I don't have a lid so I cover mine with foil.  In the oven it goes as I go to bed, on 175 degrees.  It will slow roast all night and get taken out in the morning.  

This makes the richest broth you have ever seen and the meat just falls apart, even if it was the cheapest and toughest cut.  I'm pressure canning my beef and broth since I don't have freezer room and don't want to lose it if the power goes out.  It also makes for quick meals, just heat and serve without all the preservatives and msg.  Serve over noodles or rice with a nice side vegetable, just like Sunday dinner at Grandma's!

I can my meat in pints as I am just one person, that's at least 2 servings, maybe 3.  Don't pack it too tight in the jars and cover with broth.  You can drain it when you open it and make gravy from the broth for those mashed potatoes.

Always check the clearance section of your grocery store too, I picked up 12 containers of fruit fresh/citric acid for 59¢ each!  And 3 packages of pickling lime for 79¢ each.  You never know what you will find.  Today I got 4 cans of Campbell's tomato soup for 39¢ each because they had dents.  I will use those this week for lunches to go with a sandwich, pretty cheap lunches.

Beef Barley Soup

I made a huge pot of soup last week so on Sunday I canned up what I didn't eat.  15 pints!

And since I had room in the canner I did 1 pint of smoked sausage from the freezer.

I had bought 2 packages of soup bones with the marrow in the middle and I roasted those in the oven.  Then I put them in my big pot and added water and some beef broth granules since I had no meat other than the marrow. 

I added a huge chopped onion, half a head of chopped garlic, carrot chunks, celery chunks and 2 cans of stewed tomatoes.  Once it got going I added in barley and some quinoa.  Sorry I don't measure much for soups so I have no idea how much of anything, just til it looks right to you.  I added black pepper, parsley, a pinch of cayenne pepper and 2 bay leaves.  I also threw in several cubes of frozen greens juice and one of beet juice.  When it was nearly done I did a taste test and added some salt.  

By the next day the flavors melded and it thickened up a lot.  I scooped some out into a container and added water at lunch time, popped it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and it was tasty!  And filling!

On Sunday I took out the bones and put the marrow back in the soup and added water to thin it out to safely pressure can it.

Ready made soup without all the garbage in it and a perfect size for lunch or dinner.

The smoked sausage will go great with rice or fried potatoes & onions or in a gumbo.  It is about 3/4 of a package of the looped sausage.  Just cut in chunks and no added liquid.  The liquid you see is the fat from the meat.

DIY Simple Custom Labels

After all the chicken and broth canning I also canned up some fruit juice.  This is juice from containers from the grocery store but was nearly out of date or already past date I had bought on sale.  Raspberry and black currant.

And apple cider.  

You can easily can up foods (and juices) that have previously been canned or bottled for a longer shelf life.  Some veggies and fruit will have a mushier texture though, not a problem with juices.  I could have made jelly or syrup but I rarely use those so I just canned it up straight to use in my smoothie making.

While waiting for the pressure canner to do it's thing I was a bit busy on another project.  I made labels for some re-purposed non-canning jars.

I used some left over wall paper and scrapbooking paper, a sharpie marker, white glue and peel off labels (the kind I use for shipping labels).

Sorry, I forgot to take photos of the messy part.  I used white glue thinly applied to the back of the paper and pasted it down on the label.  You could use spray adhesive too.  Then I drew circles the right size for the jar lids.

I used one of these templates but you could just draw around anything circular including the jar lid itself.  I wanted my labels slightly smaller as the lids had indentions.

Wait for the glue to dry well or else they are a pain to use.  I found it easier to write on the label before cutting it out.

When you cut it out leave a tab to make it easier to peel the backing off.  (The shredded potatoes are some I dehydrated).

Once you peel the back off then trim off the tab and stick your label down.  I had one that might get wet while opening or closing so I coated the label and just past the edges with clear nail polish.

Great ways to save food or drink before it goes bad and to re-purpose jars and paper that might normally get thrown away.

Linking up at Frugally Sustainable.

Making & Canning Chicken Broth

Making your own chicken broth is incredibly easy and certainly tastes better than the store bought kind.  You have control over what goes into the broth.

I started with the broth left over from canning the chicken (please see previous post) but you can save the bones from your chickens and turkeys and use those.  Whenever you bake chicken just save the bones and stuff them in the freezer in a bag, when you have a lot then make broth.  All you need to do is boil them in water.  You can break the larger bones so the marrow comes out.  You can also add vegetables and herbs and spices of your choice.

Since I was using the broth from boiling all that chicken I had a head start.  I had also added onion, carrot and garlic to the pot.  At this point to make broth I added back into the pot the skins and bones, added a bit more onion chopped fine and some salt & pepper along with a bit more garlic.  I also had to add water.  I let it boil for probably 2-3 hours so that it reduced to make a nice strong stock.  

After I felt it was 'done' the bones and skins were removed with a big strainer spoon like you would use when deep frying.  Then I poured the broth through a colander so the broth went into the regular bowl below it, further straining out any bits of bone and skin.  

I don't mind if my broth is not perfectly clear or perfectly grease free, though there was hardly any grease in this batch, the chickens were not fatty at all.  I got 5 quarts of beautiful stock to make soups & stews or for cooking rice and noodles.

Linking to:
Barn Hop #75

Canning Chicken

I was just telling myself that I needed to can some more chicken next time it went on sale because I only have a few jars left on the shelf.  Then Tuesday I got the flyer from a local grocery store and they had chicken breasts on sale for 99¢ a pound.  Yeah!

I had Friday off from work so I got up early and stopped at Walmart to pick up some more wide mouth pint jars, I got 2 cases.  Then on to the grocery store to buy the chicken.

Each package had 4 large breasts, these are with bones and skin which makes it so much more flavorful.

Got out my big Anya pot (it was a gift) and put in water, 1 large onion chopped, half a bunch of celery chopped, 3 carrots sliced, 2 tablespoons dried sliced garlic and about a 1/2 cup of dried parsley.

Once that was boiling I added chicken, 8 breasts at a time is all the pot will hold.  Some folks like to can the chicken raw but I like to boil mine so it comes off the bone easily and so that it makes wonderful rich broth.

Once a batch is done I scoop out the chicken and plop it into a large bowl to cool enough for handling and add more chicken to the pot.  I bought 6 packages so I had 3 batches to boil, that's 24 chicken breasts and they were about a pound each.

Once the chicken is cool enough to work with I pull chunks off the bones and put in a separate bowl, the discard goes into it's own bowl for broth making later.

(before the broth was added)

Once everything is ready to go for the canning I add a teaspoon of salt to each jar and stuff it full of chicken leaving about an inch of head space, then using a cup and funnel I add hot broth to cover the chicken.  Wipe the rim of the jar with a paper towel or cloth and vinegar to remove any residue, add a lid and ring and into the pressure canner they go.

I can get 8 pints in my canner if they are the regular mouth jars, but with wide mouth I can only do 7 at a time.  Process at 10 pounds pressure for 75 minutes for pints.  I got 21 pints and a small bowl left over to make chicken salad with, this worked out to $1.40 per pint of chicken.  Broth is next on the list!

I use pints as they are the perfect size for me, a larger family would probably call for quarts.  I use this chicken for chicken salad and a plethora of casseroles, skillet meals and stir fries.  Tastes better than the chicken in cans and works out cheaper too if you can get the chicken on sale.   Yes I might spend an entire day canning, but I have the makings for many good home cooked and fast meals that don't take up freezer space and won't ruin if a hurricane knocks out the electricity.

Linking to
Scratch Cooking Tuesday
Barn Hop #75

How To Accidently Clean Your Pressure Canner

I don't know about your pressure canner, but mine turned dark inside the first time I used it due to the hard water here.  About a month later I read to boil milk in it before using it and that would not happen.  I'm not sure if that really works since I was past that point by then.  Then I read after lo these many years to add vinegar to the water when you can.  That helped the jars to not have the white fogging from the minerals but didn't do a thing for the canner.

Then something fortuitous happened, one of the jars of peaches I was canning broke.  Yes, I lost a pint of peaches but a happy accident occurred.  You can see the dark ring in the photo above and the pretty and bright bottom part below that ring.

Wow what a difference!

The other piece that goes inside used to be totally black, it looked like it had been through a fire.  

Not any more!

Here's what happened:  I added a couple glugs of vinegar to the water in the canner before adding the jars.  The peaches had been sliced into a bowl with sugar and 'fruit fresh' sprinkled over each layer and they had been in the fridge overnight so they could make their own juice.  After warming the peaches and adding a bit of water I canned as usual.  

On opening the canner I could see the jar in the center had broken so ignored it and took the others out.  It was late and the canner was hot, so I went to bed and left the broken jar and stuff in the canner.  

I had to work the next day and didn't feel well so it sat another night.  After work the next day I pulled the broken glass out and scooped out the peaches to throw out.  When I dumped out the water/peach juice I was amazed to find the canner looked like this. 

So, was it the combination of vinegar with the citric acid in the fruit fresh?  Did the enzymes in the peach juice have something to do with it also?  If anyone knows, please tell me, I don't want to waste a pint of peaches to clean the rest!

Linking up to Frugally Sustainable.

Sunday Canning

It seems to be I do my canning on Sundays and this past one was no exception.  I bought some lovely peaches at the grocery store for 99¢ a pound, a nice big bag full.  I also had some canned goods in the pantry that had been marked down due to dented cans and they needed to be dealt with along with the tomato juice left over from making salsa from canned tomatoes bought on sale.

This is 14 half pints of peaches and 6 half pints of pineapple.  I use half pints because there is only me here and it's a good size for eating right out of the jar.  The peaches I scalded, peeled and pitted then sliced into a bowl.  I usually add citric acid but was out so I used the juice of 3 lemons along with spoonfuls of sugar (whatever looked right, then I added more before canning as they needed it after tasting them).  Then I stirred them up so all the fruit was coated and covered to sit overnight in the fridge.  They made their own juice and just the perfect amount.

The pineapple was from dented cans that were marked down so I cut the rings into chunks and canned them in their own juice.  6 half pints.

The 4 pints and 1 half pint in the front of this photo came from dented canned of mixed fruit, mandarin oranges, a bit of leftover pineapple and some maraschino cherries I had in the fridge, canned in the mixed juices.  This was the last half pint jar so I had to switch to pints.

On the left are 2 quarts and 1 pint of organic beef broth, I bought 2 cartons at $1 each and it was past the sell by date, figured it was safer to can it that hope it survived in the carton.  The quart in the center back is pineapple juice from a carton, one that was past its date and was about to be tossed out at work.

The 3 quarts on the right are tomato juice mixed with some veggie and beet juice I had in the freezer.  These will be good for soups either hot or maybe some cool gazpacho.

Check your grocery store, Big Lots, etc. for marked down cans of  fruit and juices, dented cans are ok if you use them soon and sell by dates don't mean the food is bad.  I'm going to a store this weekend that stocks just this kind of item and this week's special is Jimmy Dean sausage, 1 lb rolls, 4 for $5.  I intend to put some in the freezer until I can get more wide mouth jars to can some.

Linking up at

http://frugallysustainable.com/

How Old Is That Ball Canning Jar?

If you are like me you may have inherited a few vintage canning jars.  Or perhaps picked some up at thrift shops or yard sales.  Want to know how old they are?

Here's a handy chart on how to tell the age of Ball canning jars.

Click the picture to make it bigger.

Salsa Verde & More

Yes I've been canning salsa again.  I went through my first batch in a month, canned another and decided to can up all the tomatoes I had with another batch.  I got the large 28oz cans of no salt tomatoes at Big Lots for $1 a can, about the same price as those #10 cans as far as amount of product goes.  I think I had 9 cans here and they made 14 pints and a quart.  I added my usual chopped onions, jalapenos, garlic and spices of salt, pepper, cayenne and cumin as well as some fresh squeezed lemon juice and chopped fresh cilantro. I don't measure, I just go with what looks right.  The rings will be removed and jars washed & labeled.

And I have 2 quarts of tomato juice left over from it in the fridge too.

And I tried something new, Salsa Verde, made with tomatillos.  I added pretty much the same ingredients as with the red salsa.  Salsa verde is usually mild and goes well with chicken dishes.  I got 9 half pints from 2 pounds of tomatillos.

And lest you thing I've started canning lemons too....I didn't.  That quart jar to the right is my lemon rinds and a grapefruit rind sitting in white vinegar.  Just stuff the rinds in and cover with vinegar, cap and let sit for at least 2 weeks and you will have some wonderfully scented and powerful cleaning solution.  I made some before with orange peels, any citrus will work.  I put that batch in a spray bottle and it works very well for cleaning and getting rid of odors in the cat box too.  And the best part (beyond the fact that it is dead cheap) is that it has no nasty chemicals in it!

So that's how I spent my Sunday.  I think I must have preservitis, no known cure either.

Linking to Frugally Sustainable

Peaches for One

Peaches!  The very word conjures up the scent of Summer.  It feels like Summer here lately, all week it has been humid and getting up to 92 each day.  Normal for TX but I was certainly enjoying Spring and not ready for Summer yet. 

Anyway, I picked up a large bag of Georgia peaches last weekend at a good price and peeled and sliced them into a large bowl.  Sprinkled with sugar and fruit fresh (to keep them from turning brown), then popped in the fridge to keep cool.  After sitting overnight the sugar and the peach juices combined to make a syrup all by themselves.

I ate some and canned the rest before they went bad.  I have 5 half pints of sweet goodness, the perfect size to open and eat as a treat.  

I may pick up more if I find them at a good price again.

*

The nice thing about peaches and all fruits is they are acidic enough that you can process them in a boiling water bath rather than the pressure canner.  I didn't measure or make a syrup for my peaches but here are 2 charts on making syrups in case you are interested.  You can also just can them in water if you choose.

And here's a timetable for water bath processing.  If you are at a high altitude this may be different so I recommend getting more info from your county extension office or pick up a current Ball Blue Book - the canning section at Walmart is a good place to look.

There are lots of tutorials on water bath canning on the internet, a quick search will find you hundreds.  Quaint as the old canning books are, please use current standards to avoid any problems.  Oven canning is no longer approved of by anyone to be safe.  Some processing time changes have been made as well.  Always it is better to be safe than sorry.

Frugally Sustainable

Weekend Canning Totals

Here's some of the canned goodness I put up this weekend.

I ended up with a 3 day weekend since Monday's jury duty was cancelled.  Not to waste the extra time off I got busy.  These jars still need to have the rings removed and be washed but I was too tired tonight, after all tomorrow is another day!

Totals for the weekend canning spree:

21 pints of salsa

5 half pints of bacon grease

8 pints of ham

7 pints of vegetable soup (leftovers in the fridge plus 1 jar of salsa added)

9 half pints of yellow wax beans with new potatoes

Do any of  you have one of these?

These cheap netting type splatter covers that you use in the microwave have a great new purpose!  They are perfect for straining oil or grease for reuse.  I used mine to strain the bacon grease and it did a superb job.  Just lay the cover slightly dipped in a 4 cup measuring cup and pour the grease in.  Fast & easy clean up too, a little dish soap and scrub it against itself and it's done!  They are about $3, found this picture of one on amazon so they are still available.

Canning Salsa Tutorial

I'm canning up salsa again because it's so good I am eating 1 to 2 pints a week, plus I need to use up the canned tomatoes I bought at Big Lots.  

I'm not much of a real 'recipe' person so amounts can easily change depending on your taste.  You can certainly add or subtract ingredients as you choose.

Canterbury Cottage Salsa Recipe

11 - 28oz cans of tomatoes

2 - large onions

1/4 cup garlic powder

1 tsp white pepper

1 Tbsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1/2 teacup lime juice
1 - 54oz. container of sliced jalapenos, drained

2 bunches fresh cilantro chopped

The tomatoes I used were whole so they were whizzed in the food processor along with the chunk cut onions.  They did not all have basil.  You can easily use fresh tomatoes that have been skinned or canned that are diced although unless you like really smooth salsa I do not recommend tomato puree or crushed tomatoes.  You can also use the #10 cans of tomatoes.

The food processor was bought at Goodwill almost 20 years ago for $12!

The tomato and onion sauce was poured into my big Anya pot (Anya gave it to me) to start heating.  

The pot is just over 1/2 full.  This is when the seasonings were added, no salt as the canned tomatoes have that already, if using fresh you will probably want some.  The canner has the jars in it already, I fill them with water and heat in the canner before using.  They have already been through the dishwasher for scalding.

The lids are also heating in a small saucepan so the rubber can soften.

At this point the limes were squeezed.

 I had some key limes in the fridge from making guacamole last week and needed to use them up.  They made about 1/2 a teacup full.  You can certainly use bottled lime or lemon if you want or leave it out totally.  My last batch did not have any.
I used a lot of jalapenos but you can adjust that to your taste.

At the last I chopped 2 bunches of cilantro and stirred them in, I didn't want it to cook and be dark mush.  The salsa is only just heated, not cooked.

One by one the jars are pulled out of the canner with canning tongs, water dumped and 1/2 tsp of citric acid added to the jar, then I add the salsa.  These are pint jars, slightly larger than you would buy in the grocery store.

Fill to 1/2" of the top, wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth and put on a hot lid then screw down the ring tightly.  Place filled jars back in the canner and keep going.  When your canner is full, mine holds 8 pints at a time, process for 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure for pints.  You can water bath tomatoes also but it heats up the kitchen.  3 pots of boiling water or food will do that.

And there they are after the pressure goes down and I can open the canner.  Lift out with canning tongs and set on a folded towel out of a draft.  Then listen for the best sound in the world, the pop of a sealing lid!   I got 21 pints from this and a teacup full of leftover.

If after they have cooled you have any that didn't seal, store in the fridge for using soon.  Let your jars sit until the next day when you can remove the rings and wash the jars to make sure you have no food particles stuck to them, also a little vinegar in the wash water helps if you have hard water.  I also now add a little vinegar to the canning water, it keeps the mineral deposits to a minimum.  Label and date and store in a dry cool place.  You will want to store these someplace easily accessible as you'll be wanting to try salsa on everything.

Always check your canning guide/blue book for times and temps and jar sizes depending on what you are canning and at what altitude.  I've been canning for years but still double check every time.

I'm linking this post to the Homestead Barn Hop at Homestead Revival!  Check out the hop for more great articles!