Anyone here that still cans at home?

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

I do.

I wasn't raised with home canning. My dad was raised on a farm during the depression, and he had what he felt were bad experiences getting sick from home canned goods back in the 1930's, so he didn't want my mom to do it (and she wasn't raised with it either). When I got married, my husband taught me, as they grew and canned most of their own food growing up.

I do less and less, as kiddo is grown and gone, and we just don't go through as much food as we used to, but I still do some homemade freezer jams, and can green beans, beets, applesauce, pears, carrots, apple butter, salsa, hot pepper mustard (husband does that, the smell will kill you!), tomato juice, and we freeze peaches and blueberries, zuchini for soups,pepper, onions and celery for cooking, and apple cider. We grow everything we preserve, and it is a lot of work.

Anyone here ever been a big canner, or still do it?

tansy · ‎01-02-2011

No, I never canned food. My grandma would give us goods she had canned. My mother would come home and toss the contents, wash the jars and return them. We did eat her homemade bread though.

SouthernBee · ‎09-16-2010

@Mominohio : I would like to do something. Last few years just freeze peaches. Previously pepper jelly and basic jelly. I used the stove top canner. I am no longer able to move the canner from the stove to sink. When my mother and Bigmama were alive we would do more like corn, tomatoes, tomato juice. Southern Bee

fluffysmom · ‎03-09-2010

@Mominohio We used to. Now that there are only 2 of us we do about 10 items. I've never heard of anyone getting sick from home canned goods.It's a lot of work.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@SouthernBee wrote:
@Mominohio : I would like to do something. Last few years just freeze peaches. Previously pepper jelly and basic jelly. I used the stove top canner. I am no longer able to move the canner from the stove to sink. When my mother and Bigmama were alive we would do more like corn, tomatoes, tomato juice. Southern Bee

@SouthernBee

Those canners do get heavier every year! Some days I really have to psych myself up to get it done!

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@fluffysmom wrote:
@Mominohio We used to. Now that there are only 2 of us we do about 10 items. I've never heard of anyone getting sick from home canned goods.It's a lot of work.

In Ohio, back in I believe 2017, 20+ people got sick at a church pot luck from home canned potatoes used in potato salad (botulism), one died.

Canning is serious business and needs to be done correctly for sure, as the chance to get sick from it is very real. But it is a good way to know exactly what is in your food, and how it is prepared.

@fluffysmom

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@tansy wrote:
No, I never canned food. My grandma would give us goods she had canned. My mother would come home and toss the contents, wash the jars and return them. We did eat her homemade bread though.

That's too bad. It's a lot of hard work just to have it dumped. But when it comes to mothers and daughters, it could have been war for your mom to tell her she didn't want the food!

I know I don't eat others home canned food, I'm just too picky about how it was processed to take a chance. I also don't give it away, because I know people might do just what your mom did, and it's just too much work to have it tossed. My son will eat mine, and my mom likes a few things that I can, but those are the only people I have ever given it to.

AuntG · ‎03-09-2010

I canned tomatoes and pickles when I was a young adult and we had a garden at my family's home. My mom canned fruits and vegetables and no one got sick from improper handling.

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

When I was raising my kids I enjoyed doing it. Not anymore just 2 of us -- I barely go to food store anymore for "big" trips. Our eating habits have changed. Fresh vegetables, fruits & fish (for me) beef for him.

I do remember living in NJ with wonderful produce every end of summer my grandmother & aunts would can everything! We enjoyed those jersey tomatoes, green beans, corn, homemade pickles (sweet & sour) and jams all winter😋

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

I used to can A LOT; deer meat, as well as green beans, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, spaghetti sauce, pickled beets, chow chow, and cucumber relish.

I stopped canning 15+ years ago because we stopped raising a garden. We stopped raising a garden because of the power company spraying the right of ways around us. Despite being told their green spray that had a strong sickening odor and killed the vegetation it touched, was “safe”, we lost both of our healthy outside dogs to cancer within 6 months. We only do container gardening now; a few cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes, outside the back door, but plant nothing in the ground.

Canning is a lot of work, but saved us money years ago when our lifestyle was different, and gardening was easier. I cook differently now, and mainly for 2 people. I have learned new ways to save money on our food expenses, and have absolutely no interest in gardening or canning.

When my grandmother went into the care facility at age 97, we tossed every canned item she had into a dumpster. Many of the jars had broken seals, there were no dates on anything, and she used absolutely any type of jar she had to can in, so we never ate her canned stuff anyway.

For the first time ever, my mom has no canned food in her basement. I urged her to use up what she had, and it’s finally all gone.