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Fruit Canning Basics |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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Posted: 14 September 2013 at 18:48 |
I seem to have misplaced my Ball Blue Book, but what I'm looking for is a way to can some huckleberries using the least amount of sugar possible.
Given those parametres, this most likely eliminates syrup and jelly. I don't really know the difference between jam, preserves and conserve, but I was thinking of simply filling the (half-pint) jars with huckleberries, adding maybe a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice per jar, then processing in a hot water bath for (fill in the blank) minutes. Not sure what this will result in, but it seems like a good way to go. Thoughts?
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Ball gives both a raw pack and a hot pack method. Cold pack is recommended for red raspberries and others which do not hold their shape well; hot back for those like blackberries, that do. I'm guessing you can hot-pack the huckleberries, but don't count on my guess.
For raw pack: Make light or medium syrup. Wash berries in cold or ice water to firm fruit. Drain. Pour about 1/2 cup boiling syrup into hot jars. Fill jars with berries. Shake jar to pack berries closely without crushing, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Add more hot syrup, if needed, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubble. Adjust caps. Process pints 15 minutes, quarts 20 minutes in boiling water bath. For hot pack: Wash, drian, and measure firm, ripe berries. Put into sauce ot; add 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar for eah quart berries. Let stand 2 hours. Cook until sugar dissolves and berries are hot through. Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. If there is not enough syrup to cover berries add boiling water, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Procxess pjhts and quarts 15 minutes in boiling water bath. There's also a method of canning them with no sugar, which Ball suggests is good if you're going to use the berries in pies. |
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Ron, there are technical differences between jams, preserves, conserves, marmalades, butters, and jellies. Primarily they have to do with the configuration of the fruit and the proportion of sugar.
For example, marmalades always include citrus in one form or another; conserves are usually mixed fruits (and other ingredients), jellies are made from juice, butters have a very high proportion of sugar, etc. At base, does it really matter in practical terms? |
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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PS: Do you need directions for the various strengths of simple sugar?
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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hi brook, and thanks for providing some great instructions.
if you would be able to provide some basic syrup info, i'd be grateful. the main thing i remember is a simple syrup which is equal parts sugar and water, but less is better, if possible, due to melissa's mild diabetes. no sugar would probably be best, but i can add a little if needed. thanks again!
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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I'll post all the ratios tomorrow, Ron, as I'm at work now.
1:1, which is how I was also taught, makes a heavy syrup; far more sweetener than you want for Melissa. A medium syrup is 2 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water---essentially 1:2. That sticks in my mind only because it's what I used with the apples. But there is both a light, and very light syrup, both of which use considerably less sugar. Keep in mind, too, that you can sub either honey or corn syrup for the sugar. While this doesn't effect the carb count to any great degree, simple sugars are easier for a diabetic (or anyone else, for that matter) to process.
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africanmeat
Chef Joined: 20 January 2012 Location: south africa Status: Offline Points: 910 |
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Hi Ron few things to remember . the best is 1:1 but you can do 1:2 . this is good rule for syrup and for jam . 1 sugar 1 fruit or 1 sugar 1 water . but remember longer you cook it sweeter it will be. i will do this. 1. for 1 kg fruit 1/2 kg sugar 1/2 cup water. put in a pot and bring to boil simmer and stir till it looks syrupy and it coats the back of the spoon . add 1/2 cup pectin and stir till thicken . ohh you don't have pectin . here is a recipe how you can make it. Pectin Ingredients: 3 pounds sliced, washed tart, green apples with peels and cores. Small, green, immature apples of most varieties work, too. 4 cups water 2 tablespoons of lemon juice Directions: Wash, but don't peel, about seven large tart green apples. Put them in a pot. Cut them into pieces Add four cups of water and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Boil the mixture until it reduces almost in half (about 30 to 45 minutes), then Strain it through cheesecloth or a jelly bag. Boil the juice for another 20 minutes, Pour it into sanitize jars, and seal them to store in the refrigerator or freezer . let me know how did it go . |
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Ahron
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Here, courtesy of the Ball Blue Book, are the various forms of simple sugar:
Extra Light (20%) 1 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/2 cups water. Light (30%) 2 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water. Medium (40 %) 3 1/4 cups sugar to 5 cups water. Heavy (50%) 4 1/4 cups sugar to 4 1/4 cups water. |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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guys, this is great information; huge thanks to both of you!
i'm glad i posted this, rather than simply going with my original plan - it sounds like i might have made a mess! due to the wealth of information you both have provided, i believe that i'll change the title to "fruit canning basics," or something similarly appropriate. ahron, i do happen to have some pectin here at home, but i want to try your formula for pectin when i get a little more experience with this type of thing.
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MarkR
Chef Joined: 03 February 2011 Location: St. Pete FL Status: Offline Points: 625 |
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Ron, here is the Ball online recipes if you wish another resource.
http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipes.aspx |
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Mark R
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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thanks, mark - i browsed through there and it helped come up with a plan.
at first, i thought we were just going to process the berries in jars, counting on them to swell and "explode" and then simply be some sort of quasi-preserves that could be used on toast or as a topping for pancakes, ice cream or whatever. after looking around, melissa decided she wants jam, and said not to worry about the sugar content. i did some measuring and found that we had just a little under 6 cups of huckleberries, so i will simply treat it as 6 cups. i then did a little googling and found a wild huckleberry jam recipe from the idaho department of fish and game: converted for 6 cups of huckleberries/14 half-pint jars: 1.5 quarts (6 cups) huckleberries 7 cups sugar 1.75 cups water 4.25 oz. liquid pectin. from there it is pretty standard: wash huckleberries, place in deep saucepan or pot with water, slowly bring to a boil. add sugar, bring to a hard boil, cook for two minutes. remove from heat, add pectin, stir for 3 or 4 minutes. pour into jars, process. i wanted to give the honey idea a try as mentioned above by brook, but 7 cups of honey is out of our budget today, so sugar it is. also, we have a small canister of powdered pectin rather than liquid, so with no real clue how to proceed i will try using the amount of pectin recommended on the canister (or until we run out), and if we end up with a "loose" jam, it's probably no big deal. the bottom line is that we should end up with something edible - hopefully.
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MarkR
Chef Joined: 03 February 2011 Location: St. Pete FL Status: Offline Points: 625 |
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6 cups of honey would have been way too much. There is a lot more sugar in a cup of honey than a cup of sugar granuels. I don't have a conversion for it.
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Mark R
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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yep, i'd tend to agree at first glance that 6 cups would be too much, mark - i don't think i'm quite grasping a concept or two; for now, the recipe above will have to do, because i just gave it a go. a) instead of 14 half-pint jars, we only got 9. i am guessing that the liquid pectin might have partially-prevented prevented this smaller yield. b) following the procedure above (adding the pectin after removing the berry/sugar mixture from the heat) is probably fine when using liquid pectin, but using powdered resulted in some pectin not being dissolved. the jars are processing now in a hot water bath. i am sure the final result will be quite usable, but it could have been a lot better; i'll try to apply lessons learned next time!
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africanmeat
Chef Joined: 20 January 2012 Location: south africa Status: Offline Points: 910 |
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Mark you are right .
General Rule: 1 cup of sugar = ¾ cup honey 7 cups of honey it will give you 9.3 cups of sugar
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Ahron
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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great information, ahron - i'll keep it in mind next time!
all things considered, i think we'll have somethin that is going to be "ok" here. it wasn't perfect, but i think it will be some good stuff - just not quite jam. but then again, it is some nice, thick, huckleberry-looking stuff that will probably end up being somewhere between jam and syrup - so it's all good!
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africanmeat
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good products good hands must be good.
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Ahron
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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I'm hoping so, Ahron - I think that it will be ok, just not quite "gelled;" more of a loose compote perhaps?
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africanmeat
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if so you must cook it longer.
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Ahron
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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I'll get a photo when we crack one open - it looks like it will be delicious on toast or pancakes!
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