Apologies for non-yarn related blog post however I wanted to record the steps involved for canning carrots while visiting my in-laws in 100 Mile House, BC This Canadian Thanksgiving, October.
Lorraine is my husband‘s mother, my mother in-law, and she has vast experience in canning items in her home. A couple years ago she allowed me to participate during the canning of beets, but to be honest, I remember very little. Hence This blog post it will be an attempt to record all the steps so that at some future time I may be able to do this sometime on my own.
This pot is called a water bath canner and it’s best to be used with items that are high acid.
OK, so the first thing we did is we took the new jars out of the packaging took the adjustable rings off and remove the lids and soap and water wash the jars and the rings now they are drying upside down in the dish rack. The canning lid part with the seal was put on the side as they came with jars with new versions on them. We actually are using six store-bought jars and one jar that had something else in it previously. The oven has been turned on to warm up the pot full of water and the water is at the first line mark on the side of the pod. Lorraine is using a kettle to further add hot water soon.
Now we are going to prep the carrots by peeling them and cutting them. You measured the height of the preferred cut of carrots so that when they are demoed in the jar ahead of time, they are not restricted by the neck of the jar.
Today’s recipe is also using garlic, so I will include a picture of the prepped garlic
The rings for the canning jars have been removed from the dry rack and placed on a paper towel on the counter on the side and separately a small sauce pan with water has been added, which will be boiled and the ceiling portion of the canning jar, the inserts Will be boiled slightly to semi sterilize them before we put them on later
In the canning pot water level was just beneath the wire rack when it’s in the top most position the jars were placed upside down from the drying rack where they were clean and placed in the raised rack at which the inner wire rack was lowered to help sterilize the jars it’s OK if they slightly turned to the side the lid was then partially placed on the canning pot
has the recipe requests 8 cups of of liquid 4 cups water 4 cups vinegar Lorraine feels due to experience. She is going to use a lot less so what we use this time was.
Now for the recipe to begin in a 3rd pan
2 cups water 2 cups vinegar with a quarter cup of sea salt was added to a separate sauce pan.
On the stove top, the recipe is placed and will come to a boil.
Separately, the small sauce pan for the inserts will just be warmed up so the ceiling ring will be gummy. The canning jars are now raised with the wire insert out and up. Jars are flipped with tongs and an oven and placed open side up on a heat protected surface.
Pack carrots into the jars tightly first, let’s put some dill at the bottom of the jar . On the bottom of each jar, we put a quarter teaspoon of dill weed. Lorraine further prepped the garlic into smaller pieces the recipe says to add some garlic at the bottom of the jar and then it says to add some dill flower. Pack the carrots into each jar top with some more garlic and some more dill. After packing each jar, we use the recipe liquid to submerse the carrots fully by pouring the liquid in the jar. We underestimated how much liquid so had to further add half cup of the vinegar and half cup of the water with salt to finish the last jar.
Now prep your jar rim with a paper towel dipped in the hot water and just quickly swipe the very top rim of each jar to make sure it’s completely debris free
Now for the canning inserts, they are warmed up in the boiling water to sterilize them prior to placement i’m using tongs when softened each insert is placed on each jar and the closing ring is tightened hand tight. That jar is finished and is placed in the raised canning pot wire insert until all the jars are in the insert and then the insert is lowered into the still medium temperature water, and the water then needs to be added so that it covers the jars so we used boiling kettle water to further add water above the level at the top of the jars ensure an inch above boil for 20-30 minutes
Once the jars have been boiled. Transfer to dish towel lined countertop as they cool the inserts will or should suck down with a pop. Dry off the outside of each jar and leave overnight to cool. Now can be stored for years presumably.
