Canning Stock, Jam and Tomato Paste
So, I’ve been busy canning lately. What? It’s the wrong time of the year! Yeah, yeah, I know late winter is not the time most people think of canning. However, I had things in the freezer taking up unnecessary room that were past their prime. Now they weren’t “bad” just not that great in a thawed state. For example, I had several bags of frozen fruit (and still do) that when thawed lost their structure. Also, my sister had been freezing chicken bones and veggie scraps filling her freezer. In addition to all of this, we both had many bags of frozen tomatoes from last year’s harvest.
With the weather not being great lately, this was a good indoor project to open up freezer space and add new things to the canned goods shelves. So I gathered my supplies, washed jars and got to work. First up was getting the chicken stock simmering on the stove.
My sister had thrown onion pieces, broccoli stems, cherry tomatoes, pieces of bell peppers, and celery. I added fresh parsley and thyme, a few bay leaves, black peppercorns, and let this simmer away for around 4 hours, I believe. After straining salt was added to taste, it was put back on the stovetop to simmer while I got the jars and canner ready. I was left with a beautiful, golden-colored stock that was delicious! This golden goodness was put in the pressure canner for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. I ended up with 10 pints and 5 quarts!
Next up was the jams. I did a batch of strawberry and mixed berry (blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry), roughly 5 cups thawed and crushed of both. The recipe is slightly different for both, but the cooking process is the same. To be perfectly honest, I adjusted measurements based on watching grandma make jam when I was young. If this is your first time then by all means follow the recipe to the letter.
Strawberry Jam Mixed berry jam
5 cups crushed fruit 5 cups crushed fruit
1/4 cup of lemon juice 2 Tbsp. pectin*
4 Tbsp. pectin* 3 cups sugar
4 cups sugar (add another cup for sweeter jam)
*The amount of pectin I used varied from written recipes based on how thick the crushed fruit is when cooking down.
The cooking process couldn’t be easier. Place the crushed fruit (plus lemon juice for the strawberries) in a saucepan, gradually stir in pectin. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
Add the full amount of sugar stirring to dissolve fully. Return mixture to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
At this point, fill your hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles ( I use a Kabob stick) and wipe rim of jar. Place lid on jar add the ring and tighten to fingertip tightness.
Place jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. At this point I turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars sit for 5 minutes or so before removing. Let the jars cool and seal on the countertop for at least 12 hours.
Making jam is really easy and actually a quick process!
The final project, which admittedly took a couple of days, was making tomato paste. I have never canned tomato paste but it was easy if not time consuming. The time spent reducing the tomatoes was longer than I anticipated.
After the tomatoes were thawed, they were run through a tomato press and sauce maker. A note to myself when doing this in the future is to drain off the water from the tomatoes. It will shorten the reduction time! A second note would be to increase the heat a bit more to speed things up. There is no need to worry about any scorching until close to the end of the reduction process. While the tomatoes were simmering I did add a couple of bay leaves, a large clove of garlic and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice.
The end product did not disappoint and smelled amazing! The canning process is straightforward and takes 45 minutes in a water bath.
A final thought. This project took quite a bit of time overall, but there was lots of in between time which I took advantage of to read, do things around the house, think about the upcoming growing season. And of course there is the bonus of extending the life of food I already had in a new form and not throwing it out. Remember, if it’s September or February or any other month, it’s always a good time to can!
