Canning cheese

I can milk, butter, and am going to can up yellow cheese this weekend. Can you can up cream cheese? I freeze it now, but it ends up crumbly when it defrosts. That’s fine if I’m using it in cooking instead of using sour cream, but I would like to use it in spreads, on toast, etc. I wanted to say how much I LOVE your two latest books! Thanks so much,

Pat C.
Holyoke, Colorado

So far I haven’t canned cream cheese or any other soft cheeses. Has anyone else done it? Let us know. I’m glad you like my books. Every four books sold puts one more sheet of sheet metal roofing on our barn! Big smile! — Jackie

Elephant garlic

How do I know when it’s time to harvest Elephant Garlic? Once dug up, what is the best way to prepare it for use? The flowers are gorgeous but I’d like to use it and not just look at it.
 
Jeff Ferguson
Gold Beach, Oregon

Harvest your Elephant Garlic when the leaves are starting to yellow and the bulbs have formed. Don’t let all the leaves yellow and die or the bulbs may split and cloves pop loose — sprouting will then often follow. Dig up a bulb when the weather is nice and dry. Clean it off gently and see if the cloves are fat and nice. If they are, your garlic is ready to harvest. Use a shovel or spading fork to loosen the soil and pull the plant up. Gently clean off the dirt and any loose wrappers on the bulb. Let the plants lie out in the sun and wind for a few hours then move them to an airy, shaded, dry location such as a garage, porch, or hayloft to continue drying. Remove tops and separate cloves if desired. Bulbs that have not been allowed to flower will be larger. As the flowering stalk arises, you can clip it off and use as you would a vegetable. It’s real good fried lightly!

Elephant garlic can be used any way that you would use onions or regular garlic, although it is milder. — Jackie

Storing brown sugar

I enjoyed your no-brain-surgery approach to canning that you presented in Dallas last weekend! I have a question about the best way to store brown sugar in my “long-term” pantry. I have packaged one 2# package along with 2# powdered sugar in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber. Now I have read that I’m creating an environment for bacteria that will cause the brown sugar to spoil. Yikes! If this is the case, have I wasted all that sugar (stored for 5-6 months), and what’s the best way to store it?

David Dodson
Jasper, Missouri

The way I store my sugars in my long term pantry storage is to leave it in its regular bag then pack the bags in 5-gallon plastic pails with gaskets. I’ve opened bags that were 10 years old and they were just like fresh. Sugar may get hard with improper storage but it has never spoiled (in my experience, at any rate). I sure wouldn’t worry! I store about three bags of brown and powdered sugar in gallon glass jars for relatively quick use (within a year or so), right on my kitchen shelves. I’ve done this for years and years with no problems whatsoever. — Jackie

6 COMMENTS

  1. I have canned cream cheese using the same directions you gave for regular cheese. I made a note in my canning notes that the 2 packages from the freezer melted better than the ones from the frig.
    This stuff is great – you don’t have to wait for it to soften up!

  2. I just bought your Growing and Canning book, plus your Pantry book, so that’s a half sheet of roofing for the barn! :D

    (And ‘Yay’ for Backwoods Home Mag for the free books they gave with each of yours! Made it much easier to make the decision to spend the money, and I’m sure it’ll be well worth it.)

  4. Brown sugar is white sugar and molasses and can be easily mixed. Rather than store a large amount of brown sugar it is much easier to store white sugar and molasses separately and then mix when needed.

  5. Sugar doesn’t spoil. It can get ants if it isn’t stored well, but it doesn’t spoil. That’s why jelly is preserved with sugar.

  6. From what I understand, straight-up sugar can’t actually “spoil”. It sucks moisture out of it’s surroundings so well that bacteria can’t grow.

Comments are closed.