Canning juice
I got an off brand steam juicer this year, and it is working fabulously. My question is about canning the resultant juice. I am not interested in making jelly, as we don’t use much jelly throughout the year, nor adding sugar to it, as I find the combination of apples I use, or the plums I use, are sweet enough to drink with nothing added. Is it necessary to can it in some way, or can I just put a lid on it and let it seal? I assume I need to can it.
I have a pressure canner that can WBC pints, but is not large enough to WBC can quarts, which is what I want to put the juice in. I have seen on the Presto website that you can pressure can quart jars of apple sauce at 6 lbs of pressure for 8 minutes. Is this what you would do for the juice? I am at 1500 ft elevation. Would these numbers change if I was doing apples vs plums vs pears?
Chrissy Mullender
Luray, Kansas
No, you must water bath your juice; you can’t just put a lid on the hot juice and seal it. Personally, I’d buy a water bath canner or at least a large stock pot that will hold quarts. (I’m a bit confused. You say your pressure canner will can quarts of juice but not water bath them?) Usually if they will do one, they will do the other. Just don’t latch down the lid. I often just put a cookie sheet over mine without the regular lid.
It is recommended that thicker juices such as pear and plum be processed in a boiling water bath for a longer time (30 minutes) than apple juice which is thinner. At your altitude, you’d increase your time by 5 minutes. If you pressure can your juice, you’d increase your pressure by one pound. — Jackie
Grain mill
Our family planted some non gmo corn for making cornmeal. Could you tell me what kind of corn grinding machine you think is the best to use? I also need to know where to order it.
Carolyn Adcock
Wake Forest, North Carolina
Good for you, Carolyn! While I have a hand turned grain mill that certainly does corn, friends from one of our seminars gifted me with a wonderful Nutrimill electric grain mill. I’ve used it for both wheat and corn and I simply LOVE it. It, and the same hand turned mill I also have are both available from Emergency Essentials. www.beprepared.com. Have fun grinding cornmeal. Do remember that whole grains will become quickly rancid so I’d advise only grinding a few cups of cornmeal at a time or else keeping your cornmeal in the freezer. — Jackie
cptacek,
Wow, that’s a short canner! I’d either buy a water bath canner or do like Lisa and I have done and use a stainless steel stock pot with rack (mine is a Dollar Store barbecue grill round rack that fits in the pot) to water bath in. Pressure canning is okay for some foods but pickles, jams, jellies, etc. can’t be canned that way.
My first canner was a short one like you have, Chrissy. I just happened to have a cheapo, thin-bottomed stainless steel stock pot that my canner rack fit into. With the stock pot and rack, I was able to fabricate a water bath canner for quart jars.
I submitted the first question. It won’t water bath the quarts because it isn’t tall enough to get the 1″ of water over the top of them. Pressure canning them only requires a couple of inches of water in the bottom.
Jackie, I know exactly what Chrissy means about water bathing pints but not quart, because it is a problem of mine too. Yes, technically the quart jars will fit in the canner, but not with an inch of water over the tops of the jars.
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