{"id":2389,"date":"2012-07-14T03:00:11","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=2389"},"modified":"2012-07-14T03:00:11","modified_gmt":"2012-07-14T07:00:11","slug":"q-and-a-canning-bacon-grease-strawberry-jam-and-using-green-apples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2012\/07\/14\/q-and-a-canning-bacon-grease-strawberry-jam-and-using-green-apples\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: canning bacon grease, strawberry jam, and using green apples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canning bacon grease<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wrote and asked you about canning bacon grease. You were gracious to answer my question and I followed the directions. I did not pressure can or hot water bath the bacon grease. All of my jars sealed and look nice. I shared this accomplishment with others on the BHM Forum. Someone asked if I pressured it at 10 lbs for 10 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n

I told them no and that I would ask you if it was necessary. I also want to make sure if I can just store the bacon grease on the pantry shelf with my other canned goods. It is dark and stays air conditioned during the summer and will shut off the heat during the winter. Any thoughts on if I need to change anything?<\/em><\/p>\n

Polly Henning<\/em>
\nJoelton, Tennessee<\/em><\/p>\n

I have never canned bacon grease, but just poured it hot into hot jars and sealed it with a hot, previously simmered lid. And I have never had it go rancid yet. I also use this method with lard with good results. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Strawberry jam<\/strong><\/p>\n

I made my (single batch) strawberry jam (using Certo pouch type pectin). At the end, I skimmed the foam and put it in a little bowl, filled and processed my half-pint jars. All sealed. That afternoon I saw the bowl had set up nice and firm. Today, I see that the jars didn’t set up. It sort of separated with fruity stuff on top and a clear red liquid below. The liquid is pretty runny. Where do you suppose I went wrong?<\/em><\/p>\n

Mary Ann Wycoff<\/em>
\nEmbarrass, Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n

This often happens with strawberry jam; it’s nothing to worry about — usually. It sometimes takes a week or so for the jam in the jars to get set up. The jam in the bowl is shallower and sets up faster. Once the jars are cooled and sealed it helps to invert the jars for a while so the fruit gets mixed with the jel — sometimes more than once during the setting up process. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Using green apples<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found a lot of dropped apples under one of my trees and brought them in. I would like to get them into my pantry but I am not sure if they can be used. Do you have any ideas? I don’t like the idea of just tossing them out.<\/em><\/p>\n

I also wanted to thank you again for the homesteading seminar in May. It was such a wonderful experience and I learned so much. You and Will are awesome teachers and I can’t wait to come to the next one!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sheryl<\/em>
\nNewport News, Virginia<\/em><\/p>\n

If these are under-sized green apples, tossing them into a compost pile is probably the best option. If full sized and green, you can dice them up, simmer them until soft, then press out the juice. Can the juice up and use it as a pectin helper to set jams and jellies. I use this instead of water to start fruits like strawberries, chokecherries, and blackberries to simmering when I’m making jelly or jam. They sometimes are difficult to get to set and the added apple pectin really helps.<\/p>\n

We’re so glad you liked our seminar. We haven’t had much response to our August one yet but keep hoping we’ll see more folks signing up. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canning bacon grease I wrote and asked you about canning bacon grease. You were gracious to answer my question and I followed the directions. I did not pressure can or hot water bath the bacon grease. All of my jars sealed and look nice. I shared this accomplishment with others on the BHM Forum. Someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}