Autumn is harvest season, why not make harvest season last a little bit longer and preserve it for winter. Canning is a great way to preserve our harvest and it also is a fun activity to do together as family. In our family we get together washing, peeling and preparing for canning. It is not just for grown ups children can be great little helpers. An added bonus is canned goods look great as a display in your kitchen and is also a great hostess or Christmas gift.
There are a lot of ways to can foods; it can feel overwhelming at first. As always, start small in the beginning. When you have got the hang of it then you can expand into larger batches or changing recipes.
The most important thing when it comes to preserving is that everything is very clean; good hygiene is critical.
Prepare jars for canning
Use standard Mason Jars making sure they don’t have any cracks
Lids (You should use new lids every time.)
Rings
Optimal to have
Jar tongs for lifting jars out of boiling water
1 large pot (at least 8-quart size or larger)
Large spoons and ladles
Canning process
Start with thoroughly washing your jars, either in the dishwasher or by hand. Sterilize jars in boiling water for 10 min. Let them sit in the hot water until you fill them with the hot item you are preserving. Let the lids be warm as well, but not in boiling water, need to be in hot water for 10 min before they are used.
After filling wipe off the rim and affix lid and ring.
Placed filled mason jars in rack in large pot for boiling for about 20 minutes
Remove jars and let cool
Vanilla preserved Pears
1 2/3 cups (4 dl) sugar
4 cups (1 L) water
1 Vanilla bean
3 teaspoon lemon juice
Firm pears
Wash and peel pears and core them, slice pears in halves. Put them in cold water with 1 pitch of salt. This is to prevent them from getting dark.
Combine sugar and water and bring to boil. Slice vanilla bean in half and put it syrup with lemon juice. Put the pears in the water and put them on a low simmer till they are tender. When the pears are tender put the pears in the jars. Bring syrup up to boiling temp. Pour syrup over the fruit in the jars till just about full. Wipe off the rim of the jars again and put on the lids.
Let jars cool without touching or bumping them. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center gently with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. You can still use it, put it the fridge or reheat the contents and re-jar it.
