I CAN't
Being the Domestic Diva (not really) that I am it's a mystery to all why I have never tried canning. Everyone I talk to says it's SOOOO EASY and nice to see all your pretty jars lined up and know that you have stored food for your family for the winter..what are we squirrels?!
Well I tried it. I canned yesterday. I ditched church (that's a whole other story) and spent the day in the kitchen canning and drying fruit. I made some Peach Butter. I cooked it in the crock pot and it took all day, from about 9am-6pm. It was easy but I had to keep stirring it and adding sugar and stuff to make it tasty. When all was said and done this is what I got:
That's it, 4. Four PINT jars of butter, not even 4 quart jars. Seriously?! This is what else I got:
A massive burn on my thumb from the steam
A fire on my stove, I'm talking a real fire with flames that were at least 7 inches high, I thought I was going to have to get the extinguisher.
A bunch of sterilized jars that will have to be re-sterilized because I didn't use them.
A raging mess in my kitchen, we are talking RAGING, I couldn't see the counter, there was not a clean dish in the cupboards, and there were peaches everywhere!!!
A product that took me 10 hours, looks beautiful, and could possibly still kill my family from botulism.
So next time I'll spend the 3 bucks on already canned peach butter.
Well I tried it. I canned yesterday. I ditched church (that's a whole other story) and spent the day in the kitchen canning and drying fruit. I made some Peach Butter. I cooked it in the crock pot and it took all day, from about 9am-6pm. It was easy but I had to keep stirring it and adding sugar and stuff to make it tasty. When all was said and done this is what I got:
That's it, 4. Four PINT jars of butter, not even 4 quart jars. Seriously?! This is what else I got:
A massive burn on my thumb from the steam
A fire on my stove, I'm talking a real fire with flames that were at least 7 inches high, I thought I was going to have to get the extinguisher.
A bunch of sterilized jars that will have to be re-sterilized because I didn't use them.
A raging mess in my kitchen, we are talking RAGING, I couldn't see the counter, there was not a clean dish in the cupboards, and there were peaches everywhere!!!
A product that took me 10 hours, looks beautiful, and could possibly still kill my family from botulism.
So next time I'll spend the 3 bucks on already canned peach butter.
Comments
On the other hand, I think that peaches, besides jam, aren't the easiest thing to do. And I kind of cheat because I have a food saucer machine that gets the skins and stuff off of tomatoes and apples, etc. and makes it SO much easier to can. And beans are really easy too, although you need to have a pressure canner for those.
But mostly, I'm sorry you had a bad experience!!!
I have also canned ground beef, pork, chicken, london broil, stew meat and ham. Skip the ham, it tastes of death!