Monday, April 25, 2016

Monday, April 25, 2016

What the Beck???

   Today, I will begin to take you through my second Sur la table class called "Canning and Preserving Workshop." This was another great class!!

     I knew absolutely nothing about canning or preserving.  My Grandma was a great canner, but I never saw her working at it. We just enjoyed the final product.  I loved her apple sauce!  Now, I need to find out which cousin has that recipe.

These are the jars we will be filling today

The jars will be picked up and placed 

into the pan of boiling water,

and then boiling water will be poured into 

the bowl of lids

I love this tool to lift and move the jars.

We all got to practice putting the jars in 

the "jar holder" in the bottom of the pan.

DILL AND GARLIC PICKLES

They put the sliced Kirby pickling pickles, 

onions, and salt "on ice" for three hours to chill.

We removed the covering off of the garlic and took 

the fresh dill and separated it into individual stems.

The jars were removed from the water,

and the tops could not be touched.

The flower wire is one type of holder for the jars.

This is a different type that actually attaches 

to the pan to load it above the water and 
then lower it to the bottom of the pan.

We gently added the dill, garlic and cucumbers into the jar,

and then put on the funnel.

This handy dandy funnel protects the lid as the brine is added

into the jars. We left 1/2 inch space at the top of each jar.

The jars are now ready to have the lids put on.

 The rims are wiped clean

 The lids and screw bands and not touched by hand 

as they are put on the jar. We used this amazing 

magnet to put them on the jar. The tool has a magnet release so once the cover is on the jar it lets it go.

So cool!!!

After this, we gently screwed the lids on and placed the jars back in the boiling water for 10 minutes. The jars are carefully removed and the lids are NOT touched. When you hear a pop - it means the jar is vacuum sealed. The lids should end up concave, or curved downward. Unfortunately, the pickles must sit in the jar for a week before they can be opened and enjoyed. These pickles are good in the canned jar for about a year.