Canning 2009 - Round 1

John and I completed Round 1 of our annual canning. We purchased a full bag of roasted extra hot chilies this year from Wagner's. Processing those (removing skins and most of the seeds) took about two hours and resulted in 9 cups that we used in our salsa recipe, plus 26 cups we froze for future use. We canned 11 pints of very hot salsa and 2 quarts of dilly beans.

This year we did the actual canning in the front garden. We simply connected the grill's propane tank to our camp stove. While researching pressure canning for future projects, we stumbled on a notation about water bath canning on ceramic and flat glass cooktops that basically said we'd be risking cracking our stovetop. We can't seem to remember if we had the new stove during canning last year, but if we did, we got lucky. I actually preferred doing the process outside - it kept the house a lot cooler.

Much of the salsa has been allocated away as gifts. We figure we will make 2-3 more batches once more of our tomatoes come in. We will most likely try pickles again. I'm hoping to can some savory jellies, too. We've purchased a pressure cooker/canner and are planning to experiment in canning soup as well.