Preserving Home Grown Fruit

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Kate Ellery, Jan 3, 2022.

  1. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    We got to it and bottled 15 jars of apricots yesterday,I process, hubs is in charge of the “cooking” process ( we use a pressure canner set up in-the shed ) use Ball Mason jars.

    . I have Weck brand jars as well however they can’t be or at least we’ve not had any success canning in the pressure canner , as the lid blows off despite have clamps o them.

    I’d normally” save” the Weck jars for when I buy pears but with the ongoing pandemic I can’t buy replacement lids for my BM jars ( just the flat disk part of lid ) .so I have to use them for the apricots.

    Giving the apricots
    a break today while waiting for more apricots to be “just right” for bottling because it quite a bit cooler we are waiting for the remaining fruit left on tree to ripen a little more which should be only a couple of days .



    We have the selected drying apricots reserved but sitting on the bench for a day or two to be just right for drying in half’s ( sometimes we dry as slabs rather than half’s ) but seeming our apricots are huge and mostly blemish free we thought we’d do them in half’s this year
    Intend drying 20 kg ( fresh weight ) which yields about 3-4 kg of dried fruit which we mainly use for snacks .
    Photos to come latter
     
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    Last edited: Jan 3, 2022
  2. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    The apricots we processed yesterday

    Our drying “tables” hubs made from old sliding screen doors are set up ready for action

    D08E367A-9CF9-4AB7-B3A0-5F8E1B78C86A.jpeg 6E06F823-439B-40E3-B1BB-984C8308C071.jpeg
     
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  3. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    Kate, I have some lids left over from last summer that I could send you but you would be through canning before they could get there. :) I wonder if I should order some more for myself now if they are hard to find. :confused:

    What's a weck jar?
     
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  4. Louise Miller

    Louise Miller Supreme Member
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    those appricot's look good enough to eat right now!! Yummy!!
     
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  5. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    The lids are available in the US as I could buy them Amazon however a $40 spend on lids will cost me approx
    $60 in postage . I believe the lids may be made in Canada ? ? I’ll look on the empty box I have to check .

    Weck jars have a glass lid and a thin rubber sealing ring @Shirley Martin
     
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  6. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    The pears in the Weck jars I did last year …They are empty now :)

    @Shirley Martin


    09FDD6C3-9455-42E8-934E-5F52A4CFAE01.jpeg
     
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  7. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    Kate, I've never seen them here. Are the rubber bands reusable?
     
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  8. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    They come I all shapes and sizes @Shirley Martin I made our Christmas puddings in a squat bubble shaped one.

    No the rubber bands are NOT reusable but they are pretty cheap ..like $3 for 10 .. I might be forced to change over to that brand
     
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  9. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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  10. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    They sound awfully expensive to use for canning jars.:eek:
     
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  11. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    They are no more expensive than ball mason jars if you buy them at he right place
    The big WECK ones like I used for pears are $6 each for a I Lt. jar. ( you would know as a quart jar in BM brand ) and that usually includes a rubber band and clips.

    Here the cheapest BM jars ( I used to be able to buy ) was at a variety chain store clothing / homewares it cost me $30 for 6 500 ml jars = $5 .00 each ( the smaller ones in photo)
     
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  12. Ed Wilson

    Ed Wilson Veteran Member
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    Here's a dumb suggestion from someone who doesn't know what he's talking about...could you reuse something like pickle jars for canning after the pickles are eaten?
     
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  13. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    No question is a dumb ?? In my opinion …. Yes my friend preserves in similar jars in the microwave
    I’m yet to try the method my dear friend supplied to me . I might try this afternoon



    @Ed Wilson
     
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    Last edited: Jan 3, 2022
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  14. Kate Ellery

    Kate Ellery Supreme Member
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    Our apricots we’ve put out this morning to dry .it will take about 4 days depending on how hot it is .
    We used to dry them in full sun but now days we find part shade is better result for softer dried fruit .
    This is 20 kg of fresh fruit .
    I was using this same method years before meeting hubs in 1986 . I’ve had so many ask me if I sell the finished fruit but it’s a no I keep them in-the freezer for our own use mainly for snacks
    3B605A09-4C47-4EB0-BD99-767CEC200064.jpeg
     
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  15. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Kate--do you leave them uncovered like that? Around here they'd be swarming with flies.
     
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