Got canning disasters? Or Freezing etc.?

I'm not at all thrilled with the canned apricots, and the pickles I canned are going out, maybe the chickens will like them.

I tried freezing zucchini like I do freezer cucumbers, no, nice thought but funny tasting.

-- Cindy (SE IN.) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001

Answers

I don't think I would can asparagus again it was kinda slimey, I prefer to freeze it now.

-- Cynthia (cynthiahemenway@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001.

Haven't had any luck with the freezer cucumbers, although we like them, and had them at a relative's house once. I probably won't try to can ham chunks in broth again, as it looks like a lab experiment! Works much better to just "dry can" the meat in the jar. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), January 21, 2001.

Oooohhh yes!!! Marmalade -- I'll never try to do it again. Came out liquid and disgusting. And then there was the fruit chutney I made two years ago -- yuck!!! From now on I'll stay away from those fancy magazine recipes and stick with what works. I do mango chutney that is wonderful -- got the recipe from my mother in law -- but everything I've ever tried out of those "women's" magazines always fails.

Not canning, but I learned a life lesson the other day -- fish fillets shouldn't be done in a crockpot. The first time in my entire career as wife/mother where I collected the plates from under noses (which were NOT complaining, but looked relieved!) and placed the cookie tin in the middle of the table. I felt I owed it to them.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), January 21, 2001.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had trouble with apricots! Can anyone tell me how to can them successfully? Good luck with the chickens Cindy. No self respecting chicken would touch my apricots.

-- Linda (wklkmorgan@ifriendly.com), January 21, 2001.

Even the chickens and pigs looked at my peach chutney with distain, as well as the fancy pickled peaches I did out of a magazine one year. Really yucky, what was worse was I was silly enough to give them as gifts before I had tryed them because my mom's had always been so good and they looked pretty in the baskets I was making.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

We freeze zuchinni, yellow squash, etc. but usually use it for bread, stew, soups, etc. It is kinda blah if you just defrost, heat, and serve...

Prefer to blanche and freeze my corn too now, instead of canning.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

Pickled green tomatoes. Only one other person would try them and she is from Georgia.

Strawberry plum "sauce" My husband likes it on pancakes and waffles. How come I still have more than Half a case of it? I guess we will have a pancake breakfast at this summer's family reunion s I can get my jars empty. Serve pickled green tomatoes, too.

The family already knows I'm weird and they love me anyway.

No more canned squash for me either.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001.

Canned hamburger mix for spaghetti, etc. It tastes worse than spam. Here's hoping that the chickens like it. annette

-- annette (j_a_henry@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

I'll second the vote against canned squash, zucchini to be exact. I've tried to can it, and freeze it, and have decided fresh is best. It's also not bad made into pickled relish, but no other way.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001.

Garlic pickles from hell, that made the yummiest relish chopped up, go figure! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 21, 2001.

Pickles. I will now leave all pickle canning to my mother and barter for a case. Mine could make "Aunt Bea's Kerosene Sweet Pickles" rate up like Vlasic.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

Years ago I made the mistake of water bathing green beans until they sealed (3 hours). My friends said it took longer...mine were sealed so I stopped there. BIG mistake. Within a week the 'buttons' on the lids popped and they all hit the compost. There are no short cuts!!!

I have also learned that double-bagging some veggies makes a nice difference-no freezer burn.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), January 21, 2001.

I'll can soups now. But since getting hooked on Countryside and the dehydration kick, I dry 75% of our veggies. This season I intend to do more freezing then thaw and dehydrate. This was mentioned in a previous thread and I tried it with a pint of frozen green beans. They dehydrated much nicer than blanch and dehydrate.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 21, 2001.

Only mishap that I've had was last summer I made jams and jellies like normal but split the batches between straight-sided jelly jars and the more round-sided kind.I thought the round-sided kind would look nicer in gift baskets.Well,the straight-sided jars set up as normal but the rounder ones didn't set as firm.I still haven't figured out why,but I won't be using them anymore!

-- nobrabbit (conlane@prodigy.net), January 21, 2001.

Turnips..UGH...also the squash.

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch@semo.net), January 21, 2001.

Apricots turned an very unappealing color. We questioned if they were even safe to eat. We canned 36 quarts of raw goat milk for Y2K. Our milk is wonderful tasting fresh, but wretched canned - not fit for drinking. I was able to skim the cream off the top and it was good for making ice cream. Otherwise it was a waste of time and effort.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), January 21, 2001.

The Ball Blue Book had a recipe for canning cranberry relish-the one with oranges. Well, it was terrible but I used it in cranberry bread at Christmas so it wasn't all a waste.

I found a recipe from FruitFresh a few years ago for cantaloupe or honeydew melon with cinnamon sticks in white grape juice. Nastiest thing I ever tried to eat. I didn't have chickens at the time so it became compost post haste.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 21, 2001.

Pickled Eggplant- Good God, the chickens won't even eat it!!!!

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), January 21, 2001.

Man, pickled eggplant, is that considered a nuclear weapon or something! Oh...the apricots make great freezer jam or cooked jam. and I completely agree that yellow squash is absolutely nasty when you can it!!!!! Gag! My daughter is the only one that eats it. Brave soul!!!!But she used to eat roly polys too! One time when I was canning picante sauce I went to sprinkle the garlic in and the lid came off!!! It was a real bad breath disaster but tasted ok in spaghetti sauce. It actually won the 1st prize at the county fair for picante(they don't taste them). The Ag. teacher said Hey Nan, pop that puppy open and give us a taste. I said no way am I going to eat this stuff. I like my blue ribbon though!HAHA I've also gotten busy outside and had some really interesting mush before. Y'know, I think I'll just water this, or weed that and you forget that the water bather is going! Very squishy pickles for sure!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 22, 2001.

I can yellow squash to use in soup. You don't notice the slime that way. It looks so pretty in the jars, too. I tried the turnips and it would team up with Jan's lab experiment. My apricots were canned in honey, they look beautiful but lost something somewhere, like sweetness. I tried a hot lime pickle out of OG a few years ago, they were fine untile they sat a few months. Oh, well.

-- Cindy (SE IN.) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.

I figure, as long as you have chickens, dogs, cats or other animals, and/or a compost pile, or somebody to give it to, nothing gets wasted.

-- Cindy (SE IN.) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.

Collards! Great out of the garden, not too bad frozen, absolutley inedible canned. Bitter and stringy and lifeless! Composted the whole case of quarts!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 22, 2001.

I vote for zucchini too. Ughh! It was slimy and mush. I freeze it now. I remember the first time i canned. I was so proud of myself. Then all of a sudden a wave of popping noises came from the kitchen. One after another they popped. I cried for two days.

-- Shau Marie (shau@centurytel.net), January 23, 2001.

Hey Cindy- I have a recipe for peach chutney for you. LOL

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 23, 2001.

I forgot about the time I made pear preserves and cooked them too long. We had to chisel the goomers out!!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 23, 2001.

Would you believe prune jam? It was far too thick, far too sticky. I doubt even the pigs would touch it. Eoooowww!

-- Ardie from Wi (a6203@hotmail.com), January 23, 2001.

Now I must have done something wrong - because my canned apricots came out wonderfully. I used lemon juice because I can't stand the taste the fruit fresh leaves. As I cleaned them I put them in a mild solution of cold water and bottled lemon juice. Then I put one teaspoon of lemon juice in each jar with the light sugar syrup. Not too much loss of color and they taste wonderful. My husband raves over them. I think too that you have to be fast. Not let them sit on the counter long between the cleaning and the canning.

-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 23, 2001.

Hey Ardie, My husband was reading over my shoulder again and saw your prune jam...He said....might not be to bad, kinda like concentrated Dr. Pepper!!!HAHA! Sick man!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 24, 2001.

Nan, he is a sick and twisted person! LOL!!! I get the shivers just thinking about concentrated Dr.Pepper!

-- Ardie from Wi (a6203@hotmail.com), January 25, 2001.

Actually, there is ONE way I have canned zucchini that turned out ok, and that was to make pickles out of it. I need to find that recipe, as I cut them into little sticks and they are nice and crispy, still, after a couple years. Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), January 25, 2001.

Made to much brine for my cucs. last year and pickled some zuchinni too. It was ok. Just prefer the cucs. and the okra pickled. and Ardie! You got that right!!!! But in case he comes in here and looks over my shoulder again....I mean that in the nicest way dear!!! HAHAHAHA!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 25, 2001.