We recently did a massive clean-out and organization of our Fruit & Veggie freezer down in the basement. We pulled up a whole bunch of frozen blueberries, strawberries, and rhubarb. Today, we're going to preserve it all. For the blueberry Pie Filling, here's a good recipe for reference: nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/blueberry_filling.html As for the steam juicer, there is no linked recipe. We just steam juiced everything, added 1/2 cup of sugar per quart of juice concentrate, brought to boil and canned it in pints for 10 mins. I hope you had fun with me in the kitchen today ♥ To order your own 🥫 FORJARS Canning Lids: forjars.co/?sca_ref=1911228.45BY9FFxdg (use Promo Code SHOP1870 to get 10% off) Steam Juicer we use: amzn.to/3J9ddSU Steam Canner we use: amzn.to/3ZVxlOW Crystalized Lime Juice: amzn.to/3J5gxOK Crystalized Orange Juice: amzn.to/3l5fDK4
Would you have any ideas what to do with the leftover brine after eating the canned cabbage? I was thinking about maybe a salad dressing made with it. What do you think and would you suggest a recipe?
If of interest, clear jel is considered safe because while it is hot (during recipe and processing) is stays liquid and it thickens after processing as it is cooling. Corn starch however thickens while hot and therefore the concern is that heat may not be held evenly throughout the processing time with having to go through the thick juices and all. For the food coloring, I also do not add it. The concern with reddish jams and such is that they turn brown which can be offputting. I’d rather eat brown jam than food coloring!
Great canning session. I used to think that once you resorted to freezing something you were stuck using it frozen. This was a good lesson that the freezer can be just a holding place when you're in the midst of the harvest and just cannot find the time to deal with it all before it begins to spoil. That food coloring instruction is insane!
Did you know that that juicer makes great tomato paste. I’ve put Roma paste tomato type tomatoes gently sliced up in the top of it, steam them throw the juice away because it’s not worth it. What’s left is beautiful pulp run it through your separator and separate the seeds and the skins and you have tomato paste that is just thick as all get out.
I got some tiny pie dishes. One pint of filling makes two pies. One pie crust is perfect for them. I freeze one and we eat the other. That way we don't have a full pie for just two of us.
I was here for the blueberry filling, but I’m one minute in and I’ve decided I need a steam juicer. 😂 I don’t drink juice but then Rachel mentions using the juice concentrate for the second Kombucha ferment and it was a lightbulb moment for me!
I made applesauce and apple pie filling, last fall, cooking the apples for applesauce, in my big electric roaster. I ended up with a lot of juice, so I tried making apple jelly. It would not thicken, so after two tries, I just canned the apple juice concentrate, adding spices you would find in apple pie. It turned out delicious! During Christmas, I put a jar of it in a Crock-Pot, and added a couple cinnamon sticks and 2 jars of water, and let it warm up on low, starting in the morning, before starting lunch preparations. It tasted like hot cider! I was quite pleased that my mistake,turned into a delicious drink. We recently returned to Ohio from visiting our son in AZ, and I took him my last 2 jars of juice concentrate. He and his girlfriend, like to try making different mixed drinks. They plan to use some of it, to make a drink, promising to tell me how it went.
This year, my husband zested all the lemons & oranges I used(bc zesting’s tough on my arthritis) making sure not to get any white. We filled jars with the zest & EverClear or vodka. When I made extracts for gifts. We don’t drink, but the state store was right that EverClear makes the best extracts. It’s the best orange & lemon extract I’ve ever tasted. It only took 2 months to steep too. Much cheaper & homemade. We used spiced rum for vanilla.
I don't bake as much as I used to. But I started canning various types of pie filling a couple of years ago. What a revelation! They have all been incredibly useful--especially the blueberry. You are inspiring me to check my freezer and get the remaining fruit done. :)
I set a large stock pot on a stool underneath the hose and let all of juice from a batch of fruit drain into it. This mixes all of the juice together and keeps it from getting weaker and weaker as the fruit cooks down like it does when you drain it directly into quart bottles-- which, as Rachel mentioned, get very hot when you hold them. I keep the hose clip on the metal ferrule at the tip of the hose so it isn't clamped off and the juice can continually flow into the pot. (I don't remove the clip from the the hose because I might need to quickly clamp it off.) I also put the the pulp into a big stainless steel bowl overnight and let it drain, which will sometimes, depending upon the fruit, produce almost a pint of very concentrated juice. I add it to the stock pot of refrigerated juice. I let it come to room temperature and make sure the water in the juicer pan is the same temperature as the juice so the bottles don't crack while the water is heating up. The pulp can then be composted. (The pulp is tasteless so I don't make anything out of it). As Rachel advised--keep children and pets away from the hot juicer. I don't put any sugar in my juice. Jelly made from the juice is crystal clear as long you first pour it through a fine meshed strainer and don't mash the pulp into the juice in the collection pot. I did a super dumb thing once, but never again: I was barefoot when I made a batch of juice and the hose came off and the boiling juice flowed over my foot and scalded it. I had a painful two or three days while my foot healed. (A big stockpot collecting the juice would have prevented that.)
You tipping that steam juicer to empty it gave made me vividly remember some nasty burns. After that incident it became a 2 person job here for that part..
Love my steam juicer. Try using it to cook bunches of chicken legs and carrots, celeri and it is really tender and you get bonus stock from it. :). And then of course make more stock from the bones later.
I always thaw my frozen fruit in a colander and use the juice that drains out in place of some of the water in my pie filling. Gives it a more fruity flavor.
Last fall I canned apple pie filling for the first time. Oh my did I have volcanoes when I took out the jars. I could have cried but I kept it under control, emptied my jars (oh they were SO hot), and repacked them at about at least 2 inch headspace and it turned out beautifully.
Hi Rachel, Your channel popped up in my new to you recommendations today and since I like preserving I watched and throughly enjoyed it. I’m going to head back to your previous episodes and do a little binge watching. I’m all subscribed now too. Jan
i just did strawberry rhubarb, rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb raspberry pie fillings and jams this week. Had beef coming so i needed to make space. I am doing more concord jelly and blueberry pie filling this week. Ran out of lemon juice so I had to stop for a few days. Great minds think alike lol
If your interested since you have a lot of blueberries, I saw whipper while holler make blueberry vinegar to intern make dressing with it. Yummy! Nancy from nebraska
Every video is packed full of goodness! ThAnkyou Rachel not a easy task to do all this and record all this content for us! You are a Blessing to all !May you and your loved ones be Blessed 😊❤️👍🏼
I only fill my pie filling jars to the shoulders using cook type Clear Gel(has to be cook type too) bc it expands a lot during processing. Brings it right up to about 1 inch headspace or so. Haven’t siphoned one yet(knock on wood)
Rachel, that was a pretty intense canning session. You are incredible! And you are pretty remarkable canning all those berries and rhubard while wearing a white vest!!! It appears you kept it clean! Not in my house. Love ya!
lovely. I want to make more pie filling this year! We love pies! it makes a fantastic thing to grab off the shelf. I love the idea of making juice too my have to give that a try. we have so much rhubarb!
Your freezer clean out has inspired me to do my big one down in the basement. I just took out a bunch of stuff to either put in the freeze dryer or can it but, some might need to go to the chickens.
I just cleaned out one of our small freezers and found all kinds of strawberries, raspberries and frozen mango! Definitely going to making some more jam! I canned our frozen blueberries a few months ago and we use some of that to make a really good blueberry milkshake! We add French Vanilla ice cream, brown sugar -and a splash of vanilla with the blueberries! It’s absolutely the best blueberry milkshake I have ever had! Everything you made looked absolutely delicious!
I LOVE my steam canner but I often need more burners like you so I grabbed a electric water bath canner which has been a amazing lifesaver!!! I also have a countertop burner which fits the steam canner perfectly so I don’t run out of burners on the stove!!! Def need a steam juicer now!!!
I have never waterbath canned. My grandma had a steamer and when canning got to be to much for her she gave it to me. It was very old. It had no gauge on it. A few years ago I purchased one like yous. Love, love, love it. I have never seen a steam juicer before. I think I need to buy one now. It was awesome to watch. Thanks for sharing!!
I just got online today to see if Todd ever ordered his plants from Indiana Berry and bam! You're canning blueberries. I'm looking to plant a bunch of blueberry plants. Where did you get your plants, what variety (if you can remember) and how many plants do you have. Sorry I'm being so needy, but I love your channel and am ready to order my plants! Thank you in advance, you've always been so gracious in answering my questions.
i love my steam canners (2 of them) i have a big amish water bath too i just got it at the end of canning season so i haven't used that one yet pie filling looks so good Rach
Those are looking yummy and yes I agree with you no food coloring needed in organic foods. Always love watching you and also I have 5 young Blueberry Bushes planted last year can’t wait till I can harvest my own
You can use the pressure canner like a steam canner, use your three inches water, close the lid and start timing when it begins to steady vent, just don’t put the weight on
I haven't made pie filling in forever! I was hoping to make some cherry, but for some reason they weren't around very long so I missed my chance. Your blueberry filling looks beautiful! I bet you can make some delicious drinks with that concentrate. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Rachel! So excited to see a video from you! I’ve been excited to see this since the clean out video! I’m canning with ya today, canning some ground beef I got on a super sale!😊 love love your channel!
I absolutely love my Ball Electric Water Bath Canner. I use it so often it has an almost permanent place next to my kitchen sink. Hubby has watched how often I used it and bought me a second Ball electric canner for Christmas last year. Thank you for the blueberry pie filling video because I had a failure in the freeze drier trying to do frozen blueberries. Maybe in a future blueberry video you can discuss how you prepped the frozen blueberries before the machine. Edit Did you heat the blueberries in the oven before you started?
I got my steam canner out yesterday and ran it for the first time with a gallon bag full of apple cores (free from my neighbor), I got 4 pints of apple juice from that. Now I am thinking, jelly. I heard (not confirmed) that corn starch is not recommended due to it not always allowing the heat to penetrate all the way through the jar. The clear gel does allow that penetration of heat to ensure the completion of our products all the way to the center of the jar.
I have a victorio multi use canner and it is awesome. It is a water bath canner and a steam canner and it is stainless steel so it has a thick bottom and can be used as a regular pot.
The kettle You use to make ‘juice» is a cordial kettle, it is used to make cordial/syrup. The steamer add water to the juice, through the steam, so it is not really juice, just a base to make cordial. You could add sugar with the berries to make cordial in one go. I prefer to control the sugarlevel, so i repeat the cordial with sugar and let it come to a boil (one Bubbles) remove foam (add preservative or lemon) and add to bottles. Keeps a year in cold basement or fridge.
Hello from Finland. We here use steam juicer a lot. To save a step I add sugar right away on to berries. Then I pour first juice back on to berries to help melt the sugar, although steam does it also. Then I do taste test and can add sugar if needed. Nice clarification about using starch, thank you for that. I love your videos and have learned a lot about pressure canning, this is not common here.
the reason why they say you cant use cornstarch is because some thickeners like cornstarch clump up when you are canning and may not allow heat to reach throughout the entire jar. Without even heat distribution throughout the jar, yeast, mold, or other harmful bacteria can form i guess?
We must have been on the same wavelength. I cleaned out my freezer last week. I steam juiced peaches and then a batch of cherries/blackberries. I use the juice durning my second ferment of my Kombucha. Next up strawberries.
Cocktails sound great. Would love to know more. And what a great day of canning. I have never canned before but having been wanting to try. I even have all the equipment. Now to get up my nerve. And I have 3 gallons plus of blueberries in my freezer that the grandkids and I picked last year.
That is why so many people are rebel canning now-a-days. Adding artificial food coloring to our foods? Its absolutely crazy. That color is POPPING beautifully on its own! Love it!!
You can use a pressure canner as steam canner (that is use the canner with little more water than we use for PCing and don't put the jiggler on, when it starts venting, start the waterbath canning time), this method works the fastest and no mess..
Supposedly thickeners like cornstarch clump when canning and may interfere with heat being able to reach throughout the jar. Without heat distribution yeast, mold, or other harmful bacteria can form.
In my Bernardin book which is equal to Ball book the blueberry pie filling recipe call to add food coloring as optional if you want to make the color more. In the book states blueberries tend to have a dull blue color that does not color the gel as well.
Your clean out freezer inspired me to get going with my clean out. Next weekend when I'm not working, it's meat - turkey and chickens for soup, pot pies and meat in jars. I use cornstarch in my apple filling in jars and it's an old recipe that I've used for 25 yrs, I have no issue with it clouding up my jars. That blueberry pie filling looks delicious, will have to try it this coming season.
