Canning: notes to self
Nov. 29th, 2008 22:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquill1) 60 pounds of feijoas qualifies as a metric assload of fruit.
2) Do not try to make juice for jelly in batches of 30 pounds, even if one does fit in the 15-qt stockpot. Barely.
3) The cellar is a great place to hang jelly bags overnight, especially large ones.
4) Do not pour the stewed fruit into the jelly bags while it is still hot, no matter what the recipe says. Moreover, don't pour it over a pinky finger, even if the mixture "doesn't feel that hot". The topside of a pinky gets first-degree burns more easily than the palms of the hands.
5) A second pair of hands is very useful when pouring the stewed fruit.
6) A double line of crochet thread, while strong, is not strong enough to take the weight of more than three and a half quarts of stewed fruit.
7) When the thread creaks, STEP BACK.
...
The two bags are secured and dripping in the cellar now. Neither one will give me crystal-clear juice, but right now I honestly don't care. I won't be taking it to the county fair, and no one eating it will mind a bit of cloudiness. I'll do separate bowls tomorrow when I want to squeeze the fruit dry.
The other thirty pounds will be done in batches of ten pounds, probably. Assuming I can find the time to chop them. Given that thirty pounds took me six hours, ten should take me two. If I can refrigerate them, finals week is just around the corner.
Despite all the furor, I'm still grateful to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kitabare for bringing me the metric assload of feijoas.
Edit: 26 cups of juice. Twenty-six. At three cups per batch.... this is going to take a while. And that's just half the fruit.
The first two batches came out well, though. Too bad it's taking about a half-hour per batch to boil down, when I'm lucky. I guess I'll do one every evening possible this week...
2) Do not try to make juice for jelly in batches of 30 pounds, even if one does fit in the 15-qt stockpot. Barely.
3) The cellar is a great place to hang jelly bags overnight, especially large ones.
4) Do not pour the stewed fruit into the jelly bags while it is still hot, no matter what the recipe says. Moreover, don't pour it over a pinky finger, even if the mixture "doesn't feel that hot". The topside of a pinky gets first-degree burns more easily than the palms of the hands.
5) A second pair of hands is very useful when pouring the stewed fruit.
6) A double line of crochet thread, while strong, is not strong enough to take the weight of more than three and a half quarts of stewed fruit.
7) When the thread creaks, STEP BACK.
...
The two bags are secured and dripping in the cellar now. Neither one will give me crystal-clear juice, but right now I honestly don't care. I won't be taking it to the county fair, and no one eating it will mind a bit of cloudiness. I'll do separate bowls tomorrow when I want to squeeze the fruit dry.
The other thirty pounds will be done in batches of ten pounds, probably. Assuming I can find the time to chop them. Given that thirty pounds took me six hours, ten should take me two. If I can refrigerate them, finals week is just around the corner.
Despite all the furor, I'm still grateful to
kitabare for bringing me the metric assload of feijoas.Edit: 26 cups of juice. Twenty-six. At three cups per batch.... this is going to take a while. And that's just half the fruit.
The first two batches came out well, though. Too bad it's taking about a half-hour per batch to boil down, when I'm lucky. I guess I'll do one every evening possible this week...
