[preppermama]

I am a canning newbie too. I just used my All American for the first time tonight to make strawberry banana jam. I used it to do the hot water bath method. I am planning to make some pickled eggs and Kim chi this week too.

It sounds to me like you added to many veggies and not enough water but again, I'm a beginner.

 

[preppermama]

Robin, we are definitely on the same page - I'd rather make my mistakes now while I have plenty of supplies on hand and modern medicine at my disposal. For example: Tonight I didnt realize I had to wait for the jam to cool for the seal to be complete. I wasted about 12 lids and 2 hours of my time reprocessing jam that probably would have sealed had I let it cool properly. This is why it's important to be learning the skills now. It's not a life or death situation if I blow through 12 lids.

I started with jam tonight. I plan to do some fermentables next week including kraut and kim chi. Then some spaghetti sauces and salsa. Then finally work my way into meats.

Something else you might want to consider, Robin, is learning hwo to forage for food in your area. It's a skill you can use to barter with people who don't have that knowledge. You can also can the edibles you harvest.