I love canned potatoes from the store. I used to put some olive oil and herbs on them and heat them up in the oven. Not much like fresh-cooked potatoes but I loved the way they tasted.

Melissa

Here is the instructions on how to can them. Yes they have to be peeled and then cut into chunks - can be whole if they are very small. Pre-soak in ascorbic acid. And cold pack isn't an option. See link below for all the details.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to can potatoes

Yes, I have canned potatoes for years. When we dig our potatoes I keep all the small ones seperate and then can them. They are nicer if you peel them raw.I put them in thejar.When full I add tsp salt and cover with water and process 40 min at 10 lbs.(QUARTS) Sometimes I par boil them only til the skins peel easily and do the same as above. We like them in hot dishes, hash browns, whatever you would do with any cooked potatoes. We don't like them as well in potatoe salad but that might just be me.I also like to freeze them in hash browns and tater tots and even mashed. Hope this helps..
We are having a 'yukky" cold day. Guess I will have to hit the treadmill instead of the outdoors.
Forgot to mention-I wash them in my washing machine on delicate cycle and then redo for blemishes etc in sink. That is if I cook them before peeling.Gets the worst off first.

I used to can potatoes when all the kids were young, take the small ones, wash well and put them in jars with a bit of salt, water and can...pressure canner because potatoes are dense. They make a quick meal and taste freshly dug. Homecanned potatoes are MUCH better than store bought ones.

Ascorbic may not be enough to prevent them from turning black. I use potassium or sodium metabisulfate which is used in wine making supplies. I dried mine in slices and they remained quite white.

I haven't quite gotten the nerve up to try a pressure canner yet, so am wondering if I can freeze potatoes. Do I have to boil them first. I want to freeze up bags of potatoes, peppers and onions, so I can just pull them out and fry them up. Any ideas?????

Yes, peeled, sliced, and partially cooked (a bit longer than a blanch) then frozen is OK. Prepare these in separate bags, as opposed to mixing them together. The onions and peppers need no prepping except for cutting to the desired size.

Sounds like several of you have been cold packing or raw packing potatoes for canning. Please note that is not approved. Only hot packing of potatoes is approved.

Dave

I too would like to start canning potatoes.

I have canned them while making beef stew fixings (using only beef broth, I don't make it into gravy until preparing to eat - but hubby likes to just heat it up as a soup!)

I cooked the stew beef for about 2 hours, then replaced most of the water with store bought broth, added the veggies and only brought things to a boil for a few minutes to get them warm. I have had great results with the potatoe part - they stayed white and firm - and finished cooking while processing. Actually I had good results on everything in the recipe.

I don't know enough to say if it was because of the salt in the broth, or salt and spices I used.

Does anyone know if it would help to use broth instead while canning potatoes? I could do a batch with chicken broth, beef broth, veggie broth, etc. (purchased at the store because it's salty)?

A hint someone taught me:
When making potatoe patties (home fries, hash, or whatever)from leftovers or canned potatoes; add a bit of instant potatoes before mashing up - it will abosrb the extra liquid and make your recipe easier to work with.

I just canned some to try them. I had sorted out about 4 gal. of red potatoes that were about 3/4" to 1 1/4". Used 7 qts. of them. Washed them good, left skins on, and followed Ball Books instructions. Tried some tonight with salt, pepper and butter. Microwaved some in a bowl for 1 min. Way better than I expected. Now I know what to do with the rest of them tomorrow

Adding salt to the canning of potatoes is optional. Salt, in this application has no effect on food safety. I use red skin potatoes cooked in some chicken bullion (BJ's) paste. It as salt, but also a decent chicken favor. I use this when cooking the raw potatoes for mashed, not canned. Not only could you add dried potato to a mashed, you could add dried onion, garlic, or other flavors that compliment the potatoes at serving time.

definitely try this product. I think you will like the freedom of instant food, and the price you got for a huge pile of potatoes makes it worthwhile.

Like grams, I canned the hundreds of tiny ones. My educator cautioned about scrubbing really really well, because the botulism threat is in the soil, so the admonition to peel first might be good. But there are so many ways that these potatoes will be useful -- add to green beans, beef stew, brown quickly in bacon fat.

If you scrub them when they're freshly dug, those skins come right off with the brush. I use a surgical scrub brush/nail brush for my veggies; buy 'em from Lee Valley for $8.50 a dozen. They're the greatest!

Here is a link that might be useful: The world's kindest nail brush

I used to can potatoes, when I had a big bounty of them from the garden. Be aware, and I think you may have notice it if you fry potatoes, that some are 'mealier' than others. I prefer to can the ones you find are harder and crisper, and not a baking type potato.

I have never used ascorbic acid for potatoes, and I have never had a problem with them turning dark. But, I work quickly, keep them submerged in icy water and if they aren't exposed to air, they prolly won't.

Also note that sometimes in the finished product you may find some cloudy residue at the bottom of the stored jars. You sometimes see it in tins of purchased potatoes too. I have found that happens in some of mine, simply from sediment off the cooked potato. But, cloudy can also spell spoilt, so this is one vegetable I take extra pains to can properly!

I've canned a few quarts this year with mashed potatoes in mind. What else do you use canned potatoes for?

An all purpose potato is usually fine for most dishes. A russet is great for mashed and baked and it is the 'mealy' type. Most red skins are firm waxy, but still work fine for baked. I use red skins for potato salad and also for home fries. Most any kind of potato can get mealy if its way overcooked. Then there is the fingerling, a very small long tasty potato that has a great taste and cooks up fast. Yukon gold has claimed a buttery taste, but I don't find that in ones I grew. One year, I had a single red skin that was huge and weighed in at almost 4 pounds! Never had another that size. May grow some next year, but they do need a lot more attention compared to most other garden vegetables. One year, all were about the size of marbles, and was very disappointing, so I decided to stop growing them. Also, one year I tried sweet potatoes and they were doing well until something tunneled into the soil and ate most of them. I think it was a vole. That was the same year a woodchuck destroyed the foliage and ate up my buttercup squash vines and all squashes.

Thank you everyone for your help! gee i diddnt notice potatoes in the ball blue book till now. just wondering when it says salt (optional) would that be canning salt or table salt or does it matter?
I think it will be nice just to grab potatoes off the shelf all peeled and ready for whatever your wanting them for i cant wait!
well better get busy got alot of potatoes to peel :0 will let you know how they turned out. thanks again to everyone
your all awsome!!

"Salt" in a canning recipe ALWAYS means canning salt, not table salt. ;) Table salt may be iodized that can discolor food and have fillers or non-caking agents.

Dave

PS: if you will search "salt" here you'll find many discussions on the different types of salt and how they must be measured differently and used or not used.

Most grocery stores will plainly label which tables salts have iodine, which don't. I have substituted salts, sometimes using Kosher, and sometimes table for canning salt. But, I don't ever do it unless it's in a product where SALT IS OPTIONAL. If it is an optional ingredient, it is in there for the taste and what kind or how much you use isn't a safety issue.

If you opt to use other than canning salt, please keep in mind that they measure very differently. ie: kosher and sea salt are more coarse so isn't equivalent to the same amount of canning salt. There are several discussions here that provide the equivalent measurements for all the different types of salt.

And salt seldom plays a safety role in canning that I can think of - taste and convenience yes - but safety? What am I missing or forgetting?

Dave

I wouldn't recommened using sea salt as a canning salt! It has too many other 'things' like unecesssary minerals, iodine, and maybe even some toxins, but in low doses. The mined and refined salts are a better choice for any canning. Canning salt obviuously does help to make a lactic acid fermentation, which makes its end result for cabbage to be much safer. Cabbage, and cukes are good examples where salt does play a very important role in the making of 'kraut and half, or fully fermented pickles that use no vinegar to get things going.

Ok i ended up canning 19 quarts of potatoes, i could have done 5-7 more quarts but ran out of jars :(
i will have to go see if i can find some b 4 the potatoes go bad, i have bwb plenty of times but never used a pressure canner, so all the information on here has been real helpful and gave me the courage to get my but in gear, some of my potatoes turned a golden yellow color is that ok??
I lost liquid in 3 of the quarts but read that it was ok?
I am getting so i just trust what i read on here,(besides the ball blue book ) because another website said it was ok to leave the skins on the smaller potatoes, and when it came time to add the liquid to the potatoes she just used warm tap water, seems easier but i think that would scare me! (i used fresh boiled water)thanks to all for the great! information, diddnt know there was so much difference between salts, I plan on doing alot more pressure canning so i am sure i will have alot more questions.

Potatoes will keep for a very long time if they are stored in the fridge. Avoid exposure to strong light, as they will become green and quite toxic. I had bought some last year, and didn't realize that under the red skin, they were green about 1/4 inch deep, so I returned them all and told the produce manager that they were unfit for human consumption. Recently I bought more red skins back in June and they look as good now, as they did then, with no obvious green color, eyes, bad spots, or any other issues. Golden yellow may be the type, like Yukon Gold variety? If its turned yellow from just a plain canning liquid that contains Ascorbic acid, it will not harm them. How did the liquid get lost? If the potatoes are not covered in the liquid, they can oxidize and turn black. Suggest that the tree jars that lost liquid, be stored in the fridge and used first. The water you used in the product for canning, may also contain a high iron content, or other minerals that can discolor the potatoes.

A tasty way to bake a potato is to coat it with vegetable oil, then coat in Kosher salt. The salt will stick somehwat. Bake as usual and, the remaining salt thats still attached will give them a nice flavor, so you only need butter or your favorite topping like sour cream, cheese etc.

Do some reading here on siphoning (the loss of liquid from the jars) so that you can learn how to prevent it in the future. ;) It is a problem that needs to be resolved.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Siphoning discussions and how to prevent...

Dillydee -- I too have found the info and help here more practical and trustworthy than most other sources. The boiling water to cover vs warm tap water is to kill the "growing" enzymes of the food. You were absolutely right. Even raw pack green beans need that boiling water over.

Dave thanks for the link it was real helpful. did find this link

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general/cannedfoodproblems.html

Ksrogers thanks for the info and your baked potatoes sound great!
I am not sure what kind of potatoes i used as i had hubby dump the bag into a potato bin, thank goodness because there was a bad one in there that was pretty mushy yuk!
So i am still a little worried about some of the potatoes turning a yellow gold color after processing hmm cant find no info anywhere, i do not like to take risk i think its foolish so if i have to i will dispose of all 19 quarts :( Ouch!
also i do have a question
What are the risk (if any) with overprocessing is it bad? cant find any info on that subject

gran2 yes lots of great info on here and so much help i love this place!!

Ok i just got done peeling the rest of the potatoes
(i am making a shepards pie for tonight and the rest i am going to freeze in cubes so i will have when i make clam chowder to process,
(i got questions about that but will ask after i get this resolved)
ok i did notice (i was paying attention this time) they were very easy to cut as they were just a bit soft and there was lots of foam when i boiled them, can anyone guess what kind they are? i dont mean to appear stupid i just never noticed
i always bought red potatoes as they are my favorite and love to leave some of the skins on when i make mashed potatoes.

The red skins are nice tasting. A baking potato is usually a russet, elongated with a rough skin. They are also great for mashed. There is the common Main potato, or all purpose, which are the basic types. Yukon gold, have yellow flesh. There is also a red skinned called Rose Gold that is yellow flesh and red skins. Norland, and a few other names are red skined. There is a totally purple flesh potato that is quite mealy and the cook up very soft and dry. Potato chips and fries can use an all purpose or a russet. You will only get a softer texture in the potatoes if they are over processed. I seem to think that if they are prepared as mashed and seasoned, then frozen, they should keep a long time. I have a food slicer that has round disks One is a grater and I have grated potatoes to form patties (hash browns), with some grated onions. These get partially fried and then frozen. You bake them the final amount when they are being served. If the potatoes show a yellow liquid in the jars to, suggest that you open them, dump out the liquid, reheat, mash, and then freeze. Give them a quick taste when you recook and mash them. Foam is forming due to the starch in potatoes, and should dissipate after a short time. To make potato salad, start the potatoes in cold water. Cut them so they will all be the same size. Slowly bring the heat up, to just a light simmer. Check for doneness with a fork. When you cook red skins this way, the skins don't fall off as easy once they are cooked and cut up. I add a bit of a chicken bullion (BJ's plastic containers) to my cooking water, instead of salt. Its really tasty when cooked for mashed potatoes and no one will pass them up at any meal.

A rotten potato smells awful! Also rotten onions, stink very bad too.

I pressure canned potatoes for the first time yesterday.
Used a 16 qt Presto pressure canner from Wal mart and wide mouth 1 qt ball brand jars. You need a boat load of hot water, and it takes two pots to blanche your potatoes if you're doing more than few pounds( it takes too long for the water to return to a boil when doing many pounds in one pot.) I did almost ten pounds in one big pot and as a result i nearly cooked my pieces of potato right through. A little less than ten pounds filled 7 1 qt jars. I'm not sure what if anything I did wrong, but I wanted to check the consistency of my potatoes so I let the jars cool 24 hrs and then opened one today, it smelled a little funny. Could be I didn't entirely cover the potatoes at the top with water and they scorched? They taste ok and I'm gonna use em to make a small pot of soup. If anyone has any clues as to the issue of why they might smell a litle off, please let me know.