Cool! ;) Thanks for coming out of the lurker closet and introducing yourself Emma's Mom. Glad to have you!!!

So what kind of pressure canner did you buy? What kind of things are you thinking about canning? Do you garden too? Care to share your cranberry marmalade recipe? Sound good for Christmas.

Welcome to the forum.

Dave

Yes, please! The recipe! If you don't mind. It sounds good.

Good luck and thanks for the inspiration to try new stuff

I'm not even a lurker but I second the thanks...It's always nice when someone takes the time to say thanks for receiving advice or a recipe etc etc...

The pressure canner I ordered is a Presto 16-qt; I have a glass-top stove, and after lots of reading here chose the one I think (hope!) will work best for that. I've been doing my boiling water canning on a standalone electric burner, and it's worked pretty well.

The cranberry marmalade recipe is from "The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving." It's really easy, and delicious. My only complaint is that it's a bit sweet for my taste, but I'm not comfortable changing a recipe when I'm so new to the process. Can you reduce the sugar in a recipe?

Cranberry Orange Marmalade

2 medium oranges
1 lemon
3 cups water
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
4 cups granulated sugar

1. Remove thin outer rind from oranges and lemon with vegetable peeler and cut into very fine strips with scissors or sharp knife; or use a zester. Place rind and water in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat and boil gently for 20 minutes.

2. Remove and discard remaining white rind and seeds from oranges and lemon. Finely chop pulp and cranberries in a food processor or blender and add to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add sugar to fruit mixture. Return to a boil over high heat and boil rapidly, uncovered, until mixture will form a gel, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

4. Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes (boiling water canner).

Makes about 5 cups - which is exactly what I've gotten from both batches I made.

Thanks for the encouragement. Enjoy this recipe, I know I do!

Yea! Another convert to the do-it-yourself food system!

Yes, you can reduce sugar a bit, but it's not recommended because sometimes the sugar is necessary for a proper set. The consistency will suffer as well as the taste. You're right. Messing with recipes is a bad habit to start. You may notice that the "sweetness" changes just a bit with the next batch perhaps because of the strength and size of the lemon, etc. Be sure to flaunt your successes here. Everyone loves success stories. It's so encouraging!

mama2emma,

Thanks for piping up! It's always so nice to hear about new canners finding success and enjoyment. My canning "career" began about five years ago with lots of help and encouragement from this forum, so I know what you mean about finding inspiration and support!

As for sugar, changing proportions can often interfere with the "set" of a jam or jelly, and in some other kinds of recipes, with low-acid ingredients, changing it can affect safety.

But this recipe is pretty much all fruits (high-acid), so no safety concerns, and since the cranberries have a lot of pectin, it might set just fine with less sugar. If it were me, I'd give it a try -- worst that happens is it's a little runny.

Happy canning!

Zabby

I agree, I'd give it a try without even a hesitation.

Welcome to Harvest. I've been so darned busy since Dad passed away that I haven't been here much, but I'm looking forward to seeing you more often.

Annie

Thanks for all the welcome messages! I've made about 20 jars of the cranberry marmalade (my daughter has 9 teachers and therapists who work with her at school - guess what they're getting for Christmas?), and now that I'm done with the gifts I think I'll try reducing the sugar. I'll report back!

My pressure canner should be here any day. Any suggestions about what I should try first? I'm thinking of doing chicken stock - I usually freeze mine, but I think canning it would make it so much easier to use when I need it.

If its a presto canner, suggest that you get the optional weights for it. Before an actual canning in it, do a dry run with jars filled with water, or even colored water (add food coloring) to see if the jars are not syphoning their contents. This condition can occur when your inexperienced and not used to the timing and heating issues. If you see color in the canning water, its a sure sign that the jars are siphoning some liquid. Its not something you want to have happen.

Great idea on the trial run with colored water - I would have never thought of that. I did get the weights for the canner, thanks to all the advice I saw here. Thanks!

Isn't it fun? I second the thanks!

Ken, I had a problem with siphoning this year. I was wondering if it was a timing problem; either putting the weights on too soon or too late? The directions were just a little vague. Here's what the directions say:

"Exhaust air from the canner and jars by adjusting heat to a relatively high setting to obtain a free flow of steam from the vent pipe. Reduce heat to maintain a moderate steam flow. Allow steam to flow for 10 minutes."

OK, so first, what is considered a "moderate steam flow"? And secondly, at what point do I start timing the 10 minutes?

Thanks so much!!
Edie

From what I have read its usually the cool down that can cause syphoning. There are some threads discussing that issue here recently. Suggest that you do a search on the word 'syphon'. A slow cool down is usually required, and the canner gets fully vented at a very low pressure thats left.

Below is one of the many syphoning threads

Here is a link that might be useful: Syphon thread

I agree with Ken that siphoning is almost always a result of either very inconsistent heat levels during the cycle or an improper cool down. It isn't related to the start-up cycle.

Venting during the start-up for 10 mins - begin timing the 10 mins as soon as you have a steady, uninterrupted flow of steam. If air remains in the canner you will see spurts of steam kind of like smoke signals. ;)

I disagree with the instructions to reduce heat BEFORE placing on the weights. First because it isn't what is recommended (see NCHFP instructions linked below) and second, heat reduction should only be done once the canner is brought up to pressure and then done VERY gradually in VERY small increments. Rapid heat reduction will almost always cause siphoning.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to Use a Pressure Canner

We always take the canner off the burner and let it sit until it's fairly cool before we even open it. I will try Dave's directions about the weights and heat reduction the next time we can something to see if that makes the difference. Thanks very, very much!

Edie