Tag: canning

Ball Jars and Weck Jars: A Comparison

~ Crystal Sands ~ 5 Comments

I am in my tenth year of canning and just wrapped up my fourth year canning with Weck jars. I think I now have enough experience with both Weck jars and Ball jars to write a comparison. If you preserve food via canning, or are thinking about it (and I hope you are), I hope you will find the following information helpful. 

To begin, Ball jars are the typical mason jars we commonly use in the United States. Mason jars were invented in New Jersey in 1858 and are known for both their usefulness and aesthetic. These are the jars with silver bands and lids and the ones most of us are familiar with, as they are, in normal years, readily available in grocery stores, discount stores, hardware stores, and more. I say “in normal years” because there was a shortage during the pandemic. The lids have a rim of thin rubber, which is used to seal the jar when you engage the seal through your canning process—either via water bath or pressure canner. 

Weck jars originate in Germany. Its simplistic design was created in 1895. Also known for their aesthetic, Weck jars are glass with glass lids, and you use thick rubber rings and clips during the canning process. These jars are not often seen in stores in the United States and generally must be ordered online. These jars can be straight or tulip shaped. Both the glass and the rings on Weck jars are quite thick and sturdy, and I read that the Weck company has not changed the way these jars are made over the years. They do feel quite “old school,” and I am fond of that.

The Pros and Cons of Ball Jars

Ball jars are the original to most of us who can in the United States. I remember my great grandmother canning with Ball jars, and they are iconic to me. I like that they are so readily available. One key perk of Ball jars is that they are less expensive than Weck. They have certainly grown more expensive in recent years; still, they are a bit cheaper than Weck jars, which have also gotten more expensive because Germany struggles with inflation too. I can usually purchase jars, lids, and bands for Ball jars without having to order online. 

A con of Ball jars is that there can be shortages when everyone gets the urge to can. I don’t know if we will ever see this happen again, but I argue that one never knows. I feel that one such period may be upon us.

There were also a couple of years that there were rumors the seals were not working as well on the Ball jar lids. During that year, I did have one full batch of strawberry jam go bad because of bad seals. I realized later that every one that had gone bad was from the same little box of lids I had bought new that year. Though I continue to use some Ball jars in my canning and have never had this happen again, the experience is always in the back of my mind, especially since I can now see the powerful seal of Weck jars, which I feel more secure in. One other con of Ball jars is that I have broken a couple during the process of canning. Because Weck jars are so thick, I have yet to break one, though I knock on wood as I write these words. 

One other con of Ball jars is that you won’t find as much variety in jar designs and shapes as you used to. Apparently, the Ball jar factory in New Jersey was purchased in 2016, and the new company decided to streamline production. The idea was to improve production, but a drawback of this is that we get fewer designs. Still, just this year, Ball jar released an anniversary edition that was quite lovely, so I don’t know how much of a con this item really is. 

The Pros and Cons of Weck Jars

One of the biggest perks of Weck jars is that seal. It is a thick rubber ring, and the seal, when done correctly, is so sturdy, which leads me to another perk of Weck jars—general sturdiness. The glass jars and lids on Weck jars are so thick that I have never broken one, and I am pretty clumsy in the kitchen.

I also love the beautiful design of the Weck jars. The tulip shapes are my favorites, and they all have a little strawberry stamped into the glass. I love strawberries so much this makes me love Weck jars more—and don’t get me started on how much joy it brings me to put strawberry jam into Weck jars with that little strawberry on them. 

I think my favorite thing about Weck jars though is that I only have to replace the rubber rings. The rings are inexpensive and so easy to store in a drawer. It’s very easy to stock up on the rubber rings, and they will not rust in the long term like Ball jar rings. I have also read that you can reuse the rubber rings, though Weck does not recommend this. I did try it with a batch a couple of years ago. I made a batch of jams and reused the rubber rings. I think I put up seven or eight jars, and one of them didn’t seal. Since that had never happened to me before, I decided for a time that it wasn’t worth the risk to reuse the rubber rings. 

However, after hearing about more people reusing the rubber rings, I tried again and reused the rings for a whole season of canning. All of them sealed, so I feel like my advice is that you can probably reuse the rubber rings, which is awesome. Just keep a close eye on them to make sure they seal.

There are some cons to Weck jars too. First, they are heavy. The heavy glass plus glass lids add some weight when you are canning. I have had some struggles at times lifting the big jars out of the hot water. Related to this, I had some smaller canning tools that did not work with the Weck jars. The larger Weck jars have really wide mouths, so you have to have canning tools that will work with the larger sizes. 

Another drawback is that you do have to order Weck jars online, at least for the most part. I have never seen them in stores, outside of decorative stores where the jars are marked up quite a bit. The good news is that you can purchase them directly from the Weck website, and at the online store, the jars are quite a bit cheaper than you might find elsewhere. I recommend staying away from Amazon because, well, it’s Amazon, but also because I have read a lot of stories in canning groups about people buying knock-off Weck jars or rings that aren’t exactly right. 

My Conclusions

I have been on the fence with my Ball jars and Weck jars for some years, but last year, after how well the jams and fruits I canned in the Weck jars held up compared to my Ball jars, I decided to make the shift to Weck jars. Because they are expensive, I have just been buying them when I can. I get Weck jars for my birthday and Weck jars for Christmas. Finally, after four years, I almost have enough Weck jars to meet all of my canning needs. 

Because the jars are so sturdy and it’s so easy to stock up on the rubber rings, I feel like Weck jars are going to be my go-to. But, even if you are more of a Ball jar fan, it might be worth checking out some Weck jars just to see what you think. 

Either way, canning food is the way to go, and here are some resources on canning that I hope you will find helpful. 

Canning Safety: The Science of Safe “Putting By”

How to Can: A Beginners Guide to Canning Food

Penn State Extension, Let’s Preserve: Basics of Home Canning

Homesteading Progress: Preserving Food and Saving on Grocery Costs

~ Crystal Sands ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday, we ate the second to the last jar of pears that I put up last fall. Last fall was my first time to can pears, and I was so nervous about doing it. But our two little trees made a bumper crop, and I had always wanted to can my own pears. I love canned pears. I like fresh pears, but I love canned pears.

I love them extra now because I now understand that the canned pears at the grocery store are a little too soggy and definitely too sweet for my taste. And that’s the best part about canning your own pears–you can make them as soft or crunchy as you like and as sweet or as not sweet as you like!

Of course, there are other best parts about canning your own pears. It’s just awesome to be able to preserve food yourself, and I love that there is almost no waste. I no longer have to throw away cans. These glass jars will be reused year after year, and only the lids will have to be replaced. And, once I make the switch the Weck jars for all of my canning, I won’t even throw away the lids because Weck jar use glass lids.

I certainly realize that I am not going to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things because I am not throwing away cans (there is no longer recycling in my area and in many areas throughout the U.S.), but it does make me feel better–and that definitely counts for something, right?

But I do feel there is a bigger picture that these pears represent. These cans of pears represent a growing self sufficiency we have, and it has saved us financially as groceries have become so expensive. I follow food news quite a bit, and I read a lot of what farmers write. I think there are a couple of things causing the high costs of groceries–climate change and monopolies–and I don’t see either one of these issues being addressed at all. I expect groceries are, in general, going to stay very expensive, though I hope there will be some relief if families continue to struggle.

It was over 20 years ago that I watched a documentary on climate change that really stuck with me. The film showed what grocery costs would be like “in the future.” The future was 2025. I remember studying the program so carefully as the narrator spoke about how difficult it would be for people to afford fresh fruits and vegetables in the future, how everything would be more expensive due to crop failures and the rise in costs of fuel. I can’t remember the name of the program, but I guess the content really stuck with me. I watched that documentary in 2002, and 10 years later, I was trying to homestead and learning how to grow and put up food, much like my great grandparents did–only I have much to learn.

I’m working on it though. These pears represent my progress, and this year, I can see we need more pears. We planted two more pear trees this year, bu , of course, it will be a few years before those little trees bear fruit. In the meantime, my plan for this fall is find a u-pick orchard with pears and get some pears for cheap and add those to what we grow.

This is the time of year when we start to run out of food from last year’s harvest. We ran out of pears, so we need to make a plan for more this coming year. We also ran out of frozen blueberries like a month ago, so we have a pretty big gap there. We also ran out of broccoli, so that’s something we want to address this year. We are also just about out of pizza sauce, so I will have to be sure to process more tomatoes, peppers, and onions into pizza sauce this coming August and September. I want to take extra steps and do as much as I can because I know food costs are likely to just get worse.

What we do not or cannot grow ourselves, I have learned to track down in local farms. I have found that the best cost savings can be found on farms that specialize in what you need, let you pick the food yourself, and do not offer “experience” events or ice cream stands. I love those experience farms too, but when I need to save money, I know to look for something a bit different. If you are looking to save money on food, this is a plan that works.

First, grow as much as you can based on what you and your family will really eat. If you are working full time and can only grow a little, pick two or three crops that you know will serve you well and produce a lot of food–like green beans or potatoes.

Second, find the farmers, the ones that offer good prices if you get out there and pick the food yourself. Not only will this save you money, it’s quite fun to visit farms and pick food with your family. You will get sweaty and dirty, but it’s such good work. Plus, I have seen such beautiful parts of Maine doing this.

Third, start learning how to can foods. It’s easier than you think, and you can do a lot with simple water baths. I am able to put up fruits and sauces using water baths only, but I did finally get a pressure canner. When I first started learning to can, I didn’t have anyone to teach me. If you have someone willing to teach you in person, take the time to make that happen. I feel like hands on learning is so much easier, but if you are like me and do not have someone to teach you in person, I highly recommend The Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, and I learned the most from the following fantastic videos from Magnolia Workshops.

Water Bath Canning

Pressure Canning

I hope this post inspires you to take some steps toward self sufficiency this summer if you can. I think knowing how to preserve food is important, and I think it’s going to be one of those skills we will all be thankful for both right now and in the long run. Putting up your own food saves you money and gives you and your family easy access to real, good food. And I am convinced there is not much else more important than this. I hope to continue to write about our food and what we do. We have many gaps to fill, but I am proud of our progress. I think the key is to just take things one step at a time.

Start small and keep growing!

Canned Pears

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

We didn’t have much damage from the hurricane, and we are grateful. Unfortunately, my corn I grew in my three sisters garden was destroyed. This was a blow to my spirits because that garden was doing beautifully. I will have to write more about it soon, but I am trying to get my head and heart around the idea that it was all learning and all worth it. Plus, some of it was ready, so we will go through it tonight and see what is edible.

Still, as the crow flies, we are only 30 to 35 miles from Bar Harbor, so we are grateful for the fact that the trees and fences are still up!

We didn’t even lose electricity, which meant I could spend yesterday working and canning pears. They are so beautiful, and I am so proud of myself, as this was my first time to can pears. I have another round to go, and I froze two gallons as well. That’s a good year for pears.

We’re almost finished putting up food, and I’m ready for it. It’s so much work, and I will be glad for the rest when harvest is over because working, homeschooling, and harvesting makes for some really long days and nights during harvest. I tell my son this is real slow food, but it’s so good. It’s worth it. And how happy am I going to be eating a jar of these pears this winter?

The pears are ready!

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I am behind on everything, as I always seem to be this time of year. My teaching load increases; homeschooling starts; and it’s still harvest season. This morning, when I went out to take care of the chickens, I saw two pears had dropped from the trees. When I let the chickens out, they were on those pears so fast, which is interesting to me because they won’t eat apples.

Tomorrow, I have try to can those pears, as it’s the biggest bunch we’ve ever had, but I am a little nervous because we have never had enough pears to put up. I am worried about messing up and ruining the pears. Surely, I can do this.

That reminds me: My three sisters garden is doing amazing. After I planted it, I told my neighbor and her grandson about it. Her grandson, who works a lot with the Native tribes here in Maine said, “Oh, it’ll work. It’s been working for thousands of years.” The only thing I could think was that I would probably find a way to ruin it anyway. But I have not. So far, it looks like I’m definitely getting corn and beans, and if this warm September continues, I might get some long pie pumpkins. I am trying to work on feeling more confident. I swear, if I can grow delicious corn, that will surely be a boost.

I also found a great home for one of Ruby’s roosters this morning. He was the sweetest one, and he got to go the best home. It was the farmer who told me last week about how intelligent chickens are. It turns out that she was looking for a young rooster. What a lucky boy!

She drove about an hour to get him because she wanted to make sure he came from a good environment. This is critical if you are getting a chicken from someone else. You can’t know everything for sure, but you have to at least look at the environment they have been living in. It’s always risky to take in an outside chicken and introduce it to your flock. I was happy for her to come and see where our chickens live. It’s a very good chicken life. I did make sure I cleaned the coop this morning though, just to make an extra good impression.

It’s funny. It’s kind of like cleaning your house when company comes over, I guess. Our coop is not fancy at all, but it’s sturdy and safe–and it’s nice when it’s all freshly cleaned.

Anyway, tomorrow is pear canning day. Then, Monday, I have to make another round of sauce from the tomatoes and peppers. Somehow, I have to finish the online annual this week too, and we start homeschool on Monday. It’s a busy fall already.

Eat What You Grow: Tips on Planning a Garden to Feed Your Family

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Day 316 of 365

One of the first lessons I learned as a beginning homesteader was that eating what you grow can be more difficult than it seems on the surface. When you are working full time, raising a family, and caring for animals, your days are pretty full, usually too full. Adding harvest to those duties can be a challenge, especially when you are used to eating from a grocery store. I was not at all used to eating from a garden, so there was a learning curve.

We knew we wanted to change the way our family ate, and we knew we didn’t want to waste. We had a pretty good plan for using all of the food, but I didn’t realize how time consuming harvest could be. In the first year or two, some good food went by us. Thankfully, it mostly went to the chickens, but it was hard to waste some of it. Growing your own food will teach you so much about waste. Wasting food feels like a sin once you see the work and water resources that go into growing it.

If you are planning to step up your homesteading game this year and grow more of your own food, I thought I might share some tips about planning at the beginning, using what you harvest, and making the most of what you grow.

Tips

1. In your planning, think about what you can grow that you will use for sure. We started with things like green beans, potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes because we were already a lot of these things and buying fresh or frozen from the store. These were staples we knew we could use. So, when you plan, think about what you and your family will really eat. I have some other tips about tricking picky children into eating from the garden if it’s not their preference, but that’s another post.

2. After you decide on what foods you will grow, write these foods down in a notebook. List each food, and make a list of meals or snacks that you can make that will use these foods. In the planning stages, start looking for recipes. Add your favorites to your notebook right now.

3. If you want to grow enough of each food to “put up” to eat the rest of the year, make a plan on how you will put up those foods. We can a little and freeze a lot but hope to can more this coming year now that we finally have a pressure canner. If you plan to can, make sure you have some jars purchased well in advance. I have seen them be pretty much sold out in the stores during harvest season, even before the pandemic. You can also put up food by dehydrating, It’s something we are looking into, and you can do some pretty cool things. If you want to do that, make sure you have all of your supplies in advance. Since we have never dehydrated food, I don’t know if those supplies sell out too, but I promise harvest season is intense enough without worrying about getting supplies. It’s good to be prepared if you are planning to put up food.

4. During the height of harvest, take some days off from work if you can. I have found that it’s easier to spend a couple of full days blanching and freezing carrots or making tomato sauce rather than trying to get all of the materials and tools out and doing it over and over and over again at the end of a day at work. It’s so much better if you make one or two messes instead of six or seven.

5. Finally, just remember it is all a process. You have to be patient with yourself. In the first couple of years, we weren’t prepared for how prolific green beans were. They are quite prolific!

Oh, one more tip! Plant something just for fun that you think you or your family might eat. I wouldn’t plan a lot of different things you aren’t sure about, but it’s good to do something fun and see what you think. It’s a great way to get your kids involved too, who can be great helpers during harvest. Even our grumpy teenager chips in during harvest, and it turns out he likes Kohlrabi.

Hopefully, these tips will be helpful if you are just getting started gardening or putting up food. We now grow at least 60% of our own food, and we are planning to do a little more this coming year. It’s all a process of learning and growing and meeting goals (whatever your goals are) on your own time.

And I hope all of this practical advice doesn’t take the romanticism out of eating what you grow. It’s a magnificent thing to do. The food is so good. The food you eat from your garden tastes worlds better than anything at the grocery store, and as you develop your skills, you will save hundreds to thousands of dollars on your grocery bill.

*I thought it may help to see a list of our usual harvest and how we adjust our eating habits to use what is in the garden. I am leaving things out for sure, but I hope it gives you a general idea of how we make use of the garden harvest.

May

Spinach
Lettuce
Radishes
Rhubarb

In May, we start eating salads every single night. They are either sides or the meals. These early salads just have greens, radishes, and cheese, but we eat them every night in May and June. Ron will replant greens in mid summer, and then we will have salads and wrap with the greens and fall vegetables. We also use the rhubarb to make muffins, jams, and pies.

June

Spinach
Lettuce
Radishes
Strawberries
Kohlrabi
Beets
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sugar Pod Peas

In June, we add beets, peas, and Kohlrabi to the salads. I also make stir fries a lot during this time, as well as vegetable lo mien. We eat the sugar pod peas and Kohlrabi as snacks, as well as the strawberries. Oh, how I love the strawberries. We freeze broccoli and cauliflower and some of the strawberries. I also make strawberry jam. I have always made low-sugar recipes, but I am hoping to learn how to use honey this year.

July

Beets
Green Beans
Raspberries
Cabbage
Potatoes
Kohlrabi
Zucchini

In July, I do a lot of different stir fries. There are some fantastic recipes with beets that I really love. I had no idea how much I loved beets until I had them not pickled. I like pickled beets, but I love them just being their beet-selves. We also start eating potatoes again, which I love. We usually seem to run out of potatoes in May or so, so we go a few months without potatoes. The raspberries are our snacks, and I always make at least one raspberry-peach pie. It’s hard to find good peaches, but I try to every year. The raspberry-peach pie is a special celebration around here.

We also freeze most of the green beans, though we do eat some fresh. I am hoping to can green beans this year. The green beans will feed us all year. We store the potatoes in a large black back in our basement cold room. It’s not as good as a root cellar, but it does fairly well. Just keep the dirt on them, and they will last many months. I also always make raspberry jam.

August

Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Jalapeño Peppers
Blueberries
Green Beans
Oxheart Carrots (I adore these carrots)
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Corn
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
Potatoes

This is the month that really feels like harvest, and it gets a little wild around here. This is the month we put up most of the food we will eat throughout the long winter. With that much freezing and canning and prepping going on, dinner is a little wild. I will make a lot of wraps (I make homemade tortillas with whole grain flour), and we eat those all the time. But we’ll have green beans on the side. Sometimes, we have peppers on the side of that. Sometimes, for dinner, I’m like, “Here is a plate of corn on the cob with tomatoes on the side, and, here, have another tomato. You like tomatoes, right?”

In terms of putting up, we freeze blueberries (a lot of them) and make jam. We make the spaghetti sauce I shared before out of the tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, and herbs from the garden. We freeze green beans, corn, and carrots and will not buy any of these foods for the rest of the year. The same goes with potatoes and onions.

September

Tomatoes
Corn
Bell Peppers
Jalapeño Peppers
Squash
Yellowstone Carrots
Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Potatoes
Onions 
Garlic 
Pears

In this last month of harvest, we enjoy the last of the fresh corn and tomatoes, and the pears are especially treasured. I make pear crisp but eat them fresh, of course. We bake the squash and will eat fresh carrots as snacks into October.

We continue to use the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to make sauce. We are hoping to can whole or diced tomatoes this year as well for winter soups. We freeze the carrots and the last of the corn.

Upping My Homesteading Game

~ Crystal Sands ~ 6 Comments

Day 273 of 365

Yesterday, when I was really sick, I had no choice but to just sit there and sit there. I do not watch much television, but yesterday was a tv-watching day. I found a fantastic program on the Magnolia Network called Magnolia Workshops, and if you have Discovery Plus or some way to access the Magnolia Network, I cannot recommend these workshops enough. The workshops are short video lessons in gardening, cooking, art, and such, and I watched a couple that really inspired me.

For three years, I have been wanting to try canning with a pressure cooker, but I have always been nervous because I worry about things going wrong. I worry some about a pressure canner explosion, but I mostly worry about not canning properly and having food be wasted. I feel safer with freezing. However, our two deep freezers were so full last year that we could barely close them. It made me realize I really need to learn how to can beyond water-bath canning.

You can use simple water-bath canning for acidic foods, such as fruit jams and the spaghetti sauce I make, but to can beans, for example, you need to use a pressure cooker.

It just so happened that one of the first workshops I watched yesterday was a step-by-step video on making applesauce and canning it with a pressure cooker. The woman doing the workshop was so calming, and I was mesmerized–and convinced I can do this.

So, last night, after three years of wanting to do it, I bought a pressure cooker almost just like the one in the video, and I am ready to up my homesteading game.

I am determined to cut down on the items we buy at the grocery store. Two of the things we buy frequently are canned pears and canned pinto beans. We also have so many tomatoes left over each year that we realized it would be nice to can some tomatoes just as tomatoes alone and not as a part of my spaghetti cause. I also love canned green beans and haven’t had them in years because we always freeze our green beans, so for sure, this year, I am determined to can pears, pinto beans, tomatoes, and green beans.

There is a spectrum for homesteading. Everyone is in a different place, but I have found that if I try to just add a little bit every year, over time, I really get somewhere. Maybe slow is best. A wise teacher told me that just today.