Pressure-Canned Collards!

I am not impressed, at least not by the results. So few jars for so much time! And angst!

But the process was interesting. It took 2.5 hours from start to finish, probably due in part to inexperience and fear. We cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned surfaces, jars, and utensils, washed the collards three times, then got to steaming then canning them, using our brand new All-American Pressure Canner and the the Ball Blue Book of Preserving (aka The Bible). The real time-sucker was watching over the canner to make sure the weight jiggled "one to four times per minute" to assure accurate pressure - FOR 70 MINUTES. Next time, I'll make sure I have some knitting close by so I'll have something to do with my hands besides wring them...

It was a mistake to use pint jars. We couldn't find quarts anyplace over the weekend; Faced with a windfall of donated greens and wanting to make good use of them, we plunged ahead with the pints. If we had used the larger size, we would have had twice the output, which would have been heartening.

I have frozen extra greens in the past, but our smallish freezer is perpetually full of something or other, and using re-useable glass jars instead of freezer bags seemed like a plus... Does the canning process use more energy than a separate freezer does? I have no idea! But I would think quantity makes a difference, and we sure have that. In any case, I'm not giving up on the idea of "putting by" our excess produce this way. Next time, I'll see if quart jars (wherever you are) and a little more experience helps fine-tune the process!

Comments

[Cyndy]

You should be able to stack your pints in an All American. That way you can get double the amount processed in the same amount of time. Don't give up! You need that freezer for veggies that taste best frozen.

[Suna]

I wish you could mail me those. I love collards. They do get a lot smaller when cooked,though! Having an extra freezer has helped us a lot. Of course, in a power outage, your collards would be fine, and we'd be out of luck!

Sue Ann

[Kelli]

Oh Lordy, I just put in an additional four hours of collard-preserving! Thank you Cyndy, for pointing out that I can double up on the pints! It was the first time I used it, and I wish I'd read the fine print about capacity!

And yes, Sue Ann, they do shrink. Two giant garbage bags of greens turned into 12 canned pints, 9 canned quarts, and 5 large freezer bags! About 10% of the original volume. I'm not hoping for a blackout of anything, but it would be gratifying to feel like the canning was worth it. I did get a little sock knitting in, though, while babysitting the jiggly weight for 90 minutes this time (for the quart size jars).