Home Canning...

Home canning is an excellent way to prepare food for your family's emergency food storage and winter use. Use your Camp Chef stove to move the mess and heat from canning outside.

Canning Safety Rules to Remember
– taken from the Utah State University Extension Office website. Click here to find more tips online

Home canning can bring economic benefits, culinary enjoyment and a feeling of a accomplishment. Following a few rules will also increase your likelihood of having a safe product.

• Don't use recipes that have not been scientifically tested. You won't know what the necessary time/temperature requirements really should be. If you have an untested favorite salsa recipe, freeze it instead of canning it.


• Never add more onions, chile peppers, bell peppers or other vegetable to tomato mixtures than the recipe calls for. This can change the acid level and result in an unsafe product.


• Never add extra cornstarch or flour to a recipe. This will change the time requirements for heat penetration.


• Have your dial gauge pressure canners tested for accuracy annually. The USU Extension office will offer this service.


• When using a pressure cooker, be sure to let steam escape through the vent for 10 minutes before closing the vent and beginning timing. This gets rid of air pockets which would not be as hot as the steam environment.


• In pressure cooking, if the pressure falls below that required, increase heat slightly and start the timing again from the beginning when the pressure reaches the necessary minimum.


• If using a tested recipe from another source, don't forget to make altitude adjustments.


• Absolutely never can vegetables or meat without using a pressure cooker.


• If a bottle does not seal, change the lid and reprocess or refrigerate the product and eat it soon.


• If home bottled products on the shelf show any signs of spoilage (loss of vacuum seal, bubbling, becoming cloudy, develops an off-odor), don't eat it.

Remember: WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT.

Note: Check your local extension offices for more tips & ideas

Chile Salsa
Courtesy Utah State University Extension

Ingredients:

5 lbs tomatoes
2 lbs chile peppers
1 lb onions
1 C. vinegar
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

How To Prepare:

Peel and prepare chile peppers. Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30-60 seconds or until skins split. Slip off skins and remove cores. Coarsely chop tomatoes and combine peppers, onions and other ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat to boil and simmer 10 minutes. Fill pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. Process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes if your altitude is under 6000 ft. If your altitude is 6001 to 8000 feet, process for 25 minutes.