Started the day yesterday by reading a 40-page PDF file by the USDA about the principles of home canning. Don't you just love the Internet? The night before, I had dumped 8 cups of sugar on top of 8 cups of diced rhubarb and by morning it was a syrupy, watery concoction as the recipe had promised. As a humectant, sugar draws water out of foodstuffs. Looked in the attic to see what we had for canning supplies and found a yellow 12-quart Presto brand cooker-canner, that I am told was either a wedding present my parents received or was bought at a tag sale. Certainly made my expectation of the process feel a little easier, as I was expecting I'd have to sterilize and do the hot water bath in an old lobster pot. After discovering that we only have the Ball-Mason jars with wire enclosures and glass lids that the USDA recommends not to use anymore, a short drive to Big Y supplied me with 12 pint-size canning jars with thin metal lids and screw-top bands. Also picked up a nearby set of new hot-jar-handling tools.
Once I had all the items marshaled, the process seemed to go smoothly, even though it was my first attempt at canning. All you need to do is read about it and follow directions. I'm pretty good at that. So, I started boiling some water in the cooker-canner to sterilize the new jars and lids. It fit five, and with an eyeball estimate, I figured that would be about enough to can what I had and put whatever was left over in the fridge. Cooked down the rhubarb, sliced strawberries and other ingredients, including two large packets of strawberry Jell-O. Now, if this seems to you like a lot of sugar is used here, get behind me in line. But, as Garrison Keillor says, when cooking with rhubarb, you have to (paraphrasing here) 'add sugar to the point where you think it must be really, really sweet. Teeth coming out of your gums sweet. Then add six cups more sugar than that.' He's not far off.
Anyway, I then ladled the rhubarb mixture into the canning jars to 1/4" from the top, as directed, wiped the rims to make sure of a good seal, put on the thin lids and screwed down the bands to a firm tightness. It filled the five jars, almost exactly --- there was enough left to cover one half of an English muffin. Not a bad estimation! Then, they went back into the cooker-canner water bath. I probably left them in longer than necessary, but that's not a bad thing. The strawberry-rhubarb just needs 5 minutes in this stage. The point of the water bath --- killing harmful bacterias --- has a shorter time requirement for this mixture because it is so acidic it keeps most any bacteria from establishing. Once I took the jars out of the pan, they quickly made small popping sounds --- the lids being pulled down as air escaped from the jars over the waxy ring on the metal lids. Success! Don't ask me how air gets out of the jars but can't get in. Smarter people than I invented and perfected this process.
All told, my first canning experience went very well. I may be making another batch of 5 this week. We'll use 'em up and make it an annual event now that I know how to do it.
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