THE FUN OF CANNING

trying to do all i can to make sure we are prepared should we need any extra food, and also to not spend so much on food in the future, i've been doing a lot of canning this summer. so far i've canned peaches, pears, grape juice, beets, and i'll be canning tomatoes before we move out in a week. canning peaches was the first thing we canned this summer. charisa and i were going to do it together and get all our peaches done at the same time. she has been canning basically her whole life with her mother and then on her own after she got married, so i was relying on her expertise with it all. i kind of knew what i was doing because i've helped out a few times in the past.

there are two types of canners that are used for canning fruit; a water bath canner, and a steam canner. my mother-in-law had just bought a steam canner and wanted to try it out this year. it's supposed to use a lot less water so it goes faster. when charisa and i were canning our peaches together, we decided to use the steam canner on the propane camping stove outside. we figured using the camping stove would keep the burners on the indoor stove available, and it would keep the heat down inside.

everything was going great for a while. we got in a groove and were just moving right along. our kids were playing great together, we were able to concentrate on the task at hand, and the steam canner just made things go that much faster. a couple of times we realized we were running out of water in the canner so we kept filling it up. one time, after i took a batch of canned peaches out of the canner and brought them inside to cool, i went back outside and refilled the canner, turned the gas up to high so it would start to boil quickly to be ready for the next batch, and went back inside.

by this time, the kids were getting a little antsy and we realized it was time for lunch. we put things aside and focused on the kids. we got lunch for them all, cleaned up all the toys, and i put my kids to bed for naps while charisa's kids had quiet time. we finished the next batch of peaches then and i brought them outside to put them in the canner. something smelled kind of funny, like burnt peaches, and when i got to the stove, i realized we had left the gas on high for over an hour. all the water had evaporated! i tried to get the lid off the canner, and it was burnt shut. i had to bang on it to loosen it, and when i opened the lid, there was a POOF of smoke that billowed out, burning my hand. then i could really see the damage. i had burned the canner beyond any kind of repair. my mother-in-law's brand new steam canner was now a piece of charcoal. boy did i feel awful. we had to use the water bath canner for the remainder of our peaches. here is the product of our canning experience, the bad and the good. :)