Do you ever have those slap on the forehead Ah-Ha moments? I had one of those the other day when I saw a post on canning carrots. I grow carrots but, never enough for juicing which I try to do every day. I also use carrots in soups, stews, stir fry’s and occasionally for a meal. However, I NEVER thought of canning carrots.
Because I never have enough carrots I purchase the 5lb bag of organic carrots from BJ’s. So the other day I purchased an extra bag and canned them. I was able to get 14 – 1/2 pint jars (this is what will fit in my pressure canner) and had quite a few carrots left over for juicing. A couple of days later I purchased another bag and after canning I had just 3 or 4 carrots left over. I am not sure if the weight was off or it was the size of the carrots, the first bag had larger carrots. Canning instructions link below.
When I picked up the 2nd bag of carrots I found a 4lb bag of frozen organic corn and purchased it because organic corn is hard to find. When I arrived home I scoured the internet for instructions on canning frozen corn. I could not find a thing. When a post on my Facebook popped up on freezing corn I asked if anyone had canned frozen corn before. I had one response to the post saying yes, they had canned frozen corn and it worked out fine. So I decided to can the corn just like it was fresh. I again ended up with 14 – 1/2 pints and probably 2 -1/2 pints left over. After canning I tasted the corn to make sure it was not mushy and I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted better than any canned corn I ever had before.
Was all this worth the cost? You decide. The cost of the canned carrots ended up at $.21 a can and the corn was $.40 a can (not including the jars). Because it is just my husband and I 1/2 pints work out great. I was just at BJ’s and checked for prices. I didn’t spot any carrots but, the canned corn was $.87 a can for for 11 oz and it wasn’t organic. So price wise canning is the way to go for me.
I know some of you will ask why don’t I just keep the corn frozen. The answer is I live in Florida and I have very little freezer space. We have lost electricity several times with storms and one time lost a whole freezer full of food after being without electricity for about 3 weeks.
I use this website all the time for information about canning times and pressure amount. I did however, place the corn into a colander and rinse with cool water before canning.
I purchase my jars at Wal-mart and use most of the pieces from this set at Amazon.
