Sounds like you have a great plan! I love putting lightweight things that won't easily break up high. It's easier to pull them off the shelf compared to heavy things, plus if by chance you do drop them, you don't break anything.

Glad it was helpful! I love that you can take the Nesco along in your camper. What a great idea! Besides the jam, you can potentially make some meals in jars. You can cook a few meals at a time and not have to worry about refrigerating them. I am considering buying the 17-quart Presto because it's enough bigger to matter, but it's so darn expensive. It's hard to justify the cost when you get so much for your money with the Nesco.

Great question! But I can't remember. It probably took more than that, but it doesn't take a ton of time. Just pulse it until it looks well blended. It may vary based on your food processor and the amount of sugar/molasses.

​@@StockingMyPantryfunny, I thought about you maybe not remembering. Thank you for answering my question. I'll know the answer tomorrow. Great video!!😉

@@pitabury Glad you liked it! Have fun making it!

Thanks, Shirley! Nice to see you here.

No! If you look at steam canners, the water sits beneath the canning rack. RoseRed Homestead talks about it on her video, and shows how to use a water bath canner by flipping the rack over so the jars sit above the water. That's what got me thinking about how to do it with the Nesco. I started experimenting with the Nesco and found that when you elevate the rack, you can still use 8 cups of water without the water touching the jars. I share a couple of options in this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pZxdma5ntbS1dWw.html

You just made my day! Thanks for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it! My husband and I enjoyed this salsa. It's very mild, but has great flavor. If you want it spicy, use a different type of pepper, such as jalapeno. But the poblanos were great for us.

Yes, we enjoy a breakfast like this every Saturday. :) M-F it is green smoothies for breakfast, so we enjoy the splurge! There are a lot of salsa recipes that call for the peppers (and sometimes tomatoes) being charred. I think the strictly by the book people would say no, because you never change a tested recipe. But it's hard for me to imagine why it would be unsafe.

@@StockingMyPantry Thank you so much!

You're very welcome!

Great question. If a Walmart has a gas station, it applies. I'm guessing Sam's Club also, but I can't say for sure because I don't have one in the area, but that would make sense. In my area, it's also Mobile/Exxon stations as well, which are all over the place. I'm thinking there may be some others as well, but that is what comes to mind immediately.

You're very welcome! It's nice being able to tweak seasonings to suit your preferences and to add a bit of variety to your pantry.

Thanks as always for watching!

Great question. I don't know about halfing the sugar or using low sugar pectin, because none of the recipes in the book that come with the jam maker give those options. However, many of them have a reduced sugar option. I'll give you an example from the book for plum jam. With that, you use 2 and 2/3 cups crushed plumbs and 3 1/3 cups sugar for the traditional recipe. For the reduced sugar recipe, you use 3 1/4 cups crushed plumbs and 2 cups of sugar. So the way it works is increasing the amount of fruit and reducting the amount of sugar. For both of those options, you use 3 tablespoons powdered pectin and 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine. You can basically use the same fruit and sugar ratios for all type of jam. So, it's not cutting the sugar in half, but at least reducing it, which is what I typically do.

Thanks for the tip! It's always nice to have different options! Another thing you might try are silicone dehydrator sheets. Those are typically square/rectangle, so you would have to cut them to fit, which may or may not work. I have used some in my other dehydrator (Cosori cabinet style, so not round). Those have worked well and are inexpensive and reusable. I'm just not sure if they are big enough to cover the round trays.

Thanks for sharing. Are you able to cover them with at least 1" of water? (Talking about WB, as I know that's not an issue with PC.) I'm wondering if the Bernardin jars are shorter.

Yes, actually, I am able to do about 1/2-2 inches...edited to say.. pint jars only...

@@leonamcmullin9998 Interesting! My Ball/Kerr wide mouth pints are almost too tall. I may have to experiment with a few different types, though I've never seen Bernardin jars or lids here.

Thanks so much for your comment, Janie! I have also learned a few things since making this video, that make me even more confident in the safety. As an example, the Utah study based the failure of the canner on 250 degrees Fahrenheit for the kill zone, which is the temp required in commercial canning. The temperature required in home canners is 240 degrees Fahrenheit, and even in the Utah study, the Carey canner reached and maintained that temperature. I personally think there was just bias in the way the study was conducted, which skewed the results. I was so happy when Pam did her tests!! I love her videos.

Thanks for your kind words, Faye! I misplaced the pressure canning one myself. I looked all over for it, so I have no clue what happened to it. I like it enough that I went ahead and bought it again. There are other great canning books, for sure, but these three are my favorites!

100%! Frozen or fresh is just fine for dehydrating. Thankfully the cans you have on your shelf should realistically last beyond the expiration date on the can as well, so you may as well store them that way.

I have some Harvest Guard lids. There is definitely a learning curve with them. And I did find that sometimes when a jar had sealed, that later it unsealed. So I haven't been using them. BUT, I'm very happy to have them, in case there is ever a lid shortage again. (I bought them during the pandemic, when you couldn't easily find canning supplies.) I would consider using them again, on either inexpensive things like beans OR, maybe using them for 1 or 2 jars in a batch, and using metal lids for the rest. That way you reduce how many metal lids you use, and don't risk the whole batch with the Harvest Guard. I do know some people who use Harvest Guard/Tattler lids with great success, so it's possible that I just didn't have the technique down. I really should give them a try again, because they are definitely cost effective since you can reuse them so many times.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. My intention on giving them a try was to have a backup for the same reason you mentioned if there were to be another shortage of metal lids. I agree, it also seems like there is less to throw away. More research on my part is definitely needed. I do have some Weck jars, which I use for dry storage. I have a couple Weck canning books, so l really should try them out for canning purposes. The metal lids are just so easy! ☺️

@@belindadunne4312 I agree with you about how easy the metal lids are! I think RoseRed Homestead has some videos on using Weck jars. As far as metal lids go, Dutchman's store has plain metal lids at a decent price. They are made in the USA, but have no brand attached to them. You buy them in a "sleeve" and they are reasonably priced compared to most canning lids out there. So far, I've had a good experience with them, and the reviews are good, with some reviewers stating they've used them for years.

@@StockingMyPantry thank you for the info, I'll definitely check those out. 😊

You're welcome! I figure the more options for lids, the better! Another thing I've done to build my stash is just pick up another 12-pack of lids every time I grocery shop. It's not the cheapest way to do it, but I don't really notice a big difference with my grocery budget, and doing it every week for even a few months really adds up!

Belinda, why am I not surprised that we have and love the same canning books?!?! I really do love Angi's book, because she is a real person who does safe canning. I trust her, even though she isn't from one of the "approved" agencies. She also has a book out on preserving vegetables, and it covers different methods, such as canning, fermenting, and dehydrating, and maybe more. I haven't bought that one yet, but since I love her pressure canning book, I'm guessing that her other book is good as well. Thanks as always for watching and commenting.

The books really come in handy! I'm sorry to hear your container garden didn't produce as much as you'd hoped. But as you said, you'll know to plant more next year. Lately things have been too hectic for me to focus on growing much, so I've just picked up produce on sale at grocery stores.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll check it out. Is that on Amazon?

Never mind! I just checked and see that it is on Amazon! Amazing Deal. I just put it in my shopping cart and now need to figure out if I should buy it, lol. It's such a great price, you can't go wrong with it.

Yes and the Ball water bath canner has a sale price too.

@@rhodasmith2195 thanks! I just posted about it so others can take advantage of it. I really appreciate the heads up. I'll check out the water bath canner, though I'm not sure I need it. There are only so many places to store these amazing canners!

I got it from Amazon: amzn.to/4bFJvRz Note that it comes in multiple colors. I love this thing! It doesn't take up much space in my cabinet, and the handles on it expand quite a bit so it will likely work even if your sink is bigger than mine.

You're welcome!

Great question! I sent it back. However, I do have my eye on the larger model, because it seems more worthwhile with the extra capacity. It still only does 4 or 5 quarts, but can do more pints since you can stack those.

Great suggestion! Thanks for the tip!

My pleasure! Thanks for watching and commenting.

Interesting! I was pleased with the quality of these. You'll have to let me know how the pickles turn out! I haven't tried the ones I canned yet, but the quick pickles I put in the fridge are delicious!

First, you're welcome. I, too, love dill pickles! One of my favorite things. I haven't gotten into the jars that I put in my pantry, but have been eating the ones in the fridge. So good! Good for you for checking the seals! It's so important to check them before putting them into the pantry. And then, before opening them, I do the same thing, just in case. BTW, how did the beans you canned turn out?

@StockingMyPantry The beans turned out fabulous. Thanks for asking! I'm looking forward to canning more beans and ground beef from the freezer. It's approaching 100 degrees where I'm at for the next several days, and without A/C, the canning will have to wait until we drop back down into the 80s at least. But that's OK because I'm gathering ideas from videos like this and from my canning books. I'll have to check out the DIY Pickling book you're using.

I'm glad the beans turned out great! Whew, those temps sound brutal, without AC. It hit 110 here yesterday, but we do have AC. We keep it set at 80 in the summer, because electricity cost is so high here, our bill is astronomical if we set it at a lower temp. I had to stop with my sprouting and stuff like that because it's just too hot in the house right now. So I totally understand you taking a little break from canning. As a side note, let me say that if you haven't tried canning ground beef before, start small. Some love it, and others hate it. It does kind of have a "dog food" smell to it when you open the jar. I just canned some chili with ground beef, and it's delicious. I also did sloppy joes, also good. That makes me more confident to do those types of thing with ground beef. I think I will do spaghetti sauce with meat next.

Nice! That's wonderful. The color of these beauties is amazing, for sure!

You're welcome! It helps a lot! I also sometimes use 1 regular mouth jar and that also helps.

Yummy! I wish I had them in my garden!

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment, Matthew! I understand about the Presto reputation. My first canner was a Presto (stovetop), and I would buy Presto again. I do think it's a little shady the way that they give the impression on the box that the canner is USDA approved, which makes me distrust the company a bit. (I do know they don't actually say that, but they give that impression, and because of that, a LOT of people believe it to be true. The bottom line is they worded it in a way that is technically true, but gives the wrong impression. That move seemed out of step with what I expect from Presto, and caused me to trust it less. Not so much the safety, but the overall ethics of the company.) In the end, I decided to return the canner, because in my opinion, it simply does not have enough going for it to make up for the price difference. Having said that, I am keeping my eye out for the 17-quart one to go back in stock, because the extra capacity in that one may be worth it. I haven't really needed Nesco support often, because I've never had any problems in the 4 years I've owned them. I have called a couple of times with questions, and gotten good support. I do think it's great that Presto has an official Facebook group, which Nesco does not. I was in it for awhile when I was considering keeping the canner, and will rejoin if I decide to buy the 17-quart model. The bottom line is that I don't think people can go wrong with either option, and it is great that there are easier ways to can that don't require as much babysitting as stovetop canners. Thanks again for sharing your experience with the Presto.

Thanks for sharing your experience with this! I haven't tried steaming them, but I'd love to hear more about how you've done it and how it's worked for you, so please share!

@@StockingMyPantry Sure, I use golden potatoes, not that their best, just like them. I make a not so deep cut all the way around, just enough depth to cut through skin. Then blanch in boiling water for roughly 15 minutes. I place them in ice water for about 10-15 minutes, and just twist off both sides of skin. That’s the reason for the cut all the way around. I cut them into chunks because I like to use them in beef stew. I steam them for about 20-30 minutes, until my fork slides through easily. Take them out and place them on dehydrator trays. Set temp to 130-135 and dry for about 10-12 hours, maybe more, depending on how large my cuts were. Like to have something to chew on! After they are crisp and dry, where you can crack them in half and see no moisture, I let them cool down for a few, because where they’re going, you don’t want any moisture, heat, humidity. I prefer vacuum sealing with my Nesco, then let it sit on the counter for a day or two, to ensure no leakage. If all is well, I place them into a Mylar bag and then throw in a food grade bucket, which are DIY insulated to keep heat away. That’s it!

Actually, the bags at Walmart are super sturdy compared to bags at other stores. This may be a California thing, as ALL stores charge for bags here. The ones at Walmart are worth reusing at least. Also, when I do grocery pick up, they give me an option to get bags or not. When they bring stuff to the car, they will pack it in whatever bags I happen to have in my trunk. I haven't paid for bags for a couple of years because the ones that I paid for are sturdy enough to be used dozen of times. Again, this may be a California thing, and may not be the case where you live. Also, if you bring random bags into the store, they will pack them for you. Or you can carry stuff out in your hands or in the cart. It's honestly not a big deal.

You're very welcome!

Great question! Yes, I do vacuum seal jars. I don't use oxygen absorbers. You can do one or the other, but I think that vacuum sealing is better because you don't have to worry about running out.

You're very welcome!

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting.

You're very welcome! Thanks as always for watching and commenting.