Canning Carrots Recipes

CANNING CARROTS (HOW TO CAN CARROTS)

Steps:

• Step 1: Prepare the Canner Wash the pressure canner and the racks. Fill the pressure canner with about 3" of water (refer to the manufacturer's instructions for how much water to use in your canner.) Put the rack in the bottom of the canner and put the canner on the stove. Heat the water until it's hot but not boiling - about 140F for raw-packed jars and 180F for hot-packed jars. Step 2: Prepare the Jars and Lids The jars and lids should be washed in hot, soapy water. While washing the jars, look for any nicks or cracks along the rim. Don't use any jars with nicks or cracks in them. The jars don't need to be sterilized but they need to stay hot, therefore, I put the jars in the pressure canner with the hot water while I prepare the carrots. Ball/Kerr no longer recommend that their lids be hot before using, other manufacturers do recommend the lids be hot. I suggest reading the instructions on the box of lids because the recommendations can change. Since carrots are something I can just for our family and not to give as gifts, I use reusable canning lids for canning carrots. I use both Harvest Guard lids and Tattler lids; they both work well, but you need to read the instructions because they work a little differently than metal lids. Step 3: Prepare the Carrots Wash, peel, and cut the carrots. You can cut them in sticks, chunks, or slices. If you're going to cut them in slices, they really need to be at least 1/4" thick. Carrots get soft when canned and really thin slices can fall apart when you're reheating them for serving. If you are hot-packing the jars, put the carrot pieces in a stockpot of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. If you are raw-packing the jars, heat a stockpot of water to boiling. This will be the water you use for packing the carrots. Step 4: Fill the Jars Remove the jars from the canner (or wherever you had them to keep them hot) and put them on a towel on the counter. For hot-packing carrots use a slotted spoon to put the carrots into the jars. This will help ensure that all the jars have about the same amount of carrots. Then ladle the hot cooking water into the jars leaving a 1" headspace. For raw-packing carrots put the carrot pieces into the hot jars and ladle the hot water from the stockpot into each jar, leaving a 1" headspace. You can add 1/2 tsp salt to each quart size jar at this point, if you want to. Using a bubble removal tool, remove the air bubbles from the jars. If you don't have a bubble removal tool, you can use a silicone spatula or chopstick, but don't use a butter knife or anything metal. Recheck the headspace and add more water if needed to maintain 1" headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp cloth. Put the lids and bands on the jars and tighten to fingertip tight (about how you'd put a lid on a jar of mayonnaise). Step 5: Process the Jars Put the filled jars into the canner and lock the lid onto the canner. Follow the directions that came with your canner for venting and bringing your canner up to pressure. Process the jars at 10psi for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts. Adjust for altitude, if needed. See chart below.. Step 6: Let the Jars Cool When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and let the pressure canner depressurize naturally. Refer the manufacturer's instructions for opening the canner. Once you open the canner, let the jars sit in the open canner for about 5 minutes before taking them out. Set them on a towel on the counter to cool for 12 hours....I usually just let them sit overnight. Take the bands off the jars and make sure they all sealed before storing them in the pantry. If any didn't seal, put them in the refrigerator to use first. Home canned carrots should be used within 12 months.

HOW TO CAN CARROTS

Steps:

• Wash, peel, then re-wash the carrots.
• Slice or dice them.
• HOT PACK: Put in a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and simmer 5 minutes. OR RAW PACK: skip this blanching step.
• Pack into half-litre (US pint) jars or 1 litre (US quart) jars.
• Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace.
• Top up with clean boiling water (such as from a kettle, for instance), maintaining headspace.
• Debubble, adjust headspace.
• Wipe jar rims.
• Put lids on.
• Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet.)
• Processing time: half-litre (US pint) jars for 25 minutes OR 1 litre (US quart) jars for 30 minutes.

CANDIED CARROTS

Steps:

• Place carrots in a pot of salted water. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat to a high simmer and cook about 20 to 30 minutes. Do not cook the carrots to a mushy stage!
• Drain the carrots, reduce the heat to its lowest possible setting and return the carrots to the pan. Stir in butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until sugar is bubbly. Serve hot!

CANNING CARROTS

Steps:

• Add 2'' of water to your pressure canner (or follow manufacture directions on how much should be there) and set it on the stovetop. Turn the heat to medium-high and heat the water to 150 degrees F.
• Wash the jars, lids, and rings with hot water and soap and set them aside.
• While the water in the canner is heating, prepare your carrots. Peel the carrots and slice them. It doesn't matter how thick or thin you slice them, this is completely up to you. You can even leave them whole if they are small enough to fit in the jar.
• You'll have to choose your packing method (more on this in the post above)...Hot pack - if you choose to hot pack your carrots, boil a pot of water. Add the carrots and boil them for 5 minutes. Scoop the carrots out and add them to the clean jars. leave 1'' of headspace. Raw pack - if you choose to raw pack your carrots, simply add them to the jars after slicing them. Leave 1'' headspace.
• Add boiling water to each jar (If you chose the hot pack method, you can use the water that you boiled the carrots in). Leave 1'' headspace.
• Add salt. This step is optional, you don't have to add salt. If you want to add salt, add 1 teaspoon to each quart jar or 1/2 teaspoon to each pint jar. Make sure that you are using sea, kosher, or canning salt (not regular table salt).
• Use the bubble remover to remove air bubbles from each jar.
• Use a damp paper towel to clean the rim of each jar before centering the lid and closing the jar with the ring finger tight.
• Add the jars to the pressure canner (set them on the rack), close the canner and turn the heat to high (weight is off the vent of the canner at this point). It will take a few minutes for the water in the canner to come to a boil and for steam to start escaping from the vent. Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes.
• Place the weight on the vent and bring your canner to the right pressure. If you are using a dial gauge canner and live under 1,000 feet in altitude, process on 11 psi. If you are using a weighted gauge canner and live under 1,000 feet in altitude, process on 10 psi. Adjust your pressure according to the table below if you live in higher altitudes. Process pint jars for 25 minutes and quart jars for 30 minutes.
• Once processing time is complete, turn off the heat and let the canner cool completely (this will probably take a couple of hours). Once the canner is cool, open it and remove the lid but don't remove the jars yet. Let them hang in the hot water for 10 minutes. Use the jar lifter to remove the jars. Set them on a kitchen towel on the counter to cool completely overnight.
• Before storing your jars, check that they are sealed by pressing the center of each lid. If there is no movement there it means that the jar is sealed. Store unsealed jars in the fridge to use first. Remove the rings (cause they rust and stick) and wipe your jars. Store in the pantry at room temperature for up to 18 months.