# How to handle large amounts of produce to can in your kitchen



## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

This might seem like a strange question, but I was wondering how everyone handled large amounts of food that you are preparing to can in your kitchen. 

Things like applesauce, tomato sauce, canned whole tomatoes, green beans etc all need to be washed, pealed, cooked, made in to sauce etc. 
I am constantly running out of large enough bowls, pots etc. and I am no slouch in the quantity of my kitchen equipment. 
I am especially having trouble with the stage when something is ready for canning and it needs to sit in a bowl and wait for me to process enough to fill the canner.

what do you keep everything in as it is being processed before being put in the jars? 
I have been wondering about using the smaller/medium plastic bins from walmart like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-12-Quart-Storage-Box-White-Set-of-15/15442439


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I'm lazy, If something is going to be made into sauce, no need to peel it, the peels come out with the waste in the food mill. I don't peel tomatoes to can either. I figure if you eat the skins when they are fresh, why not when they are cooked. Green beans just need the ends cut off and cut into reasonable lengths, then raw packed, and if I have more than I can do in a day, they get put into an old plastic bread bag and tossed into the refrigerator till the next day. As far as tomato sauce is concerned, after cooking down the whole tomatoes, then running through the food mill, I pour the juice into a colander lined with a fine meshed cloth and filter the water out by stirring and scraping the bottom of the cloth leaving the sauce in the cloth. This saves cooking it down for hours. Then add my spices and such, jar and can. If the sauce is too thick, just add some water back. (Give a difficult job to a lazy man and he will find an easier way to do it.)


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

I imagine this would depend too on how many jars your canner holds at one time. I don't have an AA, and my canner holds 8 pints or 7 quarts. So I only prepare enough food usually to fill that many jars.

We do have some very large stock pots. Really large ones. I also use the pot part of my 2nd canner to hold large quantities (just as a pot). I have 2 canners, but I cannot keep more than 2 burners going on my stove at one time or it blows the circuit breakers (trailer).

DH got me a new water bath canner when my old enamel pot finally got a hole in it. It's quite large too.

If you have an AA though, and are doing up double or triple the amount I am able to do at once, then you would need lots more "bowls"  I often find really large plastic bowls at walmart for very little money in the "summer seasonal" area. They have trays and bowls and beverage cups, made for outside picnic table type use. They often have wonderful bowls there and very cheap. I have one that I've been using for 10 years and I paid one dollar for it!


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

I don't have an AA canner but my pressure canner does hold 16 pints. I like to get as much done as possible on canning days so I will often do several loads per canning day.

I have a canning size pot that was my gramdmothers 'soup' pot. It is what I use for cooking down everything. then I have my graniteware water bath canner, but I don't know if I would put food in that. it has rust spots after 7 years of heavy use (amazing since my granmothers aluminum soup pot is perfect for food after more then 30 years of use). 

the bowl idea is a good one. I hadn't thought of the walmart bowls....


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

I have several very large cooking pots that I use. I also have 4 or 5 extra large tupperware bowls that hold a canner load+ at a time. I really like my tupperware.  They also serve as my bread mixing bowls.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Terri in WV said:


> I have several very large cooking pots that I use. I also have 4 or 5 extra large tupperware bowls that hold a canner load+ at a time. I really like my tupperware.  They also serve as my bread mixing bowls.


i think part of the problem is that nothing i have is big enough, so I am always getting out ANOTHER bowl and finding a place to put the one that is full so I can fill the second one etc. Sauces are my biggest hair pulling moment because you have the canning pot and the pot it cooked in and the bowl the sauce is going in to as it is being made :hair:hair


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## wally (Oct 9, 2007)

We have a canner or 2 going every day during the season. We do a little every day to stay on top of things. If the tomatoes are going to be juice, or salsa or sauce they may get froze and processed after the peak season is over


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

A roaster oven works good for cooking/preparing large amounts to can. Mine is an 18 qt. that I bought about 15 years ago. I don't use it a lot but it sure is handy when I need it. You can also fill it with water to keep your jars in until you're ready to fill them.

http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=roaster oven


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## donnam (Sep 27, 2005)

Where are you located? The Restraunt Store is just outside of Harrisburg and worth a trip for larger bowls and equipment.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Ok
I use plastic wash tubs. Wm has them in different sizes. They are squarish and neatly nestled to min storage space.

I 12 in total.
Four in three sizes.

It works for me. I avoid round stuff due to wasted space.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

donnam said:


> Where are you located? The Restraunt Store is just outside of Harrisburg and worth a trip for larger bowls and equipment.


about 90 minutes west. Are the prices good?


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

donnam said:


> Where are you located? The Restraunt Store is just outside of Harrisburg and worth a trip for larger bowls and equipment.


We are about 90 minutes west. Are the prices good?


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## donnam (Sep 27, 2005)

The prices are good. I shop there for our homestead as well as for kitchen equipment for our fire department.


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## eruehr (Feb 22, 2007)

A couple times a year a local grocery store has stainless steel stockpots really cheap. $10 or so. Maybe less. They are thin and cheap and there's no way you could ever cook any sauce in them on a burner - but they are great for washing, holding, storing, etc. and you can cook lots of tomatoes, apples, etc. in them - in the oven. This leaves burner space above for the canner/canners, etc. I like them because you can use them for heating water, you can use them outside on a fire - a million uses. And they're chewp. I've abused the heck out of ours for years and years and they still scrub up clean and shiney as (almost) new.


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## eruehr (Feb 22, 2007)

A couple times a year a local grocery store has stainless steel stockpots really cheap. $10 or so. Maybe less. They are thin and cheap and there's no way you could ever cook any sauce in them on a burner - but they are great for washing, holding, storing, etc. and you can cook lots of tomatoes, apples, etc. in them - in the oven. This leaves burner space above for the canner/canners, etc. I like them because you can use them for heating water, you can use them outside on a fire - a million uses. And they're cheap. I've abused the heck out of ours for years and years and they still scrub up clean and shiney as (almost) new.


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Since storage space needs to be used as wisely as stovetop and counter space in my house, when I needed to purchase large pots for canning, I bit the bullet and purchased very heavy, stainless steel stock pots so that I could also cook in them without the worry of scorching.

24 qt - purchased especially for a very large recipe of V6 vegetable juice to can. Have since used it frequently for double, triple or quadruple soup recipes, so that I can can excess before the final simmer. If you are going to be cooking anything with tomato in it, you absolutely need stainless steel or enamel ware. Enamel ware needs to be replaced if it chips, so you could be ahead of the game with good heavy stainless steel. (I hate to purchase things twice.)

12 qt s/s stockpot - this is good for smaller batches, but is especially useful for blanching as it comes with a colander that makes blanching much easier and faster.

I use some old T'ware items when I run stuff through the Victorio strainer. A loaf-type container catches the waste and the good runs out into the great big cake-taker that is set on an upturned water bath canner. (I set the strainer up on a picnic bench that I haul into the kitchen.)

I've been canning for over 40 years and just got the stockpots in the last 10-15. You don't need all of the supplies all at once. Just make do with what you have at the beginning, but when you're ready to purchase some of those extra pieces, buy quality so that you don't have to buy them again.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Werforpsu said:


> We are about 90 minutes west. Are the prices good?


If you consider the R. supply, look at the stainless "pans" ,they are ABOUT 14 inches X 24 long, 4 inches deep. They are excelent for space as Kali. says and if you decide to boil down sap, Maple ect. they are the cat's meow! Great for hauling harvest out of the garden and they last forever.
ps. my harvest table makes things so much easer.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Marilyn said:


> Since storage space needs to be used as wisely as stovetop and counter space in my house, when I needed to purchase large pots for canning, I bit the bullet and purchased very heavy, stainless steel stock pots so that I could also cook in them without the worry of scorching.
> 
> 24 qt - purchased especially for a very large recipe of V6 vegetable juice to can. Have since used it frequently for double, triple or quadruple soup recipes, so that I can can excess before the final simmer. If you are going to be cooking anything with tomato in it, you absolutely need stainless steel or enamel ware. Enamel ware needs to be replaced if it chips, so you could be ahead of the game with good heavy stainless steel. (I hate to purchase things twice.)
> 
> ...


Have you found any large SS stock pots not made in China? I've resorted to enamel pots(antiques) for that reason.


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## Janis R (Jun 27, 2013)

I use 5 gallon buckets a lot.
Also have large stacking stainless steel pots.
I have used big 2.5 gallon zip lock bags
I have lined cardboard boxes with a trash bag.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Harbor freight has a 4-piece stick pot set: 6, 8, 12, and 16 quart pieces for $24.99. They're nice because the smaller nest inside the larger ones.

I use them all the time - storing sauce to can, cheese-making, etc. they have lids so I can pop them in the fridge and get them out the next day and continue. They are perfect!


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Unfortunately no, 7thswan.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

I want ss deep trays but live within my budget...someday but since I cook on a wood stove....I need thick not thin or better train son about the joys of clearing burnt food when I do use it for cheese I use this metal thing I got from gw that is imprinted with the words....QUICK THAW. 

Helps to even out the heat.


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

When I make sauce I use my 8 crock pots. I fill them with tomatoes (quartered and washed) green peppers, onions, celery, and garlic the night before I want to do my canning session. I put the crocks on low and let them go all night long. when I get up in the morning they are ready to run through the food mill.

Once through the food mill the juice goes directly into my electric roaster, they each hold 22 quarts and I have 3 of them. The liners are enameled metal and they are removable so sometimes they do double duty as containers for other cooking projects. I turn the heat all the way up as far as it will go and leave the lid off, I can reduce a roaster full of liquid to about half in approx. 6-8 hours. And that leaves my burners free.

I have 4 pressure canners. I can only use 2 burners on my stove at a time for canning because the canners are so large only 2 will fit on it at a time. what I do is get 2 canners up and running. Then prep the next two so when the first 2 are done, I slide them off the burners, place the next two on, and by the time the first canners have cooled and lost pressure I can refill them get them ready to go and swap them out when the other canners are done. Did that make sense?

I have some shallow Rubbermaid totes that I use to hold produce that's waiting to be processed, 10 gallon. I use 5 gallon buckets to hold scraps and peelings meant for the chickens. I have many large stockpots, enamelware and stainless steel, large mixing bowls, large dishpans, and large roasters that I use when I have those marathon canning sessions.

Sometimes my biggest challenge here is where to fit all those hot jars that need to cool before they can be put away. Counter space is my issue.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Wow TerriLynn, that is amazing. Your supplies certainly put my production in newbie territory! I've been canning 5-7 years and I taught myself everything..no one else in the family cans. I hope that over the years I can increase what I put up as my little kids grow and I can devote more time and energy into this side of my life. 
With my flat top stove I only have one burner that is big enough for a canner so 1 PC and 1 BWB is it for me right now. I am hoping to invest in A camp chef three burner camp stove so that I can run two canners at the same time outside. At that point, I might invest in an All-American since I won't be concerned about the weight on the stove anymore.
I guess it just takes a lifetime to accumulate all the stuff I will need. As soon as I have it all, I'll be ready to stop canning and pass it onto my kids and grandkids!


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

You will get there, and you will also figure out what works best for you. I had an aunt and grandma that canned, but I was not raised that way so I had a bit of a learning curve as well when I was first starting out.

I got my turkey roasters on sale at Christmastime ($30) and also garage and estate sales. I had an advantage that when I started canning about 25 years ago, it wasn't trendy, and no one else was doing it or wanted to.

I remember going to estate sales and there would be piles and piles of canning jars free for the taking, and I took them.

I had several little old ladies who lived in our town that found out I was canning and they were so excited to give me their stuff, they didn't use it anymore and none of their kids were interested in it. They were thrilled to share their stuff knowing it was going to be used for its intended purpose and to share their know-how. So I was lucky in that way, it sure helped me get a good start.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Anyone hear of a tattle sale I want some more.


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## Janis R (Jun 27, 2013)

I don't have a lot of counter space so I pad my dining room table with a bunch of towels, put a plastic table cloth on top of that and put my jars on the table to cool.
I also have a 6 foot plastic table that I can set up in the kitchen when I am canning or processing meat.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

We use Rubbermaid lugs. They are heavy duty, and I think will last forever. We use them for produce, and meat when we cut up a pig or cow.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Maybe not quite what you are looking for but doing your best to plant not so much for a great big single harvest but perhaps multiple smaller harvests. For instance, don't plant all of your corn on the same day, rather, plant 1/3, in 2 weeks plant 1/3, and in 2 more weeks plant 1/3. That way, you should have three smaller harvest events rather than one big one. 

I know that's not always possible but it's one idea.

Something that also worked well for us last year was that we were doing this all with family. Basically, it was three families, three separate households with mostly three sets of bowls, dishes, pots, utensils,... and HANDS!! There were a few times when we did have a very large crop, one of our corn crops being one of them. We all worked together in a sort of processing line all the way from blanching to cooling cutting off to bagging. It worked very well and the family time together is really a neat thing.

Just the things that came to mind.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Bellyman said:


> Something that also worked well for us last year was that we were doing this all with family. Basically, it was three families, three separate households with mostly three sets of bowls, dishes, pots, utensils,... and HANDS!! There were a few times when we did have a very large crop, one of our corn crops being one of them. We all worked together in a sort of processing line all the way from blanching to cooling cutting off to bagging. It worked very well and the family time together is really a neat thing.


That would be a dream come true! I can all by myself while dealing with little kids at the same time. LOL!


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Me too, Bellyman. Very seldom do I have company with helping hands while I am canning, but I love it when it happens. It is so much more fun to do with others.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Werforpsu said:


> That would be a dream come true! I can all by myself while dealing with little kids at the same time. LOL!


I wish I had pictures. 

It started out a little less obvious with the picking and the shucking but about the time the first wheel barrow full of corn came to the end of the pavilion, the game was on.

It was my job to run the blancher. I have a 60,000 btu burner and a big pot that we used for blanching. I would blanch, pull the corn out when ready and put it into cold water. My wife would work the corn between several big pots of cold water until it was cooled down and then stack it on a picnic table on down the line. Next, we had my mom, brother and sister-in-law all with their big bowls and their favorite SHARP knives cutting the corn off the cobs. My dad was the one who got to haul the corn cobs off to the compost pile. While I was waiting for corn, I would refresh the cooling water that would get warm. My wife, when she was waiting would keep the pile of corn within easy reach of the cutters and also bag for the freezer. 

Oh, it was quite the operation. And we loved doing it! When we were done, we felt like we had accomplished something as I think we put something like 50 or 60 quarts of corn in the freezers. I don't know if we did it right or wrong or whether we could have done it more efficiently. But it was just an experience I'm glad we got to have. 

Maybe as your kids get older, it can become a really great family experience for you, too!

ETA... Last year, our garden was at my parents' place. They had decided they just didn't want to garden anymore. Pop is 91 and getting tired. And so my wife and I decided to take on that project and make it a family affair. When we picked peas for the first time, I think we had about 3/4 of a bushel or so and the first thing my mom said was something like, "Why don't you take them to the sheller. It only costs a few dollars and you're in and out and done, peas shelled." My dear wife refused because she wanted to do them by hand. And so four of us, mom & dad, DW and me, sat and shelled peas for a little while. We repeated that process several times with various crops of peas and beans. And by the end of the summer, my mom was singing quite a different tune. It turns out she was liking all of that family time together, time to talk. Time to laugh. Just time to share life.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

instead of a big back porch I built a canning/outdoor kitchen with a propan stove, double bowl sink ,and built a wooden table with unfinshed wood to clamp strainer/peller /sheller, chop and prep foods for canning I can hose every thing off and not heat up the inside of the cabin . but for big jobs the county where I live has a community cannery with all the heavy duty machines for removeing corn from the cob, shredding cabbage ,steaming tomatoes and apples to run through strainers for peeless seedless sause ,even giant steam heated pots to cook any thing like apple butter or chili for canning they even have a butcher shop to slice n grind meat .how great is it to watch them lower a 150 quart cans into a giant pressure canner at once and tell you come back in a couple hours and pick it up you can even buy tin cans from them all at a great cost I canned 150 quarts of corn in tin cans for $40 in a few hours with there machines .using my own glass jars I did 5 dozen of quarts of pork for under 5 $ I think the propane would of cost more plus its done at one shot .how great it would be if every county had this for the community to use just dream of a machine that can cut the corn of the cob bushles in minits or a twenty gallon pot to cook apple butter / and all you clean up is stainless steel with a hose ; not to mention the ladys who work there can give you all the free expert advice you need and the comrodery of all your neighbors .


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

that is so cool! 
I wish we had something like that!!


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

for years I picked up canners . jars ,apple pealers when I could find them .at second hand stores flea mks , as well as new things when they could be afforded big pots, knives ,ladles all can often be found cheaply the trick is to learn about the tools that will make your job easyer and when you see a victoro strainer for 10$ at a flea mkt. you know to snap it up .you can put a bushel of tomatoes through one of them in no time . canning jars last for generations and ofen available if you get the word out ,my grain mil and electric butter churn were found on ebay in stead of shakeing a jar to make butter or cranking the handle on a mill I,v learned to save time with better equipment and new is not always best many tools made in the 50s when people needed and demanded high quality home processing tools are still working fine now .I started gathering homestead tools in the early 1980s . when I retired in 2006 most of the garden tiller. seeder, mower , pig pen, milk barn were ready . thinking about what will be needed on the day you bring home a couple bushels of peaches will save lots of time digging through the basement looking for your blanching pot and ladle and have to hustle down to the Wal-Mart for sugar n cinnimin will have you wore out before you start ;so be prepaired as you gain experience as well soon a couple big buckets of berrys or a 100 pounds of beef will be a walk in the park or a stroll through the canning kitchen .


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## Vickivail98 (Sep 26, 2014)

I cannot believe I never thought to use my roasters while canning. SMH. it sounds like I can use them for all kinds of stuff! Have you guys found that the tomatoes burn to the bottom if left overnight?


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## Vickivail98 (Sep 26, 2014)

I have found that the boxes I buy my tomatoes in from the farmers market are the best quality, most useful (free) things I have used. The small peck baskets are just right for slinging over my arm to pick beans and the half bushel baskets (which come with lids) are so sturdy and have handled, they are perfect for storing extra bands and lids in addition to holding produce. If one gets yucky or wet, I just recycle it. Plus they come free when I buy my tomatoes!!


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Vickivail98 said:


> Have you guys found that the tomatoes burn to the bottom if left overnight?


I am interested in this as well. I don't have any electric roasters but if I could follow a fix it and forget it approach to my sauce I would be interested.

does the sauce bubble and make a mess when the lid is off? i currently "dehydrate" my sauce by baking it down in a warm oven. it takes at least 24 hours and it is only sauce, not anywhere close to something like paste which i would be interested to make too.


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

Vickivail98 said:


> I cannot believe I never thought to use my roasters while canning. SMH. it sounds like I can use them for all kinds of stuff! Have you guys found that the tomatoes burn to the bottom if left overnight?


No they don't burn on the bottom. The beauty of the electric roaster is that the heating elements are in the sides. So it has been my experience that the solids sink to the bottom, and the liquid cooks off from around the edges..

I really only give it a stir every couple of hours or so until the end when it starts thickening up, at which point I would say I move it up to stirring every 30 minutes or so, I only let mine get as thick as tomato sauce....any thicker than this and you may want to watch it a little closer until you get a feel for it, after you have a batch or two under your belt you will know how your roaster performs.

I also should say that I have 3 electric roaster and they all heat differently. I have one that runs really hot and will cook off faster, and towards the end I will turn that one down a little.


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