# Inventory for the past year:what I would not do again.



## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

Please post what you canned/froze/dehydrated this past year.What would you not bother to do again that you have done in the past years? This is not a competition but an inspiration to others & ideas of 'What else can I do?" because we love it so! >


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## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

CANNED :
Asparagus
Jelly: strawberry & grape 
Apple butter 
PINEAPPLE
peaches 
Bread & Butter Pickles
plums (YUM!) 
potatoes
pears 
Red Beets
applesauce 
Pumpkin
Juiceurple concord 
apple pie filling 
Juice:White Concord 
cherry pie filling
sauerkraut 
blueberry pie filling
tomato sauce 
strwaberry pie filling
Tomatoes:stewed 
chicken broth
carrots 
beef broth
string beans 
pea soup
wax beans 
beef barley soup
pinto beaNS 
chicken barley soup
NAVY BEANS 
13 bean soup
BLACK BEANS 
corned beef w/cabbage 
Flank steak blackbean chili

Frozen:

Side of beef (raised by neighbor)
Roaster chickens (own free range chickens)
Chickens cut up (" " " ")
Turkeys (free range raised at home)
Loin of pork ( pork chops( great buy at supermarket)
Green & red peppers (raised at home)
string beans (raised at home)
broccoli (home raised)
Corn
carrots

STORED IN COLD CELLAR:

Brussel Sprouts (for farm animals)
Cabbages(for farm animals & pheasants)
potatoes
apples


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## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

What I would not do again:

canned beet greens, keg Kosher dill pickles (never turned out well), tomato jam


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## scwit (Mar 2, 2011)

I won't bother with rhubarb-I froze superb fresh and it was tough as all get out pretty much inedible. I also dehydrated some - just not to my liking.
I'd have to go down and make an inventory of what I did can before I post that. But I assure you it'd be a smidgen of what you canned! Although I did do about 20 frozen dinners in the once a month cooking preparation method that I will do again.


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

*Canned:*
Apple pie filling
Baby carrots
Beans-Black, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Chickpeas, Mayflower Pole, Old Homestead, Pinto, Purple Podded Pole
Corn
Crushed Tomatoes
Dandelion Jelly
Grapefruit
Green Beans
Pickled Garlic
Pickles
Pineapple
Potatoes
Salsa
Vegetable broth










*Dried:*
Apples
Broccoli
Cabbage
Calendula
Candied Ginger
Carrots
Celery
Chamomile
Corn
Garlic
Green Beans
Green Onions
Green Pepper
Kale
Lemon
Mushroom
Onions
Peas
Pineapple
Potatoes
Saffron
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Zucchini

*Fermented*
Dill pickles

This is my first year canning so I did very large batches trying to build my pantry. I've been especially happy with canned beans and the dill pickles. Dehydrated lemons weren't terribly useful. I don't think I'll do another batch of dehydrated onions again. They are convenient enough I think I'll buy them out of the bulk bins, but I don't want my house or garage tear gassed again


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

For me, it's not so much what type, but how many that I have a problem with.

I'm pretty sure I could put up almost nothing this year, and we'd be fine and still have food come fall 2013. 

So there are several things I won't can this season because I still have enough, not because we don't like it at all. 

Here is my list of what I canned
Rabbit broth
Chicken broth
Beef Broth
Corn
Spiced Peaches
Spice Pears
Sliced Peaches
Sliced Pears
Sliced Apples
Carrots
Candied Carrots
Green Beans
Apple Juice
Rabbit
Venison
Chicken
Potatoes
Yams
Dilled Green Beans
Dilled Carrots
Pickled Habinaros
Pickled Jalapenos
Pickled Cucumbers
Tomato Chutney
Apple Chutney
Plum Relish
Corn Relish
Cucumber Relish
Cherry pie filling
Peach Pie fillling
Apple Pie filling
Strawberry sauce
Cherry Sauce
Blueberry Sauce
Raspberry Sauce
Peach sauce
cranberry sauce
Apple sauce
Pizza sauce
Ketchup
Tomato sauce 
BBQ Sauce
Chilli sauce
Enchilada sauce
Diced Tomatoes
whole tomatoes
split pea soup
chicken soup
tomato soup
Refried beans
Beets
Pickeled aspargras
pecan syrup

And then I also put up jam
Apple Cider
Apple Cranberry
Apple jelly
Apple pear marmalade
Apple Plum
Apple Raisin
Apricot
Carrot Cake
Cinnamon Anis
Cinnamon Pear
Honey Ruhbarb
Rubarb Wine
Peach Clove
Peach Ginger
Peach
Plout
Raspberry
Red Grape (did not turn out well)
Strawberry
Strawberry Ruhbarb
Cherry
Tomato Basil
Cranberry Jalapeno
Habinaro Gold
Habinaro Onion
Hot Cranberry 
Hot Pepper
Hot Tomato

I have three chest freezers
Chicken
Rabbit
Venison
Twice Baked potaotes
Swedish meatballs
Frenchfries
Jerky
sausage
quickbreads (made into small loaves)
Peas
cauliflower
broccoli
too much corn
chopped green peppers
chopped onions
and quite a bit of fruit that I haven't made into Jam yet

I think what I won't make again is about anything with green tomatoes. I hate seeing them go to waste but it's less work to toss them out before I process them than a few years later.


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

Never again: Corn Cob Jelly and NCHFP Beans in molasses sauce.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

My never again list:

Latest batch of dill pickles (too salty)
Corn cob jelly
Beet jelly (made with grape Jello)
beet greens (no one likes them)
carrot cake jam (eehh - not so good that it's worth the effort/cost)
Chicken noodle soup (noodles WAAYYY too mushy)


Moldy


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## tankpa (Mar 9, 2011)

Macybaby said:


> For me, it's not so much what type, but how many that I have a problem with.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I could put up almost nothing this year, and we'd be fine and still have food come fall 2013.
> 
> ...


Goodness! I am exhausted just reading that!! KUDOS to you! 

This was my first year canning. I did not do any pressure canning because I am still petrified of that silly pressure canner! LOL. I wish I had someone who knows, come do it with me just once so I could see!
Here is what I hot water bathed:
Tomato Sauce
Aunt Aggie's Chili Sauce
Bruschetta
Salsa
Dilly Beans
Sauerkraut
Cucumber Relish
Refrigerator Pickles
Dill Pickles
Pickled Jalepenos
Pickled Habenaros
Apple Sauce
Apple Butter
Apple Pie Filling
Pears
Crab Apple Butter
Crab Apples in a Syrup
Blackberry Jam
Blueberry Jam
Tomato Marmalade
I think that is it. Next year I will double the apple butter. The kids eat that like it is going out of style. More Tomato Marmalade. More Aunt Aggie's Chili Sauce. Less salsa, bruchetta. Lots more dilly beans. And, of course, I need to pressure can some things... EEEEKKK!


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## blynn (Oct 16, 2006)

I won't bother with pickled green tomatoes, my husband won't touch them, he thinks they are nasty. I won't make any jam or jelly next year except for grape, because the grapes are free. Went overboard with jams and jellies this year and have enough for quite some time. Peach pie filling was tasty, but is just sitting there not getting used.


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## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

It's so fun to see where ya'll come from! So far away yet knit close by our loved hobby.
Vigilant, thanks for posting your picture. Your jars look so pretty!
I have frozen mashed potatoes in the past from the seed potatoes (50# bag that I bought)I couldn't bear to toss all the leftover potato pieces away since they were such perfect potatoes. But mashed potatoes don't freeze well.That's another thing I won't do. Instead I just can the suckers and make wonderful scalloped potatoes with Asagio or sharp cheese later.


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## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

I froze fried cabbage & onion in butter. Bad choice later. Not as nice as fresh fried.But the sheep love it>


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Canned:
Sweet corn
Corn relish
Green beans
Dilly beans
Wax beans
Peas
Shelled beans: black, chick peas, navy, pinto, red, kidney, lima, fava, black-eyed peas
BBQ beans
Boston baked beans
Ham and beans
Carrots (sliced and julienne)
Dill carrot sticks
Garden medley plain & pickled
Cucumber sweet pickle: whole babies, spears, slices and relish
Cucumber dill pickle: whole babies, spears, slices and relish
Whole cherry tomatoes
Diced plum tomatoes (plain and seasoned Italian, Mexican & Creole)
Crushed tomatoes (same as above)
Tomato paste
Tomato broth
Pasta sauce
Pizza sauce
Bruschetta
Salsa (red and green)
Ketchup
Bell peppers (plain, roasted and marinated)
Mushrooms (plain and marinated)
Artichoke hearts (plain and marinated)
Asparagus (plain and pickled)
Beets: whole and sliced, plain and pickled
Beat greens
Chard
Kale
Spinach
Cabbage plain and sauerkraut
Turnips
Garlic minced, marinated roasted and pickled whole cloves
Onions minced, pickled and roasted relish
Potatoes: baby whole, sliced, and cubed
Chicken: ground patties, chunk, whole breasts legs & thighs, stew, soup and broth
Pork: roasts, fillets, chunks, stew, soup and broth
Sausage: links, patties and bulk
Ham: roasts and chunks 
Bacon: sliced, diced, and chunks
Beef: roasts, fillets, chunks, ground patties and bulk, stew, soup and broth
Moose: roasts, fillets, chunks, ground patties and bulk, stew, soup and broth
Mixed meatballs
Mixed meat loaf
Corned beef fillet with cabbage, carrots and potato
Salmon and other river fishes: fillets and chunks, plain, pickled and smoked
Shrimp
Crab
Chili - meat & bean, white chicken & bean, bean only
Hot sauce (several varieties)
Mustard (several varieties)
Diced green chile plain and pickled
Diced pickled hungarian chiles
Sliced jalapeno plain and pickled
Sliced pickled banana peppers
Whole roasted anaheim peppers
Apple: sauce, pie filling, wedges and diced -- plain and spiced
Blueberry: whole, pie filling, relish, jam and syrup
Cranberry: whole, relish, jam and ketchup
Strawberries: whole, sliced, and jam
Raspberry: whole, pie filling, relish, jam and syrup
Peaches: halves, sliced, diced, pie filling, jam & chutney
Pears: halves, sliced, and diced plain and spiced
Orange & grapefruit medley
Orange & lemon medley
Orange marmalade & chutney
Pepper jelly (several varieties)
Herb jelly (including mint)
Pickled sliced ginger
BBQ sauce (several types)

Dried:
Herbs
Tomatoes
Celery
Carrots
Minced garlic
Minced onion
Mixed greens (kale, chard, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, beet greens)
Peppers (several varieties)
Beef, moose and salmon jerky

Fermented: regular cabbage sauerkraut and a few experiments adding other veg (broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, etc)

Frozen: my tiny solar freezer is reserved for meat (roasts, fillets/steaks, whole birds & small fishes) and dairy (cheese, milk, sour cream, butter).

Never again list:
*Canned greens that aren't a (small!) part of a recipe - they aren't wonderful dried but way better than canned
*Canned plain bell peppers - just too bland, easier to dehydrate them
*Applesauce - we hardly eat it, so I've been forcing it into baking recipes
*Some of the funkier jam, relish and chutney recipes -- I might make them to try but I won't can them if they aren't great fresh since they don't get better on the shelf
*Meat chunks - they're better canned directly in the soup or stew I'd use them in anyway, some chicken and fish chunks are good for making salad but not so much with pork, beef and moose
*WAY less beets - we hardly eat them (may try them in sauerkraut)

***** Only use quarts for pickles, the two of us just can't finish a quart of anything else in one sitting or before it spoils!!!


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Wow, I'm impressed by some of these lists! You all must have thousands of jars. There are some things that we just don't care for frozen or canned, and one of those is carrots. When frozen, they turn out mushy. Canned they taste metallic. However they dehydrate wonderfully and taste great.

Once my dear friend told me how she 'blanches' her potatoes, by cooking them in the microwave briefly, then peeling and slicing, I've had great results with dehydrating those.

Something I did once and won't do again is can ham in broth. UGH. It was perfectly edible, but turned grey in the jars and looked like a seventh grade science experiment. I do can it sliced and chunked without any liquid and it workes fine.

Cabbage is something else that isn't great when frozen or canned, but dehydrates well, so I'll do that again. Same with asparagus. Always mushy when canned, so it's a no go again. 

I really hope that some of you who canned mushrooms, garlic, etc will post how you did it. Don't want to hijack this thread!


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## Turkeyfether (Dec 10, 2004)

WOW! After reading these lists, I have to lay down & take a nap! I plum wore out! >


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

We have been canning so long we know what we like and don't like. We can plain, tomatoes and juice, then make what we want when we open them. Fruit, fruit juice, jam, jelly, vegetables, pickles, saurkraut. We can very little meat, some rabbit and chicken mostly fish. We store root vegetables and squash. Dehydrate almost anything that can be done, lots of vegetable mix for stews and seasoning. We have 1200 jars but 2/3 are pints now (I trade a dozen quart jars for a dozen pints) and about 800 were full. As of now we have used 86 quarts and 220 pints. Last year was a bumper year and we only canned 160 quarts and 340 pints. I have been sharing jars with my neice as we empty them, she loves to can and has 8 kids, his, hers and theirs. Both my kids can too but they have their own jars, shared over the years. Our son LIVES out of his pantry, working at the school he has his summers to grow, pick and process....James


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Yes, ham in broth is ugly, works and looks much better without it.

And I also won't bother canning plain asparagus again, pickled works and stays relatively crisp but plain is foul. We think it's foul frozen as well, and we can never get it to fully rehydrate when we dry it either. So other than pickled, I think we'll just enjoy asparagus fresh when it's in season. I'm might try some of the freeze-dried asparagus and see if that works better.

(USDA approved) Recipe for pickled garlic: http://www.pickyourown.org/pickledgarlic.htm
USDA/NCHFP recipes for pickled veggies including mushrooms, onions, artichokes, asparagus & beets. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/veg_pick.html
USDA/NCHFP recipe for plain canned mushrooms: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/mushrooms.html

*NOT* USDA approved method for canning plain minced onion & garlic that my European family uses: blanch the onion chunks/garlic cloves in water, drain and soak in an ascorbic acid solution, mince with a sterilized ricer or chopper, add a pinch of kosher salt and a 500mg ascorbic acid tablet to each *half-pint*, fill to 1" headspace, add fresh boiling water leaving 1" headspace, remove air bubbles, process 15 min @ 10lbs (weighted/seal level).

The ascorbic acid raises the pH enough that I feel comfortable with the short processing time *in half-pints or 4oz jars*. Long processing times in pressure canners tend to make garlic and onions flavorless and mushy... which is why the USDA hasn't tested any plain garlic/onion methods. I find this acidulated short process to be reasonably palatable and have not had any spoilage issues. Use your best judgment when determining whether to try this recipe yourself.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Oh yeah, I can mostly in pint, half-pint and 4oz jars since it's just the two of us and we don't have a refrigerator for leftovers. I have 25 flats each of pints & half-pints, 10 flats of 4oz, and about 2 dozen quarts for pickles since they keep opened on the shelf long enough to finish before spoiling.

I also have a dozen or so half-gallon and gallon jars that I use to dry-can/vacuum seal dry staples like rice, beans and pasta to keep the critters out.

When I started canning and had figured out what sizes and types of mouth worked best for me, I got together with family & neighbors and we ordered a full PALLET of each size jar from Goodmans.net, split the costs and divided them up. Including shipping, average per jar was 80 cents vs. $1 each at the discount store.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

I made some pineapple zucchini last summer. DD gobbled it up - and even I will admit that it was pretty good. But now that it has sat on the shelf for 6 months - it's not so yummy. I'm going to try sneaking it into some muffins, but if that doesn't work, to the compost pile it will go.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/zucchini_pineapple.html


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Strawberry zucchini is really tasty, also!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

I've never found any canned zucchini recipe that's very tasty after the 3-6 month mark, not even pickled or chutney. They're great at first, and pretty yummy for a couple of months but then only so-so after that. Even dried zucchini doesn't have the staying power of the other veg. If you can hide it in a soup or baked item, then you can use it up but not really in anything where it's a primary ingredient IME.

It seems some veg are just destined to be short-term pleasures.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

Interesting thought Plickety. I make zucchini relish - which is fine after a year, even 2. But I also realized - this is the first jar we ever opened of the pineapple zucchini. The rest we ate fresh from the pot. So maybe it was the BWB that destroyed it.


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Thanks for the links, plicketycat! I have to admit, I've been hesitant to try canning mushrooms and garlic!


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

If you try the pickled/marinated recipes first, you can't go wrong. They're actually pretty tasty, too. I sometimes add a few red pepper flakes to the garlic to give it even more zing, and tweak the spices a bit in the marinated mushrooms. Since we luv our 'shrooms, I put up as many 4 oz and half-pints of both marinated and plain mushrooms as I can whenever they're on sale.


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

PixieLou, I put zucchini in my garden mix pickles and they're great, but weren't nearly as yummy when I made zuke pickles by themselves. The zucchini I added to my relish and one of the salsas doesn't detract, but doesn't really add anything but a slightly different texture. I don't know if it's the heat or the storage, but those poor zukes just seem to lose all flavor


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