PickYourOwn.org

Canning / preserving directions How to make Jams/Jellies Preserve, bottle anything How to freeze fruits/veg How to dry or dehydrate Pickling; not just cucumbers Tomatoes: Canning, freezing, sauces Make sauces, salsa, chutneys How to make homemade icecream How to make pies, cobblers FAQs - Answers to questions Canning tips for newbies

Fruit / veg guides and picking tips How do I need to pick?? Apples Blackberries Blueberries Figs Green Beans Peaches, Plums and Apricots Pears Raspberries Strawberries Vegetables

This month's notes: May 2013: The cool weather has delayed blooms and slowed growth by a couple of weeks, but don't miss strawberries: they started in most Southern areas in late April, and in late May up north. Click here for strawberry facts and picking tips, and this page for easy strawberry jam making directions. Blueberries will come in June in most areas. Of course, Florida, southern Texas, and other very warm areas are already picking both crops! See this page for hundreds of easy canning and freezing instructions/recipes, canning equipment guide! Also make your own ice cream - see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Then see each state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops. Organic farms are identified in green!  See our guide to local fruit and vegetable festivals!. Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information!!

Subscribe to our: Email alerts;  Follow us on Twitter or via RSS:  Add this page to your favorites! - Email this page to a friend, or to yourself

---

How to Make Home Canned Nuts (all types: peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.) with Your Pressure Canner - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs

Yield:  as many pint jars  or half-pints, as you like

Making and canning your own nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, etc.) is relatively easy to do. Canned nuts  has the advantage of producing shelf-stable jarred nuts that will last for at least a year, stored in a cool dark place, like a basement. The USDA says that freezing is easier and produces as satisfactory a product, but that takes up room in a freezer!

BUT, with a pressure canner it's easy.  And although a pressure canner costs $100 to $200 (see this page for pressure canners models, makes and prices), they last a lifetime, and your children and grandchildren may be using it. You can also find free information from the USDA in this PDF file (it will take a while to load!) about selecting and using canners here!

So, here's how to pressure can nuts of all types. The directions are complete with instructions in easy steps and illustrated. In the winter when you open a jar, the nuts of all types will taste MUCH better than any store-bought canned nuts.

Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of about 12 - 24 months, and aside from storing in a cool, dark place, require no special attention.

 

Ingredients

• Nuts - any type: peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, etc., and quantity. 

Equipment

• 1 Pressure Canner (a large pressure  pot with a lifting rack to sanitize the jars after filling (about $75 to $200 at mall kitchen stores and "big box" stores, but it is cheaper online; see this page for more information).  For low acid foods (most vegetables, you can't use an open water bath canner, it has to be a pressure canner to get the high temperatures to kill the bacteria. If you plan on canning every year, they're worth the investment.
• Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
• Jar funnel ($2 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates)
• At least 1 large pot
• Colander or sieve
• Large spoons and ladles
• Ball jars (Publix, Kroger, other grocery stores and some "big box" stores carry them - about $8 per dozen quart jars including the lids and rings)

Directions - Step by Step

Step 1 - Prepare the jars, oven and pressure canner

Wash the jars and lids

This is a good time to get the jars ready! The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" (available from target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) to pull them out.

 

 

Get the pressure canner heating up

Rinse out your pressure canner, put the rack plate in the bottom, and fill it to a depth of 4 inches with hot tap water. (of course, follow the instruction that came with the canner, if they are different). Put it on the stove over low heat, with the lid OFF of it, just to get it heating up for later on.

 

 

Start heating the oven

This is also a good time to get the oven preheating to 250°F (120°C)

Step 2 - Shell the nuts.

Perhaps it isn't obvious, but yes, you do need to shell the nuts and discard the shells (the shells make great mulch in your garden).

Step 3 - Bake the nuts

Spread a single layer of nut meats on baking pans and place in a 250°F oven. Stir the nuts occasionally, heating only until the nut meats are dry but not browned. Watch carefully that they don't scorch. This just to preheat the nuts prior to the pressure canning step.

Step 3 - Pack the nuts into the jars

Pack hot nuts into half pint or pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Do not add any liquid to the jars. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process. Keep moving, so the nuts don't cool down much.

Step 4 - Put the lids and rings on

Put the lids on each jar and seal them by putting a ring on and screwing it down snugly (but not with all your might, just "snug"). Again, keep moving.

Step 5 - Put the jars in the canner and the lid on the canner (but still vented)

Using the jar tongs, put the jars on the rack in the canner.  By now the water level has probably boiled down to 3 inches.  If it is lower than that, add more hot tap water to the canner. When all the jars that the canner will hold are in, put on the lid and twist it into place, but leave the weight off (or valve open, if you have that type of pressure canner).

 

Step 6 - Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes

Put the heat on high and let the steam escape through the vent for 10 minutes to purge the airspace inside the canner.

 

Step 7 - Put the weight on and let the pressure build

After 10 minutes of venting, put the weight on and close any openings to allow the pressure to build to 11 pounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 8 - Process in the pressure canner for 10 minutes

Once the gauge hits 6 pounds, start your timer going - for 10 minutes.  Adjust the heat, as needed, to maintain pressure.

Note: the chart at below will help you determine the right processing time and pressure, if you have a different type of canner, or are above sea level.

It is important to learn how to operate your pressure canner by reading the owner's manual that came with your particular canner. If you can not find your owner's manual, you can obtain find one online: Here is where to find some common manufacturer's manuals:

• Presto canner manuals

or by contacting the company that made your canner. Give the model number to the manufacturer, and they will send you the right manual. Click here for more information about pressure canners and a variety of models you can order.

 

 

Step 9 - Turn off the heat and let it cool down

When the processing time from the chart above is up, turn off the heat, and allow the pressure canner to cool and the pressure to drop to zero before opening the canner. Let the jars cool without being jostled. After the pressure drops to zero (usually, you can tell but the "click" sound of the safety release vents opening, as well as but the gauge. Let the pressure in the canner drop to zero by itself. This may take 45 minutes in a 16-quart canner filled with jars and almost an hour in a 22-quart canner. If the vent is opened before the pressure drops to zero OR if the cooling is rushed by running cold water over the canner, liquid will be lost from the jars. Too rapid cooling causes loss of liquid in the jars!

Step 10 - Remove the jars

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool on a wooden cutting board or a towel,  without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. You're done!

The jars of nuts are safe to store on the shelf, preferably a cool, dark place, for 1 to 2 years.

---

This document was extracted from "So Easy to Preserve", 5th ed. 2006. Bulletin 989, Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia, Athens. Revised by Elizabeth L. Andress. Ph.D. and Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D., Extension Foods Specialists.

 

 

Tips

 

Comments and Feedback

 

---

 

Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

[ All About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams, Pickles, Sauces, etc. ] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]