Cut Down Your Canning Time - A Tip From My Granny

I love eating canned fruit in the winter time. Sometimes however, the canning process is very time consuming. One summer I canned 75 jars of peaches (which is a lot for me) and I only survived it because of a wonderful tip my Granny gave me. I was telling her of my time consuming canning woes. Removing the skins took so much time. She said that when she canned she did not remove the skins. At first I thought it sounded a little weird. I had all sorts of questions like - are you allowed to do that? Did the skin taste weird? Why didn't I think of that? My Granny told me that when she would open up a can of peaches, she would take the skins off before serving them if people preferred it that way.  So I tried not peeling the peaches. What I found is that I don't have to use as much sugar, as the skin seems to add more flavor to the peaches. I use a very light syrup - 1 1/2 cups sugar and 4 cups water. I found that my hubby likes to eat the skins. I don't like eating the skins - but it is quick and easy to take them off before serving. The time - that was cut more than in half. 

So I asked my Granny - what about pears? That is pretty time consuming peeling those too. She said she didn't peel pears either. I do not like raw pears AT ALL - they have to be canned for me to eat them. There is something about the peel that I don't like, so I was very skeptical about leaving the skins on. Well I will tell you those are the best pears I have ever had. Again - leaving the skin on gave the pears more flavor.

Everyone one is different - so I do not guarantee that you will like the skins left on - but I am pretty picky about my food, and I am absolutely thrilled at this tip my Granny gave me. I went over to a friends one day who had a TON of peaches she bought. It looked like she was a little stressed at the amount of work ahead of her. She had already been canning for a while. Then I told her this tip - and she tried it. She was thrilled. I helped her out for an hour - and we made a lot of head way. She saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

FYI - I heard someone say that not removing skins is not healthy because of all the chemicals that are in the skin - so that is something to consider. Then I heard someone else say that by removing the skin you are removing a lot of the nutrients. Do what works for you - I choose to love the skin.

Let me introduce you to another time saving tip....

This is a propane camp burner. Before buying my glass top range I found out you cannot can on them, but this was the option that was presented to me - buy a propane camp burner. When I canned peaches this week, my hubby timed how long it took the water to come to a boil - would you believe FIVE minutes?  Compared to my kitchen stove that would take about twenty minutes, that is a lot of time to save. This camp burner is awesome - and I wish I had discovered it sooner. If I remember correctly it cost about $30 and it was in the camping section of one of my favorite stores - Canadian Tire. 

Canning is more enjoyable now that it is not an all day task, thanks to my Granny's tip of leaving the skins on and my propane camping stove.

Thanks for stopping by!

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