Canning sweet potatoes

I have a question about canning sweet potatoes.  Most recipes I have found call for boiling or steaming small to medium potatoes until the skins will rub off, then processing whole.  Could I cut them up like carrots or squash?  Do they need to be pre-cooked before putting in the jars, or can they be done raw like carrots?  I intend to keep most in dry storage, but wondered about canning for quick-fix meals.

Kathy Weber
Harbor Springs, Michigan

Yes, you can just peel the sweet potatoes like Irish potatoes, slice or chunk them, then pack in the jar, filling to within 1 inch of the top, adding 1/2 tsp. salt to pints, 1 tsp. to quarts, then filling the jar full, leaving 1 inch of headspace, with boiling water.  Process pints for 55 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.  If you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet, consult your canning book for directions on increasing your pressure to suit your altitude, if necessary.  You can also can those sweet potatoes using a light syrup instead of boiling water, for additional flavor.  Use the same time and pressure. — Jackie

Steam juicer

I treated myself to a Victorio steam juicer at the Black Friday sale at my local farm store.

The instructions that came with it were less than helpful. It took a long time, more than an hour to go from cold on the stove to steam coming out the top. Then I was to time 40 minutes and then take the first quart of juice. I didn’t get even a cup of juice by that time. It is still cooking away well past 40 minutes and we don’t yet have a quart full.

I tried making pear juice yesterday. I was surprised by how long it took to get the juice. In the end, I had just over 3 quarts of juice but they filled over a really long period of time.

Am I doing something wrong or do pears just not make a lot of juice? My pears were getting pretty old and soft.

Erica Kardelis
Helper, Utah

Steam juicers DO take quite awhile to make juice, but the good thing is that you don’t have to stand over them.  You also get a lot more juice than you would straining it after boiling in the old way.  What my friend, Jeri, does is to just set a large, clean bucket under the hose and just let the juice run until it’s about done.  With the stove on low under the hot juicer, it works quite well.

Using a steam juicer is a lengthy process, but the results are pretty nice. — Jackie

2 COMMENTS

  2. i peeled and cut my sweet potatoes into smaller chunks and then blanched them in boiling water for 10 minutes,then pressure canned yhem for 90 minutes. i know you can do it without peeling them first,but this way seemed to work better for me.i had 96 quarts when i got through with them.

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