Canning Time

One of the things I've really enjoyed doing since I moved back to Saskatchewan, is canning.  It's something that wasn't practical to do in the north - where all of our groceries were trucked in from much further away - and we didn't get gifts of crab apples from a neighbour and weren't able to pick chokecherries or Saskatoons.  I think I've canned nearly every year I've been here.

So far this year, I've done chokecherry syrup and Crab Apple Butter. (Most years I also do grape jelly as well - which allows me to give out a set of three different types of preserves for Christmas presents.)  Both of these are excellent on ice cream.  You can also have chokecherry syrup as a drink by mixing it equal parts with ginger ale.  Apple butter is traditionally a spread to eat on bread (I like it with peanut butter).  If you're making apple butter, you can use the same recipe to make apple juice and apple sauce - all of which can be canned.

Here are the recipes:  I'll add photos when I get back home and can take some (I'm writing this at the office).

Chokecherry Syrup 

Chokecherries are a type of wild cherry (extremely sour and/or bitter) that grow wild, just down the back alley from my house.  Most years we pick lots and lots and make huge amounts of syrup, but this year the City pruned them, so there aren't that many of them.  Here's what they look like when they're abundant.

It won't let me rotate this - but you can see the chokecherries anyway.

• Pick chokecherries, wash them, and pick out leaves and small sticks, etc.  The ripe chokecherries are a deep deep purple, almost black in colour.
• Set them to boil on the stove, just barely covering them with water.  (This is the old way - the new way is I put them in my Instant Pot, cover them with water, and set it on steam.)  Cook for at least 20 minutes.
• Run them through the food mill, saving all the pulp (there isn't much) and the liquid they were cooked in.
• Carefully measure out the juice.  
• For every 4 cups of liquid, you may (optional) add up to 1 cup of grape juice (which I have left over from last year, when I was canning Concord grape jelly).  You can't taste the difference, and it makes the chokecherry juice go further.
• For every cup of liquid, add 3/4 cup of sugar.
• For every 4 cups of liquid, you may (optional) add 1 tsp of almond flavouring, which intensifies the chokecherry flavour as well.
• Boil for 15 minutes, stirring often.  
• Pour into sterilized jars, or if you're keeping it in the freezer, you can put it in freezer bags.  
• Either process in a canner in boiling water for 35 minutes, or store in the freezer.  As the lids cool, they should pop, letting you know you have a good seal.  If they don't, then you have to keep them in the freezer anyway.

Apple Butter 

You can make this with real apples, but crab apples make really good apple butter, and they're usually free - as a gift from a friend.

• Pick crabs, wash them, pick them over, removing leaves, etc.  If they're large, cut them in quarters; if they're smaller, just leave them whole.
• Either toss them in the crockpot, or into the Instant Pot, and cover them with water.  If you're cooking them in the crockpot, I usually start them in the evening and then process them in the morning.  If I'm cooking them in the Instant Pot, I steam them 20 minutes.
• If you've cooked them in the crockpot, fish them out of the liquid.  You may can the liquid that's left behind as crab apple juice.
• If you've cooked them in the Instant Pot, they're now mushy enough that you can't separate them from the liquid, so you're going to process them as is.  You may want to drain off some of the liquid if possible.
• Run them through the food mill, saving all the pulp.  At this point, you have apple sauce.  You may can the apple sauce or freeze it now.  However, if you're wanting to make apple butter, you've got a few more steps.
• Sweeten the apple sauce to taste.  (It really depends on how sour the crab apples are).  I usually use about 1/2 cup sugar per cup of apple sauce.
• Add 1 package of pectin for every 4-6 cups of applesauce. (This is kind of optional - but I find it sets better with the added pectin.)  If you're using the powdered pectin, mix it in with your sugar and it won't clump up. 
• Add spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves.  I usually use about 1 tsp cinnamon and about 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, allspice and ginger - as well as a 1/4 tsp of cloves for every 6 cups of applesauce.
• Boil for 45 minutes, stirring often.  
• Pour into sterilized jars, or if you're keeping it in the freezer, you can put it in freezer bags.  
• Either process in a canner in boiling water for 35 minutes, or store in the freezer.  As the lids cool, they should pop, letting you know you have a good seal.  If they don't, then you have to keep them in the freezer anyway.