Cooking & Canning

Welcome. The first Bird Shit Berry Bush batch of 2025 has been completed. By 22 Jun last year I had already made 2 batches of jam; seemingly a testament to this season’s cool start, which would also explain the slow start on my other garden vegetables as well. Here’s the skinny: Ingredients: Berries & 1 Tbsp-ish of lemon juice per lb. Soak the berries no more than 15 minutes to wash the fruit with limited agitation – you just want the grit to fall to the bottom and the bugs and leaves to float to the top. Secret Ingredient – Pectin: Jam needs pectin to set. Berries, like these which seem to be like wild blackberries, have more pectin in them prior to ripening. These berries ripen so fast during the day I have to pick them every 12 hrs, so I get a healthy medium of mostly ripened vs actually ripened, which makes for great natural pectin levels; levels which are then activated by using lemon juice near the end of the jam processing. You can make your own pectin by cooking down apples or just including them in your jam/compote/butter spread you intend to can. When we get our hands on apples in the fall we’ll make another batch of pectin for the following year’s canning like we did last year. Sugar: The more sugar you use, the longer it will preserve, but how much sugar do you really want to consume. I will at times use maple syrup, I’ve used honey and sugar. Recipes often call for a near 1::1. I use less. The trick is to toss your berries in the sweet stuff and let it macerate for at least 15 minutes or overnight; this will extract the fruit’s juices and soften the texture, which is needed for some of these smaller tough & very seedy berries. Jars: Clean, inspect, heat in oven at 250 to 275F (more than that is not recommended for jar integrity) for 10 minutes. Lids & Rings: Prep the lids in warm mildly soapy water for a quick rinse and install on the jar post filling. Don’t use rusty rings, throw them out. Finger tight upon canning; remove after 24 hrs, dry, inspect and reuse if serviceable. Tools: Pot with a thick bottom to hold the heat, stir spoon/paddle, canning funnel, ladle, paper towel & vinegar for the jar’s rim job, magnetic lid holder, oven gloves and the MUST HAVE – a Caning Jar Lifter. It takes 20 minutes to make and can the jam for processing, less time if you’re cooking with gas. Coordinate the jars, the lids, the jam processing and be safe! The jam is hot and the splatter will burn your skin. The jars are super hot and will retain their heat so take head how soon from heating to 250-275F to when you put the jam in. You don’t want to hear the jam sizzling as it is poured into the jars, just delay a few moments until that doesn’t happen during the pour. It takes more time to prep than it does to process for canning, unless you’re fermenting. But if you do it on a regular basis, you may find yourself in comfort knowing that you can deal with a sudden gift of a large amount of fruit and preserve it for extended use and benefit to your body’s every day need for fuel. Please join me in the garden. If you wish to support me: https://buymeacoffee.com/occamsrazor I’m also on: https://occamsr.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOccamsRazor https://rumble.com/user/TheOccamsRazor Story Tips to: [email protected]

Welcome. For everything you think you missed on how to can jam, go to my 1st video: https://rumble.com/v6vgynz-makin-jam-bird-shit-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a The bread for the toast: https://rumble.com/v6v5ye7-summer-homemade-bread-tip-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a This is the second batch done with 2::1 berry to sugar ration allowed to masticate overnight. It created more liquid from the berries than using Maple Syrup in the fist batch did. Here’s the skinny: 10 minute Water Bath for jam! Ingredients: Berries & 1 Tbsp-ish of lemon juice per lb. Soak the berries no more than 15 minutes to wash the fruit with limited agitation – you just want the grit to fall to the bottom and the bugs and leaves to float to the top. Secret Ingredient – Pectin: Jam needs pectin to set. Berries, like these which seem to be like wild blackberries, have more pectin in them prior to ripening. These berries ripen so fast during the day I have to pick them every 12 hrs, so I get a healthy medium of mostly ripened vs actually ripened, which makes for great natural pectin levels; levels which are then activated by using lemon juice near the end of the jam processing. You can make your own pectin by cooking down apples or just including them in your jam/compote/butter spread you intend to can. When we get our hands on apples in the fall we’ll make another batch of pectin for the following year’s canning like we did last year. Sugar: The more sugar you use, the longer it will preserve, but how much sugar do you really want to consume. I will at times use maple syrup, I’ve used honey and sugar. Recipes often call for a near 1::1. I use less. The trick is to toss your berries in the sweet stuff and let it macerate for at least 15 minutes or overnight; this will extract the fruit’s juices and soften the texture, which is needed for some of these smaller tough & very seedy berries. Jars: Clean, inspect, heat in oven at 250 to 275F (more than that is not recommended for jar integrity) for 10 minutes. Lids & Rings: Prep the lids in warm mildly soapy water for a quick rinse and install on the jar post filling. Don’t use rusty rings, throw them out. Finger tight upon canning; remove after 24 hrs, dry, inspect and reuse if serviceable. Tools: Pot with a thick bottom to hold the heat, stir spoon/paddle, canning funnel, ladle, paper towel & vinegar for the jar’s rim job, magnetic lid holder, oven gloves and the MUST HAVE – a Caning Jar Lifter. It takes 20 minutes to make and can the jam for processing, less time if you’re cooking with gas. Coordinate the jars, the lids, the jam processing and be safe! The jam is hot and the splatter will burn your skin. The jars are super hot and will retain their heat so take head how soon from heating to 250-275F to when you put the jam in. You don’t want to hear the jam sizzling as it is poured into the jars, just delay a few moments until that doesn’t happen during the pour. It takes more time to prep than it does to process for canning, unless you’re fermenting. But if you do it on a regular basis, you may find yourself in comfort knowing that you can deal with a sudden gift of a large amount of fruit and preserve it for extended use and benefit to your body’s every day need for fuel. Please join me in the garden. If you wish to support me: https://buymeacoffee.com/occamsrazor I’m also on: https://occamsr.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOccamsRazor https://rumble.com/user/TheOccamsRazor https://www.youtube.com/@OccamsRazorFoodCanning Story Tips to: [email protected]

Welcome. For everything you think you missed on how to can jam, go to my 1st video: https://rumble.com/v6vgynz-makin-jam-bird-shit-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a Or my 2nd video: https://rumble.com/v6vmw43-jam-2nd-batch-bird-sht-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-cannin.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a The bread for the jam at the end of the video: https://rumble.com/v6v5ye7-summer-homemade-bread-tip-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a This is the 3rd batch done with 3::1 berry to maple syrup ration allowed to masticate overnight. It created enough liquid from the berries sitting overnight. Here’s the skinny: 10 minute Water Bath for jam! Ingredients: Berries & 1 Tbsp-ish of lemon juice per lb. Soak the berries no more than 15 minutes to wash the fruit with limited agitation – you just want the grit to fall to the bottom and the bugs and leaves to float to the top. Secret Ingredient – Pectin: Jam needs pectin to set. Berries, like these which seem to be like wild blackberries, have more pectin in them prior to ripening. These berries ripen so fast during the day I have to pick them every 12 hrs, so I get a healthy medium of mostly ripened vs actually ripened, which makes for great natural pectin levels; levels which are then activated by using lemon juice near the end of the jam processing. You can make your own pectin by cooking down apples or just including them in your jam/compote/butter spread you intend to can. When we get our hands on apples in the fall we’ll make another batch of pectin for the following year’s canning like we did last year. Sugar: The more sugar you use, the longer it will preserve, but how much sugar do you really want to consume. I will at times use maple syrup, I’ve used honey and sugar. Recipes often call for a near 1::1. I use less. The trick is to toss your berries in the sweet stuff and let it macerate for at least 15 minutes or overnight; this will extract the fruit’s juices and soften the texture, which is needed for some of these smaller tough & very seedy berries. Jars: Clean, inspect, heat in oven at 250 to 275F (more than that is not recommended for jar integrity) for 10 minutes. Lids & Rings: Prep the lids in warm mildly soapy water for a quick rinse and install on the jar post filling. Don’t use rusty rings, throw them out. Finger tight upon canning; remove after 24 hrs, dry, inspect and reuse if serviceable. Tools: Pot with a thick bottom to hold the heat, stir spoon/paddle, canning funnel, ladle, paper towel & vinegar for the jar’s rim job, magnetic lid holder, oven gloves and the MUST HAVE – a Caning Jar Lifter. It takes 20 minutes to make and can the jam for processing, less time if you’re cooking with gas. Coordinate the jars, the lids, the jam processing and be safe! The jam is hot and the splatter will burn your skin. The jars are super hot and will retain their heat so take head how soon from heating to 250-275F to when you put the jam in. You don’t want to hear the jam sizzling as it is poured into the jars, just delay a few moments until that doesn’t happen during the pour. It takes more time to prep than it does to process for canning, unless you’re fermenting. But if you do it on a regular basis, you may find yourself in comfort knowing that you can deal with a sudden gift of a large amount of fruit and preserve it for extended use and benefit to your body’s every day need for fuel. Please join me in the garden. If you wish to support me: https://buymeacoffee.com/occamsrazor I’m also on: https://occamsr.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOccamsRazor https://rumble.com/user/TheOccamsRazor https://www.youtube.com/@OccamsRazorFoodCanning Story Tips to: [email protected]

Welcome. For everything you think you missed on how to can jam, go to my 1st video: https://rumble.com/v6vgynz-makin-jam-bird-shit-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a Or my 2nd video: https://rumble.com/v6vmw43-jam-2nd-batch-bird-sht-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-cannin.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a Or my 3rd video: https://rumble.com/v6vr3fd-jam-3rd-batch-bird-sht-berry-bush-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-cannin.html?e9s=src_v1_cbl%2Csrc_v1_ucp_a The bread made with jam near the outro of the video: https://rumble.com/v6v5ye7-summer-homemade-bread-tip-occams-razor-gardening-cooking-and-canning.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a This is the 4th batch done with 3::1 berry to sugar ratio allowed to masticate overnight. It created enough liquid from the berries sitting overnight. Here’s the skinny: 10 minute Water Bath for jam! Ingredients: Berries & 1 Tbsp-ish of lemon juice per lb. Soak the berries no more than 15 minutes to wash the fruit with limited agitation – you just want the grit to fall to the bottom and the bugs and leaves to float to the top. Secret Ingredient – Pectin: Jam needs pectin to set. Berries, like these which seem to be like wild blackberries, have more pectin in them prior to ripening. These berries ripen so fast during the day I have to pick them every 12 hrs, so I get a healthy medium of mostly ripened vs actually ripened, which makes for great natural pectin levels; levels which are then activated by using lemon juice near the end of the jam processing. You can make your own pectin by cooking down apples or just including them in your jam/compote/butter spread you intend to can. When we get our hands on apples in the fall we’ll make another batch of pectin for the following year’s canning like we did last year. Sugar: The more sugar you use, the longer it will preserve, but how much sugar do you really want to consume. I will at times use maple syrup, I’ve used honey and sugar. Recipes often call for a near 1::1. I use less. The trick is to toss your berries in the sweet stuff and let it macerate for at least 15 minutes or overnight; this will extract the fruit’s juices and soften the texture, which is needed for some of these smaller tough & very seedy berries. Jars: Clean, inspect, heat in oven at 250 to 275F (more than that is not recommended for jar integrity) for 10 minutes. Lids & Rings: Prep the lids in warm mildly soapy water for a quick rinse and install on the jar post filling. Don’t use rusty rings, throw them out. Finger tight upon canning; remove after 24 hrs, dry, inspect and reuse if serviceable. Tools: Pot with a thick bottom to hold the heat, stir spoon/paddle, canning funnel, ladle, paper towel & vinegar for the jar’s rim job, magnetic lid holder, oven gloves and the MUST HAVE – a Caning Jar Lifter. It takes 20 minutes to make and can the jam for processing, less time if you’re cooking with gas. Coordinate the jars, the lids, the jam processing and be safe! The jam is hot and the splatter will burn your skin. The jars are super hot and will retain their heat so take head how soon from heating to 250-275F to when you put the jam in. You don’t want to hear the jam sizzling as it is poured into the jars, just delay a few moments until that doesn’t happen during the pour. It takes more time to prep than it does to process for canning, unless you’re fermenting. But if you do it on a regular basis, you may find yourself in comfort knowing that you can deal with a sudden gift of a large amount of fruit and preserve it for extended use and benefit to your body’s every day need for fuel. Please join me in the garden. If you wish to support me: https://buymeacoffee.com/occamsrazor I’m also on: https://occamsr.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOccamsRazor https://rumble.com/user/TheOccamsRazor https://www.youtube.com/@OccamsRazorFoodCanning Story Tips to: [email protected]

Welcome. Our first canned batch of zucchinis a pretty simple, but use way less turmeric than what I used in this recipe, as in 2 tsp not 2 Tbsp. Basically, cut your zucchinis in spear lengths not exceeding the size of your canning jar, toss them coarse salt at ¾ Tbsp/lb. Imerse them in icy water, holding them under water with a plate for 2 hrs to draw out the moisture with the ice making them crunchier. While the zucchinis soak, make the brine with 4 cups of vinegar, 2 cups of sugar & 2 Tsp of turmeric. Drain and rinse the zucchini, or don’t rinse if you like it salty. Bring the brine back up to boil and turn off. Having sanitized the jars at 250 – 275F for min 10 min, stuff the jars and add 1 to 2 cloves of smashed garlic, ½ Tsp of mustard seed & ½ Tsp of peppercorn. Pour the brine into your jars, leaving ½ in head space and water bath for 10 minutes. If you wish to support me: https://buymeacoffee.com/occamsrazor I’m also on: https://occamsr.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOccamsRazor https://rumble.com/user/TheOccamsRazor https://www.youtube.com/@OccamsRazorFoodCanning Story Tips to: [email protected]