I don't think I've ever frozen my greens. If I have I can't remember. I usually just eat them fresh. If I get a tonne of extra they go to the livestock or family members. Livestock first - haha kidding. I suppose I'd consider freezing it but there is never any space.

Have you ever tried dehydrating it? You could dry then crumble and add it to soups? I do that with lots of extra produce and I have done kale in the past but no other greens.

It could be personal taste of course, but I usually blanch and freeze (spinach and kale) if I can't use what's there when fresh. To can, you still have to blanch but then add the 70 min pressure canning for pints, 90 for quarts and it seems like excessive work to me for the product. And for my own cooking style, I have few things I make that call for ie canned spinach and most often will just use it for a quick side dish.

We love canned greens in our house so that is what happens to most all of ours. I'll admit it maybe an acquired taste if you aren't of the generation that grew up eating Popeye Spinach from the can. :) We do dehydrate some (about 2 quart jars of each dried) to keep to add to all the soups and stews, and sauces we use during the winter. You can sprinkle them on salads too and even make pesto out of them.

Dave

Collards are the most substantial of the greens you named, so those are the ones I would can if there were not enough freezer space. I think they would stand up to the long, hot, high pressure.

I think turnip greens and chard might cook down nearly to a paste when canned. Kale, I suppose, might be successful if it were one of the more hearty, thicker-leaved strains, perhaps left to grow large before harvesting.

Ball removed collard greens from the list of Greens in their process in the BBB a couple of years ago and I never was able to get an explanation why. NCHFP doesn't list collards - they recently came out and explained no PCing of cabbage due to its density (lots of ribs) so I wonder if collards is the same? Beet, turnip greens, spinach, mustard, chard (tough stems/ribs removed) and kale (stems/ribs removed) are OK per the latest and greatest BBB.

"Note: These “other greens” should be greens with a similar texture to spinach, and not very hard, firm leaves such as cabbage." http://preservingfoodathome.com/2014/01/28/got-the-wintertime-greens/

that's interesting. I wonder if you pick them young before they get the thick ribs if it would be okay .?

I think that saying "no PCing of cabbage" is far too broad a statement. Cabbage is approved for canning in all sorts of forms - as in sauerkraut and several of the relish and chutney recipes. So if BWB processing of cabbage is still considered safe in those recipes obviously PCing would be safe too when processed for the correct time called for.

The problem is there is no processing time given specifically for cabbage. But there never has been. That is because it has always been included in the "Spinach and Other Greens" instructions that are all processed for the same amount of time in the PC 70-90 minutes (the equivalent of meats).

And collards hasn't been removed from any list as it too has always been and still is incorporated in the guidelines for canning "greens" which clearly state "Cut out tough stems and midribs. " which most of us who regularly can collards, cabbage, spinach, kale, chard, etc. and all the other greens do anyway since they are tough and chewy. It is a common sense thing for most but should you miss a few of them the long processing time will take care of them.

For best eating quality of plain cabbage NCHFP recommends blanching and freezing instead. But that isn't new. That has always been the recommendation.

And quality is in the mind of the eater.:) Those of us who grew up regularly eating cooked canned cabbage and canned collards, canned spinach, canned turnip greens, etc. would dispute the NCHFP quality label.

Should Ball or NCHFP try to ban canning collards the South would rise again. :)

Dave

I like all the greens. We use kale the most, followed by chard. I'm still getting my family to get into beet and turnip greens, but collards is usually the least favorite of the family.

When I have freezer room, I freeze some up. I don't have a PC, so no canning for me, but I do some pickling and fermenting sometimes. The top preservation method around here is dehydrating, and I do quarts of the stuff every year. Great in soups, stews, sprinkled on or in casseroles or paired with dehydrated sweet potato on pizzas. Makes great green powder seasoning too.

Beesneeds, what kind of temperature do you use for drying each type of greens you dry? Do you provide air movement, too? How much space is taken up to dry, say four cups of greens? Do you cut them up first, or dry them whole leaf?

By the way, our first non-jelly canning this year was 15 pints of lambsquarters, This is our third year to can them.

Pickled cabbage (as in saurkraut, relishes) is BWBed, not usually PC'd and is OK. See the Replies to comments on the NCHFP blog page I linked to. "because it is more dense and rigid than greens such as spinach, the
process time for Spinach and Other Greens would not necessarily be
sufficient heat treatment to destroy pathogens and the final product
could be under-processed. As you probably know, low acid foods like
cabbage are at risk of causing botulism, so we do not just guess at a
process time – the risk is too great.

So I’m sorry to disappoint, but we do not have a recommendation for
home canning cabbage as is. We currently do not have the resources to
conduct individual product testing, and we do not know of others looking
to do so at this time."

Not saying that collards (stems removed) is prohibited, but NCHFP doesn't say anything about them, BBB used to have them but dropped them from the Greens process and I have not gotten a reply to my question why. Perhaps someone else may have better luck.

matthais....

I use a nesco dehydrator, the standard round one you can find in some big box stores. It has a dial temp adjustment and a blower built in.

I always remove the heavy ribs, then it's set between 120-135 and its usually a few hours till the stuff is crispy dry. Depends on how fleshy the leaves are to start with. I rotate the trays once or twice during dehydrating. And I always leave one empty tray on top to make sure there is a good air gap between the blower fan and the greens.

Since I always remove the ribs, I dry semi-whole leaf or chopped up depending on how cutting out ribs turns out. How much space it takes up depends too- like kale is frilly and fluffy and takes up more space than chard greens. Chard stalks I dehydrate separately from the leaves, and cut them up like celery and those dehydrate slower than leaves do. Turnip and beet greens tend to be a bit smoother and easier to do up more whole leaf. I don't really measure by the cup, but I know a pound of kale leaves cleaned up takes up 3-4 trays, a full bunch of beets makes enough greens to fill 2-3 trays, and turnips are around that too depending on the turnip. Chard really depends on the stalks- sometimes they have nice big leaves and fat ribs so it's only a few stalks to fill up 3-4 trays, sometimes they are littler ones and it can take several to take up the same amount of tray space. I haven't dehydrated collards yet, only done those stewed and frozen so far. But I have done cabbage shredded cole slaw style, and a pound of that can take 2 trays depending on how fine the shred is and how fluffy it goes into the trays.

Thanks beesneeds. I have a round dehydrator from Walmart, given as a gift some years ago. I don't use it much because it seems like it holds so little and does not have a temperature control. It runs kind of hot and just doesn't seem right for greens....But I'm considering obtaining a much, much bigger drier, solar if my area is not too humid for it.

<"because it is more dense and rigid than greens such as spinach, the process time for Spinach and Other Greens would not necessarily be sufficient heat treatment to destroy pathogens and the final product could be under-processed. As you probably know, low acid foods like cabbage are at risk of causing botulism, so we do not just guess at a process time – the risk is too great.

So I’m sorry to disappoint, but we do not have a recommendation for home canning cabbage as is. We currently do not have the resources to conduct individual product testing, and we do not know of others looking to do so at this time.">

Whoever posted that comment on the blog didn't think it through well first or was simply reciting the standard "lack of research" response and the "quality first" response. Just as we are taught in classes.

Since the 75-90 mins processing time required for all the greens is the longest processing times available for anything (except tuna), even meats, then there simply is no way it would not also be sufficient for cabbage given the detailed instructions given by NCHFP for canning it.

Why that particular individual chose to single out cabbage at this time I can't say. But I sure wouldn't put much stock in it because they have not been doing any research on anything for over 2 years now so can't have learned anything new about it. And in all their prior discussions of cabbage processing it has been incorporated under the greens guidelines with no problems (same for collards).

The real issue is quality. Canned, processed cabbage is an undesirable mush in their opinion which is why they have always preferred freezing it. So I see that blog discussion more along the lines of past instances where recipes previously approved, have been withdrawn from the later editions of books merely because of lack of interest in them and because of such a viable alternative option. In this case freezing.

If NCHFP truly believes that pressure canning cabbage (or collards) is hazardous then they can easily post such a notice on the official website as they have with other changes recently.

Dave

I forgot about my juicer. I am going to run some of the kale through it with some apples and carrots to make popsicles. There is just one of me and I eat greens normally 2-3 times a week so I nearly have enough in the freezer for 6 mos.

I agree Dave its what we are used to that affects our tastes now. I grew up eating spinach out of the can boiled to death cabbage and no other greens. Until I moved to TX and fell in love with all other greens, out of the can in a salad, dried I love them. But I don't like them half cooked.

I absolutely love canned collards. I canned kale, but the variety we planted last year was a more tender variety than the thicker, more leathery ones and I didn't care for the texture once canned. The flavor was great, so I just mix a jar of kale in whenever I open a jar of collards. I don't notice the soft texture of the kale when it's mixed and still have all the flavor.

I sometimes can my greens strictly by the book for plain greens, but if I want to add onions or cook them in a meat stock, I use the NCHFP soup "recipe". Very flavorful! And since there is a lot of liquid due to the 50/50 ratio for the soup guidelines, I use the leftover "juice" to use as a soup base, rice or something else the next day.

Jill in Texas, formerly known as jill2761 (old login wouldn't work)

I don't like commercially canned greens, and home canned greens taste about the same. So I freeze extras :)

I usually freeze my collards, fully prepared with onion and ham bits and they turn out great. I never thought about using the "soup" method to can them! Another one to put on my list! Lori