Both books are strictly high acid jams, jellies, fruits and a few pickle recipes so as long as you restrict yourself to those types of foods risk is minimal with either book. The author of the Food in jars book has her own blog foodinjars.com and it gets some mixed reviews for safety. But many of her recipes can be found there if interested. Take care with any recipes that are vegetable or low acid fruit recipes.

Pomona is an acquired taste. As others have said here in the past it will jell plain water but it has a different texture and mouth feel that many don't care for so I'd suggest trying a small batch of it first if you haven't done so.

If sugar is your primary concern yet you still want fruit spreads have you tried doing any of the 100% pure fruit recipes using Ball Lo-No Sugar pectin? Easy and tasty.

Dave

Thanks Dave.

Yes, I love the Ball Lo-No sugar pectin! Every jam in my cupboard uses it. If the fruit is sweet enough, I use fruit and Ball only. If not, then I use honey as the sweetener since Ball provides explicit directions for it. I've used it with everything from strawberries to pineapple and never had a failure yet.

But I'm craving something new and some new flavor combinations and making substitutions in recipes on my own makes me nervous, despite having canned for many years. Finding canning recipes without sugar is a real pain and I can't have that sugar. So the thought of trying some new flavor combinations, where they have specifically allowed for honey is incredibly appealing. I've used Pomona's before and think my palate may not be as discriminating as yours.

By the way, my apple pie filling with honey substitution came out great. The unsweetened applesauce and crockpot apple butter also. Today I made Ball apple jelly with honey (honey was provided as an option on freshpreserving.com). I also made Lite apple jam today from the Ball website. It called for the low sugar pectin and either 1.5 cups of sugar or splenda. I called the hotline and they looked up the recipe in the book and there was a honey substitution provided that was 3/4-1 cup of honey, so I made that as well, and it's the first time I've been able to can anything with raisins, which I love.

I am always looking for non-tomato and non-pickled BWB recipes (I already have plenty of both) that do not have sugar, or use honey only. I can do fruit only spreads, but I'd love other things. Every time I speak to Ball, I ask them for more and the rep the other day actually emailed me several from their newest book that use honey only. I think they are beginning to hear! I will try any non-tomato, non-pickled BWB recipe that doesn't have sugar. Every time I find one it's like finding the holy grail!

Incredibly appreciative of your efforts and guidance on this forum,

Beverly

"But I'm craving something new and some new flavor combinations and
making substitutions in recipes on my own makes me nervous, despite
having canned for many years."

I understand where you are coming from Beverly but keep in mind that substitutions in the realm of high acid foods poses no safety threat. You can always blend fruits and/or sub them as long as you stay away from the few low-acid ones (or add lemon juice to them).

For example just using the basic instructions in the Ball pectin box and 1/2 each fruit wife has made Apple-Pomegranate, Strawberry-Pineapple, Pineapple-Peach. Pineapple-Cherry, Nectarine-Blueberry (not to mention plain Nectarine), etc. And honey to taste can be used in any of them. So new taste treats in 100% fruit blends are always available even with specific recipes.

Dave

Thank you, that is very helpful to know. Would the same hold true of using spices? I have often seen recipes with vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc, and thought that they might be nice in what I was making, but did not want to try. Would there be an amount of spices that would be too much and throw the acid balance off?

Today I will be making another load of apple sauce. Does that mean that I can add honey to taste and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice to taste? I've never added any of those without a price measurement.

I remember the first jar of salsa I ever canned....exactly by the instructions and using a Mrs. Wages mix ... I ate precisely 1/2 teaspoon and waited 3 days to see if anything happened before eating any more. I've come a long way since that time many years ago. I now can somewhere around 250 jars a year and my toddler and I eat every ounce. Yet I have a beautiful All American canner sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to make some soups, and I've been too afraid to use it. :( I'm working up to it.

I'll be doing the applesauce this afternoon or evening and will check back here to see if you might have confirmed that I'm ok on doing to taste. Thank you so much.

"Would the same hold true of using spices?"

Dried spices and seasonings have no effect on pH when used within reason. Any concern with them is flavor oriented, quality oriented, as many can really intensity during shelf storage. So you are free to experiment with them as long as you accept that you may not like the flavor once the jar is opened.

"honey to taste and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice to taste?"

I'd go easy on the cloves and allspice as they can get intense over time. You can always add more after opening the jars if needed. And make note of how much you use so you can adjust if needed with the next batch.

Soups are easy as long as you don't add any pasta, rice, or dairy products and stick with the 1/2 and 1/2 rule (half solids and 1/2 liquid in each jar).

Canning soups

Dave

Interesting thread, guys. Heavens, is your no sugar applesauce and apple butter online? Also, which way is the easiest to cook these two items down? I have looked at many recipes in the last week, and some use the stove top method, some the oven, and some the crock pot. Apples are starting to appear in the flea market I go to for produce. Which apple do you prefer?

I am not diabetic, but might be insulin resistant, & need to loose about 15 lbs. It is said that once a person removes most sugar from their diet, they totally get used to it. I have been really trying to watch the sugar, but at times during the day, really crave it. The idea of having no sugar applesauce in the pantry is appealing to me. I just made four batches of tomato marmalade and cut the sugar down by one quarter, but it still has sugar, which I don't like for either me or my hubby. I really do feel that sugar is addictive.

I cook mostly fresh meat and vegetables, and try to use as few processed foods as possible. I get very upset that the food manufacturers in this country add sugar to just about everything they make. It's just evil, and is tied to the power of the sugar industry. (Hope I haven't offended anyone-it's just the way I feel)

" no sugar applesauce and apple butter online?"

Neither requires a specific recipe or you can use any recipe and just reduce or leave out the sugar as long as you accept the different texture, flavor, and the much shorter shelf life it will have when canned.

Sugar has multiple roles in canning. Sometimes that role is primarily flavor, sometimes its role is to prolong shelf storage time which is usually why it is added to commercial canned products, but in other situations it also plays a safety role because it binds up and neutralizes water in the mixture and water is always alkaline.

Applesauce is just apples and a bit of water or cider for liquid and Applebutter can be nothing more than further cooked down applesauce with a few spices of your choice such as cinnamon etc.

There are many recipes here for both in the other discussions about both, some just a bit further down the page. And in all the previous discussions about applesauce the consensus is a variety of apples, not just one type.

As for easiest way to cook them? It's a personal preference. OR it depends on what you want to clean up - the counter, the stove top, or the oven as they all splatter, to 'volcano', just like all thick things do as they boil. Since they all have to be left mostly uncovered to cook down it can be a messy project either way. Crockpot makes smaller batches and takes many hours longer and more electricity.

Dave

digdirt2:

I used a recipe from the Minnesota extension office for applesauce, but as Dave says, it's very simple. I did not use any sweetener and used a mixture of Gala, Jonamac, Stayman and Fuji.

For the apple butter, I used the same combination, also without any sweetener, but used the crockpot and kept adding apples as it reduced so that it became super concentrated. I had 80 lbs of apples to process alone, so I used that method, which allowed me to work on the other apples.

I am on a specific diet for Crohn's disease, which disallows all sweeteners except honey. I usually prefer naturally sweet fruit anyway, but sometimes a little honey can give a little sweet boost. I do occasionally "cheat" and have something with sugar and it seems really strong, so yes, you totally get used to it.

Dave:

Thank you so much for all the good info. Once I have finished the last of my apples and tomatoes, I am going to try some soup. I believe I saw a carrot soup recipe somewhere on one of the extension websites or Ball, and that sounds appealing and worth trying. Perhaps before I do that, I'll can a couple of jars of water, just to see how the pressure canner works.

Many thanks again. I have asked questions before and you and several others have always been a Godsend. It is lovely to have the advice of experienced canners and I appreciate it.

Beverly

Take heed of what Dave said about going easy on the spices, clove in particular. I enjoy the flavor of clove, but it seems to intensify in canning recipes. I usually reduce the amount of clove called for in any canning recipe.