Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Canning Turnips


Back in March I planted turnips... thinking I'd get a few turnip greens... I got a few turnip greens... then I got turnips. Saturday, I pulled a five-gallon bucket about 3/4 full of turnips... one or two as big as a baseball... I told Mr. G I was gonna can them...

He said he wasn't sure he liked turnips... Don't tell him I said this, but I wasn't sure I liked them either, I know I've eaten them in the past... I couldn't remember if I liked them or not... but I wasn't going to waste perfectly good vegetables.

I decided to cook some up for dinner that night as a test to whether we actually LIKED turnips or not. I mashed them, added butter and salt and pepper and we ate them... they really didn't have much taste... Mr. G thought they could use a little livening up with some hot sauce or relish or something... but all in all, we agreed that we liked turnips... we didn't LOVE them, but we liked them.

So I canned the rest... here's what I did...


I peeled that big ol' bucket of turnips...


Then I diced them.



I put them in a stainless steel pot and covered them with cold water, drained the water off, then covered them again (there was debris and a little dirt, so they needed a rinse off)... I actually filled two stainless steel pots with diced turnips covered in water.

I brought them to a boil over medium heat and let them simmer for five minutes.



I used a slotted spoon to fill my hot, sterilized pint jars with the hot turnips...



...then filled the jar with hot cooking liquid (from the pot), leaving a half-inch headspace.


 I added a half teaspoon of salt (canning and pickling salt) to each pint jar. (optional, it's a matter of taste)


To remove any air bubbles, I ran a butter knife between the inside of the jar and the contents, adding more liquid if necessary.


I wiped the jar rim with a damp cloth to remove any residue.

I put the hot lids onto the jars, tightening the bands to a fingertip tightness.


I loaded the jars into my pressure canner... and processed them at 10 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes (quarts would be 35 minutes).

After processing and allowing the pressure in the canner to drop to ZERO... I removed the lid, and using my jar lifter, took the jars of turnips out, set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool...

... and to listen for the satisfying PING of each successfully sealed jar!

I canned 12 jars of turnips... anybody got any good recipes for using turnips? I only know "Diced With Butter" and "Mashed With Butter."

Turnips on parade!

46 comments:

  1. I like them in clapshot, which is a Scottish dish of mixed turnip and mashed potato. You can find the recipe at Aunt B on a Budget or I'll be happy to email you the link. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Aunt B... sounds delish... Mr. G is all about anything Scottish! ~~Granny

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    2. Judy Grannie NannieJuly 14, 2012 at 7:54 PM

      Turnips are wonderful mashed with fried crumbled bacon bits. I use them in clapshot,also...be careful to drain turnips well and usually do not need to add milk...they have a lot of liquid already. Love turnips and there are great recipes for dips made with the greens. I can the greens just like spinich.

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    3. I have a question. I canned a few jars of turnips. After cooking them they were still white but after pressure canning they had turned brown. Can you put a little lime or lemon juice in the jars before pressure canning to make them stay white?

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    4. I CUT TURNIP AND CARROTS INTO BITE SIZE CUBES, BOIL THEM WITH A BIT OF SALT, WHEN READY DRAIN, MASHED THEM THOROUGHLY THEN ADDED A BIT OF SEA SALT AND SPICY PEPPER MEDLEY....IT TASTES GREAT. I ALWAYS PUT THEM IN SOUPS, STEWS, STIR FRY'S CUT INTO SLIVERS, AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT REQUIRES VEGETABLES IN IT.

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    5. sorry forgot to tell you I put a bit of butter in them also.

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    6. Thanks for the recipe, I modified a little. I used quarts and still just added a teaspoon of canning slat, but I also added a tablespoon of crushed red pepper. We always add a little red pepper when we cook our turnips in the fall. Sometimes a little sugar as well. I have never canned them before but hope they are good. We usually just enjoy them as long as we can in the fall and early winter. Sometimes if the weather is mild they continue until near the first of the year. I cooked mine for 35 minutes at 11 pounds pressure in my canner. I also always remove my rings the next day and wash the jars in warm soapy water to remove any bacteria. I read somewhere that bacteria growing under the jar rings can cause the seal to go bad. I got 12 quarts from a 5 gallon bucket of turnips I picked. I had to cull several that
      were not good and a couple too big.
      You can see a picture of them on my dropbox public folder at the link below:
      https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/91262468/2014-11-23%2008.29.32.jpg

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    7. We use them in soups and stews all winter long.

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  2. Yum! I love turnips. I serve them in a mixed dish of turnip, rutabaga, parsnips, etc. With cornmeal dumplings and sometimes pork. One of those "old fashioned" one pot dishes, my grandmama cooked.

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    Replies
    1. Yum! sounds wonderful! Comfort food! ~~Granny

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  3. I've got an easy one. In a pot, place a few pealed and cut up turnips, a few washed carrots, quartered, a couple of potatoes, also quartered. Add in a half of a cabbage cut in to a few pieces. Add a Kielbasa sausage, cut into 8 pieces and water up to about inches. Cover, place over medium heat for about 20 minutes, drain and serve. Simple, fast and surprizingly good.

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    Replies
    1. Yummy! I'll definitely have to try that! ~~Granny

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  4. I use turnips in pretty much every stew or soup I make. If I am using the crock pot, I toss them in. They are also good added to taco meat and wrapped into burritos!

    Jennifer

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  5. I use them in stew too, or whatever I am making that has veggies. My favorite way to eat them is to cook, drain, mash with fresh raw cream and butter..and plenty of salt. Eat like mashed potatoes, or cook some frozen peas and eat them with the frozen peas. It is sort of like creamed peas..really it is! Now to can my 30 lbs or so of turnips that came up volunteer in our garden this year..leftover from the heirlooms we planted a couple years ago that went to seed last summer.

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  6. my hubby (and the dogs!) love them raw.. but we also pickle them! we pickle turnips and potatoes and we use them to make the best pickled potato salad for summer picnics and such.

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  7. My husbands mother made turnip stew so good we fought over it! She used a pork roast that she baked until tender, then cubed. She sautéed onions and celery and garlic, made a brown gravy, then added the meat and turnips. Cook until turnips are tender. Delicious! Blessings, marlene

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  8. This is funny. I did exactly as you did - plant the things for greens and then here I am with actually turnips and I only vaguely remember eating them in the past. I have been looking for recipes today and found one on Allrecipes where you cook them in a dark beer until the beer has cooked off - (that one sounded good to me) or where you include them with potatoes and then mash them to make them more subtle flavored. Thanks to you, if we like them I now know how to can them. Thanks!

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  9. We always ate them with their greens, sauteed in butter (or bacon grease) and garlic. Mom put them in stews, mashed potatoes and boiled dinner too.

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  10. I usually eat them braised, the way my gramma used to make. I translated my gramma's recipe into English here: http://alpine-tunnel.livejournal.com/449629.html . It comes out kinda like Harvard beets or hot potato salad, except made with turnips.

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  11. They are a GREAT addition to a vegetable soup and we eat them cooked down in olive oil with or without hamburger meat and serve over rice.

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  12. Have you had time to try these turnips yet? Over the years, I've canned, frozen or otherwise preserved many vegetables. Some years, I've preserved huge number number of jars. Two of the few I had trouble with were potatoes and particularly turnip. The texture of the potatoes left much to be desired, and I ended up throwing all the jars away. The turnip developed a very strong flavor that we didn't like at all. It was a long time ago, and maybe the recipes and techniques have changed. Thanks for getting back to me. I'd love to be able to try again. I guess it's time for me to get a profile, and will do it soon. Thanks.

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  13. Have you had time to try these turnips yet? Over the years, I've canned, frozen or otherwise preserved many vegetables. Some years, I've preserved huge number number of jars. Two of the few I had trouble with were potatoes and particularly turnip. The texture of the potatoes left much to be desired, and I ended up throwing all the jars away. The turnip developed a very strong flavor that we didn't like at all. It was a long time ago, and maybe the recipes and techniques have changed. Thanks for getting back to me. I'd love to be able to try again.

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    Replies
    1. We just opened a jar and had them a few days ago... they were delicious! We like them mashed with butter, then add a little relish on top. ~~Granny

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  14. I love turnips in beef stew...like, a lot! I am planting some fall turnips and would like to can them for the winter.

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  15. Can be made into turnip French fries. Mashed half and half with potatoes and used to make "potato" pancakes. Grated for "hash browns". Great suggestions above. Meg

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  16. I found your blog via pinterest and I'm hooked! So many great recipes to can that I never knew existed.

    I made a turnip gratin last fall and my whole family (even my little boys) loved it. Here's the link:

    http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/sidedishes/turnip-gratin/

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  17. Growing up, we always added brown sugar and butter to the turnips before mashing, yum yum. My uncle has made a specialty of making turnip pie (made the same way as pumpkin pie but more sugar).

    I'm also very fond of adding turnip to stir-fry.

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  18. My wife cooks diced turnips in chicken stock, drains them and mashes them.
    She sautes a couple of tbsps. of chopped onion until brown, adds these to the turnips and salt and pepper to taste.
    This is as good as turnips get. I can eat them by the bowls full.!!

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    Replies
    1. We also add sugar to turnips along with butter and salt. Stew them a bit first with the salt and a little water. Add the sugar and butter and cook them down till very tender and very little juice. Mash and serve. Yummy.

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  19. I appreciate y'all's comments and ideas. I'm new to canning but I'm diving in head first and want to do it right :)

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  20. My mom makes Turnip Soup. Pork Roast, turnips, and potatoes! YUMMY!

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  24. roasted turnips are great ..along with other veggies..I cube them

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  25. I read somewhere that the best way to make turnips is to blanch or boil them in water with a little baking soda in it--it's supposed to draw out some of the pungency/bitterness. I do that every time, now, and the turnips always taste noticeably milder to me. I wonder if that would help before canning them, too?

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  26. In the South, we eat'em fried in bacon drippings. Add a glass of cold sweet milk and a pone of cornbread, and your all set.
    Denise Elder

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  27. Love this web site. I'm a canning nut! So many great ideas. Thank you

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  28. Boil till soft and eat with vinegar on them. Delicious.

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  29. Peel and slice, cover with water. Boil hard till done. I add bacon grease, sugar and salt to mine. Love them.

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  30. We used your recipe tonight but when we pulled them out of the pressure cooker all of them were missing about half of the liquid. Any suggestions or advice? Are the turnips still good?

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  31. We use them with home made vegetable soup and when we cook ham bone and cabbich

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  32. A neighbor here in WV just offered me enough of his turnips to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Never canned turnips before, but I'm becoming a canning nut and after reading these recipes, I'm in!

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  33. How would I can Turnip GREENS and TURNIPS together? That is how I serve them at home

    ReplyDelete

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