Vintage Home Canning Guide - Click To View LargerHere are pages 12, 13, 14, the inside back cover and back cover of the vintage Home Canning Guide by Kerr that was published in 1941. The recipe pages are retyped below along with scanned copies of each page.

To view all the pages in this booklet, please visit the Home Canning Guide: Kerr Category. The images are clickable if you’d like to view a larger copy.

Also, please make sure to read Important: Safe Canning & Food Preservation before using any recipes or instructions regarding home canning, things have changed since this booklet was published.

Canning Recipes - Vintage Home Canning Guide - Click To View Larger

CHOICE RECIPES

BEANS (String)

Wash, string and cut in convenient lengths or leave whole. Precook for 3 minutes. Pack into clean KERR Jars. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar if desired, fill to within 1/2 inch of top with water in which vegetable was precooked or boiling water and put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 8.

BERRIES (Cold Pack)

(All except Strawberries)–Wash and stem berries. Pack into clean KERR Jars. Add No. 2 or No. 3 syrup to within 1 1/2 inches of top, or, if no syrup desired, merely fill jar to within 1/2 inch of top with berry juice or water and put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 9.

BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

25 to 30 medium sized cucumbers, 8 large white onions, 2 large sweet peppers, 1/2 cup salt, 5 cups cider vinegar, 5 cups sugar (2 1/2 pounds), 2 tablespoons mustard seed, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Wash cucumbers and slice as thin as possible. Chop onions and peppers; combine with cucumbers and salt. Let stand 3 hours and drain. Combine vinegar, sugar, and spices in large preserving kettle, bring to boil. Add drained cucumbers; heat thoroughly but do not boil. Pack while hot into sterilized KERR Jars and seal.

CORN

Use only absolutely fresh corn that is tender and juicy. Husk, cut from cob, place in pan with just enough boiling water to cover. Precook 3 to 5 minutes. Pack loosely to within 1 inch of top into clean KERR Jars and fill with water in which vegetable was precooked or boiling water to within 1/2 inch of top. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and sugar mixture if desired to each pint jar. Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 8. Corn may be canned on the cob by following this recipe. The flavor of the corn on the cob will be improved if no liquid is added to the jar. Jars without liquid must be processed in the pressure cooker.

PEACHES (Cold Pack)

Select ripe, firm peaches; remove peel and pits. Pack halved or sliced into clean KERR Jars; fill to within 1 1/2 inches of top with No. 2 syrup. Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 9.

PEAS

Use only young tender, freshly gathered peas. Shell, wash and sort according to size. Precook 3 to 7 minutes, depending on the age and size of the peas. Pack loosely to within 1 inch of top into clean KERR Jars. Fill to within 1/2 inch of top with water in which vegetable was precooked or boiling water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and sugar mixture to each pint jar if desired. Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 8.

STRAWBERRY PRESERVES

9 cups sugar, 2 heaping quarts strawberries, 1 cup water.

Wash and hull strawberries before measuring. Put sugar and water into large preserving kettle, stir and boil until sugar is well dissolved. Add the strawberries. Boil 15 minutes (rolling boil). Do not stir but shake kettle and skim. Pour into flat pans or trays and shake occasionally until cold. The shaking is the secret of success. It causes the berries to absorb the syrup and remain plump and whole. Put into sterilized KERR Jars when cold. Never cook more than two quarts at a time. Best to shake all the time while cooking and cooling.

TOMATOES

Scald tomatoes in boiling water 1 minute. Soak in cold water 1 minute; peel, core, quarter and pack into clean KERR Jars. Add no water. Add teaspoon salt to each quart jar if desired. Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time tables, pages 8 and 9.

CHICKEN (Barbecued)

Meat may be barbecued in a pit or on a rack in a covered metal tub where it will absorb the savory smoke from the drippings falling on the live coals.

Cut up chicken in usual manner. The neck, ribs and back are probably better made into soup.

Prepare sauce as follows: 1 1/3 cups butter, 1 tablespoon tabasco sauce, 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, 2 cups catsup, 2/3 cup of weak vinegar, 2 tablespoons chopped onions, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Mix ingredients and boil until slightly thick. Place pieces of chicken on rack over pit and baste with sauce until brown and thoroughly heated. Pack into clean KERR Jars to within 1 inch of top. Fill jar about half full of the sauce. Put on cap, screwing band firmly tight. Process according to time table, page 9.

Vintage Home Canning Guide - Click To View Larger

Back Cover - Vintage Home Canning Guide - Click To View Larger

The 2 Week Diet

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22 Responses to Canning Recipes – Vintage Home Canning Guide

Carol Van Cleave
Published 22 September, 2008 in 1:55 pm

Trying to find recipe for “Green Tomato Mincemeat” from Kerr Canning Guide prior to 1945. Best mincemeat ever – can’t believe I’ve lost the recipe.

Mitchell Webster
Published 14 December, 2008 in 3:09 pm

Answer to comment left by Carol Van Cleave,
Green Tomato Mincemeat can be found in most all Mennonite and Amish Cookbooks,
The one I have here is the:
Mennonite Community Cookbook
by Mary Emma Showalter
Hope this helps.

Elsie Lormor
Published 29 May, 2009 in 10:01 am

I am looking for a canning recipe for stuffed peppers with cabbage my mother used to mae in a crock.

yvonne
Published 6 August, 2009 in 4:29 am

need recipes for homemade catsup. can anyone help?

clara
Published 21 August, 2009 in 5:13 pm

I got this canning book when my mother died. I love the cucumber relish recipe. My book was destroyed in a fire. Could you please send me the recipe.

Carol Timmerman
Published 13 September, 2009 in 4:02 pm

I need a recipe for canning “tomato console”. I added it to hamburger and noodles for winter suppers. It had coarse chopped onions, celery, tomatoes,and spices in it.

joyce sharpe
Published 6 July, 2010 in 4:35 pm

i need help i want to can potatoes i planted red skin potatoes i have never caned them before dose any one have a recipe to canning them plz help and thank you

Lorraine
Published 6 September, 2010 in 9:11 pm

Does anyone have a recipe for pear sauce, i.e. apple sauce?? To freeze or can.

ropse bickel
Published 25 September, 2010 in 8:35 pm

joyce:
I can potatoes every year. simple process. Large mouth jars/lids. wash and peel potatoes to however (sliced cubed etc). Rinse potatoes, and put in large pot of warm water. Hot jars and lids. hot water in seperate pot. Put raw cleaned potatoes in hot qt jar. (drain them first with a colander) add 1 tsp salt (regular table salt) to each qt. Fill with hot water, clean top, put lid on tight. Process in hot water bath that covers the jars for 30 boiling min and remove from canner to cool. That’s all. Potatoes will NOT get botulism. Pressure canning is NOT necessary. A 50# bag of potatoes renders approx 20 qts.

Rob
Published 3 October, 2010 in 9:02 pm

Ropse – I would like to believe pressure canning is not necessary for potatoes, but where did you learn this, so I can confirm it?
Water Bath is my preferred method of canning and I have to borrow a pressure canner when I want to do things that require that method. I have access to lots of cheap potatoes sometimes. Frozen mashed potatoes come out great when thawed, but canned goods don’t take up so much freezer space and can’t spoil if the electricity goes out.
Please post where you learned water bathing potatoes is safe.

Jodie Banner
Published 4 October, 2010 in 4:54 pm

The USDA does NOT recommend water bath processing for potatoes. Any low acid food IE…anything other than fruits,rhubarb,pickles and tomatoes must be processed in a pressure canner in order to kill bacteria.

Juli
Published 11 October, 2010 in 10:11 am

My kids always want me to make italian dishes when they come over for dinner, but none of them wants to learn & cook (four letter word!) my recipes themselves. I have decided to can my marinara, cheese, and meat sauces for them. I have never canned anything besides fruits and vegetables…does anyone have any advice or tips for me before i begin?

Tracy
Published 12 October, 2010 in 10:45 pm

Definitely want to pressure can potatoes. You can add leeks, onions, garlic, etc. if you want a quick potato soup starter. That’s what my mother-in-law has done for years. I’m hoping to do up a couple of canner loads as soon as I get enough time to scrub taters. You do not have to peel them and to try and keep them a bit whiter you can soak them in a dilute solution of lemon juice (1 c/gal water) then rinse before blanching and hot packing. Good luck!

Sandra
Published 26 July, 2011 in 9:18 am

I am looking for a recipe for canning green beans that involves cold pack with a brine of salt and vinegar. These are NOT pickled beans. I used this recipe for years and it creates a canned product that tastes like fresh beans. The original recipe was in an old Mason, Kerr or Ball canning book, but I can’t seem to find it on line. Any help would be appreciated.

brandon
Published 4 October, 2011 in 7:53 pm

I have been looking for the recipe for chow chow, anyone know it?

shilo
Published 25 August, 2012 in 8:33 pm

looking for the picled beet recipe that my grandma used out of her kerr canning guide. she lost her book and I need the recipe

Carol
Published 4 September, 2013 in 1:15 pm

My Mom used to make a recipe for vegetable soup base, I believe it was something she developed herself, but I am looking for something similar. She took stewed tomatoes, and added just about any vegatable she grew in the garden, she ground them up in the old silver grinder that she would attach to her pull-out bread board and grind up things like kholarabi, carrots, onions, maybe some type of greens, then she would mix it all up and stew for a while, then can it in quarts and use it as a base for a beef vegetable soup. Any suggestions out there?

Wendy
Published 27 October, 2014 in 5:18 pm

I can potatoes every year. We plant both whites (kennebunks) and reds. We only can the whites. The reds get mushy when canned and are best fresh. They work great in many casserole, soups and just with butter and parsley. I love them and the convenience. They do not work well for mashed potatoes. I do pressure can them. I pressure can most everything to prevent bacteria growth and highly recommend investment in a pressure canner. As a nurse, I cannot emphasize the importance of food safety. Happy canning!

wanda sell
Published 7 September, 2015 in 2:23 pm

I made some pepper relish and it had too many seeds in it so it got too hot to eat is there something I can add to my pepper recipe to lower the heat ?

Joan Lolley
Published 4 May, 2018 in 12:46 am

I’m looking for a recipe for canning old timey oil sausages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Growingandgathering
Published 14 March, 2020 in 12:01 pm

Thank you for this guide. it is very helpful. I am need of tuna recipe.

Jayme
Published 10 December, 2021 in 6:15 pm

If you’re more into the historic methods of canning that our grandmas did rather than following only following the mamsi pamsi methods the letter places, check out “canning rebels” facebook group.

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