Preserving Pineapples!!!

If you eat fresh pineapples, you know they aren't the cheapest or most convenient snack in the world, so why not can them? I spent about one and a half hours today canning my own! It was really easy, and anyone can do it!! You do not need a pressure canner, just a deep enough pot to ***water bath***.

I got lucky and found a SALE! Aldi's & Ingles had pineapples on sale this week for only $1.99 each (original price is $5 each). I bought 5 and that saved me $15!! Now I have recently learned, a smart canner buys stuff on *SALE* Since I jarred these up today, I have yet to try them, but I have heard fabulous things about them. AND what is better than store bought (already canned) pineapples? FRESH, not-as-acidic, no preservatives, natural sugars, good-tasting home canned pineapples!!

Here is a little math for funzies!!

Pineapples- $1.99 each * 5 Jars- $11.99 for a box of 15 or ~$0.88c each

Total cost = ~$1.71 per pint jar Thats a steal!

Another good thing, and something I look forward to...growing my own pineapple plants!

I have already got a decent sized pineapple plant growing that I put in a pot last summer, so I know this method works! 1. Twist off the tops

2. Peel off the bottom layers of leaves

3. put them in some water until roots form (a few weeks)

4. plant them in a pot

E-Z-P-Z

**Just so you know, it can take up to 2 years before your plant produces another fruit. And you only get on per-plant at a time. That is as much as I know for now!

If you want to know how to water-bath can your own pineapples, I will tell you the process I went through below.

Water-bath canning Pineapples

Yield: 2-3 pints per pineapple

~ I got 12 pints out of my 5

Step 1: Get yourself some pineapples.

Step 2: chop off the top and bottoms of your pineapples. Slice the skins off and make sure to get the spurs & seeds out if any are left behind.

Step 3: core and dice the pineapples to your preferred size (do not throw out the core)

Step 4: Boil your cores in enough water to fill the jars. You can use plain water to fill the jars, or use a simple syrup, but I like to have the natural pineapple flavors.

• If you use plain water, it will leech the pineapple flavors out of the pineapple over time.

• If you boil the cores in water and use this "juice" then you will get the most flavor out of your canned pineapple.

• Using a simple syrup in my opinion makes it WAY too sweet - I tried this with mandarin oranges before.

Step 5: Fill your clean HOT jars leaving 1 inch of headspace, and then add your preferred liquid method, as described above, leaving 1 inch of headspace.

Step 6: Be sure to wipe your rims clean, put on the flat tops and rings hand tight.

Step 7: Last Step - Put your jars into your boiling water-bath (covered with 2" of water) for 15 minutes (pints or half pints) or 20 minutes (quarts). If you have a mix of sizes, then you leave them in for the longest required time. Once the time is up, take them out and set them on a towel on the counter for 24 hours, or until full cooled!

Thank you for taking the time to check out my pineapple post, you are one fine-apple yourself! :D

If you wish to know more about canning and what some of the terms mean, or if there is any confusion, let me know and I can do a more in-depth post explaining more about the beginning steps to water bath canning or even pressure canning!!