Ingredients
and Equipment
1. Fruit (see
step 1)
2. Jar
grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
3. Lid
lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you
sanitize them.
4. Jar
funnel
5. Large pot, at least 1 piece
6. Large
spoons and ladles
7. Ball jars
8. Sugar
9. Water
Bath Canner 1 piece
Recipe
and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the mangoes
Choose ripe, mature fruit of ideal quality for eating
fresh or cooking. They should not be mushy, but they also should not be rock
hard: just as ripe as you would eat them fresh. You can also use solid
green mangoes. Select firm, non-fibrous fruit. Caution: Handling
green mangoes may irritate the skin of some people in the same way as poison
ivy. (They belong to the same plant family.)To avoid this reaction, wear
plastic gloves while working with raw green mango. Do not touch your face, lips
or eyes after touching or cutting green mangoes until all traces are washed
away .
Step
2 - How many mangoes and where to get them
You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery
store.
Step
3 - Prepare the sugar (or other sweetener) solution
Mangoes must be packed in a solution of water and
sugar or fruit juice. It's up to you which to use. Sugar is added
to improve flavor, help stabilize color, and retain the shape of the fruit. It
is not added as a preservative. Sugar solution is much less expensive (unless
you have a supply of cheap grape juice), so I usually use a light solution to
keep sugar (and the added calories) to a minimum.
Sugar
Syrup
|
Syrup
|
Sugar
|
Water
|
Yield
|
|
Light
|
2 cups
|
6 cups
|
7 cups
|
|
Medium
|
3 cups
|
6 cups
|
6 1/2 cups
|
|
Heavy
|
4 cups
|
6 cups
|
7 cups
|
NOTE: you can ALSO use fruit juice
(if you want a natural alternative) or artificial sweetener (Stevia or if you
prefer, Splenda), but NOT Nutrasweet; if you want a low calorie alternative).
To prepare syrup, while heating water, add sugar
slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil. Fill jars
while syrup is still boiling hot. After preparing the liquid syrup, keep it hot
(but not boiling).
Step
4 - Wash the jars and lids
This is a good time to get the jars ready! The
dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize"
cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the
lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic
"lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Step
5 -Wash the mangoes!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the mangoes in
plain cold or lukewarm water.
Step
6 - Peeling the Mangoes
Nope, we're not going to peel them strictly by hand;
that's way too much work. Instead, here's a great trick that works with
many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in
boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon
and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice. The skins will easily
peel off more easily now! Mangoes are also MUCH easier to peel when
slightly ripe.
Step Step 7 - Cut up the mangoes
Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Slice the
mangoes in 1/4 thick slices!
This mango
splitter works great!
Step
8 - Prevent the fruit from darkening!
Now, to keep the fruit from turning brown, when you
get a bowlful, sprinkle 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh (which is just a mix
of citric acid and vitamin C, perfectly natural). Then stir the mangoes
to make sure all the surfaces have been coated.
Step
9 - Fill the jars
Pack the mangoes into sanitized jars (leaving 1/2 to 1
inch space at the top)
After packing the mangoes in the jar, pour the sugar
solution up to 1/2 inch (1 cm) from the top. the fruit should be covered
completely. (Since we don't cook or heat the mangoes first, this is
called "cold packing"). Canned fruits often will float if the
sugar syrup is too heavy, if jars are packed too loosely or if air remains in
the tissues of the fruit after processing. To avoid this use a light or medium
sugar syrup, make sure fruit is firm and ripe and pack fruit tightly in jars
without crushing.
If fruit is not covered by liquid it may darken during
storage (but does not necessarily mean it is spoiled, as all fruits will darken
somewhat). To avoid this be sure fruit is covered by removing air bubbles from
jars liquid while still leaving the recommended head space. Also be sure to remove
trapped air bubbles as described earlier.
Run a rubber spatula or table knife gently between
mangoes and jar to release trapped air bubbles. To do this more effectively,
tilt the jar slightly while running the tool between the fruit and the edge of
the jar and also pressing inward against the fruit a few times.
Wipe rim and screw threads with a clean damp cloth.
Add lid, screw band and tighten firmly and evenly. Do not over tighten.
10
- Process the jars in the water bath
Put the sealed jars in the canner and keep them cover
with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. Boil them for at least 20 minutes
(and no more than 30 min).
|
Recommended process time for Mangoes in a
boiling-water canner.
|
|||||
|
Process Time at
Altitudes of
|
|||||
|
Style of Pack
|
Jar Size
|
0 - 1,000 ft
|
1,001 - 3,000 ft
|
3,000 - 6,000 ft
|
Above 6,000 ft
|
|
Hot
|
Pints
Quarts |
15 min
20 |
20
25 |
20
30 |
25
35 |
Step
11 - Remove and cool
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool
without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes
overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you
like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't
rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check
that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in
the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping
sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away,
you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then
that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new
lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Mangoes, pears and apples may also show a blue, red or
pink color change after canning. This is the result of natural chemical changes
that sometimes occur as fruits are heated. It is harmless and won't affect
flavor!
Also, avoid storing canned food near heat sources such as a furnace, water heater, hot water or sunny areas. Jars need to be kept cool and dark for longer storage life and to protect against spoilage. Be sure to store in a dry place. If the lid or band rusts, that can cause the seal to break.
