Carol, Annie and anyone else working with weights... I just made and processed two Big Batches of HG. I kept them separate from the beginning. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to evenly distribute the bits if I started in one big pot and tried to divide them on Day 2. I did weigh everything several times and here is what I came up with for one Big Batch recipe: 170 g minced dried apricots (1/8" dice) 200 g total of minced red sweet pepper and minced red onion (1/8" dice), approximately half-and-half. 30 g Habanero peppers Note: For extra-hot, increase Habaneros to 60 g and reduce red sweet pepper/red onion combination to 150 g total. 360 g white vinegar 1.2 kg (1200g) sugar 1 3-oz. pouch liquid pectin When I look at the ingredients as a formula, the percentages using weights are a little off from the percentages using the cup measurements. Shouldn't they be the same? I what I have okay? How should I evaluate whether my weights are okay? Now that I've got the calculations set up, should I "tinker" around with the grams to force the percentages to be the same as those using cups? Thanks!!

Was really glad to see this post as just last week I was wondering the same thing. I'm fairly new to canning, only done tomatoes and strawberry jam in the past, and freezing which doesn't really count. So after discovering this forum and having a pretty good size garden this year(that's another story)I decided to do peaches. And this is how it went: Start BWB,start another pot to do rings and lids, sterilize jars,(find the right ones first) make fresh fruit bath for peaches, start another pot to blanch peaches(pour a glass of wine, hey I'm having fun now) disinfect sink, put ice and cold water to cool peaches (thinking I have a new 48 inch stove, how do you do this on a regular stove) okay now blanch peaches, first batch can't cut them and get the pit out without destroying them and definetly won't get 'halves' looks more like mush. no problem I'll put them in the fridge and do a cobbler tommrrow. Second batch. I decide to cut them into halve first, then blanch and peel, cool come out looking great (where did I put that glass of wine?)oh forgot to make syrup, get that going . BWB is getting low add some more water. Okay I think I'm ready to put into hot jars, but I think I'm doing a combo of a raw pack and a hot pack (if I have to I'll just put them into the fridge with all the other things I'm not sure of, still can't find the glass of wine, did I pour one?) put peaches in jars, pour hot syrup, check for bubbles, wipe rims, put on rings,(am I forgetting anything?)put jars into BWB set timer, pour another glass of wine and wait. Bingo timer goes off pull out jars, set on counter and hubby says 6 quarts? 5 hrs. How much per quart? I figure somewhere time included $26.00 per quart! But I sure did have fun!

I knew I got Flintknapper's name wrong! LOL Yes, Cindy you need to add bacon, ham, or fatback to your beans and peas if you want to be a Southerner! ;) I also like cowpeas better than any butter beans, but I was born and raised in SC. I have been experimenting with seasoning the BJBB's. 20 minutes does seem a little short on cooking time, but I usually use my crockpot for cooking them. Were they kinda hard in the middle? Did you salt them when you started cooking them? I have found out that the salt needs to be added towards the end of cooking or they will be kinda tough. The best ones I have had were in the crockpot. I put in a slice of bacon and two cloves of garlic, chopped fine and cooked on the low setting for 2 hours. Added salt and cooked another hour. The next best was with a chunk of sugar cured ham. I tried country ham too but the beans seemed tough from the salt,I should have washed the ham first, I guess. They don't break apart like regular lima beans do in a slow cooker and have a really good texture. I have only fixed one batch (or mess as we say in the south) on the stove because I'm too lazy! I need to go out and pick them now but it is 97 degrees in the shade outside and high humidity! Heat index about 110! I'll wait till sundown!

Sorry to be so late responding. I appreciate all of the advice. My e-mail has been acting up so I didnâÂÂt get any notifications and forgot to look here. I thought of cooking it outside just to keep the odor out of the house. Using the garage isnâÂÂt practical with our house design. It turned out not to be a problem inside. I think that I've cooked it a higher temp in the past - often a vigorous simmer instead of barely a simmer. Much better broth quality with the lower temp. Grainlady, the homemade boullion cubes looks great! IâÂÂll remember that for the future. Ajsmama, the bones are from the half cow that I purchased last summer. Since most people donâÂÂt want them, I suspect I can get more from the processor quite inexpensively. I love the effect of the parboiling. I put the bones in a stockpot, then covered with cold water. My stove brings this to a boil in a few minutes. After a vigorous 3 minute boil, all kinds of crud surfaced. I rinsed the bones, then roasted them, and made the stock as usual. There was almost nothing to skim during the stock making and the stock tastes wonderful. I probably didnâÂÂt cool the stock as quickly as I should have, but it was all down to room temperature within 30 minutes from removing it from the stove, and straight into the fridge. I wish IâÂÂd thought to use the blue frozen packs as we have a ton of them. I sadly ended up losing half of my bones before I started, so made this on top of the stove. Fortunately itâÂÂs easy to maintain a bare simmer on that stove. I found that the pan from my 24 quart roaster fits perfectly in my prep sink. We filled the sink with ice and water so that it came up around the sides of the pan; then strained the stock into the pan & stirred to cool. Since my stock was very concentrated, I also added ice directly to the stock, about 2 trayâÂÂs worth. This was a mistake, as I did lose the visible gelatin. It still tastes good, but I certainly won't dilute if at all when drinking.