… With potatoes.
You may recall that it was a good year for my potato growing. I have never been very successful, but this year I have bushels of them. I swan right past the bins at Aldi, feeling smart that I am not plunking down $8 on a staple food. The obvious problem with growing potatoes is needing to have storage options. If they get colder than 40 degrees, the starches turn into sugar they taste sweet. Definitely they should not freeze!
Until this week, I had put mine in crates in the garden shed, covered with heavy carpets. When the weather took a dip way under freezing, we had to move them into the heated shop where it stays 50 degrees.
When you grow your own potatoes, they are not graded, which means you get a lot of tiny ones mixed in with the nice big baking potatoes. I remembered hearing Amish ladies talking about canning potatoes, and decided to give it a go.
The first step, of course, is to wash them. If you have ever washed a sink full of potatoes the size of an egg or smaller, you will understand why we were trying to think of a better way. Suddenly I also remembered hearing Amish ladies talking about washing them in their clothes washer. Let me tell you, these women know things! It pays to listen. So we dumped them in on gentle cycle, cold water, no soap. They rolled around – gently – and came out squeaky clean.
We did not peel them, only cutting out weird spots and any eyes that were sprouting. Then we diced them so that we got a lot more potatoes into a jar. We added a teaspoon of kosher salt to each quart, and poured boiling water to cover the potatoes before putting on lids and rings.
I have only been using a pressure canner for a few years, and I have no idea why it took me so long to get one. They are the bomb for low-acid foods! We canned our potatoes at 10 lb pressure for 40 minutes, and there you are! Seven meals with ready-to-go taters for about an hour of work. (Seeing as we let the washing machine do most of the work for us. You’re welcome to that tip, even though it’s really a tip from a smart Amish lady.)
wocket in my pocket 
Titus’ mom often canned potatoes. She loved to use them to make a quick potato salad.
It must be an old fashioned thing. I have never felt a need to have canned potatoes. We just never did it… But I’m thinking a quick skillet meal? Or soup on the fly? I didn’t peel them, so that might be weird potato salad.
Yes, either of your ideas would work. Or flash-fry them for breakfast home fries.
I considered pitching my pirates in the washer but worried a bit about ruining my washer. I shall proceed fearlessly. Also I think I’m going to try Ruth Ann Zimmerman’s fry canning method. She has it on her YouTube channel. She knows things too!
Yes, she does! I’m interested in your results.
My (Amish) Mom would can a mix of potatoes, celery, and carrots. And yes we’d wash them in our wringer/agitator washing machine😆 Now I have my own garden, and autumn crops of potatoes in all sizes and plentiful carrots. So I started sorting out the little ones before putting the rest away in bins, and it’s a fall canning project, the carrot, potatoes and celery mix😊 it makes the quickest chicken noodle soup, and if you like Amish dressing/stuffing, your vegetables are all in a jar, ready to go. I’m so excited for your tip in using an actual modern day washer because I, like Linda, worried that I’d ruin my washer, but I’m most happy to know it can be done safely. (What type of washer do you have- front or top loader?) thanks for sharing your potato canning experience 🤗 Leah
Mine is a speed queen top loader. I think too much agitation would bruise them, so I’m guessing a front loader might not be the best idea. Although those wringer washers are not slow! We didn’t dump huge amounts of dirt in with the potatoes. They were hosed off first.
Also … A mix with celery and carrots. Very smart. Now if I can figure out how to grow celery!
I only experimented once, several years ago, and as suggested above, I layered potatoes, carrots, and celery. However, I didn’t have 3 big girls to help peel and dice, and neither did I have a pressure canner. So I haven’t gone to the effort of doing it again. But I really liked having those jars that winter!
I mixed them with carrots and celery. Dump a jar in a pot, add a jar of canned beef chunks, and you instantly have stew. Add a bread to dip in the broth and it’s a perfect 5 minute rustic meal. Just made this last night and they licked it up. But that was my last jar of potatoes… so I need to for sure do it again this fall