At the beginning of the month we were blessed with at TON of carrots leftover from Halloween. Actually, they were Scarrots, individually packed baggies of baby carrots for trick-or-treaters. (I’m sure the kiddos loved that idea!)
Included in the treats were glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos… which made this project fun for my kids. Their job: to open as many individual baggies as their little hearts desired and dump the carrots into large bowls.
Their payment for each empty bag: glow-in-the-dark tattoos. It was a beautiful business arrangement. More like a treasure hunt for them! We all sat at the table unwrapping carrots for an entire morning. Much to my delight, the kids were SO into it.
I don’t know how many bags of carrots we opened. Boxes and boxes of bags and bags of carrots. It was such a blessing! Since the carrots were past their “use by” date, some of them were a little yucky, and most of them were drying out. No big deal though. We just picked out the bad ones. The dry ones would perk up again once canned. They still snapped nicely so I knew they were good.
I was excited to have something to can again.
To can these carrots I used the raw pack method. I don’t know if it affects the taste compared with hot packing, but this was just easier for me.
First step: Fill clean, hot jars with raw carrots, leaving 1″ headspace. Note: If using regular sized carrots, you’ll need to wash, peel and cut the carrots before packing the jars. It helps if you tap the jar lightly on the counter to help settle the carrots and pack them in tighter.
Optional: Add 1/2 tsp salt to pint jars; 1 tsp salt to quart jars.
Next, fill the jars with boiling water, leaving 1 inch headspace. Tap jars again, or use the handle of a wooden spoon to help remove trapped air bubbles.
Wipe the rim of each jar with a wet rag, and assemble the sterilized lids. The Tattler lids were not difficult at all to assemble. You just put the rubber ring onto the plastic lid, place it on the jar, and screw on a regular metal band.
The only difference really is that once you have tightened the lid, you are supposed to turn the metal band back counter-clockwise 1/4 inch to allow for venting. Very simple.
Carrots need to be pressure canned. Process pints 25 min. and quarts 30 min, at 10 lbs pressure.
Once the jars are done, remove from the canner and allow to cool. Check lids to make sure the seals are intact. Out of the 16 jars I filled using the Tattler lids, 2 of them did not seal properly. I’d say that’s a good turnout, considering that regular canning lids will not properly seal occasionally as well.
“Thanks for the review and feedback. While reading your review, I noticed you mentioned 2 jars did not seal. I also noticed you did not mention the need to tighten the metal bands after removing the jars from the canner, which is likely the reason your jars did not seal.
We recommend you apply the metal band until finger tight, then back it off slightly (1/4 Inch) to ensure it is not too tight, thereby allowing pressure to escape during processing. Immediately upon removal from the canner, the metal band needs to be tightened firmly. Doing so will ensure a proper seal. Try that next time and you should have no failures.”
After two days of opening bags of carrots and canning non-stop, I ended up with 26 quarts of baby carrots. It would have been so nice to have a couple of canners going at the same time. It takes forever to get one canner load done!
We were so thankful for the carrots though. And the kids were stoked with their fun tattoos. Thanks to my friend Taya who totally hooked us up!!
I am so in love with these lids. Now I just need about 300 more!
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
Hey i have a question on canning carrots, i saw that they have to be canned with a pressure cooker, well i dont have one i have he old fashioned canning pot. Can i use it instead?
I love that they are reusable. Always looking for a way to save.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for the tutorial on canning carrots. I am always looking for something new in canning. I am fairly new at canning and am enjoying it so very much. My dear cousin taught me. My first project was Strawberry Jam since I loved her jam. I am crazy about Strawberries. I recently made some Peach-Blueberry Preserves. They are so good. I have a long list of things I want to make. I can’t wait to do soups and meats etc. I liked you on Facebook and shared your carrot tutorial as well. I would love it if you would put me in for the giveaway on the reusable lids. They sound great. They would help me with my canning greatly. Thanks again and Have a GREAT Day!
I don’t own a pressure cooker. Can I do a hot water bath instead with sealed jars ? If so, how long do you suggest?
I’m too late for the contest! I would love to try these lids! Can I get a sample?
Thank you , Thank you. I cannot wait to try these out.
Melissa
Would love these – sound like a great product!
I would love to win some reusable canning lids – such an awesome product. Love your blog too. Have a blessed weekend!
I would love to try these!
Thanks,
Mary K
I posted on facebook about the giveaway
I love the joy that comes from knowing you worked hard to make sure your family would have good, homegrown food for the winter. In addition, canning is very frugal. The only part that is not frugal, is having to buy those lids over and over again. I am very interested in these reusable lids. Frugal, and green, too!
I’ve seen these,but this is the first review. I really like that they are BPA free. These would be great to have come canning time.
I have never heard of these. I would love to try them out.
Wow! Love the idea and enjoy your website that I just found tonight. Would love to try these lids. Mrs. canned about 900 jars a year when all of our children were at home but we’re down to about half of that now, canning everything from veggies and fruits to meat and milk. Mrs. is also canning superintendent at our local county fair. Would love to try these lids so we can let folks at our county fair know about these lids. Sounds like they’re much like the old sanico flat glass lids and rubbers we used to have years and years ago. We still have some of them and reuse the rubbers over and over and over as well as our lightning jars and zinc lids. I know there are many who would be opposed to this, but then they also are opposed to using the old mayo jars and coffee jars, etc.. We used any jar we could find a lid for. We needed to to keep a family of eight fed.
We’re great believers in the old saying that Kerr used to have that “anyone who wants to can, can can.” Now more than ever I believe we should be filling every jar and bottle.
Lovely looking carrots. Last winter a friend bought a whole truck load of these baby carrots and gave us four fifty pound bags so we canned them. Never thought we’d be canning carrots we hadn'[t grown ourselves but the Good Lord knew we were going to need them as our garden drowned out this last summer.
I live in nc, never heard of the lids before,
but would like to try them
Would love to win & I could share with my friend Penny, So we both could try them.
I’ve been learning about canning and think using these lids would been a great product to use!
Just started reading your blog. Would love to try the tattler lids.
Nice blog site! I have been canning for a couple of years and would love to win some of these canning lids!
I would LOVE to win these! I am dying to try them. 🙂
I would love to win these. I like to can and would very much like reusable ones!
I have never canned carrots- I hope you enjoy them!
would like to win this 🙂 thanks for the give a way!
I don’t grow enough yet to can, nor do I have the equipment … BUT
My little sister does, and I would LOVE to give her something like this for Christmas! She would love it.
I have heard of these reusable lids and have been wanting to try them–thanks for the chance to win.
I’ve really wanted to try these lids too!!
thanks for the giveaway!
I would love a chance to win these! Been wanting to try them… all the reviews I see online are positive….
I only just learned about the Tattler reusable lids/rings 4 months ago.
I am hoping the family will drop some in my stocking!
Many people keep a stock of jars for when hard times hit, but how many have purchased lids for those jars? I really think it will be the lids/rings that will be in short supply, and what a wonderful bartering item at some point.
I have plenty of Ball and Kerr lids, but no Tattlers. I look forward to giving these a try!
Thanks for sharing this valuable information!
It’s funny, I was looking forward to the end of putting up season this year, but last week I got this panic-y feeling like…..what else can I squeese in thats still in season. I did pumpkin and squash. I am already planning our garden for next year and reworking my desired amounts of canning/freezing totals. The opportunity to try these lids now would be a blessing so if I like them I could start saving to buy them come spring. I love when my children help too! They usually end up with full bellies 🙂
It would definitely be a HUGE blessing to receive such a gift. Thanks for the possible opportunity! Lisa F
Would sooo like to try reusable canning lids. My husband and I have joked that we were going to buy each other canning lids for Christmas.
I’d love to try the lids!
I have been hoping to get some of these sometime. I would love to win the lids!
I’ve been wanting to try these for a while now, I first heard about them on Granny Miller’s site, I’m like you though I can’t wait to try them but if they work great I will need about 300 or so to keep me going!! Sounds like a good investment though!!
I enjoy your blog and would love to be able to try the Tattler lids.
Tattlers sound like a real bargain to those who do a lot of canning…I would LOVE to try them!
I would love to win these! Love that they are reusable and BPA free!
I would love to try these lids. I remember when they came out in the ’70’s when the earth mother movement hit the normal folks. I couldn’t afford them then either. I will post your offer on my facebook. Thanks!
By the way, I was blessed with four hundred pounds of carrots last summer when my trucker son was told to throw them out, since the market refused them. He couldn’t take the trailer full but filled his whole cab to the roof and shared them. I canned them and dehydrated them….did you know that sixty pounds can fit into one one gallon ziploc bag? I also juiced them and put the pulp back into it and canned the mush. I add that mush to everything I put in a soup pot. Every chili, spaghetti, stew and soup gets a big dollop of mush. I do the same thing with zucchini, squash and cabbage. I cook it with the hamburger or TVP and onions so it’s cooked down to texture and nutrition and no one knows they are eating veggies with their sauce. It bulks up the ‘meat’ and saves me money. I’ve raised twelve children on one income and this is a cheap way to fake the amount of meat I put into something.
I have been wanting some Tattler lids for forever! Wishing myself luck 🙂 Thanks!
I hadnt heard of reusable lids before. P;ease sign me up for the chance to win! Kim (bearzhere@yahoo.com)
Great to hear there are lids meant to be reused. A friend says she reuses her regular metal ones over and over if they aren’t bent. I’ve never done it but have saved them “just in case.” It’s gotten to be a big box full now.
I would love love love to win these! I’ve been hearing about them all over the place.
These sound so nice -I can’t imagine not having to buy lids.
vickie
Just blogged this!!
I’ve been dying to try these! We live 40 miles from the nearest grocery store and I hate having to constantly buy lids! It would be so nice to have reusable ones. I would love to win!
I have been wanting to try these! Awesome giveaway!
I shared the link to this post on Facebook as well!
What a wonderful give-a-away! Please count me in. I arranged a bulk order, co-op style a few months ago & it ended up falling through. I was so sad 🙁
And those carrots- WOW!!!
Kendra – these sound fabulous, I would love to be able to try these! I do quite a bit of canning, more and more each year and these would truly be a blessing.
I posted your giveaway on my blog.
Would love to win these! Just learning how to can and we are planning our first garden..so excited. :o)
I’m posting this on Facebook.
I can weekly, and I really want to try these lids, I just haven’t been able to afford them yet. I’d love to try a set!
Love to try out tattle. I am a canning junkie.. Thanks for the fun pics of carrots and kids.
Melissa
Ok… I posted on your giveaway!
http://babychaser.blogspot.com/2010/11/tattler-giveaway.html
And I borrowed one of your pics, with credit of course. Let me know if you’d rather I not and I’ll take it down. 🙂
Great Giveaway!!! Love to can and reusable lids would be great!
I’m totally interested! Thanks for the chance!
I would love to win these. We do tons of canning!
Oh, I would love some more Tattler lids!! I’ve been able to work a few boxes into our budget and have about used them all up for the year, but I’m still canning applesauce and apple cider and cranberry sauce (among a few other stragglers).
Water in the pressure canner – as long as you have a good 1-1.5+ inches in the All American before jars (or when half the jars are in), you should be good. I’ve had 2+” in there before for a really long processing time (tuna? chicken? spaghetti sauce? oof) so it doesn’t burn dry as that would royally suck.
I’m wondering how the carrots taste after they’ve been canned… opinions on that yet? I could easily run to Costco and stock up on baby carrots to can, but not sure if my family would like the taste…
OH NO! Maybe I haven’t been doing this (canning) right! I thought when it says 2″ of water for pressure canning, that was AFTER I had my jars in! Ok, back to the Ball book to see! Thanks Kendra! I love your “Scarrots” and they will be delicious this winter!
Diane,
Uh…. maybe I’m doing it wrong?? I better check on it too!
Please enter me in your giveaway! I would love to try the Tattler canning lids.
I am so excited that there is a reusable lid out there, it’s definitely something I’ve been looking for! Yah! I sure hope I win!!!!
Have I TOLD you lately that you’re my hero?? You’re my hero.
Oh, I would LOVE to have some lids! I just found out about these lids last week. To not have to purchase new lids all the time would be heaven!
I would love to give the Tattlers a try! Thank You for this chance!
I’d love to win some of the tattler lids!
Oh! I’, so glad I found your site! I am in the middle of reading “The Backyard Homestead.” I have tried to can, with mixed results, the past two years. I really am attracted to the idea of self- sufficency and am looking forward to reading more on your site. As for the lids- BPA free, dishwasher safe and reusable? It sounds like a dream come true!
Thanks
I and my hubby are master food preservers. We teach public classes. We’ve had people ask about these but I’ve never tried them. I’m so happy that you offer this opportunity to win this giveaway.
I just posted about your giveaway on my blog, too. 🙂
I would definitely love to win some of these canning lids. I’ve been reading up on them and they look great. I’m even thinking of giving some to my (very hard to shop for) mom for Christmas.
I have a carrot pickle recipe that I love to make with baby carrots. Think delicious garlic/dill pickles only made from carrots. Yum!
I would love to get some of these lids. I have used my jars for years and years, and basically the food I can is grown (free). My biggest expense in canning is the lids, so this would be ideal. I am glad you reviewed these. I had never heard of the product before and will be sure to look for them in my area!
I would love to win these. I do a lot of canning and it can get expensive to replace the lids so it would be really nice to have reusable lids.
I love the idea of reusable lids. Thanks for posting the opportunity to win some. 🙂
Sure, count me in! I love the idea of reusable canning lids and have been wanting to try these out too. 🙂
Wretha
wretha@gmail.com
I’d love some! That would be awesome!
Score on the carrots!! I would love to try the tattler lids. I’ve heard such great things about them. Thanks for the opportunity.
I would love to win some of these lids to try. I do hundreds of jars of food every summer/fall and this would certainly cut down on my cost every year.
I would love to try out the canning lids! My big project for the next year is to increase how much canning I do and I’d love a way to reduce costs with reusable lids!
I’d love to win some Tattler lids…I’ve been wanting to get some but they haven’t been in “the budget”. The carrots look so pretty all lined up in their jars…
I would love to try these reusable lids. Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks for the great blog. Yesterday’s post about pork has me thinking.
I am totally into this giveaway!! I have had my eye on these for awhile. Thanks for the opportunity.
I would love to win the tattler lids. I have never tried them before and since I have stockpiled my regular lids, I’ll have to use them up first before I go and get some of the tattlers…
To the ladies wanting to use carrots in soups, you could just pressure can all the veggies you need for your soups all together or even can the soup itself. Making big batches sure does save time and homemade soup is so much better for you.
I would love to win these so I could “try before I buy” a bunch of them. By the way, did you water bath can the carrots (the picture with water covering the jars) or pressure can with only requires a couple of inches of water in the canner? The picture didn’t match the statement. Just curious. Thanks! It is such a nice feeling to can your own food!
Diane,
I pressure canned them. There was only a couple of inches in the canner before I added the full jars 🙂 That’s what happens.
I’d love to win! These have been on my wish list since the first time you mentioned them.
I would love to win these because I am just starting to get into canning and these would be a great addition to my growing stash of canning supplies. Besides, it is so frugal and green to be able to re-use the lids!
I would be interested in winning!
Ooohh I would love to try these! I’ve seen them around and have been dying to try them! 🙂
I love the idea of reusable canning lids that are BPA free! Thanks for telling us about them!
These lids would be fantastic to try before purchasing. The fact that they are reusable rather than disposable is a double positive in my book with trying to get my food storage in line and become self sufficient. BPA who knew we were dealing with this for so many years.
Nice giveaway.
Thanks
I would love these because I am just learning how to preserve foods, and I don’t make much money, so I’m having to scavenge for supplies…
I would love a chance to try these out.
Reusable canning lids sound like the ultimate in frugality, love to try them. I shared the post with my frugal friends as well.
Caroline
I do a lot of canning in the summer and fall so these would be great for me~
Carrots are one of the easiest veggies to can. I love doing them. It is so quick and they are so yummy to add to stews, soups, roasts. I have been watching post about these new canning lids. It would be a wonderful addition to my canning supplies. Trying them free is even better, Barbara
Hi Kendra,
Thank you for the chance to win.It would be nice to be able to try those lids.They sound great.
What a blessing all those carrots were.Nikki
I, too, have been wondering how those lids do–sounds like they’re a success. I just bought more regular lids to add to my stash of extras, but boy, it sure would be great not to have to keep buying so many! Thanks for sharing your results, Kendra!
I’ve heard a lot of great things about these and would love to have some! Thank you so much for sponsoring this giveaway!
Thanks for the tutorial on canning carrots, too. I hadn’t thought of that! I’m fairly new at canning. 🙂
I am definitely interested in winning!!!! I have been seeing their products on other blogs that I follow and this looks like a product that I would get a lot of use out of….
I never thought about canning carrots but this would be very handy when you want to make a pot of soup 🙂
Wow, those are awesome! I have a 5 pound pail of sweet potatoes that I could can if I won them.
I am scared of using the pressure canner so all I’ve done is tomatoes…
wow! i have never seen or even heard of these til now, will be on the lookout for them for next years canning. very much liking this idea! thanks for the tip 🙂
I have been wanting to try the Tattler lids. It is always good to read about someone who has tried them and can give you an honest report. I would love to win these.
I would so love to win those lids! Once I found out that Ball lids contain BPA, I am determined to switch to BPA free lids. We do quit a bit of canning here!
Oh…indefinitely reusable is SOOOO appealing in canning! I’d love a chance to try them. Remembering to get new lids each time I can is such a pain!! Thanks for a great giveaway!
I’ve heard about these lids and would love to try them out! I do lots of canning and have started “dry” canning with my FoodSaver and Quart jars. Fun!
I’d love to win and try them out!
Jaime G
I would love to have these. I am thinking about doing some canning.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I’ve heard so much about the Tattler lids and have been wanting to give them a try! What a great give away!
Reusable canning lids would be such a blessing! Lids are such an expense every canning season. Great giveaway!
Oh yeah…I shared on my facebook page! Thanks so much.
How wonderful! I actually purchased some of the Scarrots for my boys, too. They were marked way down. I had to freeze because I am out of cans and lids. What a great giveaway!
What a great giveaway! I’ve had them on my wishlist since I learned about them.
Very cool, I know my wife and I would love to try these out!
Enjoy your writing and topics!
I’d love to give these lids a try!
OMG! Sign me up! I’ve heard they’re really nice lids and I’d love to use them!
love it!!!
What a blessing too for all the carrots!
Great job on all that hard work!
Not sure on the job update, but when I think of you I pray for you guys!
Blessings,
tarena
Ive been wondering how well these lids actually were. Id love to win some since Ive now seen them reviewed by two different blogs!
After using 200 dozen lids in 18 months, I would REALLY like to try the Tattlers!!!!
Great giveaway! I’ve been wanting to try the Tattler canning lids ever since I heard about them earlier this year. Thanks for the chance to win!