I have to admit, I never thought of canning potatoes until a friend introduced us to them a few years ago. Canning potatoes is a little work, but after that having potatoes with dinner is as easy as pouring a jar into a sauce pan and heating them up. A little bit of butter, a little bit of parsley, some salt and pepper and you have a delicious side dish. The potatoes have a creamy consistency that is better than regular baked or boiled potatoes. We will buy a 50 pound sack of white potatoes in the fall for about $12 and then we’ll give them a good scrub, cut them into bite sized chunks and fill jars until they’re done.
Scrub the potatoes clean – University extension and the USDA recommends peeling the potatoes to avoid botulism spores, but we like the flavor and nutrients in the skin so we just scrub them well and leave the skins on. You should do as you see best.
Cut the potatoes into 2 inch pieces. Place them in water after cutting to keep them from browning.
Place the cut potatoes into sterilized canning jars.
Add 1 teaspoon of canning salt to each quart.
Cover with fresh water to one inch headspace – apply the lids and rings.
Pressure can for 40 minutes at 10# of pressure (the time starts when you reach the pressure level).
Allow the jars to cool and check if they sealed. The cooled lids should sound tight and not hollow when you tap them. If you find any loose jars you can re-process them with fresh lids.
