Mangos – Frozen, Dehydrated, or Canned?steemCreated with Sketch.

in homesteading •  7 years ago  (edited)

Mangos

Kate Choice.jpg

Have you ever canned or dehydrated mangos? I had not until this week. I got a real deal on a box of mangos from Costco and decided I wanted to preserve some of their goodness for another day.

fresh mangos.jpg

I have chopped them and frozen them. I’ve also made mango syrup. But I’ve never prepared them for “long term” storage until now. So, with 6 fresh mangos in hand I decided to do some canning. My first dilemma was how to cut the fruit. For those of you who have not cut a mango, their seed is very large which makes cutting them difficult.

Finally I stood the first one on end and carefully sliced, just off center from top to bottom.

cut in half.jpg

This seemed to work as I didn’t cut into the seed. I turned it 180 degrees and sliced the other side. This gave me two sections of fruit in the skin and a large “slice” from the middle with the seed, skin and a whole lot of flesh clinging to the seed.

Decisions, decisions ... How do I get the flesh out of the skin cups. I decided that cutting the mango the same way I cut avocados might work. Carefully I ran my knife blade from top to bottom, being careful not to cut through the skin. I did this over and over until there were slices. Then I rotated the fruit 90 degrees and made similar cuts and there were dices.

diced in skin.jpg

Now, how to remove those dices from the skin. I decided to try and turn the skin inside out so I could remove the flesh.

Pop inside out.jpg

What do you know, it looks kinda; funny, don’t you think? At least the flesh is exposed and can be easily cut from the skin.

Once all the mangos were diced and removed from their skin I needed to make a lite syrup to can them in. I turned to my favorite canning cookbook for the syrup recipe and measured the ingredients 1 ¼ cups sugar and 5 ½ cups water.

sugar water.jpg

This had to be simmered until the sugar dissolved. That took around 7 minutes with constant stirring.

syrup in pan.jpg

The fruit is diced and sitting in the syrup, The jars are clean and staying warm.

Clean jars.jpg

I grabbed my canning tools

canning tools 2.jpg

My lids are in a bowl of water that was boiling when I poured it over them.

I put the mangos in syrup on the stove and brought them up to a simmer. Not a boil, just a gentle simmer.

Mangos simmering in syrup.jpg

When the fruit is warmed through The processing begins. remove a warm jar from the dishwasher, place a canning funnel in the jar, and carefully ladle warm fruit into the jar, being careful to maintain ½ inch head space. Pour warm syrup into the jar to cover the fruit. Remove air bubbles from the jar, and top off the syrup if necessary.

Wipe the rim and threads of the jar with a clean paper towel that was dipped in warmed white vinegar. Remove a lid from the bowl and center it on the jar. Then place a ring on the jar and tighten it to finger tight, lower the jars into the water bath canner which is simmering. When all the jars are in the canner, the water level should be 2 inches above the top of the jars. If it isn't, add boiling water to reach the 2 inch level.

Bring the water in the canner up to a boil, place the lid on it, and set your timer for 10 minutes, the time the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving says is right for my altitude.

Ball Book.jpg

When the timer buzzes, turn off the heat, remove the pan lid, and let the whole thing sit for 5 minutes. Then move each jar to a folded towel in a warm spot to allow them to cool for 24 hours.

Finished.jpg

After 12 hours remove the rings, check to see if the lids are secure, and wash off any hard water spots. Then label the jars and they are ready to go into the pantry after an additional 12 hours.

Please note, I am not an expert on food preservation. This is simply what I did to preserve the mangos. For more complete information and recipes please check the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

If you enjoyed this post, stay tuned. There will be more.

Kate, the Busy Boomer




Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

They are so delicious but my favorite ways having them freeze dried you've got to try it and with Harvest Right freeze dryer you can do it at home

@bgoldrock, freeze drying is something I want to try, but, unfortunately I live on a fixed and very limited budget. I am saving for the freeze dryer, but it will be a while. Meantime, I'm glad you enjoy my posts, and thanks for commenting.

There is nothing like homemade food. It's nothing like what you get from the store. It's got love and warmth in it. delicious with a distinct taste. @katedansyng thanks for sharing.

@simeonburke, thank you for your kind words. I agree, home made (and even home grown) food is best.

Raw mangoes for the win! I had ripe organic one earlier today! Nutted as I planted that seed!! #detox

@captainpearson, so glad you planted the seed. I usually plant mine as well. South Texas is hot and dry, and growing mangos is difficult, but I keep trying. Thanks for the lovely comment.

You're welcome @katedansyng Truthfully I think often about living in Texas. I would love the hot climate and the freedom mentally!! A mentor of mine John Rose lives in Texas. Check him out!
https://www.youtube.com/user/JRawRose

@captainpearson checked out your mentor. Very interesting man, with some very interesting ideas. Thanks for the tip. Also, if you can, Texas is a great place to settle.

hello, I live in Myanmar Country.I like your post
and nice it.

@mamamyanmar, Hello and so nice to meet you. Where in Myanmar? Do you have wonderful fruits and vegies there? Thank you for the sweet words.

Mango's from CR are my favorite, they remind me of Niagra region peaches ( also the best in the world ) Juice pouring down your face hehe.
I'm in Panama now and for 2-3 months Mango's rot on the ground there are so many trees here. Sometimes my wife freezes them for cool treats in the off season. Next year I'm going to ferment a 500 Liter container of them. Then maybe still it down to Mango Brandy....Yummm
Thanks for posting

@codypanama, Hello again my new friend. I am so envious, mangos lieing on the ground? Oh My! Glad to hear that your wife is wise enough to save some of the bounty for off season. Oh, fermenting is something I have not tried yet. Hope to do some milk kefir next week if my grains come in. Thanks for the encouragement.

Frozen.

@amedeo, frozen is wonderful, but I wanted to try canning these. They turned out wonderfully. Enjoy the bounty of the season, and thanks for commenting.

I understand. I agree with you

Hi @katedansyng, We see a lot of variety when it comes to mangoes. So, my question to you is, do we use some special kind of mangoes for this purpose mentioned above or there is no such restriction? I'll appreciate your answer. Thanks! Resteemed.

@steemit.lover2, The 6 mangos I canned for this post were all the same variety. Unfortunately that was not shown, so I don't know what it was. I have several of another variety I am going to make fruit leather from. As far as I know, the only thing I would look for is sweet mangos. The syrup is so very lite that it doesn't make much difference in the taste, so start with a sweet fruit. Good luck, and I say, try them all! Thanks for your kind comments and for resteemed.

Mmmmm its delicious and mouth watering. I love mangos. Very detail oriented post. Thank you

Hello again @kingjan, nice to see you. I love mangos too. Glad the post wasn't to detailed, sometimes I'm afraid I will be boring.

Not at all , the post is really impressive

Yup, that's how I cut my mangos! I love them, nice post!

@artwithflo, Thanks for the comment. It's nice to have you back "in town" ;-)

You're welcome! It sure feels good to be back 😃

This series is SO GOOD @katedansyng ! Keep it up :)

@daddykirbs, thanks for the kind words. It is your mentoring and encouragement that keeps me going.

@katedansyng did you make those yourself? I would love to learn how to create amazing conserved veggies and fruits. Any posts would help. Have a lovely day!

@bearandoci, yes I did can the mangos myself. I started canning fruits and vegetables with my Mother when I was quite young. I have kept it up, and now that I am retired from the "Work-A-Day" world I have more time for these things I love. Thank you for your praise. I have done several canning and preserving posts, and plan to do many more. As I say in my posts, if you like something you see, stay tuned, there will be more!

This is a great post thanks for sharing. Up voted resteemed and followed from us here at the Hewett Homestead.

@hewetthomestead, thanks for the kind words, and the resteem. I am off to follow you, and looking forward to some wonderful posts.

Ill take mine fresh

theres nothing like having a mango with bananas and fresh strawberries, gotta love the summer

@moderninvestor, I absolutely agree that they are best fresh, and right off the tree. That is one reason why I have started 4 trees from seed, and I harvested the seeds from these. They will go into dirt tonight. I can some of the fruits in summer so that I can enjoy them again in winter. Have a happy summer and enjoy all the wonderful fruits and vegies in season.

My husband LOVES fresh mangoes and I had thought a few times of dehydrating them for future use and a snack treat.
Thanks for sharing your canning experience- it has given me more to think about in deciding to dehydrate them.

@goldendawne, I haven't found a mango I didn't like, and they are so versatile. I've dehydrated them as well as canned, and frozen. They are all great. Thanks for the kinds words.

What a great article and with lots of pertinent info and informative photographs. Well done @katedansyng, you now have another follow.

@nettikisses Thank You for your kind words and for following me. I am learning to do posts as I go along. I've only been on Steemit for less than a month, but I find it fun.

nice post

@padmakshi, thanks

My favorite way is dehydrated

@pancheta13, They are really nice dehydrated, and so easy to take with you. Thanks for commenting.

yummy ! see this type of mango first time

@irfansardar, there are only a couple of kinds of mangos sold where I live. I think these were from Mexico, but I really don't know. I understand there are hundreds of different types of mangos. I would love to have at least 2 trees for each kind! Thank you for your kind words.