Canning Oranges

We bought a case of oranges yesterday for the purpose of canning oranges.  It was clear full when I started.

First we pealed them and then separated the slices.

I made some orange juice from concentrate and used it as the liquid to pour into the bottles.

While peeling we shaved some of the orange peels to make pot pourie.

Next I packed the bottles and poured the orange juice to within one inch of the top.

Of course we sterilized the bottles first and then as I filled them I put them back into the oven at 250 to pre-heat them for canning.

I then put the lids and rings on them and put them into the steam caner for 18 minutes.

That was a mistake and I had to re-process all of them in a hot bath caner for 20 min. because they were not sealing as they should.  I also put the lids on too tight the first time I put them in the steam caner.  Nice and snug but not too tight!!!

They turned out fantastic!  I was so excited to see that caning oranges was so easy!  In all we canned 14 quarts and 3 pints.  Holly then made some sweet smelling salsa from the peelings and added cloves and cinnamon and put them in a small crock pot to make the house smell very nice.

She also made some orange sweet tea to drink.  It is supposed to be good to get rid of headaches.

I still had about 25 oranges left so I made Orange Julius for everyone to drink.

The kids really loved this part of the project!

And this is what the case of oranges looked like when I finished!

What a fun project!

I can't wait to put them on our shelves and then use them on cold winter nights for fresh caned oranges, Orange Julius or any number of things like putting them into orange jello, or just making a cold glass of sweet orange juice. 

The next day we sprinkled salt on the orange peels, (waited 1 hour) then stuffed them into jars and filled them half full of white vinegar and then the rest of the way with water. We shook them up and put them on the shelf.  In about a month they will be sweet orange scented household cleaner!