Canning Apple Juice

I like fruit juice.  So when a good brand of apple juice went on sale I bought 10 of the larger frozen cans.  I stored them in the fridge for a couple of days to thaw.  Then I made up all ten cans at once in my stock pot, heated the juice to the simmering point, ladled it into hot pint jars and processed them in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes, according to the instructions on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.  (That website has lots of good information for canning, freezing and dehydrating foods.)  I got 36  pints of canned apple juice.

Now some would wonder why I don't just put the juice cans in the freezer and mix the juice up one can at a time like normal people do.   Here's why.

Each frozen can makes 48 ounces of juice.  That's just too much for me to use up.  A pint jar of juice is just right for one person.

Should I lose electricity for any length of time in the warmer months, I would have to do something with the frozen juice when it thaws or lose it.

If the electricity is out, that means the pumps that bring water to my apartment are not working either.  I need water not only to make up the juice, but to fill the water bath canner as well.  As an apartment dweller, I have limited space for water storage.  I store enough to keep me in drinking water for a long time, but not if I have to use some of it to can juice.

And fruit juice is a liquid, which means that if I have several kinds of juice canned and on my shelves, they will serve to keep me hydrated in an emergency and save some on my water storage while giving me a flavorful change from drinking plain water.

As frozen juice goes on sale, I will buy other flavors and can them as well.  Even if I never need to use them in an emergency situation, they are still a good addition to my food storage.  I keep a couple of jars of juice in the fridge all the time and sometimes it is nice to open one for breakfast or for a bit of a treat.