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Why Home Canning is Beneficial

Home canning lets you preserve your favorite fruits, vegetables, and sauces long after the harvest season has ended. Not only does it give you a delicious stockpile of goodies that can last for months or even years, but it also allows you to control the ingredients in your food and customize your recipes to suit your own taste. Plus, home canning is surprisingly easy and fun! Ready to get started? Keep reading for all the tips and tricks you need to know about how to home can food.

What Equipment you need for Home Canning

First, let’s go over the supplies you’ll need before starting your home canning journey. You’ll need jars of course, either standard or wide-mouth depending on what you’re canning; lids; a large pot with a lid; and either a boiling-water canner or a pressure canner. You’ll also need tongs for handling the jars, as well as some other basic kitchen equipment like measuring cups and spoons.

Once you have your supplies gathered, it’s time to learn about the different methods of home canning. Boiling water bath canning is mostly used for acidic foods like pickles, jams, and jellies. Pressure canning is used to preserve vegetables and other low-acid foods. Freezing is another method of preserving food that doesn’t involve canning, but it’s not as long-lasting as home canning.

Here are a few examples of canners on Amazon and supplies:( I have the Presto and its great. I’d like to have the All American as it has metal to metal sealing so no seal to worry about wearing out but its pricey)

Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker, 23 qt, Silver

All American 1930: 41.5qt Pressure Cooker/Canner (The 941) – Exclusive Metal-to-Metal Sealing System

How to Prepare Food for Home Canning

To prepare food for home canning, you’ll need to start by washing the jars and lids in hot, soapy water. Then you’ll need to blanch or peel the food you’re planning to can. For fruits, this means peeling them and removing any pits or seeds; for vegetables, it means slicing them into thin pieces and boiling them in lightly salted water. There is another method called the raw pack method in which you simply wash the vegetables and pack them into canning jars, then fill them with boiling water.

Raw vs Hot-Packed Canning methods

When it comes to the raw pack and hot pack methods, both will work for home canning. The main difference between them is that when you use the raw pack method, the food retains more of its original texture because it hasn’t been boiled beforehand. However, it also takes longer for the food to be completely immersed in boiling water during processing. Hot-packed foods, on the other hand, have a softer texture and take less time to process.

For both methods, you will need to leave a certain amount of “head room” in the jars so that the food can expand during processing. Hot-packed foods require about 1 inch of headroom while cold-packed foods require at least 1/2 inch. You’ll also need to use the proper sealing lids or bands and make sure they are tightened enough so that no air can enter the jars.

Preparing your Jars for Home Canning

Before processing, you’ll need to prepare your jars for canning. You can run your jars through your dishwasher to sterilize but I don’t have one so I put mine in a separate pan of water and boil for 10 minutes. The jars should be hot when you put hot food into them. You don’t have to boil the lids anymore to activate the seal with new lids. Remember also you do not reuse lids unless they are made to be reused.. They do make some like that now.

This also means removing any bubbles in the jar and cleaning the sides with a damp cloth. You’ll also want to make sure that the lid and band are free of debris and that your canning jars have no chips or cracks before adding food to the jars. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to fill each jar with food and liquid according to the directions in your recipe. Fill each jar up to the fill line and make sure that there are no trapped air bubbles by running a knife or bubble remover around the inside of each jar. Be sure to leave enough headroom in each jar and wipe the rims f your jars off before applying your lids. The lid rings are applied last and only “finger-tightened”. Don’t over-tighten.

The Canning Process

Now that your food is prepped, it’s time to start the canning process. For boiling water bath canning, you’ll need to put the prepared jars in a pot of boiling water and let them sterilize for 10 minutes. After that, you’ll add your food (and any spices if desired), fill up the jars with boiling liquid (such as apple juice or tomato sauce), and screw on the lids. Then you’ll put the filled jars back in the pot of boiling water and wait for them to seal, about 10 minutes or whatever your recipe says. The jars should not be touching and should be on a rack in the bottom of the canner not directly on the canner bottom.

When the processing time is done, carefully take out your jars of canned food and let them cool. Be sure to check that they’ve sealed properly by pressing down on the lid with your finger – if it doesn’t flex or move, then you know it’s sealed correctly! Once cooled, store in a cool dark place until ready to eat. Enjoy!

Pressure Canning

For pressure canning, you’ll need a pressure canner with a gauge that measures air pressure. You’ll follow much the same procedure as above but after filling the jars, place them inside the canner and close the lid. Make sure the vent and regulator are in place and that all the gaskets are tight. Then turn your heat to high and wait for the pressure reading on the gauge to reach 11 or 15 psi (depending on what is specified by your recipe). Now you can let cook under pressure for as long as specified in your recipe, usually about 30 minutes or so.

When finished, carefully turn off the heat and release the air pressure using the vent or regulator as specified in your recipe. Then wait for all the pressure to be released (usually about 10 minutes) before opening up your canner. Carefully remove each jar with a jar lifter and place on a towel to cool. Again, make sure to check that each jar has sealed properly, once cooled, by pressing down on the lid. Store in a cool dark place until ready to enjoy.

Trouble Shooting Common Problems in Home Canning

Troubleshooting Common Problems With Home Canning can be a real challenge, but it doesn’t have to be! Whether you’re just starting out or have been canning for years, there are things that can go wrong. From jars not sealing properly to foods spoiling too quickly–no one is immune to the occasional hiccup in their process. But don’t worry–with the right knowledge and a few tricks, you can avoid typical problems and troubleshoot more quickly if something does go wrong. Let’s take a look at some common issues with home canning and how to solve them!

1. Not Enough Liquid: If you find that your jars have too little liquid after processing, it could be due to several factors. To prevent this from happening in the future, make sure you follow your recipe closely and measure out all ingredients carefully.

2. Air Bubbles: If you see air bubbles after processing, it’s usually because there wasn’t enough headspace in the jar. Make sure you leave at least 1/4 inch of space between the food and lid to allow for air bubbles and expansion.

3. Mold or Discoloration: If you notice mold on your food or it looks discolored, this could be a sign of spoilage caused by improper canning techniques. To avoid this issue, always make sure that you process the jars for the recommended amount of time.

4. Jars Not Sealing: If jars don’t seal properly, it’s most likely due to improper headspace or a lid that wasn’t tightened correctly. Make sure you leave at least 1/4 inch of space between the food and lid, and then tighten the lid until it is fingertip tight before processing.

With these tips in mind, troubleshooting common problems with home canning will be a breeze! Just remember to follow your recipe closely and use proper canning techniques, and you’ll be on your way to preserving delicious meals in no time.

Safety

Safety is key when it comes to canning – you don’t want to get burned with hot steam or boiling water, so be sure to use a jar lifter and oven mitts at all times. One of the worse burns I’ve had came when the water “burped” as I was lifting a jar out of the canner. Not fun!

Be scrupulous in making sure your equipment and hands are clean and or properly sterilized. Also, as you will be working with hot bottles protect your counters and tables with the appropriate hot pads.

Also, it’s important to remember that canned food has the potential for botulism risk if not properly processed and sealed. An interesting thing I did not know is you cannot smell or see botulism. The only sign would be bulging lid or jars that spew when you open then. To avoid this risk, make sure to always follow the recipe and instructions for canning, as well as the pressure and temperature guidelines. This will help ensure that your canned goods are safe to eat. Signs that canned foods might not be safe include bulging lids, broken seals, and off-odor. If in doubt, throw it out!

Happy canning! With a few simple steps and safety precautions, you can start preserving food at home for years to come. Enjoy the deliciousness of your hard work!

An Incomplete List of Foods

Foods that are felt to be safe to home can:

– Fruits
– Tomatoes (with added acidity)

– Jams and jellies
– Pickles and relishes
– Salsa

– Sauces and chutneys
– Fruit butters and spreads

Foods that are not safe to water bath can:

– Low acid vegetables (such as green beans, corn, peas, carrots)
– Most mixtures of vegetables and meats/poultry/fish
– Soups or stews containing meat or poultry

Foods that are felt to be safe to pressure can:

– Meat, Fish, Poultry & Dairy Products.
– Most mixtures of vegetables and meats/poultry/fish

– Soups or stews containing meat or poultry
– Low acid vegetables (such as green beans, corn, peas, carrots).
– Nonacidic foods such as beets, cabbage, and squash.

– Prepared vegetable mixtures such as chili sauce and spaghetti sauce.
– Pickled products
-meats/poultry/fish

– Soups or stews containing meat or poultry.
– Low acid vegetables (such as green beans, corn, peas, carrots).
– Nonacidic foods such as beets, cabbage, and squash.

– Prepared vegetable mixtures such as chili sauce and spaghetti sauce.
– Pickled products.

Food you probably should not can because they turn to mush

Summer squash
Spinach
Zucchini

Potatoes- I’m not sure it matters if these turn to mush.

Definitely check these out in more than one source and preferably a state extension office like the one below. Always make sure you are following a dependable recipe.

For more on how to can meat click here.

For info on water bath canning click here.

Resources:

https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/blogs/usdas-complete-guide-home-canning

https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5344

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