> >

Successful home canning

Visit our index of articles for more information

Here's an easy to follow guide with all the basics you need to know for successful home canning. If you've never done any canning because you think it's just too complicated, I hope this will encourage you to give it a try.

Beginners should start with high acid foods that can be safely canned by using the easy boiling water bath method of canning. This is a basic way to preserve food at the temperature of boiling water, 212°F, using inexpensive equipment. Tomatoes and most fruits are high acid foods.

Vegetables are low acid foods, but when vegetables such as cucumbers, various beans, beets and some others are pickled, they can also be canned using the boiling water bath canning method. Because of the acid in vinegar used for pickling, jars of pickled vegetables can be canned in a boiling water bath.

Low acid vegetables like carrots, peas, corn, unpickled beets or beans need to reach a temperature of 240°F to kill all bacteria and safely preserve them. Cooking under pressure traps the steam from boiling water, allowing it to reach the higher temperature low acid foods need for safe preservation. This is done by using a pressure canner, making this method a bit more complicated and expensive.

Boiling water bath canning can be easy, if you have the right home canning equipment. Here's the basic supplies you'll need.

	Canning jars There are specially made jars and lids designed for canning. The jars can be reused for many years. Canning jars come in various sizes. Pint and quart sizes are usually used for fruit, applesauce, tomatoes, pickles, etc. Smaller 8 oz jars are perfect for jams, jellies and relishes. Both pint size and quart size jars are available in regular or wide mouth styles. Each jar includes a two-piece lid. Do not use just any jars. Though canning lids may fit some commercial brand mayonnaise or similar type jars, the glass is not tempered as it is in Mason jars and the surface of the jar rim is narrower. These jars may crack in the canning process and the lids might not seal tightly.
	Two-piece lids Today's jar lids consist of a small cap that seals to the jar rim and a band or screw cap that holds the cap in place. Replacement lids are sold in most grocery stores, department or hardware stores, kitchen shops, farm centers, etc. Lids can be purchased in packages that include both rims and sealing caps, or you can buy boxes of just caps. Sealing caps should never be re-used ... You'll need fresh new ones each time you do canning. Make sure you get the right size caps for your used canning jars, either regular or wide-mouth.
	A large covered water bath canner A canner must be deep enough to completely immerse the jars with 1 to 2 inches of water covering the top of the lids. Canners have a rack to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot. You can improvise by using any large stockpot with a wire cooling rack placed in the bottom.
	Jar lifter A very handy tool for removing freshly processed jars from the boiling water. It looks like a wide tongs. Wide mouth canning funnel Used to fill the jars ... especially useful for jars with regular size tops. A non-metallic spatula Or, a long plastic knife to run through the filled jars to release trapped air bubbles. Clean dish cloth You'll also need a clean dish cloth to wipe the rims before placing the caps on the jars and a heavy dish towel or absorbent mat to sit the hot jars on after they're removed from the canner.