Reasons For Canning
As we begin to produce more of our own food at home, we naturally need to learn different ways to preserve it. Freezing is often the first method thought of, but that is dependent on freezer space and also on having the time to thaw something or have it take longer cooking. Some foods work wonderfully frozen, and others not as well. Freeze drying and dehydrating are options as well, but those supplies can be costly for some people. Canning is a way to take your harvest and make it shelf stable. While some foods lose some of their nutrients through the high heat involved in the canning process, that may be worth it for the convenience and space saving benefits.
It is important to learn the proper canning methods as it is important to preserve our food safely so it does not spoil or have bacteria. There are many resources available out there, and some favourites will be shared at the end of this article.
Types of Canning Methods
There are two different canning methods: water bath and pressure. They are not interchangeable, and each method is for a certain type of food. Anything with meat must be pressure canned, broth included. Vegetables are pressure canned. Essentially the rule is that every low acid food must be pressure canned. These foods CANNOT be safely processed in a water bath. Although botulism bacteria can be killed at the temperature reached by boiling water, the spores are not. These low acid foods must be processed at a higher temperature to be sure the spores are gone, which can be achieved using a pressure canner. Pickling changes the pH and therefore can also be used to alter a low acid food, making it able to be water bath canned. It is the higher temperature of the pressure canner that makes it the only safe method for certain foods. Any acidic foods, fruit, pickled veggies, and tomatoes can be safely processed in the water bath canner.
Canning Supplies
You can get started with canning with just a few basic supplies such as jars and lids. You can create a water bath canner in a regular large pot as long as you put a tea towel or something under the jars, but a proper water canner with a rack is helpful.
If you want to process foods requiring a pressure canner, you will need to purchase a pressure canner. A pressure cooker is not the same thing, although some models are made to be able to do both. You would need to ensure you purchase something that is made to do pressure canning.
Some other materials that can make the canning process easier, but are not required, would be a large mouth funnel, a jar lifter, and a magnetic lid grabber.
It is also helpful to have at least some print canning recipes and instructions in the event you cannot access the internet for instructions.
Canned Sliced Peaches
Sliced peaches are an awesome way to get started canning. You can buy them in bulk at the end of the summer from a local vineyard and preserve them to have fresh fruit all winter long. This is the first thing I ever canned, and my kids love to eat these as snacks or with pancakes. The most time consuming part of this process is the peeling and cutting. There are some people on the interwebs who can their peaches with the peel on; that is going to be a personal preference thing. You can also put them in jars in halves, but I prefer to slice as it’s easier for the kids snacking. You will use a water bath canner for peaches.
Instructions
-
Wash jars in hot soapy water and place in hot water or in an oven on low heat until ready to fill. Keep the lids simmering in boiling water until used.
-
Prepare peaches by peeling and slicing. (You can shock them if you wish. I haven’t had much luck with this.) As you slice, place into a large bowl and occasionally squirt with lemon juice to preserve the colour.
-
Make your syrup. You have some liberty here. I don’t like to make mine too sweet so I do about 5 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar. You can change this ratio as per your family's preference. The original recipe I followed had much more sugar. You can also use honey; however, I found they didn’t look as nice and yellow in the jar so I stick with sugar. Add the sugar to boiling water slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Keep simmering until you place it into the jars.
-
Take your hot jars and start filling with peaches until you get about ½ inch of headspace. I go until they reach the bottom of the neck . Throughout the process of adding peaches, run a butter knife or another flat item in between the peaches and the side of the jar to release air bubbles. Do this repeatedly as it will allow you to get a fuller pack in the jars.
-
Add your boiling syrup into jars, leaving ½ inch head space.
-
Wipe rims.
-
Place on lids out of the hot water and tighten the rings to finger tightness.
-
Place in a boiling water bath canner and return to boiling.
-
How long you process your cans in the water depends on your altitude so you will need to do a little research. I process my pints for 25 minutes and my quarts for 30 minutes. If I have a mix of jar sizes, I can for the longest amount.
Broth
Homemade broth is one of the easiest things to make and also very easy to process. You can make broth with veggie scraps only or veggie scraps and beef or poultry bones. I make mine with chicken bones, onion, carrot and celery scraps, ACV, water, and some seasoning. Easy peasy!
You must use a pressure canner for this.
Instructions
-
Make your broth however you normally would.
-
Wash your jars and warm them in the oven while you prepare your supplies.
-
Put your lids in a pot to a rolling boil until you need them.
-
Read your canner instructions for how much water to add to the bottom of your pressure canner.
-
Pour hot broth into your hot jars, leaving about 1 inch of headspace.
-
Wipe the rim of the jar.
-
Put a lid on and tighten the rings to finger tightness.
-
Place jars on the rack in your pressure canner.
-
Tighten your lid per your canner’s instructions and turn the heat on your burner.
-
Let it heat up until it is steaming and then let it steam for 10 minutes.
-
Put the 10 lb weight on (or however you set the pressure on your canner) and wait until it is jostling. Adjust the heat so it's slowly jostling.
-
Process 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
-
Turn the heat off and leave the pot until all the pressure releases, and it is no longer jostling.
-
Once it stops, you can remove the lid.
-
Let the jars cool and then remove without tipping.
-
Set on the counter on a cooling rack or towel for 24 hours before checking the seal.
Notes
NOTE: please read the instructions in your own canner before beginning to be sure.
NOTE 2: Pressure amount and processing times differ by elevation so be sure to check the recommendations for your area.
Dill Pickles
This is a very easy and delicious recipe! My kids do not like garlic so I make these dill pickles with no garlic, but you could easily add garlic to it as well.
Instructions
-
Begin by soaking your pickling cucumbers in cold water.
-
When you are ready to begin, you can cut each end off.
-
You will want to preheat your oven to its lowest temperature to keep the jars warm while you prepare the brine.
-
You can also get the lids going in a slow rolling boil of water as well while you do this.
-
Prepare your brine by adding 12 cups of distilled water, 5 cups of white vinegar, and ½ cup of pickling salt to a pot and boil.
-
Take your warm jars out of the oven and add a sprig of dill to the bottom (and a clove of garlic if wanted).
-
Pack the cucumbers into the jar as best you can. I leave them whole and only cut when I need to to make them fit at the end. You could slice them lengthwise if you prefer.
-
Add another sprig of dill (and another clove of garlic if wanted) on top of the cucumbers.
-
Pour hot brine over the top, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
-
Wipe the jar rim.
-
Place a hot lid and put the ring on to finger tightness.
-
Process. Some just put these jars back into the oven for 15 minutes. I have had about 75% luck that way on getting a seal. To be safe, you would want to process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes.
-
Let the jars sit for 24 hours undisturbed to let them seal.
-
Pickles are best if you leave them a minimum of 4 weeks before eating. Longer is even better as it gives them more opportunity to pickle.
There are so many amazing resources out there for canning, from books to websites to Instagram accounts. The biggest thing is to can what your family will use. You don’t want to spend time, energy, and money preserving something that will end up going to waste anyways. Some other easy things to can are potatoes, carrots, sweet potato, applesauce, and homemade soups.
What do you love to preserve?
Written by Kristin Stewart
Kristin is a former teacher who now homeschools her two daughters, ages 10 and 8. She has lived many places in Canada due to both her teaching and being an RCMP wife. She is a writer and content manager with The Canadian Schoolhouse. She blogs at From Kristin and is passionate about helping mothers feel equipped to educate their children. She does homeschool consulting to help those starting out or struggling to choose a curriculum. She loves reading and traveling and actively posts on her Instagram.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).