Why Home Can? Advice For Beginners

Do you ever wonder how our ancestors in days gone by preserved their foods before the times you just bought canned foods from the store? Is there an interest to go back to simpler times where canning was a common place practice? It’s almost a lost art now. If that’s you, all you need is a pressure cooker, some canning jars with lids, and some food you would like to preserve plus a desire to learn. Canning can be such a rewarding and fulfilling hobby. Cooking under pressure will trap stream from the boiling water so temperature rises enough to kill bacteria.

For beginners, it is better to start out with a boiling water canning method. This is the most inexpensive way to learn how to can and you will be proud of your efforts after it is finished. You will need some canning jars, and lids, both pints and quarts, which are very good for canning tomatoes, pickles, and other such fruit. Small 8oz jars are good for preserving things such as relish and jellies. They come 12 to a box and have lids for each one. These jars are tempered for canning and therefore it is unwise to use any jar, such as a mayonnaise jar, or a jar that has previously had jelly or jam in it.

You will also need a very large pot with a lid that is deep enough to cover the jars to be canned by at least one inch, and two inches would be even better. You should also have a rack to place the jars in to keep them off the bottom. If you didn’t get a rack with your pot, you may simply place a rack in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars from touching the bottom. Another instrument that you will need is plastic knife or spatula to stir the filled jars and release any trapped air. And a large mouth plastic funnel, and a set of strong, long handled jar pullers for taking the hot jars out of the water. You will need a dish towel to dry any water off of the jars as you take them out of the pot.

Always use the freshest fruits possible, and wash and peel the fruits before you begin the cooking process. While you are preparing your food for cooking, you should put some jars into water and let it come to a boil for a few minutes. Then place the food into the hot jars filling about about an inch from the top. There’s a good product called Fresh Fruit that is recommended to prevent fruit from discoloration. Read the directions to get the recipe for a sugar water syrup that’s either light, medium or heavy your choice. Pour this syrup over the fruit. Run your wood spoon or spatula through the food jars releasing any trapped air. Remove any other food from the outside of the jars, put your lids on and tighten them down. Place the jars back into the pot and fill with warm or hot water and place back on the stove. Be sure to cover the jars about an inch over the lids.

Turn the stove on high with with the jars loaded into the canning pot. Once you have reached a vigorous boil, let it continue to boil for the time limit in your recipe, but the usual is about 10 minutes for pickles, 25 to 30 minutes for fruits, and 35 to 40 minutes for tomatoes.

When they have been cooking for the allotted time, turn the pot off and place the jars on a towel to drip dry and allow to cool, preferably overnight. Before leaving the jars to cool check each jar to make sure there are no lids popped up in the middle. If this has happened, the jars of food are no good because they didn’t seal. If this is the case you can either refrigerate those jars (once they cool) and use those immediately, or try again using a new jar and lid. Try also wiping the lid of the jar with a clean towel before screwing on new lids to try.

There is no better feeling than the feeling you get once you learn to preserve food. It is beneficial for anyone that likes to learn how things were done by our grandparents, it is one way to work in the past.