Canning Basics
May 18, 2010 | Print | E-mail | Filed under canning, how-to
I’ve gotten quite a few questions on canning ever since I started participating in the Tigress Can Jam back in January, so I thought I’d take a moment to answer some of them…and hopefully, I’ll encourage those of you who are intimidated by canning to give it a try. While I’m not an expert canner by any means, I can definitely point you in the right direction. So, come on and join the canning fun!
When I decided I wanted to learn how to can, the first thing I did was order the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s a wonderful resource that includes tons of recipes for both jamming and pickling. There are other books out there of course, but this is my go-to resource. It also explains the difference between water bath canning and pressure canning:
- Water bath canning is where you boil canned foods in hot water for a certain amount of time (high acid foods; mostly your jams, jellies, and marmalades).
- Pressure cooker canning is where you enclose canned foods in a pressure cooker and process them for a certain amount of time (low acid foods; mostly your canned vegetables).
If you’re interested in the science behind canning, you can check out the USDA Food Preservation and Home Canning guidelines. There are instructions, explanations, diagrams – the whole nine yards.
Once I had gathered my resources, I went shopping for canning supplies. I bought a large water bath canner similar to this one, and I also picked up a 5-piece canning kit to make life easier – both of which were very inexpensive. The 5-piece kit includes:
- Funnel: You may already have one, but this one fits the jars used for canning perfectly.
- Lid lifter: It’s magnetic, so it’s perfect for grabbing lids out of boiling water.
- Jar lifter: Grips on to filled jars so that you can easily pull them out of boiling water. (I’ve tried to do this before with tongs, and it didn’t work out so well.)
- Tongs: I usually use these to grab empty jars out of the boiling water for filling.
- Jar wrench: I use this to remove lids both when I’m cracking open a new, empty jar if it’s extra sticky, and when I’m opening a filled jar to enjoy – very handy.
Also included in the picture above are the canner and jars, and a large pot for cooking up whatever I’m going to fill the jars with. I’m more of a jammer than a pickler, so I chose to do water bath canning only, so the rest of my tutorial is more relevant to this type of canning.
Once you have your supplies ready to go, it’s time to pick out a recipe. There’s a lot you can make with a water bath canner, including the following:
- Conserves: whole fruit jam/whole fruits stewed in sugar
- Fruit butters: stewed fruits forced through a sieve or food mill to produce a smooth consistency
- Fruit curds: fruit juice combined with egg yolks and sugar, and then cooked before processing
- Jams: contains both fruit juices and pulp of the fruit
- Jellies: contains fruit juice and sugar, and pectin if needed
- Marmalades: similar to jam; marmalades are usually made from citrus and contain the peel of the fruit
Once you’ve decided on a recipe, it’s time to get canning! You can see that on all of my canning posts, there are similar instructions for the canning process in each recipe:
When ready to can, prepare your supplies. Sterilize the canning jars by running them in almost boiling water for several minutes. Boil a few cups of water in a small saucepan for the lids. When the jars are ready, fill them and place the lids on top. Place the full jars back into the boiling water and boil 10 minutes. Remove from the water and let the jars cool. The seals should suck down (you’ll hear a popping noise as it does). Makes 6 eight-ounce jars.
These instructions are great if you’re a regular canner, but if you’re new, they can be a little high-level. So, let’s break it down in more detail:
- As you cook your filling, fill the canner full of water and bring it to almost a boil – more of a simmer. Gently place all of the jars into the water, where they will stay until you’re ready to fill them so that they’ll be sterile and free of bacteria. Do the same with the lids in a smaller pan to make things easier, or just drop them in with the jars if you’re lazy like me (if you have the canning kit, the lid lifter makes it easy to retrieve them from the pot).
- After you’ve finished preparing your recipe, it’s time to fill the jars. Pull them out of the hot water one at a time – I usually don’t bother to dry them off – and place the funnel on the jar. Pour in your filling, leaving about 1/4″ headspace (space from the filling to the very top of the jar).
- Use the lid lifter to grab one of the lids out of the pot, and place it on top of the jar. Grab a band from the water also, and screw it on just until tight (you can tighten it up later after they cool). Repeat with the rest of the jars.
- When all the jars are ready, bring the water to a boil and then place the jars back into the water. Most recipes have you process (boil) the jars for 5-10 minutes before removing them.
- Set them on the counter and let them cool, and soon you’ll begin hearing them pop as the lids suck down. I leave mine out on the counter for the next 24 hours to cool and continue to set. You can press on the lids to make sure they’ve sealed.
- If you have any jars that don’t end up sealing, just stick them in the fridge and use them over the next couple weeks. If you want to reuse jars, you can; just make sure to buy some new lids for them (you can buy the lids and jars separately).
That’s it – that’s really all there is to water bath canning! I hope this post was helpful, and that it encourages those of you who have been intimidated by canning to give it a try. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail. And, happy canning!
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May 18th, 2010 at 10:00 am
These are such great tips. I have never canned anything before but have always wanted to. I really want to do some homemade jams.
May 18th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Great tips. I need to do more canning this summer!
May 18th, 2010 at 10:32 am
I literally just made my first batch of strawberry jam this past weekend. The jars sealed perfectly. My only problem it ended up being a little runny. tasts great but not thick enough. any tips?
May 18th, 2010 at 10:46 am
I’ve got the canning bug…but I always thought it was much hard than this! You’ve encouraged me to start trying it out!
May 18th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Ah! Just in time. I’ve been wanting to try canning, but have only gone as far as admiring the pretty jars. Now I’m all the more determined to start this year!
May 18th, 2010 at 10:59 am
What a great post! I used to make strawberry jam with my mom (afraid to do it on my own!) Thanks for the thorough details!!
May 18th, 2010 at 11:43 am
You make it sound so simple! I wanna try…but am afraid to try it by myself.
May 18th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Wow, fantastic post! I canned once (salsa) – so much fun. Thanks for the refresher course. I’ll be back the next time I can.
May 18th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Cool post! I’ve always wanted to do my own canning and have yet to do it! I’ll use your post for reference when I give it a go!
May 18th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Miriam – Did you use pectin? If so, my guess is that is has something to do with how it set. If you want, you can send me the recipe you used and I can take a look.
May 18th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
i love this post! very helpful and interesting
you are a canning machine lately!
May 18th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
This is a great post! Thank you. I made homemade jam once and loved it, but I did not know how to do the preserving part as you have explained so I had to just refrigerate it which, as you know, will not stay as long. There is nothing like homemade jam. Thanks again for the info.
May 19th, 2010 at 8:09 am
very nice process! I have never canned, but it is on my list to-do this summer! I will keep this bookmarked
May 19th, 2010 at 11:34 am
This is such a helpful and informative post on canning!
May 19th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I’m looking forward to canning this fall with my grandma and mom!!! I’ve never done it, but have always wanted to!!
May 19th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
This is all a bit intimidating to me but thanks so much sharing. Maybe I will get over my fear soon.
May 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Great article, Tracy. I have been using a big stock pot with a primitive rack-like one for steaming lobster– for my water bath processing. I need to invest in one designed for canning. Hopefully this summer in time for berry jams.
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I have the same set of canning tools. I guess it’s pretty standard fare, but they’re so useful!
Have you tried a pressure canner before? I would love to preserve an end of summer harvest of roasted red peppers and pesto for the winter.
May 19th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Canning scares the heck out of me, but you have made it seem manageable with these tips.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
This is an awesome, useful post!
May 19th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
great tutorial!! I posted a link on my column (ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com) Thanks for sharing!!
May 19th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Christine – I have never tried canning with a pressure canner before. If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!
May 20th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
good instructions. I make Raspberry jelly every year and I always get nervouse about the steps – I’m just getting ready to make some this week so a print off of these instructions will be wonderful.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:56 am
Great site! I learned to can about 17 or so years ago. I love it and nothing tastes as good and fresh as home canned food, except maybe fresh from the garden.
Thank you for this site. It is very informative. I also learned from the Ball Book of Canning. I have 3 of them now. Plus the one that came with my pressure canner. I also use my water bath canner, too. Just depends on what I am canning.
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:22 am
The only thing I haven’t made in my canner are the fruit curds – something about fruit & egg yolk scares me, lol. But, I may get brave one of these days. Ball has a great water bath set you can get that includes everything from the canner to a book to even the jar lifters & other tools…it’s starting to become one of my favorite gifts to give to people because it really has everything anyone needs to get started. Your lemon vanilla marmalade sounds heavenly
July 8th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I love your site! Soooo many great tips!
August 24th, 2010 at 11:27 am
What a great write up on the basics of canning. I’ve been canning for years and I learned a few new things. Great post!
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm
You have inspired me to try canning, thank you