Canning 101 – Bath Canning Tips

This was what got me thinking about all this Self Reliance stuff in the first place. I have very fond memories of my grandmother coming over with her canning supplies, jars, lids, and her favorites to can, peaches, grapes, green beans, and more. The afternoons that we sat and snapped green beans, or got the cucumbers ready for pickling and setting the prepared jars in the water… I cherish that time with my Grandma Collins more and more as I get older.

For some odd reason, (definitely unknown to me) canning in general, as a method of very long-term food storage, has fallen into disuse. Maybe it is because my generation hasn’t passed the torch on this type of food prep and storage, nor kept the tradition of the home garden and preserving the harvest for year-round use. Whatever the reason may be the Canning Craze is simply not thought of with the rising generation. But for people of a self-reliant inclination who are raising a good portion of their own wholesome, chemical-free food and establishing a storage method that is easy and results in tasty food, even years down the road, canning at home is the way to go.

I hold home canning as essential to being self-reliant as any other facet of my lifestyle. Canning allows my family to eat chemical-free, delectable fruits, vegetables, meats, pickles, preserves, jams, and jellies, just waiting for a meal.

** Check each jar after it cools with one finger, being sure it is tightly indented; if it is not, it is not sealed and must be redone or eaten soon. It needs refrigerating until then.

I try to can year-round, making up such things as chili, stews, pickles, dry beans, (like black beans), spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Whatever the time of the season, I am growing vegetables with my indoor Aquaponics System. Pumping out those tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers! Even if you aren’t doing the Aquaponics thing, there is nearly anything you can find on a store shelf that can be canned easily at home.

When I’m chatting with people in all I do, nowadays, I’m usually met with the same blank stare and multiple questions like,  “Isn’t canning hard to do?” “What does all that take to do?” “Won’t eating home-canned food give you the trots?” and here’s one of my favorites, “Has your canner blown up on ya?”

After I see that there are serious about those questions… I let them know that no, canning is very easy to do, set up, and get taken care of.  If you can boil water and tell time you can do it without any trouble or mishap. Properly canned food will give your family a nutritious way to have a snack or those extras that do a body good. And no, the canner has not or will not blow up despite the old wives tall to the contrary. Old canning setups have been passed down from generation to generation and even through very heavy use, are still going strong, with no repairs necessary.

It is simple to start out.

Canning doesn’t even require a pressure canner, which can be a bit expensive (in the areas of $120-$170). [Here’s where we talk about Pressure Canners] A person may begin canning with the easiest of them all, a water bath canner, available at most discount stores for under $20. These are the big blue or black pots with a lid and wire rack you may already be familiar with. You don’t have to be too fancy about it all. Along with the pot and lid, you have the wire carriage that will allow you to lower and raise the jars in and out with individual specialized prongs to lift out the jars one at a time.

Jars do not have to be purchased new. Often, all you need to do is get out the word that you need a half dozen here and there and you can build up a supply of them. Once you have the canning lid and the ring to fit it on, any sized jar can do (all of the openings are the same size large or small jars). Canning jars can last for generations. So treat them as a valuable commodity!

Search online and gather for yourself a laundry list of vegetables that you would like to can AND eat. Get the timetables, and any specific directions for the items you want to preserve. You can go simple, and you can certainly get more elaborate in what you choose to can and seal. Salsas, sauces, and even whole meals can be preserved this way.

Word of Caution with your Jars
Do not try to can using those “country-style” cute jars with zinc lids, glass lids, and rubbers. Not only are they expensive, but you cannot tell if they are properly sealed. A jar improperly sealed will allow the food to spoil is not a good thing.

It Has a Ring to It

More times than not, your family, friends, or neighbors give you jars or you find them at the store,  a flea market, auction, or a yard sale, you will also get some rings coming with them. These are reusable for years and years, serving only to hold the flexible metal lid down on the jar rim during the canning process. The rings need only to be solid and strong. Again, it doesn’t have to be fancy-shmancy in any way.

Putting a Lid On It

However, to get the proper seal on things, it is preferred that the lids need to be new for each use, for if the lid has been bent on opening it will not reseal, and the rubber is usually only good for one-time use. Further use may result in seals that come loose or a lid that will not seal. If you are determined to reuse the lids from previous canning, inspect each for the bending, and the rubber seal on the bottom is intact and “flexible” (not hard to the touch).

Here’s What You Do Step-by-Step

Canning with a hot water bath is a simple process:

1. Clean, sterilize (boil) the jars to be filled.
2. Wipe clean the jar rim (once you fill it with your delicious delectables).
3. Place a new lid on the jar, and screw a clean ring firmly onto the jar.
4. The filled jars are then placed carefully in the boiling water bath of the canning kettle and settled into an individual place on the wire rack.
5. When the canning kettle is filled, the water level needs to be one to two inches above the top of the tallest jars.
6. Put the cover on the kettle and return it to a full rolling boil.
7. At which time, the prescribed processing time is begun.
8. At the end of the processing time, lift each jar carefully out to avoid any burning of hands arms, or fingers.
9. Place them on dry folded towels where sealing will occur as the jar cools.
10. Usually, you can hear the loud, musical ping as each jar seals.
11. Leave the jars alone until they are cool.
12. Don’t wipe, poke or move them, or you may end up with an incomplete seal.

It Is THAT EASY

After the jars have cooled (usually overnight), you can remove the rings if you want to, label it so you know what exactly it is (never want to end up with salsa when you wanted spaghetti sauce) and place each jar in a cool, dark, dry area to store. Then if you have done any before this last batch, just remember first in, first out. Rotate the inventory so the oldest jar is the next to be used, to keep its freshness and doesn’t get too old to use.

Equipment

Water bath canning requires a minimum of equipment:

• Canning jars
• Lids
• Rings
• Large-mouth funnel
• Jar lifter
• Kitchen timer
• Large pot with lid
• Metal racks
• Canning Recipes (with instructions of ingredients, methods, and canning times)

What Types of Foods Can You Can This Way?

Most anything can be preserved with this method. Canning like this is good for all high acid foods like jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, tomatoes, tomato sauce, (without mushrooms or meat), all fruits and fruit products such as apples, cherries, peaches, pears, your version of fruit cocktail, juices, etc.

Even sauces – barbecue sauce, chili sauce, catsup, relish, and more. This list would be huge if we took the time to detail every variation and concoction that can be sealed and stored this way. This is where your creativity and diligence in your search for canning recipes come into play. It is a simple way to preserve some fancy dishes!

Here are some more hot water bath canning tips to remember:

• Be careful of the steam and hot jars as they can burn you. Lift the canner lid away from you to allow steam to escape safely.
• When canning tomatoes or tomato products, use “regular” high-acid tomatoes, not low-acid tomato varieties. If unsure, for instance, if you bought them at a farm market add two tablespoons of lemon juice or ½ tsp. citric acid to each quart to ensure the product is acid enough not to spoil. Neither product affects the taste a bit and only increases the nutritional value.
• If the boiling water does not come over the tops of the jars by at least one inch, add more boiling water to accomplish this.
• Adjust your processing boiling time according to your altitude. Most charts are calculated to altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. You must increase the processing time by 5 minutes for altitudes of 1,000 to 3,000-feet, ten minutes for 3,001 to 6,000-feet, fifteen minutes for altitudes of 6,001 to 8,000-feet, etc.
• Don’t try to double recipes or otherwise alter them. You may run into trouble, especially if inexperienced.
• Always use the wire rack of your canning kettle, as the boiling water must circulate well under, over, and between jars. The wire rack will also prevent overheating (and possible cracking) of the jar bottoms and will keep the jars from bumping together while processing, which might result in breakage.
• A combination of hot and cold will crack and break jars. Put hot food into hot jars, cold into warm jars. Do not put hot jars onto cold surfaces or in cold drafts.
• Always check the seal as you store the jars. Each jar lid should be indented in the center, having no give as you gently press down with a finger. If it makes a noise on pressure, or if it can be moved downward, it is not sealed and must either be reprocessed with a new lid or eaten soon.

CANNING PEACHES

DILL PICKLES