If you haven’t canned foods for a while, or never have, there are some basics you will need to know before you start preserving your foods. There are two basic methods of canning-the boiling water bath and the pressure cooker method. Each of these methods can be used for various types of preserving foods from your garden, or meats, seafood and poultry. Before you start any process of canning, you must first sterilize all jars and lids that you will be using. This can be done by boiling them for 10 minutes.

If you are using the boiling water bath method, you will need to have a big enough cook pot with a lid that fits tightly. You will also need a rack that keeps the jars from coming in contact with each other during the process. The rack also allows the boiling water to evenly flow around the jars for better processing. If you don’t have a rack you can also use dish towels to set your jars in. The boiling water bath method is most frequently used for fruits, jams, pickles, and tomatoes. Once you have gathered your fruit, there are two possible methods of filling your jars.

Raw packing is placing the fruit into the sterilized jars and covering them with a mixture of water, juice, or a hot sugar syrup. If you hot pack the jars, you will need to heat your fruit in the syrup, water or juice and then pouring this whole liquid into the waiting jars. Most fruits with a high water content or tomatoes can be heated without excess liquids. You will just pour the heated contents into the jars with the extra juice that cooks out as your canning liquid. Be sure that you leave some headspace, usually about “, then cover your jars with the sterilized lids. Put the filled jars into your rack or cotton towel and lower into the boiling water. Jars should be covered by the boiling water by at least 1 inch. Place the lid on the pot, and when the water begins its rapid boil, start counting the processing time.

The next method of canning is the pressurized cooking method. During this method you will need to have a special pressure cooker. These come with special lids that have vents, a pressure gauge and a lock to hold the lid onto the base. This method is used for canning vegetables, meats, seafood and poultry, because they have a lower acidic value. This type of process is needed to kill off the bacteria Cholstridium botulinum. By pressure cooking your cans at the temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit, you can easily kill off the bacteria. Once your jars are ready (again saving ” headspace) place the jars into the cooker with about 2″ of boiling water. Clamp on your special lid. Once the water begins to rapidly boil, the pressure will begin to build up inside the pot. You can watch this on the gauge. When it reaches the right pressure, begin counting off your processing time.

When you are looking for home canning recipes, there are many cookbooks available, as well as checking with the Food and Agriculture Department or Cooperative Extension offices. The most important item to remember is to pick your fruits, vegetables and meats that you wish to can at their peak of freshness.

Addison is a wife, a mom, and a food lover who began learning how to can food from an early age. She has set up her own website reviewing water bath canners and pressure cookers, as well as canning recipes to share with others who enjoy preserving food. To take advantage of all these food storage secrets, you can check it out at www.howtocanfood.net

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