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If you’re not a homesteader or trying to live like you’re in Little House on the Prairie, you may wonder if canning your own food is worth it.
But with more and more people wanting to become self-reliant, learning how to can fruits and vegetables can be a highly worthwhile and rewarding skill.
However, there are some crucial things to know about canning—it’s not quite as simple as it seems, and wrong steps can lead to serious foodborne illnesses.
In this article, learn how to can your own fruits and vegetables for beginners, including the different types of canning and which foods work best for each method.
Canning fresh foods has been utilized since the early 1800s as a means of food preservation, allowing for the storage of overabundant harvests and the ability to consume off-season fruits and vegetables through long, cold winters.
The premise of canning is that it preserves food by sealing it in an airtight container. While you often see tin-coated cans used in grocery stores, at-home canners typically use glass jars with airtight sealed lids (like mason jars).
Canning involves heating food to kill off pathogenic bacteria, sealing the jar tightly to prevent contamination, then storing them for later use.
As the food inside the can (or jar) is sterile, it doesn’t start to spoil until you open the can and allow in oxygen and airborne bacteria.
There are two main types of canning: hot water bath canning and pressure canning.
Water bath canning is typically used for high-acid foods like jam, jellies, pickles, and fruit, while pressure canning is for low-acid foods like vegetables, soup, or meats. We’ll get into the exact steps in the next sections.
Some of the most commonly canned foods at home include:
As mentioned above, use water bath canning for higher acid foods. These include jams, jellies, chutneys, relishes, condiments, tomatoes and tomato products, pickles, and pie fillings.
Both water bath canning and pressure canning begin the same way: with sterilization.
Wash any lids and bands in hot, soapy water, and sterilize the jars either in a hot dishwasher cycle or by boiling them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. If sterilizing in the hot water bath, keep them in the bath at a simmer (180 degrees Fahrenheit) until you’re ready to use them.
There are two methods of water bath canning: hot packing and raw packing. Hot packing involves bringing the fruit or vegetable to a boiling point for 2–5 minutes, then immediately adding the hot food into your sterilized jars. The jars then are sealed with an airtight lid and added to the hot water bath for a minimum of 10 minutes.
According to the USDA, hot packing is the preferred method of canning, as it removes the most air and is better for preventing spoilage.
Conversely, raw packing involves adding raw food to sterilized jars then topping them with boiling water (or another liquid).
As hot packing is the preferred method, that’s the one we’ll highlight here.
Here are the equipment and steps for water bath canning with a hot packing method, assuming you have sterilized everything already.
Water Bath Canning Equipment:
Water Bath Canning Instructions:
Phew! As you can see, canning is not too simple—but once you get the hang of it, it’ll become easier.
Next, another option is pressure canning. You would use pressure canning for lower acid foods, such as most vegetables (such as carrots, asparagus, green beans, okra), beans, meat, poultry, fish, or prepared soups and stews.
Unlike water bath canning, pressure canning unsurprisingly relies on pressure combined with high heat to destroy bacteria.
It’s important to pressure can with low acid foods (pH below 4.6) because these foods are prone to harmful pathogenic bacteria like Clostridium botulinum, which is not killed by hot water alone and causes botulism.
Rather, pressure canning reaches temperatures of 240-250°F with the combination of pressure and heat.
However, you need special equipment—a pressure canner—in order to do this at home.
Other than the pressure canner, all of the other equipment is the same. After sterilizing your jars (the same as with water bath canning), here are the steps for at-home pressure canning:
As you can see, pressure canning is a bit more technical than water bath canning, and there is more room for error because of the dangerous Clostridium botulinum bacteria that causes botulism.
Keep in mind that pressure cookers, Instant Pots, and slow cookers are not the same as pressure canners. Be sure to read your pressure canner manual in detail and choose reputable recipes, such as from USDA or the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
No matter which method of canning you use, you must properly store your canned goods for safekeeping.
Here are some tips:
It can be cheaper to can your own fruit, especially if you grew the fruit yourself, got a good deal, or bought in bulk. However, canning requires an upfront investment of canning equipment, so if you’re only going to do it once, it will likely be much more expensive.
Water bath canning is used for high acid foods. Not all fruits are high acid, but most are. Lower acid fruits that cannot be water bath canned (or simply would be gross!) include bananas, coconut, avocados, and papaya. Other commonly canned fruits that are lower in acid can become suitable for water bath canning by the addition of an acid. For example, you should add lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar to tomatoes, melons, figs, and Asian pears. Always look up reputable canning recipes!
Water bath canning is easier than pressure canning, which uses more simple equipment and does not come with botulism risks (as long as you are using a high acid food).
While you can always boil jars to be on the safe side, some recipes don’t require it. For example, you don’t need to boil jars to sterilize them if the processing time in the canner is 10 minutes or longer (for both water bath and pressure canning). This is because the heat will sterilize the jars as they process.
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