How To Start Canning?
If you want to store food for later use, or you have stocked too much of certain fruits and vegetables at your home, you might think of canning as a process of preserving them. Home canning is a fantastic method to retain the flavor of the food at its best for year-round consumption.
Canning protects the finest flavors in foods like jams, jellies, tomato sauce, and homemade pickles, along with fruits and vegetables. You can also preserve cooked food by canning. This means you can make food ahead of time and store them for later consumption. But you must be thinking about how to start.
It is quite simple to get started with canning. You have to begin by choosing the right jars for canning. All kinds of food products are not suitable for every kind of canning jar, so make sure you make an informed decision. Canning jars are available in a lot of varieties depending on their sizes and shapes. Also, food experts say that different food items need different storage requirements.
Therefore, the type of food that you are canning will be a key factor in deciding the type of canning jars. Another important criterion that you should know before you start is that there are two distinct methods of canning: water bath canner and pressure canner. And the method you choose will also depend on the type of canned food. Read on to know more!
Things You Need For Canning
Canning can be interpreted as a form of cooking. This is because here you are preparing food for your future meals. However, you need a few basic apparatuses for canning. Check out the list of required supplies below.
- Different sizes of canning jars- pint jars, quant jars, and half-gallon jars.
- Jar lids and screw bands to tightly secure the canning jars.
- Pressure canner and water bath canner for the canning methods.
- A good quality jar lifter to lift the hot jars.
- A ladle to fill the canning jars with food.
- A wide-mouth canning funnel to avoid spillage while filling the jars.
The mentioned canning supplies are readily available in a majority of the online and offline stores. You can either buy them in numbers or kits; this is up to you and your canning needs. While buying canning jars, look for high-quality ones because it is going to be a one-time investment. You can always reuse the canning jars and other equipment effectively, except for single-use lids.
Also, while buying canning jars, make sure you carefully check the rim for any minor chips or cracks. And reject the rusted lids. Otherwise, they might cause leakage and ruin the canning process before it starts. Use clean jars instead for the best results.
Things To Know Before You Start Canning
Canning is a process of using high temperatures to destroy microorganisms and inactivate enzymes that could cause food to spoil. This keeps the food fresh in the enclosed jars for a long time. However, there are several essential things that you should know before starting the process of canning.
Check them out here.
- Always go for fresh and best-quality fruits and vegetables while canning. Do not use overripe or slightly rotten produce as they will degrade the canning process and spoil the food.
- Make sure you have everything you need before you begin canning. Also, follow the instructions and guidelines carefully; do not add anything of your own.
- Use clean jars. You can also sterilize the canning jars by washing them thoroughly and then keeping them steam hot in a saucepan of boiling water bath.
- Use particular canning lids and screw bands for the jars. This will ensure adequate sealing of the canning jars.
- Do not fill the canning jars all the way to the top. Leave a headspace of about half an inch. This will be beneficial when you are heating the jars.
- Use jar lifters to pick the jars from the boiling water. This will ensure safety and avoid the risk of accidents.
The Two Methods Of Canning
Water-bath canning and pressure canning are the two home canning methods. The method you should follow will solely depend on the type of food you are canning. Further, canning methods depend on the acid level a food contains.
High acid fruits and vegetables can be canned through the water bath method. On the other hand, low acid foods such as meat and seafood are ideal for pressure canning. There are plenty of other food items that can be canned with either of the two methods.
Canning Foods With Water Bath Canner
- Pickles
- Tomatoes
- Jams
- Jellies
- Salsas
- Fruit Butter
Canning Foods With Pressure Canner
- Green Beans
- Corn
- Meat
- Seafood
- Mushrooms
- Watermelons
Which Method Of Canning Should You Start With?
While there is no particular method that you should prefer over the other to start canning. Both of the methods are equally easy and do not require a lot of work. However, you need to make sure you follow the canning guidelines properly to ensure the best results.
If you are new to canning and can not figure out where to start, you can begin with canning pickles with the water bath method. Once you have canned foods for the first time, you will not regret it. The process of canning will also seem easy for you.
In conclusion, that was all about how you can start canning at home as a beginner. By now you must be aware of the basic needs and knowledge of canning food. So the next time you want to store your food for longer, you know what to do. Canning also works well for cooking recipes, such as homemade strawberry jam or soups.