Thinking About Canning at Home? Here's How.

Grandma’s beloved canning recipes are worth keeping for posterity, but canning food methods and equipment have improved. Canning is a great way to safely preserve produce, especially seasonal items for use all year long. It’s also to reduce food spoilage and save money. This guide offers all the modern tips and tricks you’ll need to make your canned fruits and vegetables taste better and last longer.

Where to Start. Deciding What Foods Work Well for Canning

There are lots of choices when it comes to choosing foods for canning. 

First let’s look at the two groups of produce that require different canning methods.

Non-Acidic Produce for Pressure Canning: 

• Beans 

• Corn off the cob 

• Asparagus 

• Carrots 

• Squash (pumpkin and winter squash) 

• Leafy greens such as spinach and collard for soups, pasta, etc. 

Acidic Produce for Water-Based Canning: 

• Tomatoes: everyone’s favourite since it’s used for so many meal recipes 

• Cucumbers: who can resist dill or sweet-and-sour pickles? 

• Fruit: try apples, firm pears, plums, nectarines, apricots, strawberries and blueberries

Other Great Canning Ideas: 

• Homemade drinks like tomato juice and fruit juices 

• Pasta sauces and BBQ sauces 

• Soups & stocks 

• Jams & jellies 

• Salsas & Relishes 

• Kimchi 

• Mustards 

• Lemon curds

Go Traditional with a Water Bath Canner

A water bath canner is necessary for vegetables and fruits that are acidic. This is because, coupled with the boiling water preservation process, the acid in the produce naturally helps to prevent the possibility of botulism growth. 

Jars and canning lids are pre-washed before the prepared produce is packed inside. Lids are attached and snugged to the jars. Submerged into the water bath canner and supported on a rack, the jars are boiled according to the time frame recommended for each recipe.

Save Time with a Pressure Canner

The pressure canner is essential for preserving non-acidic foods such as those mentioned above. Pressure canners preserve foods by using temperatures higher than boiling water (212 °F) to destroy microorganisms like botulism. Low-acid produce must be processed at a minimum of 240 °F and that can only be met under pressure. To get more technical, that is at 10 or 11 pounds per square inch (PSI) or 15 pounds PSI if the temperature is at 250 °F. Adjustments in canning pressure are made according to elevation above sea level. 

How does it work? The pressure canner is heated to boiling point, producing steam. That steam expels air through a vent in the canner, at which point heat penetrates the jar. Once the steam has escaped for a specific time and all air is exhausted (refer to your canner’s guide book), the vent is closed. Now the pressure rises until pressure and temperature in the jar are equal to that of the canner. Be sure to follow the instructions for your specific canner.

First Time Canner? Here's What You Need to Know

Make it simple. Here are a few tips to help you.

Canners and Tools: The Must Haves

• Appropriate canner, either water-bath or pressure 

• Jars and covers in an appropriate size 

• Food press for making sauces 

• Canning rack to support the jars in your canner 

• Food mill for grinding produce 

• Jar lifter for removing cans from the canner 

• Wide mouth funnel for filling jars 

• Heat-proof safety gloves for protection 

• Bowls, pots and kitchen utensils (ie ladle, spoons, measuring cups, knives) to prep your recipe and for transferring to jars

Shop Canning Products

What Size Canning Jars Do You Need?

There are several sizes available when it comes to jars designed for canning. The ones most commonly used are small 250 ml and 500 mL jars. These are good choices for most preservation needs. You can also check for other sizes that may better fit your plans.

Safety Tips to Follow

Canning involves high temperatures, so although it is a safe process, care must be taken. The most important part is reading the canner manual that came with your water-bath canner or pressure canner. 

Be sure to follow the recommendations. Always use heat-proof gloves and tools with heat-proof handles when preparing to process your canning jars. Wash your canner and jars with soap and warm water prior to use. Sanitize your countertops, cutting boards and tools to eliminate any bacteria.

Step-by-Step Canning Tips

Prepare everything you need before beginning your canning session. Here’s an easy list to follow:

1. Gather all the tools you’ll need for your canning session 

2. Prepare your canner according to the manufacturer’s directions 

3. Clean your canner thoroughly 

4. Prepare your ingredients according to your chosen recipe 

5. Prepare your jars: Either wash with soap and water or sterilize (Canning jars do not require sterilization if processing times are greater than 10 minutes) 

6. Stuff your produce into the jars leaving a head space of 1" to 1-1/4" (and remember food shrinks during processing) 

7. Process your jars according to the recommended time in your recipe 

8. Jar Removal: For a water-bath canner remove the processed jars once the recommended time has elapsed; For a pressure canner, allow the pressure to decrease as recommended in the instruction manual before opening the canner

Determining Your Needs

Before embarking on a home canning session, think about how much processed food your family might consume between this winter and next. Let that be your guide when purchasing produce, jars, and, if you’re a buying a new canner, the appropriate size. 

Where the canner is concerned, you’ll need to consider the size of your stove top and burners as well. Can it accommodate a very large canner safely? You can always have several canning sessions if you plan to produce many jars of produce. Storage is another consideration. Do you have appropriate space to keep all that wonderful food? Not everyone has the luxury of a cold space in today’s home basements.

Canning is not only rewarding, but it provides ongoing benefits. You can make soups, casseroles and sauces whenever the inclination strikes. If you grow your own fruits & vegetables, you know that many of them ripen at the same time, so canning is a great solution for any surplus. And when farmers harvest their produce at season’s end, you can find large volume at great prices. In either case, canning your favourites gives you plenty of great-tasting food to enjoy throughout the winter months.