Preserving And Canning Food

Canning is my new art form.

Learning to can food is an art form. I don’t care what anyone says, you have to do it just right to make sure your food is healthily preserved and taste delicious.

My grandmother canned her vegetables and made jelly. I thought nothing of this when I was younger. Helping her in the kitchen canning is just what we did. Boy, to go back in time and pay attention to everything she did in the kitchen! I would hold on to her every word and follow every instruction and savor in the moments of spending time with my grandmother.

While those days are gone, I have started canning on my own. It brings back a bit of nostalgia and I like to know I am saving money. It is also nice that I can just reach in the pantry and pull out what I need.

Canning was hard for me at first. As with everything, it has gotten easier. First, you must know there are two ways to can food. The first way is called Water Bath Canning. This is simply submerging your jars into boiling water for a certain amount of time. Only certain foods can be canned this way. Those would be high-acid foods like jelly, jams, pickles, salsa, etc. The second way to canning is pressure canning. A pressure canner has a gauge to determine the pressure inside the pot. Different foods have different pressure requirement based on the type of food and the size of the jar you are using. Pressure canning is for low-acid foods such as meats and vegetable, seafood, etc. You must ensure that your food won’t spoil so pressure canning is a must as the temperature must be at least 240 degrees F.

Now, as you can imagine the water is pretty hot even before you start canning. Your jars must be sanitized and are in the boiling water for this reason. How do you handle hot jars, lids and bands. You use a jar lifter and a jar handler. You can find the whole kit by clicking Norpro Canning Essentials Boxed Set, 6 Piece Set. Canning cannot be done without these tools. You can also find great recipes in the Ball Home Preserving Book.  It’s a great book to begin with. 

Gather your pots and jars and tools and we will begin together.