In our modern society of refrigerators and freezers, canning has become a lost art. When you read about the risks of canning it sounds like one of the scariest ways to preserve food, but it truly is easy.
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Our modern convenience of freezing, you toss food in freezer bags and store it in your deep freezer, no worries. With dehydrating, you stick it in a machine that slowly dries it out, easy peasy.
There are two ways to can, water bath and pressure canning. With water bath canning you need a large pot, canning jars and tongs. Many people get nervous because there’s always the possibility that jars explode. Honestly though, canning isn’t as scary as it sounds. Buy quality glass jars, follow directions to a “T” and you’ll be just fine.
Easy Canning Option
A fun and easy place to start is by making jelly or jam. Stock up on your favorite fruit and pick up a few extra ingredients and you are good to go. You need some half pint glass jars and tongs that will allow you to grab hot jars out of boiling water. You don’t need a special pot just look around and see if you have one large enough to hold the jars and get started.
Our family loves blueberries so this is a simple recipe that I make often, give it a try.
- 2 cups of fresh blueberries
- 1 1/3 TBSP of lemon juice
- 1/2 cup of honey
Wash the blueberries and place in a sauce pan. Use a potato masher or something similar to mash the blueberries. A bonus for this recipe is you don’t need pectin, blueberries have enough in the skins to thicken the jam. Turn on your burner to a low-medium heat to start cooking the berries, cook for approximately 15 minutes to break down the skins, stir and mash often to avoid burning. Then add the lemon juice and honey. Depending on how hot your stovetop cooks turn it down, you don’t want a hot boil. Cook for approximately another 15 to 20 minutes for desired thickness.
We generally eat this quickly, but for canning purposes maybe double the recipe. Transfer to quarter pint (4 oz) jars and boil in a water bath for 10 minutes.
Any jars that don’t seal properly should go in the fridge and be used right away.
Simple Vegetables to Start
Another great possibility for easy success is to try a simple vegetable canning project.
Canning green beans is easy, and you can use the beans throughout the year in any dishes you’d use store-bought canned beans. Clean, cut, and blanch your green beans to get them ready for canning.
Canning instructions will vary based on your altitude, so it is important to look that information up. Ensure you cook them long enough and get them to a high enough temperature to kill any bacteria and create a good seal. All canned good should be stored, but any jars that didn’t completely seal need to go in the fridge and use them within the next couple of day.
Pickles are another great choice, I love pickles!
If your cucumbers are producing well or you want to try your hand at some sort of other pickled vegetable (like cauliflower, peppers, or okra for example), give canned pickles a try. The vinegar solution already does a great job preserving the food. And if you don’t like to much vinegar there are many great flavor options.
Canning adds even more preservative and allows you to store vegetables that would otherwise go bad quickly even longer.
Not for Beginners
I would recommend avoiding canning meats or high acid produce like tomatoes for now. Those can be a bit trickier to can successfully and require more equipment. These need to be done in a pressure canner which can be stressful to use.
Get a few batches of water bath canning under your belt first. If you fall in love with preserving your garden goods, then invest in some good canning gear (including thermometers and proper canning pots) then start exploring more options.
The ability to have control of your food storage can bring about so much pride and joy, you won’t be disappointed.
