Canning 101
Curious about the art of canning and preserving your own food. Follow along the next few weeks as we dive into how to can and the best recipes to start out with!
Learning the Canning Methods:
The first step into canning and preserving your own food is to decide what you and your family would benefit from having in your pantry. Vegetables? Fruits? Jams? Salsa? Beans? Pickles? Then, you will need to determine which method of canning you will have to do to create shelf-stable food.
There are two main types of canning that are widely accepted: Water-bath Canning and Pressure Canning.
Water-bath canning is something that I grew up watching my grandma do, then I had the privilege of canning with her, which I carry with me to this day.
Water-bath canning is when you preserve food by the process of heating the jars with boiling water, letting them boil for an allotted amount of time, then let them cool naturally before removing. The water-bath canner is made for foods like: jams & jellies, salsa, tomatoes, pickles, banana peppers, beets and jalapeños.
If you want to can vegetables like green beans, beans, carrots or meat products like, beef, poultry, venison, or even homemade soups, you will need a Pressure canner, as the temperatures get much higher, allowing for safe processing for those foods. Pressure canners use a weighted-gauge, and the pressure and steam allows the jars to seal and preserve the food.
Join us again next week, where I will walk you through the items needed to begin your canning journey, using the water-bath method.
