I remember when I was a young boy my mother would can apricots at home. My grandmother bottled a variety of items and stored them in her basement for future use. Cooking and canning foods in your own home is easy enough that even a beginner will be able to master it in very little time. It’s also a healthy and inexpensive way to provide for your family.
Canning is not only to preserve food for future use but it’s a way to set aside provisions in the event of a disaster. If you think that you might use canned foods in your home you’ll want to follow this checklist. In this way you’ll make sure you have the correct supplies and of course follow important safety guidelines.
Now, when we say canning we are really talking about preserving food in jars. You’ll need to make sure you have enough jars to hold the foods you want to store. You may ask the question, how will I know how many jars I’ll need? First, start by checking out what the recipe says. Most home canning recipes will tell you how many batches of food the recipe will produce.
It should be fairly easy to find jars that are made for home canning. I’ve seen them in the grocery stores before. Once you have all the jars that you’ll need, wash them with the lids and bands just like you would wash dishes by hand. This is to remove the germs and to sterilize the jars. This is very important.
Once you’ve sterilized the jars and lids and bands you’ll then need some utensils. You’ll need spoons and a spatula. You’ll also want to make sure to sterilize them just as you did with the jars. There aren’t a lot of items that you’ll need when canning food, but one thing you’ll need is a sturdy stockpot.
Other useful items to have on hand would be a funnel, labels and a canning jar holder. If you’re going to can fruits or jellies you might also wan pectin. But some people can their foods without it. It’s just a personal preference. I remember my grandmother using pectin.
You’ll then want to heat up some water in the pot. Once it’s simmered in the pot you’ll want to fill the jar to the level called for in the recipe. Remember; don’t ever put warm or hot foods in cool or cold jars as the jars will break. The jars must be at least at room temperature.
Make sure you don’t stir the food to get the air bubbles out. All you have to do is run a flat utensil around the inside of the jar. Then put the lid toppers on and the rings and place the jars in the jar lifter. You don’t have to use a lifter but it is highly recommended. You can use tongs in a pinch, but it’s much easier for the jar to slip with the tongs.
With a jar lifter, lower the jar by the handle into the stockpot until the tops of the jars are covered completely by water. You’ll need to let the water boil for as long as the recipe says to let it boil.
Don’t start counting the time before the water boils. Begin counting the time once the water is boiling. Then let the jars cool. Once the jars are cool many people put labels that are dated on the outside of the jars. This is recommended because you will want to rotate the food you have in storage, using the oldest food first. You can’t do that if you don’t know when the food was canned.
