Home canning basics.

**divinemsn** · 11-10-2008, 10:01 AM

Hello everyone. I am very interested in canning and I am looking for some resources. I recently bought a canning book from Ball that I found very useful I tried searching the threads but I could not find any threads talking about canning. I am interested in the basics (how to get started). I saw some stuff on the net about using a pressure cooker. How do you use it for canning?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

**Russ** · 11-10-2008, 10:12 AM

try this link... http://farmgal.tripod.com/index-2.html

**winner** · 11-10-2008, 11:08 AM

I use to can a lot many years ago back in Europe, coming to Canada, I got too busy with establishing myself. When I got my surgery date in summer, I knew I will be housebound for a while, so I did lots of canning around 60 different jars. Now I enjoy my jars. A couple of potatoes and a jar of yammy salad will do for me. Here What I did: antipasto, green beans, asparagus, califlower. broccoli, different spreads, eggplant spread, shredded green cabage salad (has tomatoes, red pepper, celery, carrots). I don't have a presure cooker, I found an old canning book in recycle bin, and that where I got my recipes. Antipasto, spread I cooked first then placed my jars in pot lined with some old towel filled with warm water and boil for 20 min. Beans and other vegetables I blanched first for 2 min, place in a jar, pour your marinate, (salt vinigar, sugar, water) then did the same as antipasto but only 10 min.
It practical, convinient, tasty and delisious to have your jars.
I hope it helps.

**nandmsmom** · 11-10-2008, 02:52 PM

The bible for canning is The Ball Bluebook of Canning. It has everything you need to know for canning. For an online source of everything canning check out http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ It has all the latest guidelines and is very helpful.

**fixer** · 11-10-2008, 03:44 PM

The Ball Blue Book is an excellent source for canning information. Also your local extension office will have publications or direct you to online help. If you pressure cooker has a gauge, they should be able to check it. I had mine checked and found that it was off enough to cause me serious problems. Be sure to check the gasket for your canner. Nothing worse than realizing you need a new one when you have everything ready to can.

**Cricketlegs** · 11-10-2008, 04:38 PM

I don't do anything so fancy it can't be done up in a hot water boiling canner with lid.

Mostly tomato products and juice jelly.

I do the hot jar, hot sauce/jelly, 30 minute boil bath treatment.

Pressure cookers scare me to death.

**Frugal Cook** · 11-10-2008, 06:36 PM

The sole purpose of "canning" is to pasteurize the food (kill all spores of bacteria, mold, yeast, fungi, etc) and seal the contents so that the contents can be stored on a pantry shelf without refrigeration.

The Boiling Water Canner is sufficient to kill most of these bacterias and then the high-acid foods (fruits, pickles, jams, jellies and such) keeps them from regrowing in the jar.

Low-acid foods (meats & vegetables) have a unique problem since they provide an ideal environment for the C. Botulinum (Botulism) spore to grow and a Boiling Water Canner will not kill this heat resistant spore. It takes a Pressure Canner to reach a temperature over 240 deg.F. for a sustained period to kill it.

All proper recipes since 1990 have been tested in a laboratory and proven safe and stable. The times given for the recipe is what it takes for the heat to penetrate and kill the spores for that recipe. "Guessing" at the time for a homemade recipe is potentially unsafe and dangerous. Too short or incorrect processing might not kill the spores, too long or incorrect processing could turn your food to mush or cause it to lose a good portion of its nutrients.

Canning is fun and easy but it requires respect.

**jdr250** · 11-10-2008, 07:02 PM

If you want to can meats and low acid vegetables invest in a pressure canner. A pressure cooker is totally different, the walls of the pressure cooker are much thinner and allow the contents to cool much quicker than the pressure canner does and the times given are based on cool down time as well. I have varied recipes or tried my own like green pepper soup (I couldn't find a recipe for canning it anywhere), but I ALWAYS find the ingredient that has the longest processing time and use that as my time, but be careful. Frugal cook is right respect canning, it's fun and theres nothing better than opening your own veggies when everyone else is paying $1.25/can and you know yours cost maybe .33/can plus you have the benefit of knowing exactly what's in it.

**ladytoysdream** · 11-12-2008, 08:02 PM

Many years ago, I used to do a lot of canning when the kids were small. I also had 2 freezers running.

Now with the economy the way it is, I am back to canning and freezing again.
I have 2 freezers again now, but only the one plugged in. I did get some applesause done in the water bath canner this year. And some jam.

My big accomplishment recently, was digging out the old National ( now owned by presto ) pressure canner # 7 and finding a new gasket for it. I bought that sometime in the early 70's. I canned some pototoes in it, and will be doing more soon. I had to get it working again, as I hope to can some venison this year when hubby gets a deer.
My old national pressure canner # 5 that used to be my mom's , I can't get a rubber gasket for it. They no longer make them

**RetiredVeryEarly** · 11-12-2008, 09:01 PM

I also have 2 freezers and do a lot of canning. We only do boiling water bath (BWB). We make mostly salsa, jam, pickled asparagus, fruit sauce, pickled peppers, that sort of thing. We garden a lot and also get free produce that would otherwise be put into a landfill. Lots of it becomes compost, but much is edible and we can and freeze and eat it plus give tons away.

I have found that I can get all my jars free (friends, relatives, recycling center) and just have to buy lids and rings. If you ask around, usually some nice old aunt or neighbor has a canner they don't use any more, and jars to go with it. I recommend freecycle for acquiring the same things. Canning seems a bit overwhelming at first, but once you do it for a while it is very simple, especially the BSB methods. We canned about 290 jars of stuff last year, but are doing less canning this year as we haven't eaten all the stuff from last year yet.

**Thrifty Mom** · 11-12-2008, 10:16 PM

About two months ago a family in our county got botulism from eating home canned green beans. The older adults are still in the hopital, the younger folks are now back home. The article in the newspaper by the county extension agency said it was the first case in our area in over 10 years. So, it really can happen & it's very serious. Be careful & follow all the directions, from a recent manual when you are home canning.

**Frugal Cook** · 11-12-2008, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by divinemsn

Hello everyone. I am very interested in canning and I am looking for some resources.

The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is the canner's bible and is THE most important book to have on hand. And it only costs $5.00 + s/h from their website.

http://www.freshpreserving.com

They also have a good canning message board called the "Preserving Club" which I happen to help moderate. We're dedicated to doing things the right way and having fun doing it.

If you want a more flexible (and less safe) approach to canning and doing your own thing, there is a canning forum at RecipeZaar.com.

For the last word in canning information, go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation at the Univ. of Georgia Extension. They also sell a great canning recipe book and offer a free internet self-study course in Food Preservation that I strongly recommend for everyone.