Canning Foods
When it comes to canning there are basically two types of food
There are 3 things you need to know when it comes to canning foods. The first is that the right tools make all the difference, so invest in them right away because they make everything else run so much better. The second is that even with all the right tools you're still going to get hot, sweaty, sticky and probably even a little bit mean.
But keep in mind the third thing you need to know about canning: In December when it's cold outside and you're eating some of your canned foods from summer, that's when it'll be worth it. It'll not only bring a little bit of summer warmth and sunshine into your wintry day, but they also make great Christmas gifts for only half the price! So all the effort really does pay off.
When it comes to canning there are basically two types of food. There are low acid foods, and high acid foods. An example of low acid foods is vegetable, meats, and seafood. High acid food consists mainly of fruits and tomato's, salsa's, pickles, jams, jellies, etc. The type of food you're canning will determine which canning method you'll use.
If you're canning high acid foods (such as fruits and jellies) you'll be keeping things fairly simple and inexpensive. You'll be doing a type of canning called the "Boiling water bath". It's almost exactly what it sounds like. You're basically just placing the cans in boiling water for a few minutes and then removing them to cool. It's a labor intensive process, so make sure to call in friends ahead of time to help. They not only make the time go by fast but they also are usually happy to go home with a jar or two of preserves for themselves.
What you'll need to get started with is a large pot, one that's deep enough to hold your pots with a couple inches of head room at the top. You'll also need a jar lifter, which is like a big pair of curved tongs. These work so much better than regular tongs that they're worth the price. (It's been my experience that regular tongs don't grip very well, and suddenly when you least expect it they'll slip and splash you with hot water.) You'll also need a large funnel, for filling the jars. And finally a spatula for removing air bubbles.
If possible see if you can find a magnetic lid lifter-for lifting out the lids from the hot water. My friend had one of those and it prevented a lot of burned fingers! Oh! You'll also want a wire rack to place in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars just off the bottom. This will prevent them from getting too hot and cracking. Once you gather all your tools, you're ready to begin.
First, prepare your recipe according to the instructions. Make sure you follow the recipe exactly and use the recommended processing time for the food you're canning. The times do vary, depending on what you're canning, so stick with what it tells you to do. Also, make sure the jars you're using are for canning. Because canning jars usually have thicker lips on them and this will prevent them from cracking from the heat. Not every jar is a canning jar and it's better to make sure now that to have to clean up the mess later on in the process.
Next you want to thoroughly wash all your jars, lids and bands. Make sure that they're all in good shape without any scratches or dings in them. Check to make sure your lids and bands are clean and free from rust.
Once the jars are clean, you need to heat them in a hot pot (not boiling hot) but still very hot water. Keep the lids in a smaller pot so that they're easy to get to with your magnetic lid lifter, if you're lucky enough to have one. In the past when I canned, I simply ran my jars through the dishwasher and put it on steam, which heated the jars up really well and kept them hot till I was ready to use them.
I'm not sure that that's as sanitary as using the hot water bath, but at the time I only had one pot to cook with. And the jam I was making turned out really well. The whole purpose behind heating the jars first, is it prevents them from breaking later when you put them into the boiling water.
So by now you should have your recipe made, jars in hot water, lids in hot water, and you should be ready now to get the pot you're canning with underway. So what you want to do it fill the pot up about halfway with simmering water. Don't forget to put your canning rack on the bottom of the pot!
Now you simply remove a hot jar from the water, (or dishwasher, in my case) and fill the jar with your prepared food. Makes sure you leave some headspace at the top, depending on the recipe. It'll vary, depending on what you're canning but the space is usually never larger than a 1/2 inch. Then go ahead and run your spatula between the food and the edge of the jar, this should help remove the air bubbles that can get trapped inside. Once that's done, you need to clean the rim of the jar.
Cleaning the rim of the jar allows for a better seal, and less contaminant can get into the food. Then place the lid on the jar, tighten down the band (not too tight, because you will want to get it off one day), and then they're ready for their bath!
Place the jars in the pot with the simmering water, making sure the rack is on the bottom for them to rest on. If you're using an actual canning rack, they often come with a handle so you can just fill the rack and then lower them all at once into the pot. If your rack doesn't have a handle, just use those nifty tongs and lower the jars in one at a time. It doesn't really matter how the jars get in there, just so long as they all get in.
Then place the lid on the canner, bring the water to a rolling boil and start your recommended processing time. (You're almost done!)
When they've boiled for the recommended time, go ahead and remove the lid and turn the heat off. Some people recommend waiting 5-10 minutes before removing the jars from the water. I never knew that and used to always remove my jars immediately so I could get started on my next batch. So check your recipe and see what it says, and then follow that.
At any rate, when you do remove them from the water place them somewhere that you can leave them alone for awhile. For the seal to set, you need to leave them undisturbed for 24 hours. It's tempting, but don't test their seals just yet!
After 24 hours, you can check to see if the seals are good by making sure the top is indented, not popped up but rather concave. And if you remove the bands, the lid cannot be lifted off by gentle pressure from your fingers. If that's the case, congratulations! Your canning was a success and you'll be enjoying a little bit of summer all winter long! (Whew!)
Here's an interesting trivia question about canning: Do you know who came up with the idea of how to can foods? Believe it or not it was the French.
Apparently during the Napoleonic Wars, they were having a hard time keeping their soldiers fed. (Hard to fight on an empty stomach, I guess). So they ran a competition to see who could come up with a new way of storing food that was cheap but would still keep the food preserved. A man named Nicolas Appert came up with the idea of canning food and won the competition. Just thought that was kind of interesting to know.