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With grocery and utility prices on the rise, canning is becoming more and more popular as a way to save on your budget and make some tasty concoctions. Canning can be daunting and seem unsafe, but if done properly, you have nothing to worry about. There are a few different methods for canning food at home, and we’re going to cover the simplest and easiest one you can do with minimal equipment. The other methods are a little more advanced and are great to get into once you understand the basics. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to safely preserve tomato sauces, pickled vegetables, and more.
Is Canning Food at Home Safe?
Canning food at home is extremely safe — if done properly. If you can food improperly, you can get very sick from different bacteria, mainly clostridium botulinum, which results in botulism. The idea behind canning food is that by limiting the exposure to air, using heat to kill any microorganisms, and increasing the acidity, you can prevent this deadly toxin from forming.
For this reason, we recommend sticking with high-acid fruits and vegetables when you begin canning food at home. Things like pickles, tomato sauces, jams, and more are all great beginner-friendly canning ideas. If you’re interested in specifics, we have a list of great ideas for canning over here.
Does Canning Food at Home Make it Less Nutritious?
We’ve all heard that frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh produce thanks to flash-freezing methods, but what about canning food at home? You’ll be happy to hear that this has been studied extensively, and according to the researchers at Michigan State University, home canned food only losses a small amount of nutrition when compared to fresh food.
You should know that the longer you keep your canned products, the more nutritional value they will lose, but compared to improperly handled fruits and vegetables, it’s almost negligible. It’s even more negligible if the food would have been wasted anyway. Canning is a great way of saving food that you can’t use now for later.
How Long Does Canned Food Last?
Canned food is good indefinitely as long as it is properly stored, but realistically you should try and eat it within 1-5 years. Avoid any cans that look cracked, have rusted lids, were improperly stored, or have growths inside. The longer a can is on a shelf, the less nutritional value it will have, and it may taste differently. That said, it hasn’t necessarily gone bad.
Is it Possible to Can Any Type of Food?
Thanks to high-heat canning methods, it’s possible to can almost anything at home. You could even preserve ground meat or fish if you wanted, and it’s not entirely uncommon to do so. However, if you’re new to canning, you should stay away from canning these low-acid foods.
Low-acid foods require additional equipment and are more dangerous to can than high-acid foods. The method we will be going over in this guide does not get hot enough to destroy the bacteria and spores that can grow in these products.
What are the Different Types of Canning Methods?
There are three methods of canning: the water bath method, the atmospheric steam method, and the pressure canning method. The boiling water bath method is by far the easiest for new canners and requires little to no additional equipment. The other two methods are more advanced and great for when you have the basics of canning down.
Equipment Needed for Canning Food at Home
As we mentioned, there are three methods for canning food at home, but if you’re new, you’re going to want to do the water bath method. To do the water bath method, you’re not going to need much, but there are a few things you can pick up at the store to help you can food at home. Here’s a quick list of helpful products you can use to preserve your food.
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Jars and Lids
When it comes to jars, Ball brand mason jars are probably the ones everyone thinks of. These are so common these days that some restaurants even started using them as cups for their guests. If you’re new to canning, you probably don’t have any lying around. You can pick up a 4-pack with lids here.
We suggest using the wide-mouthed 32 oz. jars like the ones above, but if you’d rather go smaller, there are 16 oz. jars available here. Either way, the wide-mouthed jars are definitely the way to go. They make putting and taking your food out of these jars extremely easy.
If you need help deciding what size is best for canning food at home and need a frame of reference, a typical soda can is 12 ounces. You’re also going to want a pot that is tall enough to completely cover the jars in water. If you don’t have a large enough pot, you’re going to have to pick one up.
Pot for Boiling Water
For the water bath method, you can use any old pot so long as it’s tall enough to cover your jars completely. If you don’t have one that’s large enough for canning food at home, we suggest picking up something like this. This enamel-on steel pot will last multiple canning cycles, can be used for any other type of cooking, and even comes with a canning rack to help place and take your jars out of the pot.
This pot comes in different sizes, too, so you can match it with the sizes of jars you’re going to can with. If you’re interested in canning food at home, we suggest getting something larger than you currently need. That way, you can always can larger jars without having to go out and buy a whole new pot.
Miscellaneous Tools
Besides the jars and a pot, there are a few tools you can buy that’ll make your life a whole lot easier— trust us. This three-piece kit can make canning less messy and safer. The funnel fits those wide-mouthed jars we listed above and makes it easier to fill your jars with fruits, vegetables, jams, and sauces. It also contains tongs that make it easier to grip the jars and pull them out of your pot as well as a tool to push out air bubbles and compress the contents of the jar.
All-In-One Kit
If you’re looking for an all-in-one kit for canning food at home, we suggest picking up this water bath starter kit. It has basically everything you need except for the jars themselves. It has a pot for canning, a blancher for tomatoes and other foods, a funnel, a gripper, and more. If you want to get started canning quickly, this kit and some Ball jars are all you need.
Canning Food at Home in A Few Simple Steps
Preparation
Before canning food at home, make sure you have a recipe in mind and make sure you know how long it will take to seal properly. Until you’re comfortable canning, follow an online recipe to a tee. If your recipe requires the jars to be submerged in boiling water for less than 10 minutes, you should sterilize them beforehand.
Recipes that require you to boil your jars for more than 10 minutes don’t require any sterilizing and should just be washed and dried beforehand. To sterilize jars, place them in hot water and allow them to boil for 10 minutes. Let them cool before handling them.
Once your jars are clean, fill your pot up about halfway with water. You’re going to want to cover the jars with 1-2 inches of water once they’re in the pot. Remember, the water level will rise a lot if you are canning multiple jars. Don’t overfill it!
Packing Method
Depending on your recipe for canning food at home, you might be adding hot or cold food to the jars. Tomato sauces are an example of a hot-packed food. It’s a smart idea to warm your jars up if you’re going to be using a hot pack method. Your jars may crack due to the thermal shock of the hot tomato sauce. Just put them in warm, not boiling, water, and you should avoid damaging your jars. Cold packing requires no prep; just make sure your jars have cooled down if you sterilized them in boiling water.
The Water Bath Process
Once you have your recipe made and your jars are cleaned, you can begin filling your jars using either the above cold pack or hot pack method. Ensure that you leave a slight headspace at the top of the jar and that all of the food in the jar is submerged.
Remember, this method is only for high-acid foods like tomato sauces, fruits, jams, pickled vegetables, etc. Make sure your recipe is compatible with the water bath canning method.
Now that your food is in the jars, wipe the edges clean and put the lids on the jars. If your food was hot packed in the jar, you’ll want your water to be warm but not boiling. If you cold packed your jars, you might want to start heating your water after you add your jars to the bath.
When adding your jars, make sure they’re not directly on the bottom of the pot. The heat from the burner can cause the jars to crack while they’re boiling. A canning rack like this one is a great way to lift your jars off the bottom of the pot.
Now that your jars are in the pot and the water has hit a rolling boil, you can start your timer. Remember, don’t start your timer as you add them to the water bath. The water must be at a rolling boil in order for the canning process to truly start working. Keep a lid on the pot to keep the heat in and avoid losing too much water. You can keep a second pot of boiling water nearby in case the water level in the pot drops too low.
Once they’ve been in the boiling water for the required time, shut the heat off and let them sit for five-ten minutes in the water before removing them. When you remove them, avoid placing them in a cool area; a drastic change in temperature can cause the glass jars to crack.
Leave the jars overnight and check on them the next morning. The lids should be vacuum-sealed down onto the jars. You shouldn’t be able to push down on the lids. Remember that tell-tale click on the lid of an open jar of jelly or Snapple bottle? If properly sealed, your jars should not have this distinct pop. Congratulations, you just canned your first food!
How to Store Home-Canned Food
Now that you’ve got jars of homemade canned food, you’re going to want to store it properly to avoid ruining all your hard work. The lids of Ball jars are very easy to label. Either use a piece of masking tape or write directly on the lids. Write down the date that you canned the food as well as what it is. You’d be surprised at what you might forget in a few months.
Once they’re labeled, put them in a cool, dark place. You’ll want it to be dry and away from any sources of heat. A dry basement away from a furnace is the best place to store your canned food. The ideal temperature range is 50-70°F. Heat, light, and moisture can cause your food to break down and quickly go bad.
If you ever notice that your jars have a broken seal, cracked glass, or anything else out of the ordinary— don’t risk it. Trust us, you’d rather throw out your homemade jam than end up in the hospital, deathly ill from botulism. High-acid foods are way safer than low-acid foods, but you should still be aware of the possible dangers that can arise from improperly canned foods.
