Canning is not rocket science. But it is a science.
There are principles of canning, and they need to be carefully followed to ensure quality preservation of the food and safety for those who’ll eat it.
(Note: the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is a great book for anyone embarking upon a canning adventure. Their recipes are basic and straightforward, and have always worked for me.)
I will not turn this into a huge post explaining all the ins and outs of canning, but I will try to skim the surface (homemade jam humor there; you’ll see why later) and explain the basic principles.
Here’s the skinny:
A. Air is swarming with microorganisms. Air, therefore, causes food spoilage.
So the purpose of canning is:
1. To heat the canned food so as to kill any existing microorganisms present
2. To hermetically seal (airtight seal) the jars so as to prevent any air from getting in and recontaminating the food
B.. There are two kinds of canning:
1. Hot water bath canning – submerge canned foods in hot water and boil the jars for a certain length of time
2. Pressure cooker canning – enclose canned foods in a pressure cooker and process them for a certain length of time. The temperature inside a pressure cooker is higher than is possible in a pot of boiling water.
C. What method of canning you use is determined by the acidity of the food you’re canning:
1. High acid foods can be canned using the hot water bath method. High acid foods include jams, jellies, pickles (because of the vinegar), and tomatoes (though it’s becoming more accepted to add lemon juice to tomatoes to increase the acid content), and preserves. The heat that can be achieved by simply boiling the jars in water is sufficient to ensure the safety of these foods.
2. Low acid foods MUST—absolutely MUST—be canned using a pressure cooker. Low acid foods include asparagus, peas, green beans, and carrots. The heat achieved in boiling water is not high enough to ensure the safety of these foods.
Note: Because of this, I do not generally can low-acid foods. Not only do I not want to mess with the pressure cooker or worry about whether I’m going to make my family sick, I would rather freeze these vegetables. Green beans, peas, corn, and carrots simply taste better after having been frozen than they do out of a jar.
God’s smart! The vegetables that are trickier to can and can present more of a food safety problem actually taste better frozen. Conversely, the high-acid vegetables and fruits that are easier and less problematic to can actually taste better…canned!
Another note: Pressure cooker canning is a great method, and many people can the low acid vegetables above with great success. I’m not discouraging you from canning those foods; just letting you know what I like to do myself. Because I have a freezer, I haven’t felt compelled to can the vegetables listed above.
Amen.
THE BASICS: JAM
Making a simple strawberry jam is the best way to break into canning. It’s easy, delicious, and loved by all, and it’ll make you feel like a major league Pioneer Woman. Especially if you grow the strawberries yourself, which I did not in this case.
I’m just keepin’ it real.
To begin, you need:
Strawberries
Powdered Fruit Pectin (this is sold in the canning aisle of supermarkets)
Sugar
Lemon juice
Small mason jars with lids
Large canning pot
Rack to fit inside pot (the pot and rack are usually sold together. Wal Mart’s a good place)
Jar lifter (to lift hot jars out of the water)
Large tongs
Magnetic wand (optional; to remove lids from simmering water)
Canning supplies are relatively inexpensive and will last you a long time if you take care of ’em. Mason jars and screw-on bands can be reused. The center lid (the part that creates the airtight seal) is the only thing that has to be new each time.
This is a large canner. It’s basically…a large pot with a lid! A pot that’s wide enough to hold a rack and many jars inside.
This is the rack that sets inside the pot. Many racks have more of a flat, solid surface. I used to have one, but my boys used it as a flying projectile and I haven’t seen it for years.
In normal households, this would be silver and shiny. But in mine, it’s caked with layers of hard water deposits because I’ve been canning a lot and the minerals go nuts when I boil our water.
Small mason jars—8 ounce size. I don’t like huge jars of jelly. It ain’t fittin’, it just ain’t fittin’.
Powdered fruit pectin. Pectin is a natural carbohydrate in fruits and vegetables, and is responsible for cell structure. It is possible to create a jam or jelly consistency without this product. But it’s a little trickier, with less consistent outcomes.
You need strawberries. Lots of red and delicious strawberries.
And you need sugar. I love making jams and jellies, because I get to use up all the half-used containers of sugar I have in my pantry. I found three today, and it turned out to be just the amount of sugar I needed.
Oh, joy!
Start by placing 8 or 9 mason jars on the canning rack…
And completely submerge them in water inside the canner. Turn on the burner and bring the water to a simmer, and let them sit in the simmering water while you make the jelly. This isn’t to sterilize the jars, but to warm them thoroughly so that they won’t break when you add the hot liquid.
At least, that’s what I’ve always duped myself into believing. Sometimes I do that, though, and realize twenty years later I completely misunderstood things. Happens a lot, actually.
Here are the lids and screw bands that go with the jars.
Place only the center lids in a small saucepan with water, and bring it to a simmer, too.
Don’t boil the jars or the lids at this point. When we heat-process the jars full of jelly later, that will sufficiently kill all bacteria in, around, or on the jars. This pre-heating process is just to butter up all the equipment before we use it.
Okay. In batches, use a spoon to hull the strawberries.
Put them onto a rimmed baking sheet…
Then grab a potato masher and mash the suckers UP.
You can leave some chunks, but try to mash ’em up pretty finely.
As you mash the strawberries in batches, measure a cup at a time…
And add them to a large pot or dutch oven.
Repeat this process—hulling, mashing, and measuring—until you’ve added 5 cups of crushed/mashed strawberries to the pot.
Cut a lemon in half…
And add in 4 tablespoons lemon juice. This’ll provide a little added acid to the mix.
Always a good thing when it comes to hot water canning.
Then pour in the package of powdered pectin (“package of powdered pectin”—there’s my culinary alliteration for the day.)
Then whisk it into the mixture.
I learned this trick from the Ball Bible (above). I grab half a pat of butter…
And throw it into the pot. This helps decrease the instance of annoying foam, which has to be skimmed off the surface of the jelly later.
Turn on the heat and stir the strawberries gently as you bring them to a rolling boil.
Then pour in 7 cups of sugar all at once.
Yes, it’s a lot of sugar. And that’s why jelly tastes so goooood.
Stir it together and crank up the heat. We need to bring this to a violent (my word) boil.
Not violent yet. But it’s getting there.
Violent! A violent, hard boil is when you can’t decrease the boiling by stirring.
Boil it like this for a good minute, minute-and-a-half…
Then turn off the heat.
This is where the foam comes in.
Just use a spoon to skim off as much as you can without taking much of the jelly with it…
Jelly scum. The kids and I are studying pond scum these days—primordial ooze and pond scum and all its implications—so this was a fun little sidebar.
And it tasted good on toast.
Get as much of the foam as you can…
There’ll still be a little bit, but it won’t hurt anything.
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Okay. That’s Part 1.
I’ll stop here for today, because it’s Friday and you have lives to live…and I don’t want your eyes sizzling out of your brain.
But we’ll continue this delightful saga next time.
Meanwhile, pick up some canning supplies this weekend! You might want to try it next week when you’re feeling frustrated and discontented with life.
Canning has a way of making everything better.
