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Home Canning, Part 3: Step-by-Step

Finally!  Part 3 of my little home canning series.  (Part 1, Part 2)  In this installment, I'm going to talk about the real nitty gritty of canning - what you actually do in the kitchen with all those jars and pots and lids and food.

When you are planning to do some canning, make sure you use a reliable modern recipe, and don't deviate from it.  If you do, you could throw off the acidity of your end product and risk not killing off all those nasty little buggers that'll make you sick.  And why modern?  Some older recipes aren't considered safe anymore, because of new information on the acidity of tomatoes or other things we've learned since whenever that ancient recipe was written.  I have the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, which I love.  There are other books out there as well.  Despite the less-than-pleasing design of the site, PickYourOwn.org has a wealth of information on local food and canning.

OK.  So now you've got your recipe, and all the ingredients to go into it.  So what equipment do you need to get started?  As long as you have mason jars with two-piece closures and a pot big enough to cover them with at least an inch of boiling water, you can get started.  But the following tools will make your life much easier and keep you from scalding yourself or wanting to pull your hair out during the process.

From left to right:

• a wide-mouthed canning funnel makes filling jars much less tedious and messy
• a magnetic lid lifter gets the hot lids out of the simmering water, which cuts down on cursing and burnt fingers
• a wooden chopstick is what I use to slide around the inside of the jar to remove air bubbles - don't use a metal knife!
• a ruler to measure headspace
• a jar lifter - my absolute favorite canning-specific tool, also saves on burnt fingers and cursing
• a nice rubber spatula for stirring
• a large plastic spoon or ladle
• not shown - a non-reactive pot (stainless steel or enamel) for cooking up your goodies

Also nice to have is an actual canner - basically a really huge pot (really!  huge!) with a metal rack inside that allows you to raise and lower all your jars at once.  (My apologies for the blurry photo.)

Well.  Now you have your recipe, your ingredients and your equipment.  The first thing I always do is sterilize my jars.  Washing them in the dishwasher is fine.  If they get done right before I need them, and they're still hot, I just use them straight from the dishwasher, but if they're finished well in advance I'll put them in the canner with some water and heat it all up.  You want the jars to be hot when you fill them with hot food.  Even if I'm not putting the jars in, I'll fill the canner with water about 2/3 full (more or less, depending on the size of the jars I'm using that day - you want them to be covered by at least an inch of water when they're all in there) and turn the heat on.  That much water can take a long time to get boiling!  Also, at this point I put my lids (not the screw bands, just the lids) in a small saucepan with a little water and put them on to simmer.  Don't boil them, just a nice little simmer.  And remember to use fresh lids!  They aren't reusable - once they've done their duty, toss them and get new ones.  The sealing compound forms to the shape of the jar and once it's done, it's done.

Now you're ready to actually make whatever it is you're going to preserve!  I can't tell you what to do here, that'll depend on your own tastes, what's in season, how much time and energy you have...  For these photos, I was making a pecan praline syrup, thanks to a friend's mom who gifted me with several gallons of shelled pecans!  (If you need a recipe, any recipe just to get started, I've got a salsa recipe here from the Ball book. Jams are particularly good and easy to start with.)  Follow your recipe carefully.  Have everything handy and measured out ahead of time if you can - it really helps and you sometimes need to pour in, say, 7 cups of sugar all at once.

Now you've got hot, sterile jars, simmering lids, all your equipment laid out waiting for you and something yummy bubbling on the stove waiting to be ladled into jars.  Phew!  Now is where organizational skills and time management come in really handy.  You need to work fairly quickly, but also carefully.  I have a designated counter area where I have a dish towel laid out to protect the jars from any sudden impact with the counter.  Around it I place all my utensils that I'm going to need, plus a damp cloth or paper towel.  Take the simmering whatever-it-is off the stove and put it there too.  (Unless you're lucky enough to have swaths of counter space right next to your stove, then just leave it there, but turn off the heat.  I'm not that lucky.)  Now grab a hot jar, place it on the towel, put the wide-mouthed funnel in it and ladle in your hot food.  (For pickles, you'll put the vegetables in the jar first and ladle in the hot canning liquid.  Same idea.)  You want to leave the proper amount of headspace in your jar, which is what the ruler is for!  It needs to have the right amount air above the food or it may not seal correctly.  The measurement is different depending on what you're canning, but your recipe will tell you.  It's usually 1/4 - 1/2 inch or so.

Once you have the right amount of food in there, poke that chopstick (or whatever you have) in the jar and run it along the sides, releasing any air bubbles that might have formed.  (Don't use metal knives as they may react with your food - I believe it can cause unpleasant tastes or colors, but I could be wrong about that.) If needed, add more hot food to make sure the headspace is correct.  Wipe the rim with that handy damp cloth you've got sitting there, poke the magnetic lid lifter into the saucepan of lids, pull one out and center it on your jar.  Then screw on the screw band, making sure that it's secure but not too tight.  "Fingertip tight" is what they call it.

Now is when it's handy to have an actual canner with a rack.  At this point I start putting the jars on the rack as it is propped up on the rim of the pot.  Repeat the filling process for all the jars, putting each one on the canner rack as it is done.  When all the jars are filled, or the canner rack is full, gently lower it into the boiling water and make sure the jars are covered by at least an inch of water.  It may stop boiling at this point, so wait until it starts again before starting your timer.  Put the lid on the pot, and process for however long your recipe indicates.  (Usually 10-30 minutes for the things I've done so far.)

Now is when I usually look around the kitchen and sigh about what a mess I've made, especially if I was making something sticky and colorful like jam.  (But so yummy!)  I generally clean up while the jars are processing, because you'll need some clean counter space to put your happy little hot jars when they come out of the canner.

When they've finished processing, your recipe will usually say to remove the lid of the canner, turn off the heat and let them sit for a few minutes.  Then, use that jar lifter (love!) to take them out of the pot, keeping them upright the whole time.  Resist the urge to tilt them this way and that to shake the water off the tops!  Don't worry about it!  You don't want to do anything right now to disrupt their sealing.  Put them on a dish towel to protect them from bumping the counter and don't knock them into each other either.  Make sure it's a draft free place and let them hang out there for about a day.  Usually very shortly after you take them out, you'll hear that telltale *pop* of the lid that means they've sealed.  But let them sit and cool off and don't fiddle with the screw bands.

The next day, you can unscrew the bands, wipe any water or food residue off the jar and lid and make sure that they've completely sealed.  The lids should be concave and you shouldn't be able to remove them if you try just a little.  (Obviously, don't try too hard, since they are meant to be opened after all...)  I generally replace the screw bands after this, though some people don't. If you find that some of them haven't sealed, refrigerate them immediately and use them first.  And, as always, if any of the food seems...wrong...don't eat it!  As the old saying goes - when in doubt, throw it out!

I've never had anything not seal properly and never had food go bad in my home-canned jars.  I've made pickles, pickled peppers, pickled garlic, jams, fruit butter, applesauce, salsa and more.  I can't stress enough the importance of following your recipe to the letter.  Get a good canning book - they're so worth it!  Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 

Home Canning, Part 2: How?

Part 2 in my little primer on home canning.  For Part 1, click here.

I should mention that this post will be geared toward "How does it work?" rather than "How do I do it?"  That will come next!  Probably in a few days, because I'd like to take some stunning (heh) photos to illustrate the process and it'll take me a bit to do that...but never fear!  I'll get there!

So!  How does it work?  Well, you've seen mason jars, right?  The kind with the two-piece lid consisting of a flat bit and a screw band?  That's the key to home canning.  What happens is this: you heat the glass jars, and the food to be canned, whether it's scrumptious strawberry jam or perfect pickles (yeah, I just did the alliteration thing) and put the hot food in the hot jars, leaving the proper amount of space at the top.  Then you place the lid on, screw the band on and put them in a hot water bath and process for the stipulated amount of time.  (This is turning a little into the "How do I do it?" part, but, really, there will be many more details next time, I promise.)  Now comes the fun part.  The heating process causes gases and food to expand in the jar, leading to a buildup of pressure.  The pressure is relieved by venting out from under the lid, which happens repeatedly throughout the heating process.  This creates a vacuum inside the jar which means that when the jar is cool, the pressure outside is greater than the pressure inside, causing the lid to indent and the softened sealing compound to conform to the lip of the jar.  This creates an air-tight seal preventing any microorganisms from entering the jar and recontaminating your precious food.  And as the books say, heat-processing home-canned food is not optional!  Without proper heat-processing, you run the risk of spoilage and health problems  (I mean, I love my home-canned peppers as much as the next guy, but I'm not a fan of food poisoning...)

Next time, I'll be getting down to the nitty gritty: how to actually do this canning stuff.  I should note that I will only be discussing how to can high acid foods.  Low acid foods are a whole 'nother ball game, and one that I can't get into, or at least not until somebody sends me a pressure canner.  High acid foods include fruit, jams, jellies, fruit spreads, pickles, relishes, chutneys, and some tomato mixtures.  These foods have a pH of 4.6 or lower, which means that they can be safely heat-processed in boiling water.  Low acid foods are things like vegetables, meat, fish, poultry and some tomato mixtures (gotta watch out for those tricky tomatoes!) and they need to be brought to a much higher temperature in order to kill off toxin-producing bacteria, like Clostridium botulinum, which causes...you guessed it!  Botulism!  It thrives on low acid foods in moist environments with no air...just like inside a canning jar.

Home Canning, Part 1: Why?

Over the next few days, I'm going to be writing about canning - why I do it, why it works, the process of doing it, etc.  I'm no expert but I like to think I know a thing or two.  (It probably won't be consecutive postings, so don't be surprised if you see a bit about knitting pop up in the middle...)

So!  Why can?  I mean, I can just go down to the local corner store and pick up any number of pre-canned food items, why on earth should I do it myself?  There are a multitude of motives to do it yourself.  Ask ten people, and you'll probably get ten different reasons.  Here are some of mine:

• Total control over what I'm eating.  I know exactly what went into that jar of salsa, and I can tell you there was no high fructose corn syrup involved!
• It's cheaper.  Once you get past the initial investment in some basic canning supplies, it doesn't cost very much at all.  (Yeah, you can get a cheap can of green beans, but how good are they?)  It's especially cost effective if you grow your own produce.
• It tastes better.  Sometimes it just really does taste better, and other times it tastes better simply because I know I made it myself.  But as long as you use fresh, quality ingredients, and a good recipe, the results can be amazing!
• Revive a lost tradition.  People used to can all their canned goods at home.  Now most people don't even know how!  I love learning skills that people (especially women) everywhere used to know but have now been largely forgotten.
• It's rewarding.  I get satisfaction out of knowing that I made something delicious and nourishing with my own two hands.  Something that will impart a little whiff of summer into an otherwise dull winter.  Something that will remind me of the process involved whenever I open the jar.
• Be less dependent on big business/big government.  I'm not a sky-is-falling type of person overall, but really, look at the state of the world!  I like learning a skill that could help make the difference in my quality of life.  (Let's hope it never comes to that!)
• It's good for bribing people.  Need a favor?  Offer a jar of homemade jam as payment.  It never fails!
• It's just plain fun.  I enjoy it!  What better reason is there?

So that covers my personal reasons for canning, what about the technical reasons?  Why do you have to can food in the first place?  Well, I think we all realize that you can't just stick some food in a jar, put the lid on, and call it good!  It will spoil.  There are microorganisms everywhere - in the water we drink, in the air we breathe and in the food we eat.  Yeasts, bacteria, mold...they are all there, generally in populations that far outnumber us!  Left unchecked, they'll cause spoilage.  Home canning kills these microorganisms and prevents recontamination by hermetically sealing the container.  It also destroys enzymes in the food that cause it to spoil.  So how exactly does canning mitigate the threat of those wily yeasts and cunning bacteria?  I'll get to that part in my next post!

remember how I said it was going to be an exciting night?

I'm finally getting around to posting about the recipe I used over the weekend to make some delicious salsa!  I knew I wouldn't get a chance on Tuesday because we had a very busy evening.  Right after work we had a secret special errand to do (which I'll get to at the end) and then we went to our homebuying class!  The class was really interesting and kind of depressing.  Basically we came out if it thinking, "Man, we are never going to be able to buy a house!"  But I'm sure things will improve.  I just know it!  Anyway, we didn't get home until really late, at which point I collapsed into bed with no further thought of blogging.  Then last night I collapsed on the couch in a similar fashion, after making some yummy pesto risotto from this book, again.  Anyway, who can even think about blogging with a tummy full of risotto and kittens sleeping on you?  Seriously.  I mean, if you could crawl out from under there (especially with a headache, which I had) then you are a stronger person than I, and much more resistant to cute!

So!  Here it is, finally.  Our salsa came out a little on the bland and too-tomatoey side, but I think that's largely to do with us completely forgetting to measure the tomatoes until it was too late and we'd already dumped them into the pot with everything else.  Oops.  We didn't think we had enough so we added some more at the last minute, and I think that was probably a mistake.  I must add here that when canning it is very important to follow the recipe exactly.  (Do as I say, not as I do!)  There are reasons for doing things exactly like they say and even if you're not sure what they are, do them anyway.  It could make the difference between a winter full of yummy home-preserved goods and a winter full of spoiled jars of inedible food, or worse, botulism.  Yay botulism!  So!  Don't substitute ingredients or change the amounts of things unless you've been canning and preserving for long enough to know what you're doing and know that it's OK.  Please!  Thank you!

Fresh Vegetable Salsa
from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

7 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped, cored and peeled*
2 cups onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
8 jalapeños, diced (remove the seeds if you're a baby about spiceyness)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste (5.5 oz.)
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup loosely packed finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine all the ingredients.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.  (I'm going to write a post about how to do that in the very near future.  I promise.  It's just a little more than I can get into here at work...shhh...)

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot salsa.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes.  Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about 10 8-ounce or 5 pint jars.

*To easily peel the tomatoes, dip them in boiling water for about 30 seconds then remove with a slotted spoon and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water.  The skins should slip off easily after that.

So that's what it looks like when it's done!  Not bad!  I'd love to try another recipe, maybe one with fruit in it - anyone have a favorite?

And, in case you didn't notice the pretty ring on my finger, or just didn't think anything of it - we're getting married!  That was our secret special errand that we had to do after work on Tuesday - pick up a big hunk of sparkly, ooh yeah! It's really gorgeous and I love it!  And the boy who gave it to me! Wheeee!

my pantry

I just wanted to share the state of my homemade pantry. (In other words, stuff I put in jars and keep in the cabinet over the sink.) It makes me so happy just to look at it. Sometimes I open it just to gaze upon its loveliness. (Seriously. Does that make me weird?) It's a lifestyle choice - spend the extra time and energy now to make something delicious for future enjoyment. The possibilities are endless! I might make pickles this weekend, if I can get hold of a bunch of wee cukes. I've been feeling the need to add to my cabinet of goodies.

This past week has been a week of food firsts, which I think I'll post about this weekend. It's been exciting! Here's one:



Can you guess what they are? I'll give you a hint: they'll go really well with some of the items in the first photo! Yum!

yes, the basil is done!

Ah...what a wonderful day...

So the basil is finally dried! I used a combination of common sense and information from this website. It all started a couple days ago when I realized that the basil was getting enormous in its delicate little pots on the front stoop, so I decided to prune it. (The above photo was taken a few weeks ago, back when it was little!) For those of you who have never grown basil - it grows fast! And whenever you prune it, it just makes it bushier. What you do is clip it through the stem right above a pair of leaves and it will form two new stalks where before there was one. Marvelous! And you can cut off a hefty sized portion of the plant and it will be happier than ever. Isn't nature great?

I gathered my fragrant leaves, washed and dried them gently but thoroughly, pulled the leaves off their stems and put them on paper towels without touching.

I stacked them gently on top of one another, probably 5 or 6 layers, put them on a small baking sheet and stuck them in the (turned off) oven.

We have a gas stove, so the oven is always a little warm from the pilot light. That was enough heat to do the trick over the course of about three days! Every day I checked them and plucked off the ones that were dry already. The littlest ones finished first. They now all live in a little baggy in the freezer to keep fragrant and fresh. I very gently squeezed the air out of the baggy so they would stay fresher, but make sure not to squeeze them too much or you'll release their delicious aromatic oils too soon!

I was going to tell you all about the wonderful evening I had today, but I think I've gone on long enough... I'll just leave you with one last photo that epitomized my glorious evening...

I may or may not have a chance to post tomorrow...I'm unexpectedly going to be an extra for a movie tomorrow evening, so we'll see! Have a beautiful night!

peach butter

It's peach season!



Peaches are abundant at the farmers markets this time of year in Texas. I knew as soon as I saw the first ones a few weeks ago that I wanted to do something with them - jam, preserves, fruit butter, salsa...anything. (And of course, fresh ones for eating! I'll eat all the peaches I can get my hands on!) I had to put it off for a few weeks, since I spent my economic stimulus (and a bunch more) on a brand new bicycle, but finally yesterday was the day! I woke up early to get the best selection, tried (and failed) to drag M out of bed to accompany me, and cruised my way (in M's car, of course) down to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market, watching the threatening grey skies the whole time. Luckily, only a few errant drops of rain spattered the windshield, though I would have braved torrential downpours to get my peaches!

Upon arriving at the market, I was distressed to find that the peaches were not where I had seen them several weeks ago. Nearly heartbroken, I quickly scanned the rest of the market, only to discover several other stands selling peaches, peaches and more peaches! I picked up a couple of baskets from a kindly old farmer who seemed mildly amused to hear of someone (my age, presumably) making peach butter. Because yes! After consulting my trusty Complete Book of Home Preserving, it was peach butter that I finally decided on. I had never made a fruit butter before, but I'm certainly not afraid of trying new recipes and cooking methods, so I enlisted M's help and we blanched, peeled, squished, boiled, sugared, stirred and canned all evening. It was great.



You can find the recipe in the book, but basically, you peel and coarsely chop (or squish, which we found easier) many pounds of peaches, then boil them for about 20 minutes with some water and lemon juice. Then, you put them through a food mill or food processor (I love my food mill) and puree them. You return them to the pot, add enormous amounts of sugar, and cook them down for about an hour, stirring frequently so they don't stick and burn. Then comes the canning! (If you've never canned anything before, I recommend reading the chapter in the back of the book on canning methods and why they do what they do. It's really informative, but not overly so, and canning is really probably a lot less complicated than you might think! Maybe I'll do a post about the actual process sometime.)

We ended up with 5 pints of delicious, fruity summertime-in-a-jar. I know I will be glad we took the time to do this come wintertime when fresh peaches are only a fading memory and a faint hope on the horizon.



And why do I even bother? (Beside the obvious deliciousness, I mean...) When speaking with my sister recently, right after I'd canned a batch of fresh strawberry jam, she said, "Well, I just buy it from the store." And, indeed, that certainly is so much easier! But I feel like I lose something by doing it, if I really stop to think about it. I like to have a connection to my food. I like to understand the process of how something came to be what it is. There's no better way, in my opinion, to fully understand it than by actually doing it yourself! I also like to undertake some of the tasks that people (women, historically) used to really know how to do that so very many of us have forgotten completely, or never even known. That really underlies a lot of my hobbies - knitting, cooking, baking, preserving, film photography, growing vegetables and herbs... This, of course, isn't to say that I shun the world of technology at all! I love my laptop, I shoot digital photography, I eat store-bought foods and wear store-bought clothes. I just find that understanding the origins of my consumables helps me feel more grounded, more connected to the world around me, and imparts a greater feeling of gratitude for the things I do have.

My new project for the day? I'm drying some of my basil! I'll be back tomorrow or the next day with how that turns out!