Guest Post: Sharing The Canning Love
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | September 7, 2010
We’re thrilled to present a guest post by dear friend of Tiny Choices, Meredith MacDonald:
Canning is definitely increasing in popularity. Now is the perfect time to get into preserving food through water bath canning. There are new books out, supplies are widely available and late summer is the time of bounty for many gardens and farmer’s markets.
What I want to share is the sense of accomplishment and power that I feel when I look at a case of jars filled with homemade salsa, tomato sauce or jam, and know that I chose every ingredient that went into the jars, my family and friends will be enjoying my work for the next year, and these are jars I won’t be tossing in the recycle bin when I’m finished.
You really need only a few simple supplies to put up a batch of salsa or jam:
- A stockpot to use as a canner. I use a 12 quart stockpot with a cover.
- A cake cooling rack to put on the bottom of the pot. This is critical! The jars should not be touching the bottom of the pot. They should be completely free standing to not impede the process.
- Jars, lids, and rings. New lids always – jars and rings are reusable.
- Dishtowels
- A wooden skewer to use for dislodging air bubbles
- Special tongs for putting the jars into and out of the hot water
Optional but highly recommended
- A wide funnel for the jars
- A ladle
You must use tested recipes to ensure that your food preserving is done safely. Some great books include The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and Preserving Summer’s Bounty. If you would like to be more creative, I highly recommend making jams and jellies with Pomona’s Pectin. It allows canners to create their own recipes and use as much or as little sweetener as they choose.
Start small. Start with your own batch of jam. Follow the USDA guidelines for safety. Would you believe that many people out there do not follow USDA guidelines for avoiding serious contamination such as botulism and then foist off their canned goods on unsuspecting friends and relations? Don’t be discouraged. It took a few years of canning various fruit syrups before I actually learned that I prefer using pectin to reliably make jam. Make fun labels. I suggest including the following language somewhere on there: Canned according to USDA guidelines. Store in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate after opening and use within two to three weeks. Contents may darken without affecting the flavor. Discard if the seal is broken. Reuse the jar or return it to the canner – do not recycle.
One thing I’ve noticed – for every great article on a community canning center, on where to buy fruit by the bushel, on a new canning recipe to try – there is someone else out there writing about what drudgery it is to waste a hot summer afternoon or evening in the kitchen over steaming pots of tomatoes and water. For me, it’s a rewarding way to spend time with my husband and my sister, who are the best sous-chefs and canning assistants I could ask for. I also love the Tiny Choice aspect of canning that pulls me out of the consumption/recycle merry-go-round. For you, who knows? Try it and decide for yourself.
[Image by Jeffrey W. via Creative Commons]
Topics: Food | 7 Comments »
Great to see a post on canning here! I spent a day in the kitchen this weekend canning 2 half bushels of tomatoes into stewed tomatoes, sauce and salsa. And like you, I *adore* looking in the pantry and seeing the gleaming shelf of jars filled with my work, knowing we’ll be eating locally and well when the weather turns cold!
You said “Discard if the seal is broken. Reuse the jar or return it to the canner – do not recycle.”
So I understand that you throw out the food if it has been in storage and the seal is no good (or use it right away after the water boiling if you found the seal to not be good) but what do you mean by “do not recycle?” I’m definitely missing something here. IIf old glass canning jars are chipped and no longer useful to can because they can’t generate a good seal, can’t they go in the recycling? Or do you mean that this is no reason to recycle the jar, that it can be used again and will likely get a fine seal?
Yay! Glad to see the post up. Delqc, if a jar is chipped or in any way broken, it can definitely be recycled! I meant that these jars aren’t cheap (usually around 75 cents USD each and up, esp for larger jars) and if you aren’t going to can with them, you should give them to someone who will, or to a thrift store, or use them to store pencils or something instead of just putting them out in the recycling bins. To me, a huge benefit of home canning is that it pulls glass out of the recycling process.
Yay! Awesome and inspiring article, Meredith!!
I tried canning for the first time this year – just baby steps. I have made four batches of freezer jam this summer, and am making a bunch of tomato sauce and enchilada sauce to freeze every time we get a new round of tomatoes. You have totally encouraged me to try water bath canning next summer!
I also wanted to mention that I found some BPA-free reusable lids + rings from Tattler that are really great and relatively affordable. (Regular lids that come with jars have BPA in the liners and as Meredith said aren’t reusable.) Weck makes all-glass lids but they’re spendier so I wanted to try these first.
http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/
For non-processing (freezer jam, leftovers, and other things) I use Ball all-in-one white plastic lids that are also BPA-free! I can’t seem to find a link but they’re great too.
Thanks for the lovely article!
Great article, thanks! After my great pickle failure two years ago I have been reluctant to try again but all the jams you make are so inspiring.
I fear canning because of the food poisoning thing. I freeze vegetables though. I dipped a toe in the canning water by making dill refrigerator pickles and blackberry freezer jam. I may have to try canning because I’m running out of freezer space!
I also wanted to mention that I found some BPA-free reusable lids + rings from Tattler that are really great and relatively affordable.