Let’s Start Canning

Basic Canning Procedure

When selecting fruits and vegetables that you want to can, you want to pick and process those as quickly as possible before losing their freshness and become spoiled.

One trick shared by home canners for tomatoes is to core the tomatoes and freeze them as they become ripe. Then thaw them out in a colander when you have enough to can a batch. This will take the skin right off the tomatoes and save a step in the canning process.

Washing

Before canning, be sure to thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables, to get off all the bacteria often found in the dirt. Wash small batches at a time. And handle gently to avoid any bruising.

Filling Jars

There are two ways to fill a jar; either raw or hot packed. Fruits and vegetables can be packed raw. Jellies would be filled hot.

They should be packed in the jar tightly because they will shrink during processing. But foods such as corn and peas should be packed loose, and they tend to expand during canning.

Hot food, such as jellies, salsas, and such. Should be packed rather loosely in the jars.

When canning fruits with syrup or juice, the liquid should fill all around the food and cover it completely.

Just remember to leave enough space at the top of the jar, so the liquid doesn’t expand out. It depends on what you’re canning. But leave enough air space from the food and the lid to prevent overflow during the processing.

The rule of thumb is somewhat between ½ to 1 ½ cups of liquid for a quart jar to cover food. And that depends on what you are canning. The liquid might vary some.

Canning Jar Lids

Closures consist of two rings: the outer ring and the metal sealing lid. The sealing lid has a sealing compound on the lid that securely seals the jar after the canning process. You can tell if a lid is sealed by tapping on the lid. If it springs up, it’s not sealed. If it’s indented and doesn’t spring up, it’s sealed completely.

Some jars won’t seal and will need to be processed again. This is normal, so don’t get discouraged if some of your jars didn’t seal.

It’s fun to listen for the popping sound the finished canned food lid makes when it seals. Once you get used to canning, you can tap your finger on the lid and tell by the sound if the jar has sealed or not.