What you need on hand to begin Canning food at home

Note: it is best to NOT STACK Jars, These were stacked for the picture.

Ok, we have been meaning to get this post written for MONTHS but it just seemed like a lot of information to put in one post. We are by no means experts and this is just our options and how we do things but before canning something new I aways look for information from a few different sources, I have a couple books which are listed at the bottom along with the Internet which makes things so easy.

Amber and I both only use the water bath method, I do use a pressure canner from time to time when I am at my Father’s but with small children we are not willing to have any issues with a pressure canner in our homes. So, we will only be talking about the water bath method, and most if not all of our canning recipes on this blog will be using the water bath method.

With the water bath method remember you want to only process high acid foods, such as tomatoes, salsa, fruit, jellys and pickles. Corn, green beans, etc are low in acid and MUST be processed in a pressure canner. In the picture above of my canned goods you will see beans, asparagus, etc but they have been canned with my father’s pressure canner not the water bath method.

Here is a video from Ball canning which is the GO TO site for tips. This video shows you better than I can type up so watch the video then ask questions if you have any. Once the processing time is up remove the jars from the water and I let mine sit for a day before moving to the cabinet. When I can I have a large pan of water with my jars boiling to sterilize (this is the same pan that I will process in), a smaller pot for my lids and rings to boil in water.

What you need

Besides your fruit or vegetables you are wanting to can, and your jars you will also need a large stock pot this is the first year I have had a rack so that is not necessary any large pot will do. You will also want a canning funnel to pour your goodies into the hot jars, I prefer a metal funnel, because you will be using it with very hot liquid and I try not to use a lot of plastic in my kitchen, they also make them in glass. You all want some metal tongs to be able to get your lids, rings, and hot jars. And a Jar Lifter really helps putting hot jars in and out of the water .

Worries and Concerns

Everyone worries about Botulism when home canning so make sure you do your research and feel comfortable with the canning process before you start. BUT remember people have been canning for hundreds of YEARS and with out books and the Internet. Also there are VERY few, like 150 cases of botulism a year from what I have seen and less than half of those are from home canning. I have also seen a way to help decrease risk to boil the vegetables for 20 minutes before you eat it to get rid of any spores that are present. I have been canning for years and never had any issues. I have had a jar or two of jelly mold…. but you see that you KNOW it is no good. and I had one jar of beans that I had thrown out because they did not smell just right when I opened them. But really that it is. So am I a scared NO, but I am careful.

Here is another video from ball about how to prepare and can tomatoes.

Here is our Pinterest board just for canned goods

Here are a few more sites to visit and find more information about canning:

Again here are the basic canning supplies along with jars, lids and rings. I prefer wide mouth lids but you can often find the regular lid jars cheaper. Click on any of the pictures below and it will link you with amazon where you can find more information.