Women's Home Activities

The crops from the garden have steadily been coming in and from now until the time they are depleted my kitchen has been geared up for the home canning part of the season. I’ve shared with you all in my previous post Canning and Freezing Food at Home that my two favorite means of preserving fresh food is by using either the freezing method or the water bath approach. What I realized was that I have neglected to tell you about the Water Bath Canning Procedures. My apologies for that, but let me make it up to you by explaining the process now.

Water Bath Canning Equipment

In order to get started with your home canning activities there is some basic canning equipment that you will need to purchase if you don’t already have the items on hand. I have written about this also in another post that conveniently has a list of the items that can be used for most of your canning projects.

Where to Look for Canning and Preserving Utensils-Part 2 contains the canning equipment that I most frequently use with my own canning and preserving endeavors. I felt it important to include this link so that you may also take a look at the different kinds of canning utensils that you will need for your own ventures in preserving fresh food. Two of the most important canning equipment items to have are the canning utensil set and the water bath canner with rack. You will understand why these pieces of canning equipment are so crucial for your canning project in a moment.

It is also very important to remember that glass canning jars (mason jars) are the only containers recommended for safe home canning especially with the water bath canning method. Please do not be tempted to use any other type of glass container.

Inspect each jar and don’t use any jar with chips or cracks, or rings that appear to be damaged. You will also need to use new lids for the jars after they have been processed or the after the seal has broken. These lids are not re-useable for canning again. The glass jars and rings are recyclable so don’t throw those out when you have finished polishing off your yummy treats; keep them for next year’s canning project.

Basic Steps to Water Bath Canning

The reason I choose water bath canning has a lot to do with the type of fruits and vegetables that we grow in our garden. This type of canning method works well for some of the vegetables like the tomatoes and cucumbers we grow that are soon turned in to sauces, salsas, stewed tomatoes and a variety of pickles. We also have a few different kinds of fruits such as peaches, pears, apples and grapes that we like to make jellies and preserves out of and water bath canning is a great way to process these high acidic foods.

Follow these basic steps to prepare your jars for water bath canning:

Preparing the canning jars -

• Clean the jars, lids and ring bands in hot soapy water. You do not have to dry them, but they do need to be well rinsed. I tend to run them through the dishwasher myself.

• Prepare the recipe of what you plan on canning. I follow package directions or use my home canning book for these wholesome recipes.

• Heat the canning jars. Make sure you put the rack in the bottom of your water bath canner before you put your jars in. Add water to the canner around the jars. For half-pint jars fill the canner with water until it reaches the top of the jars. For pints and quart jars fill each jar about 2/3 full of water. Let the jars simmer over medium heat to about 180 degrees F; boiling is not necessary. Just make sure the jars stay hot until your recipe is prepared.

• Prepare the lids and bands. Set the clean ring bands aside; they do not need to be heated. Put the flat round lids in a small sauce pan covered with water and simmer on stovetop at the same temperature and directions as with the jars.

Filling the canning jars-

• Take the hot jar out of the canner with your canning lifter. Only work with one jar at a time. Pour the hot water back into the canner.

• Put the hot jar on a heat protected surface.

• Place your canning funnel in the jar.

• Ladle your prepared recipe into the hot jar allowing for the headspace specified in the recipe.

• Use a flat plastic/rubber spatula between the food and the inside of the jar to release air bubbles. Adjust headspace if necessary.

• Wipe the rim, threads and outside of the jar with a damp cloth or paper towel. Use your magnetic lid lifter from the hot water and place a lid on the center of the filled jar.

• Place the band ring on the jar and screw the band down until resistance is met then continue to finger tightness. Do not over tighten.

• Return the jar to the hot water bath canner. Repeat steps until all the jars are filled.

Processing the filled canning jars –

• Heat-process the filled jars. When all of the jars are filled with the prepared recipe adjust the water level in the water canner so that the jars are covered by one inch. Put the water bath canner lid on and bring the water inside the canner to a full running boil. Once the water is boiling hard and continuously you must start the processing time specified on the particular canning recipe. I always set a timer for this to help me remember.

• Cool the jars. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Let the canner sit and cool for 5 minutes. (Again I use a timer)

• After timer ends remove the jars one by one using your canning jar lifter. Do not tilt the jars.

• Don’t worry if there is water on top of the jar lids, some of it will evaporate.

• You do not want to touch the top of the lids at this point anyway because this is the time that the seal is being formed.

• Put the jars on a towel in an upright position and leave them undisturbed for at least 24 hours. If there is a draft in this area place another dish towel loosely on top of the cooling jars so that the draft doesn’t interfere with the cooling and sealing process.

• In just a few hours after the jars start to cool you may hear a pop or ping sound. Don’t worry this is a good thing; it means the canning jars are beginning to seal.

After Processing your filled canning jars –

• Checking the vacuum seal. The next day (24 hrs.) you should check the jar lids to see if they have sealed.

• Remove the ring bands and press down on the center of the jar lid. Sealed lids will be concaved (an indention downward) and will not move when pressed.

• If you are not sure that the canning jar is sealed, grasp the edges of the lid with one hand while holding the bottom of the jar in the other. A cooled, sealed lid will stay firmly attached to the jar.

• Jars that have not sealed properly should be refrigerated immediately. It would be a good idea to use this product up within a few days.

Storing your Home Canned Foods –

• Your sealed canned goods need to be cleaned and labeled before storing.

• Take a damp cloth and thoroughly wipe lids, jar threads and surfaces to remove any water residue or food particles.

• Label the newly canned fresh food with the month and year as well as the type of canning recipe. (Ex. – 7/10 Sweet Pickles) You may either use a stick on label to the lid or just write on the lid with a permanent marker. I tend to place the labels on the lids because these will be discarded after the canned goods are gone and then I don’t have to soak off the label on the jar before next year.

• Store home canned food in a cool, dark place such as a pantry or cupboard. Basements are ideal but we are not all blessed to have one, so do the best you can.

• It is recommended to use the home canned goods within a year. Not that the food goes bad after that, it is just that the quality will be reduced after that time. (Just an aside from that recommendation – I have found that jams and jellies for sure are just fine past the year date. Mostly they don’t last that long in my family though, we like our jelly biscuits in this household!)

Viola! There you have it the Water Bath Canning Procedures for your viewing and attempting pleasure. I bet you are wondering where I got all this helpful information, right? Well I have friends and family that have been home canning for decades. I learn a lot from them and I feel very blessed to have them share their secrets with me.

As a reference point though I do love another source of canning and preserving that not only was the basis of this post with all these helpful steps and tips but also includes tons of recipes for you to try out yourself. I’m talking about the Ball Complete Book Of Home Preserving. Check out this link and see if you agree with me. It is very well written and breaks things down so that even a canning novice can understand the steps. Believe you me this canning book has helped me immensely with my canning projects.

Well that’s all for now folks. Leave me a message and let me know what you think or if you have any questions. Until next time, Happy Home Canning y’all!