I’ve run into so many people lately–both in real life and online—who want to learn to tackle home canning. Believe me when I tell you that it’s really very easy. You just need to keep this one very important thing in mind: Low acid foods (think: meat and veggies) must be processed in a pressure canner. But don’t let that scare you away. A water bath process—basically, immersing full jars in a deep pot of boiling water for a specified period of time—is great for plenty of other things. This method has served me well for years in preserving much of my garden abundance. These canning recipes are all safe for water bath canning.
- This is what you need to know about canning jars.
- This is what a water bath canner looks like.
- A day of canning might look like this. If you are me.
- Please always follow safe canning practices as outlined here.
I promise — it’s not hard. If you can follow directions, you can do this.
Ripe tomatoes
You likely make garden fresh salsa all summer long, but you can fill your pantry with jars of salsa that will get you through the off-season. I use canned salsa to cap off taco night and as a homegrown ingredient for my chili. For something a bit different, try making a batch of this sweet and savory tomato chutney (one of my favorite canning recipes).
Try this jar: 1/2 Pint Mason
Green tomatoes
Save those end-of-season green tomatoes to make chow chow. Yes, it’s a funny name, but it’s delicious and gives a tangy zip to sandwiches and is great for stirring into egg salad.
Try this jar: 16 ounce Platinum Wide Mouth jars from Ball
Apples
I grew up on an apple farm, so you can bet we canned bushels and bushels of applesauce, always sugar-free and with extra cinnamon.
Try this jar: Wide Mouth Pint
Zucchini
If you’ve got an abundance of zucchini, let them take the lead in this sweet zucchini hamburger relish or turn them into bread & butter style pickles.
Try this jar: Wide Mouth Half-Pint
Strawberries
Oh yes. A big crop of strawberries requires the making of strawberry jam. Try this honey-sweetened version or how about this balsamic strawberry black pepper jam?
Try this jar: Bormioli Rocco Quattro Stagioni jars (these are a great size for gift giving)
Check out this at-a-glance infographic created for me by the lovely and talented Kathleen Reilly.
Don’tcha just love it??
Permission granted to republish this infographic; please link back to Attainable Sustainable and KathleenReilly.com.
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Yes! I love the infographic! I’ve Cannes using the water bath method three times and it still intimidates me. My husband and I are going to start canning in small batches, a la Food in Jars, and get more practice that way. Thanks for the great post!
Your pictures are so inspiring! I canned for the first time this year. So far I have canned orange marmalade and pineapple jam. Strawberry jam is next, then hopefully my tomatoes will produce so much that I get tired of canning tomato sauce and salsa!
I don’t think I can ever get tired of canning salsa. Great for chips, toppings, and I add it to my chili and Mexican dishes. Perfect way to preserve the garden bounty!
Love your graphic but needs two tiny amendments. First, NEVER use a knife to release air bubbles unless it’s plastic. Metal knives, no matter how light weight, can fracture the glass of your jars without you knowing it. Second, you need to add to take jar ringsOFF before storing! It’s so important! If your jar comes unsealed (which it can do even weeks or months after processing), a ring on the jar could cause it to re-seal and you are susceptible to eating foods that are no longer bacteria and botulism free.
You can leave rings on it doesn’t hurt it. You should take the rings off and wipe them off and the rim to make sure nothing is on them. I store mine with rings on and they don’t reseal just because rings are on. Second you can use a butter knife I do all the time. It’s just better to use plastic or silicone.
It’s recommended to remove the rings once jars have cooled. If a seal on a jar goes bad and the ring has been left on, it may cause the jar to reseal with temperature or humidity changes. If a seal goes bad on a jar with the ring removed, the lid will pop and stay popped.
I agree, it is important to take the rings off after cooling. Among the reasons already mentioned, if you leave the rings on, they could rust, making it nearly impossible to remove the lid.
Yes, a big problem here in humidity central!
An infographic for canning with a Pressure Canner would be great.