Canning Tips For Beginners

New to canning? I’ve gathered a few canning tips for beginners to help you get started.

If you’re new to canning, it might be scary to even thing about it. You may have heard horror stories from poorly canned foods.  You may have preserved your food in different ways before:

• freezing fruits and veggies is as easy as packing them in freezer bags
• drying herbs is one of the easiest ways to preserve them: just lay them out in the shady and breezy part of your home or garage. Of course, a dehydrator makes things even easier!
• dehydrating is also easy: just wash your produce, slice it and lay it out on your dehydrator

Food Canning Equipment You Need

Norpro Canning Essentials Boxed Set, 6 Piece SetPresto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and CookerGranite Ware Enamel-on-Steel Canning Kit with Blancher, 12-Piece

Safe food canning requires some equipment. You don’t need all the gadgets you hear about, but you need a few basic caning accessories.

This Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner has a 21.5-quart capacity and comes with a jar rack for your convenience. Also, it’s made right here in the US.

If you don’t want to invest in a canner yet, you can use a large soup pot you already have in your kitchen. But then you’ll need some other accessories to help you handle hot jars and lids safely.

You’ll also need some labels to mark your jars once you’re done (these are my favorite labels

Of course, we shouldn’t forget the canning jars. There are many shapes and sizes, so you can have some fun if you wish. Just remember that some jars, while cute, are harder to clean after using (I find square and hexagonal jars harder to clean).

Now you’re all set to start canning. Shall we?

Canning Tips For Beginners

Start With Jam Canning

The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits Jam canning is one of the easiest ways to can, and is perfect for a beginner. To start, prepare your fruit by washing, coring, and slicing (if needed). Get your canning accessories ready and you’re ready to go.

You can look online for more specific recipes, but jams are so easy, that I don’t really use a recipe. Here’s a basic recipe you can adapt depending on which fruits you’re using.

• 1 cup fruit
• 1/2 cup of sugar (some recipes ask for more, and for some, you can use less)
• bring your fruit to boiling, add the sugar and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes stirring often, until it starts to set
• ladle it into your warm sterilized jars, leaving about 1/4 inch head-space
• cover and band your jars, then place them in your canner for 10 minutes
• after 10 minutes remove them from the canner and cool them before storing them in your pantry for safe keeping. I like covering the jars with blankets and leaving them covered for 30 hours or more until completely cooled off
• label and store

Easy Canning Vegetables

Ball Canning Back to Basics: A Foolproof Guide to Canning Jams, Jellies, Pickles, and More There are some vegetables that are easier to can than others, and not all vegetables can be canned. As a rule, if you see it in a can at the supermarket, you can try your hand at canning it.

Best vegetables for canning

Here are some of the best vegetables for canning:

• Asparagus
• Beans
• Carrots
• Corn
• Peas
• Peppers
• Tomatoes

I personally prefer to freeze my beans, corn, and peas. And my favorite vegetables to can are peppers and tomatoes. Here’s a nice list of tomato canning recipes.

If you decide to can beans, you’ll need a pressure canner, not the hot bath canner I enticement above. This is very important, or your beans won’t be safe. Make sure you look up a recipe and follow the instructions religiously: you want to keep your family safe.

The Blue Book Guide to Preserving by Jarden Home Brand is a must-have in any kitchen. It has over 500 tried and true recipes and gives you the safety guidelines you need as a canning beginner.

Pickled Vegetables Canning

Some vegetables are best canned pickled: cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower, beets, carrots, pearl onions, and others.
The Joy of Pickling has 300 Flavor-Packed Recipes for All Kinds of Produce from Garden or Market. It’s a must-have if you’re serious about pickling your harvest.

When you can your pickled produce, your food is very well preserved: the vinegar solution already does a great job preserving the food. Canning ads even more time and allows you to store vegetables that would otherwise go back quickly, even longer.

What Not To Can

Stay away from canning meats or high-acid produce like tomatoes at the beginning of your canning career. Those can be a little trickier to can successfully.

Get a few batches of canning under your belt, and invest in some good canning gear (including thermometers and proper canning pots before giving these types of canned goods a try.

Warning: store any jars that didn’t completely seal in the fridge and use them within the next couple of days.

Now, did you can or pickle hot peppers and didn’t take the right precautions? Here’s how to stop jalapeno burning skin.

Adriana Copaceanu

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Adriana Copaceanu is a passionate nature lover living in the country on her dream property where she grows vegetables, lavender, and wildflowers that she shares with the wildlife they attract. When she's not in the garden, she loves spending time with her chickens and planning her next nature project. Check out her books below:

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