Make sure you have enough of each item to be canned. This way you can make it through the winter. A little prior planning can go a long way and can really make the difference in the winter dishes. Imagine having freshly canned green beans in your casserole during the holidays, instead of having to use poor quality ones found in the grocery stores during that time.
Pick and can more of the items you know you and your family will use, after all, they can be used at a later date and it is better to have more than less. The canned goods can also be used to give away as presents or special gifts to those who are dear to your heart.
Conclusion
Canning for the winter is all about preparation. Making sure you have the right supplies, the right amount of storage space and enough ingredients to get you through. This is a great way to make the cold winter months much more enjoyable.
Toiling over the ground; tilling until it is just right. Mixing fertilizer until your hands are stained black and neat little rows are prepared, equal distances apart, to ensure the best end results. Laying down the seeds with care, making sure they are properly spaced and judging the depth of each different variety by your well-trained measuring utensil, otherwise known as your pointer finger.
Tending to the seedlings you watch them sprout and grow up into magnificent plants. It is now August – harvest time – and while you may have the proper tools to harvest your prized crops, there are some other gardening supplies and accessories that you may not have considered to help you keep and store your hard work for later use.
Supplies
Remember the story of the ant and the cricket? The ant worked hard to make sure there was food for the winter while the cricket had fun. Being prepared for the winter makes living a lot easier and tastier as well. Some of the tools you will need to can for the winter is a boiling water canner and a pressure canner, jars, lids, rings and of course, hard work gathering the things you want to can.
While these items will help you, there are some other things you may want to consider such as recipes, a temperature and pressure guide for canning. Don’t for the most important and final part, family and a few friends to share your delights with.
Storage
While it is always great to can 100 jars of your favorite strawberry preserve, it might help out to have a place to put them all. Make sure you have enough room to store all of your canned goods. The way to store your jars is in a cool room that does not get direct sunlight. This will keep the cans under pressure so they hold the seal. Remember, the heating then cooling off is what created the seal in the first place; getting them hot again will only loosen the seal and cause the goods to spoil.
It is important to follow the instructions on the recipe exactly. Any deviation in technique could lead to spoiled foods or food that doesn’t taste right because too much salt or acid was used. Things to remember are times in the pressure canner or boiling water bath, how much acid to add to the can and the right amounts of spices to be added. This will preserve the taste so the foods taste the way you want it to when opened back up.
Use Proper Materials
Make sure the can is properly cleaned, the flat has not been used and the band is not rusted or warped in any way. It is important to use proper techniques when canning, otherwise the seal may not hold or certain bacteria may be incorporated into the food. Using the right types of canner for the job is also important. For example, having a pressure canner, which does not hold a proper seal, may make it difficult to get a proper seal on the can or can keep the food from reaching the proper temperature for it to preserve correctly.
Canning is much easier today, but there are still certain rules you must follow in order to properly preserve your favorite foods. Knowing your food, following the recipe and instructions and using the right materials is a great way to make sure your canning will work the way it should. Keeping it simple is the easiest way to make your canning as quickly as possible because it helps reduce the amount of mistakes being made that can spoil your food
Canning today, is as easy as it ever has been. It’s nothing like the old days when it took a whole week to can one section of vegetables from your garden. Today, a whole garden can be completed in a day or two. While industrial canning can take place in a matter of minutes, there are still some standard precautionary measures to take while canning at home. Here are some things to remember when canning this year:
High Acid vs. Low Acid
It is important to know the acidity of the foods you are trying to can. Some foods have a high acidity, while others are extremely low. Knowing the acid level of your food gives you the knowledge of how to make sure they are safely canned. High acid foods can be safely canned in a boiling water canner, while the low acid foods can only be canned safely in a pressure cooker.
Low acid foods, strangely enough with a pH higher than 4.6, cannot stave off the harmful bacteria at low temperatures, like those found in a boiling water canner. These low acid foods are things like vegetables, proteins, sauces and soups. These must be canned in a pressure canner that reaches at least 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
High acid foods, with a pH lower than 4.6, can safely be canned in a boiling water bath because their natural acidity helps to kill and prevent the bacteria that can form. The lower temperature is enough, combined with the natural acidity of the food, to be safely preserved. These types of foods include fruit, jams, jellies, relishes and acidified tomatoes.
Until this point, the cans were only being produced around five to six cans an hour. In 1849, the first machine to manufacture canned goods was patented by Henry Evans and can production began to ramp up to around 50 cans per hour. Once this process was honed, everything was stored in cans; corned beef, tuna, even the mystery meat known as SPAM.
The Turn Around
Around 1960, John Mason introduced the first jar that was capable of being used at home. This was incredibly empowering at the home front as it allowed people to begin to can all of their own fruits and vegetables instead of buying canned goods at the store. There was a bit of an issue at first due to the price of the, well named, Mason jars. Farmers didn’t make enough money to buy them and the people who could afford them didn’t have farms.
From then until now, canning has grown drastically. Canned foods now allow us to survive through natural disasters, help the needy and are, in many cases; fresher than the foods we buy in the produce section. Why? They went from fresh to preserve within a couple of hours.
Today, cans are widely seen throughout the world and can openers have moved from a simple turn key to mechanical pieces or useable art. The next time you pick up a canned good, think about Napoleon Bonaparte and his ingenious call for invention that lead to the modern day way to preserve.
Imagine 300 years ago, trying to travel across the country with food supplies. The horse drawn carriage, no refrigeration or cooling capacity, the bugs all around trying to figure out what is in the bag; it would be a disaster. Actually, this is exactly how it was up until the 18th century, when canning was invented.
The Challenge
In the late 1700’s Napoleon Bonaparte understood that the performance of his troops was directly proportional to the fullness of their bellies. Unfortunately, the situation described above was the norm back in that day, so a challenge was issued. In 1795, Napoleon offered a cash prize of 12,000 Francs to anyone who could come up with a way to package and preserve food for his military forces.
At this point, the mad dash to become the first to packaged food started. It wasn’t until 1809 that a man by the name of Nicolas Appert discovered the rudimentary form of canning. He figured out that food, placed in a glass bottle and heated up, would have a much higher success rate of preserving than any other means at that time. Nicolas won the cash prize.
The Problem and Solution
However, a few years later in 1810, an Englishman named Peter Durand received the first patent for canning with his pottery, glass and tinplated iron use in the canning process. In 1818, Durand finally introduced his all-tin-can in America, but it wasn’t until almost 30 years later the first can opener was invented.
