Water Bath Canning and Pressure Canning...

[Ragged187]

Can any experienced canners or food preservers out there give a few tips and how to's for a person trying to start preserving my own food... safely? Thanks.

 

[Brent S]

Of course you can just google any canning recipe, but I strongly recommend buying a copy of the ball canning guide. It's about 10 bucks at Walmart. That way you have a hard copy to use if the power goes out. It covers all the basics. As far as water bath canning goes, it's pretty limited to what you can do. Go ahead and get a large pressure canner. Mine was a Presto from amazon for about 70 bucks. They are a little more in stores. The jars and lids are easily gotten at Walmart or dollar stores. I usually buy a little at a time with each trip to the grocery. Over time you will build a nice stockpile of supplies. One other thing, the jars are multi purpose. I use them for dry storage, leftovers storage for the fridge, even as drinking glasses. I like the country style anyways.

 

[Danil54grl]

I would also recommend the Blue Ball Canning. If you don't want to spend the money, their website has tons of recipes and so does the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. I am on my tablet and dont know how to post the link but sure you can Google. One of my favorites is Canning Granny's Canning Blog. Those are not all approved recipes from the canning Nazi's though.

 

[Danil54grl]

Those will also give you step by step instructions on the how tos. Most important is the pH level in the food you are canning. That will let you know if you can do the water bath or pressure can it. This the reason new canners need to follow the approved guidelines. If not processed long enough or acid level is too low, it can becomes a breeding ground for spores and you don't want that. I would recommend starting out with something easy, like a jam or relish of some kind just to get comfortable with the process. Those are both water bath and almost fail proof. Canning can be a lot of fun and peace of mind.

My first attempt was making peach jam from peaches bought at the farmers market when I was 19 years old. I had borrowed a book from the library with instructions cause let's face it, was way before the internet and I didn't have a lot of extra money to spend. It was messy the first go around but I accomplished what I was going for. It was a few years s down the line before I started with the pressure canner. I had heard all kinds of horror stories about them exploding their tops. This doesn't really happened with the newer models with the locking lids. Mine is a Presto that will hold 7 quarts at a time. The pressure canners are expensive but can be used in both water canning with lid just placed on top and not locked down and pressure canning. Just make sure you get a pressure canner with the dial or weight and not pressure cooker. There is a difference. Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[jimLE]

Canning Granny's Canning Blog is here..
http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/

 

[Maverick]

ball canning guide

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...l+canning+guide&rh=i:aps,k:ball+canning+guide

 

[Brent S]

There's lots of helpful people here! (For posting links)
Pickles and spicey picketed okra were some of my first try's. It's hard for bacteria to grow in all that vinegar, so your pretty safe.

 

[Brent S]

Canning isn't the only way to preserve stuff. I rather like fermenting some things..... these are the muscadine grapes I picked, washed, destemmed and sorted today. They went into the freezer to make into wine later on as I have several batches working right now. These grapes will make 75 bottles of red and white muscadine wine. I really should try making a jar of jam one day but just didn't want to waste the grapes .

 

[toexist]

Canning isn't the only way to preserve stuff. I rather like fermenting some things..... these are the muscadine grapes I picked, washed, destemmed and sorted today. They went into the freezer to make into wine later on as I have several batches working right now. These grapes will make 75 bottles of red and white muscadine wine. I really should try making a jar of jam one day but just didn't want to waste the grapes .View attachment 7777

 

[Ragged187]

Canning isn't the only way to preserve stuff. I rather like fermenting some things..... these are the muscadine grapes I picked, washed, destemmed and sorted today. They went into the freezer to make into wine later on as I have several batches working right now. These grapes will make 75 bottles of red and white muscadine wine. I really should try making a jar of jam one day but just didn't want to waste the grapes .View attachment 7777

Lol love the idea !

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[Ragged187]

Those will also give you step by step instructions on the how tos. Most important is the pH level in the food you are canning. That will let you know if you can do the water bath or pressure can it. This the reason new canners need to follow the approved guidelines. If not processed long enough or acid level is too low, it can becomes a breeding ground for spores and you don't want that. I would recommend starting out with something easy, like a jam or relish of some kind just to get comfortable with the process. Those are both water bath and almost fail proof. Canning can be a lot of fun and peace of mind.

My first attempt was making peach jam from peaches bought at the farmers market when I was 19 years old. I had borrowed a book from the library with instructions cause let's face it, was way before the internet and I didn't have a lot of extra money to spend. It was messy the first go around but I accomplished what I was going for. It was a few years s down the line before I started with the pressure canner. I had heard all kinds of horror stories about them exploding their tops. This doesn't really happened with the newer models with the locking lids. Mine is a Presto that will hold 7 quarts at a time. The pressure canners are expensive but can be used in both water canning with lid just placed on top and not locked down and pressure canning. Just make sure you get a pressure canner with the dial or weight and not pressure cooker. There is a difference. Good luck and have fun with it!

Thanks for the advice. It does seem to be better to start off with something more simple like a jam or jelly . [emoji108]

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