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How To Can

How To Can
Canning is a quick way to preserve large quantities of food.
"We eat what we can and freeze what we can, and what we can't, we can" is a saying in my family.

The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is the bible of safe canning. If it's done right, canned food can still be safe to eat after 100 years.

Io demonstrates at "Fort Awesome" in Berkeley CA. Other illustrations are from the USDA
 
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Step 1Why Canning?

Why Canning?
"Keep it hot, keep it cold, or don't keep it" is another saying in my family.
This chart from the USDA shows why this is good advice. The microorganisms that cause food to spoil don't live well at high and low temperatures.

Canning is a way to preserve food at room temperature. It works by cooking the food and containers at high temperatures to kill micro-organisms and sealing the jar so no new ones can enter.

Properly canned food is safe. Improperly canned food can cause Botulism poisoning from Clostridium Botulinum bacteria. The name comes from the Latin word for "sausage", "botula".(wpedia)
The spores of this bacterium are present nearly everywhere. They can survive some boiling. They thrive in an anaerobic environment such as a sealed can, producing a nerve toxin. They can't handle acidity below ph4.6, oxygen, or a wet temperature above 250f.
The keys to safe canning of food are PH, moisture content, cooking temperature, pressure, time, sterile procedures and proper sealing.
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35 comments
Apr 17, 2009. 11:44 AMlemonie says:
I appreciate cleanliness and that, but I don't see any value in sterilising clean jars if you're going to sterilise them again after filling and sealing - what am I missing here?

L
Apr 18, 2009. 2:40 AMBluewren says:
it sterilises the inside where your going to put the food because that's the last place you want all those nasty germies
Apr 18, 2009. 11:49 AMlemonie says:
But the inside is sterilised in step 10 anyway. L
Aug 1, 2011. 8:12 AMLittleMonkeyMojo says:
You sterilize the jars in step 6. The boil in step 10 is to make sure the contents (fruit) reach a temperature which will kill off bacteria.
Aug 1, 2011. 1:33 PMlemonie says:

Would the clean glass jars not reach a temperature which will kill off bacteria in the boil?

L
Aug 1, 2011. 2:07 PMLittleMonkeyMojo says:
It's not a matter of sterilizing the jars, it's a matter of making sure the contents of the jars reach a temperature which is high enough to kill bacteria. If you put something "dirty" in an incredibly clean jar, the "cleanness" of the jar will not magically make the contents clean.
Aug 1, 2011. 11:26 PMlemonie says:

Yes, not being a matter of sterilising the jars was my original point (>2 years ago) - is there any real need for step 6?

L
Apr 18, 2009. 7:36 PMalex-sharetskiy says:
PKM's words

"Why? Because we can."
Apr 18, 2009. 10:23 PMwolf555hound says:
lol... can.
Apr 18, 2009. 1:28 AMpeanutbutterancheese says:
I'm not sure why either, but keep in mind, when jars come out of the box, even if the lids were put on in the factory, they still smell pretty dusty, so at least a good rinse is worth your time.
Jun 5, 2010. 7:35 PMmorgaash says:
yummy, kiwifruit jam
Apr 16, 2010. 3:56 PMFoaly7 says:

This works for preserving whole tomatoes, doesn't it?

Sep 19, 2009. 9:42 PMAzureEyes says:
good 'ible. Would a pressure cooker/canner make the process go by any faster? I'm trying to justify buying one.
Apr 18, 2009. 3:12 PMwoody558 says:
Do you have to have a can that has the thing that will snap when you press it?
Apr 18, 2009. 7:36 PMalex-sharetskiy says:
a mason jar?
Apr 18, 2009. 7:42 PMwoody558 says:
Can I use a jelly jar? It doesn't snap down though.
Apr 18, 2009. 8:33 PMalex-sharetskiy says:
yes, and no... when you heat stuff, it expands, if you fill your jar with cold 'stuff' and heat/boil it, the jar will explode (if it doesn't let out air) but if you fill it with boiling hot 'stuff', and heat/boil it then, you'll be fine Making sense?
Jun 24, 2009. 1:50 AMvikingbrute says:
My understanding is that the 'final boil' is to expand the small pocket of air in the jar with heat causing it to push out some. Once cooled the air contracts causing a vacuum inside the jar sucking the lid down tightly, creating a nice tight seal.
Jun 24, 2009. 7:24 PMalex-sharetskiy says:
some jars may not let air out
Apr 19, 2009. 5:25 AMwoody558 says:
Thanks
Jun 18, 2009. 9:18 PMCMLion says:
Canning USA.com has a lot of good information on canning--plus the reasons for sterilizing the whole thing in boiling water.
May 11, 2009. 4:31 PMSavethetrees411 says:
This is my favorite step of the process. this is a great way to preserve food and use wasted steam. Thank you ;)
Apr 23, 2009. 9:01 AMjoca68 says:
boil the filled jars? Can you explain why? I've been making jam for ages, and pickes and so on, but I never did this step. Am I doing it all wrong?
Apr 30, 2009. 5:15 AMcarpespasm says:
Just as one more precautionary step. Better to give the whole thing one more chance to boil any potential little buggers straggling on their way to botulism heaven.
Apr 26, 2009. 2:19 PMpoppamoon says:
It's nice to see others keeping the old skills alive.
Apr 18, 2009. 8:43 AMlaura.prickett says:
I thought boiling the lids (with the seals) wasn't recommended - it can melt the ring and cause it to not seal completely when further processed. Don't the instructions say to either dip the lids in water that was just boiling or just pour boiling water over them?
Apr 18, 2009. 7:36 PMalex-sharetskiy says:
very useful!
Apr 18, 2009. 10:21 AMthepelton says:
Like the POTUS said: Yes we can!
Apr 18, 2009. 12:20 AMSinAmos says:
Great work here. Very useful.:)
Apr 17, 2009. 4:17 PMcaptain Jack says:
very informative. love the charts!
Apr 17, 2009. 10:20 AMthepelton says:
It appears that you have canned kiwifruit in one photo. Would you use the same times for Kiwifruit that you use for blackberries?
Apr 17, 2009. 6:24 AMPKM says:
Why? Because we can.
Apr 16, 2009. 8:51 PMYerboogieman says:
We can food almost every year since 2004, Pickles, lots of types of jam(kiwi is too expensive, is it pretty good?) pickles, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetables, all kinds, that canning funnel and lid magnet for picking them out of the water are really nice to use.
Apr 16, 2009. 5:48 PMTool Using Animal says:
Very nice, my wife and I used to can, been too long.

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Author:TimAnderson
Tim Anderson is the author of the "Heirloom Technology" column in Make Magazine. He is co-founder of www.zcorp.com, manufacturers of "3D Printer" output devices. His detailed drawings of traditional ...
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