Wash your jars, lids, and screw bands
After examining the jars for nicks or chips, the screw bands for proper fit and corrosion, and the new lids for imperfections and scratches, wash everything in warm, soapy water, rinsing the items well and removing any soap residue. Discard any damaged or imperfect items.
Get the kettle water warming
Fill your canning kettle one-half to two-thirds full of water and begin heating the water to simmering. Remember that the water level will rise considerably as you add the filled jars. Be sure to not overfill at this point.
Heat extra water in a teakettle or saucepan as a reserve. You want to make sure that the jars are covered with at least 1 to 2 inches of water. By adding preheated water, you don’t have to wait for the entire canner to reheat before continuing.
Keeping your equipment and jars hot while you wait to fill them
While you’re waiting to fill your jars, submerge the jars and lids in hot, not boiling, water, and keep your screw bands clean and handy as follows:
Jars: Submerge them in hot water in your kettle for a minimum of 10 minutes. Keep them there until you’re ready to fill them.
Lids: Submerge them in hot, not boiling, water in a saucepan. Keeping them separate from your jars protects the lid sealant.
Screw bands: These don’t need to be kept hot, but they do need to be clean. Place them where you’ll be filling your jars.
Step 2: Readying your food
Always use food of the highest quality when you’re canning. If you settle for less than the best, your final product won’t have the quality you’re looking for. Carefully sort through your food, discarding any bruised pieces or pieces you wouldn’t eat in the raw state.
Follow the instructions in your recipe for preparing your food, like removing the skin or peel or cutting it into pieces.
Similarly, prepare your food exactly as instructed in your recipe. Don’t make any adjustments in ingredients or quantities of ingredients. Any alteration may change the acidity of the product, requiring pressure canning (see Chapter 9) instead of water-bath canning to kill microorganisms.
If your recipe states something specifically, it’s there for a reason. If you don’t follow the recipe instructions to the letter, your final results won’t be what the recipe intended.
Step 3: Filling your jars
Add your prepared food (cooked or raw) and hot liquid to your prepared jars as soon as they’re ready. Follow these steps:
1. Transfer your prepared food into the hot jars, adding hot liquid or syrup if your recipe calls for it, and being sure to leave the proper headspace.
Use a wide-mouth funnel and a ladle for quickly filling your jars. You’ll eliminate a lot of spilling and have less to clean from your jar rims. It also helps cleanup and prevents slipping if you place your jars on a clean kitchen towel before filling.
2. Release any air bubbles with a nonmetallic spatula or a tool to free air bubbles. Add more prepared food or liquid to the jar after releasing the air bubbles to maintain the recommended headspace.
Before applying the two-piece caps, always release air bubbles and leave the headspace specified in your recipe. These steps are critical for creating a vacuum seal and preserving your food.
3. Wipe the jar rims with a clean, damp cloth.
If there’s one speck of food on the jar rim, the sealant on the lid edge won’t make contact with the jar rim and your jar won’t seal.
4. Place a hot lid onto each jar rim, sealant side touching the jar rim, and hand-tighten the screw band.
Don’t overtighten because air needs to escape during the sealing process.
Step 4: Processing your filled jars
With your jars filled, you’re ready to begin processing. Follow these steps:
1. Place the jar rack in your canning kettle, suspending it with the handles on the inside edge of the kettle.
2. Place the filled jars in the jar rack, making sure they’re standing upright and not touching each other.
Although the size of your kettle seems large, don’t be tempted to pack your canner with jars. Only place as many jars as will comfortably fit yet still allow water to move freely between them. And always process jars in a single layer in the jar rack.
Never process half-pint or pint jars with quart jars because the larger amount of food in quart jars requires a longer processing time to kill any bacteria and microorganisms. If your recipe calls for the same processing times for half-pint and pint jars, you may process those two sizes together.
3. Unhook the jar rack from the edge of the kettle, carefully lowering it into the hot water, and add water if necessary.
Air bubbles coming from the jars are normal. If your jars aren’t covered by at least 1 inch of water, add boiling water from your reserve. Be careful to pour this hot water between the jars, instead of directly on top of them, to prevent splashing yourself with hot water.
Make sure the tops of the submerged jars are covered with 1 to 2 inches of hot water. Add additional water from your reserve teakettle or saucepan to achieve this level.
4. Cover the kettle and heat the water to a full, rolling boil, reducing the heat and maintaining a gentle, rolling boil for the amount of time indicated in the recipe.
Start your processing time after the water boils. Maintain a boil for the entire processing period.
If you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet above sea level, you need to adjust your processing time. Check out “Adjusting Your Processing Times at High Altitudes” later in this chapter for details.
Step 5: Removing your filled jars and testing the seals
After you complete the processing time, immediately remove your jars from the boiling water with a jar lifter and place them on clean, dry, kitchen or paper towels away from drafts, with 1 or 2 inches of space between the jars — don’t attempt to adjust the bands or check the seals — and allow them to cool completely. The cooling period may take 12 to 24 hours. Do not try to hurry this process by cooling the jars in any way. This may result in unsealed jars or cracked glass.
After your jars have completely cooled, test your seals by pushing on the center of the lid (see Figure 4-2). If the lid feels solid and doesn’t indent, you have a successful vacuum seal. If the lid depresses in the center and makes a popping noise when you apply pressure, the jar isn’t sealed. Immediately refrigerate unsealed jars, using the contents within two weeks or as stated in your recipe.
Figure 4-2: Testing your jar seal.
Reprocessing unsealed jars
Jars may not seal for several reasons: You may have miscalculated the processing time, pieces of food may not have been cleaned from the jar rim, you may have left an improper amount of headspace, or the sealant on the lids may have been defective. The safest and easiest method for treating processed jars that didn’t seal is to refrigerate the jar immediately and use the product within two weeks.
If you want to reprocess jars that didn’t seal, you can do that. But keep in mind that reprocessing your food takes almost as much time as making the recipe from the beginning. The only time to consider reprocessing jars is if every jar in the kettle doesn’t seal.
To reprocess unsealed jars, follow these steps:
1. Remove the lid and discard it.
2. Check the edge of the jar for damage.
If the jar is damaged, discard the food in case a broken piece of glass fell into the food.
3. Discard any damaged jars.
4. Reheat the food.
5. Follow the step-by-step instructions in this chapter for filling your jars, releasing air bubbles, and processing your sterilized, filled jars.
6. Reprocess the filled jars for the recommended time for your recipe.
7. Check the seal after your jars have completely cooled.
Step 6: Storing your canned food
After you’ve tested the seal and know that it’s good (see the preceding section), it’s time to store your canned food. To do that, follow th
ese steps:
1. Remove the screw bands from your sealed jars.
2. Wash the sealed jars and the screw bands in hot, soapy water.
This removes any residue from the jars and screw bands.
3. Label your filled jars, including the date processed.
4. Store your jars, without the screw bands, in a cool, dark, dry place.
Adjusting Your Processing Times at High Altitudes
When you’re canning at an altitude higher than 1,000 feet above sea level, you need to adjust your processing time (see Table 4-1). Because the air is thinner at higher altitudes, water boils below 212 degrees. As a result, you need to process your food for a longer period of time to kill any microorganisms that can make your food unsafe.
If you live higher than 1,000 feet above sea level, follow these guidelines:
For processing times of less than 20 minutes: Add 1 additional minute for each additional 1,000 feet of altitude.
For processing times of more than 20 minutes: Add 2 additional minutes for each 1,000 feet of altitude.
Table 4-1 High-Altitude Processing Times for Water-bath Canning
Altitude (in feet)
For Processing Times Less Than 20 Minutes
For Processing Times Greater Than 20 Minutes, Add This
1,001–1,999
Add 1 minute
Add 2 minutes
2,000–2,999
Add 2 minutes
Add 4 minutes
3,000–3,999
Add 3 minutes
Add 6 minutes
4,000–4,999
Add 4 minutes
Add 8 minutes
5,000–5,999
Add 5 minutes
Add 10 minutes
6,000–6,999
Add 6 minutes
Add 12 minutes
7,000–7,999
Add 7 minutes
Add 14 minutes
8,000–8,999
Add 8 minutes
Add 16 minutes
9,000–9,999
Add 9 minutes
Add 18 minutes
Over 10,000
Add 10 minutes
Add 20 minutes
If you don’t know your altitude level, you can get this information from many sources. Try contacting your public library, a local college, or the cooperative extension service in your county or state. Check your local phone book for contact numbers. Or check out http://national4-hheadquarters.gov/Extension/index.html. Just find your state on the map and then your location on the individual state’s site.
Chapter 5
Simply Fruit
In This Chapter
Preserving freshly picked fruit for optimum flavor
Preventing fruit from lightening and darkening
Choosing jar-filling liquids
Making easy fruit pies and side dishes
Recipes in This Chapter
Canned Apples
Apple Pie Filling
Applesauce
Canned Apricots, Nectarines, and Peaches
Canned Raspberries
Canned Blueberries
Canned Pears
Rhubarb Pie Filling
Rhubarb Sauce
Canned Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Tomato Juice
Canning fresh fruit is a great way to preserve large quantities of ripe fruit in a short period of time. Buying fruit when it is in season saves money, and you can be assured of the best-flavored fruit. Canning fruit is easy to do: Just fill your jars with fruit and hot liquid and then process them! With canned fruit readily available, you have an easy snack or a quick side dish.
This chapter explains the importance of using freshly picked, perfectly ripe fruit and keeping your fruit looking and tasting its best. In addition to the instructions for canning a variety of popular fruits, you’ll also find tomatoes in this chapter. Often considered a vegetable, they are actually a fruit, and can be canned using the same technique.
Picking and Preparing Your Fresh Fruit
When selecting your fruit, think fresh, fresh, fresh! The best fruit for canning is freshly picked, ripe fruit. You’re lucky if you grow your own fruit or have a friend who shares hers with you. Some growers offer a “pick your own” option in their growing area for a fee. (Ask growers at farmer’s markets or check your local phone directory for locations in your area.) You’ll need to bring your own containers for the fruit.
Fruit from your supermarket isn’t the best choice because it’s often picked before it’s fully ripened in order to compensate for the time it takes to get the fruit from the field to the store shelf. Don’t boycott your supermarket, just be finicky when selecting your fruit for canning.
The sooner you process your picked fruit, the better the texture and flavor of your final product. Your fruit can wait a few hours or overnight before you process it, but be sure to refrigerate it until you’re ready.
Almost all fresh fruits can well with these exceptions: bananas, lemons, limes, melons, persimmons, and strawberries.
Identifying the proper degree of ripeness
How do you know if your fruit is ripe? Ripe fruit is defined as being fully developed, or mature, and ready for eating. If you grow your own fruit, you can check its development and maturity daily.
To check the fruit’s ripeness
Hold the fruit in the palm of your hand and apply gentle pressure with your thumb and fingers. The fruit should be firm to the touch. If there’s an impression in the fruit that doesn’t bounce back, the fruit is overripe. If it’s hard as a rock, it’s underripe. Neither should be canned. If you’re picking your fruit for canning, you can perform the same test, with a slight difference: Do it while the fruit’s still attached to the tree.
Smell the fruit. Ripe fruit has a rich, full fruit aroma. A peach should smell like a peach; an apple should smell like an apple. The fragrance should be strong enough to entice you to devour the fruit on the spot.
Always use fruit picked directly from the bush or tree. Fruit collected from the ground (referred to as dropped fruit or ground fruit) is an indication that the fruit is overripe. Don’t use it for canning.
Cutting and peeling: Necessary or not?
When you can fruit, should you leave the skin on or take it off? Depends on the recipe. Sometimes leaving the skin on your fruit is optional. Other times, the peel must be removed. Always follow your recipe for specific guidelines.
Similarly, you may wonder whether cutting your fruit is necessary. The answer here depends on the fruit. The fruit you select dictates using it whole or cutting it into pieces. For example, fitting whole apples into a canning jar is difficult, but peeled apples cut into slices easily pack into a jar. You leave small fruit, like berries, whole.
Deterring discoloration
There’s probably nothing more unattractive than a piece of perfectly ripe cut fruit that’s oxidized or discolored, dark or brown. Discoloration primarily occurs in apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, and pears but may occur in other fruits.
You can protect your fruit from oxidation by slicing it directly into one of the following antioxidant solutions, a liquid to keep your fruit from darkening:
An ascorbic acid or citric solution: Make a solution with 1 teaspoon of lemon or lime juice in 1 cup of cold water, or use a commercial product, like Ever-Fresh or Fruit-Fresh, available in most supermarkets. When using one of these products, follow the instructions on the container.
Ascorbic acid or citric acid is simply vitamin C. It doesn’t change the fruit flavor. It’s sold in powder form and is usually found in drugstores.
Vinegar, salt, and water: Make this solution with 2 tablespoons of vinegar (5 percent acidity), 2 tablespoons of salt (pickling or kosher), and 1 gallon of cold water. Don’t leave your fruit in this solution longer than 20 minutes because the solution extracts nutrients from your fruit and changes its flavor.
After its dip in your antioxidant solution, you just rinse and drain your fruit before p
acking it into your prepared jars.
Raw pack and hot pack
Canning and Preserving For Dummies Page 7