Canning & Preserving For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Page 6
Following is a list of the equipment you must have on hand, no exceptions or substitutions, for safe and successful water-bath canning:
A water-bath canner: The water-bath canner consists of a large kettle, usually made of porcelain-coated steel or aluminum, that holds a maximum of 21 to 22 quarts of water, has a fitted lid, and uses a rack (see the next item) to hold the jars (see Figure 4-1). Do not substitute a large stock pot for a water-bath canner. It is important for the jars to be sitting off the bottom of the canner, and there are racks that fit this purpose, included in your canner kit.
Although aluminum is a reactive metal (a metal that transfers flavor to food coming in direct contact with it), it's permitted for a water-bath canner because your sealed jar protects the food from directly touching the aluminum.
Figure 4-1: A water-bath canning kettle with the rack hanging on the edge of the kettle.
A jar rack: The jar rack for a water-bath canner is usually made of stainless steel and rests on the bottom of your canning kettle. It keeps your jars from touching the bottom of the kettle, or each other, while holding the filled jars upright during the water-bath processing period. The rack has lifting handles for hanging it on the inside edge of your canning kettle (refer to Figure 4-1), allowing you to safely transfer your filled jars into and out of your kettle.
Canning jars: Canning jars are the only jars recommended for home-canning. Use the jar size recommended in your recipe. For more on canning jars, refer to Chapter 2.
Two-piece caps (lids and screw bands): These lids and screw bands, explained in detail in Chapter 2, create a vacuum seal after the water-bath processing period, preserving the contents of the jar for use at a later time. This seal protects your food from the reentry of microorganisms.
The older-style rubber rings are no longer recommended. Although they are sometimes still available secondhand, the seal is no longer dependable enough to result in a safe product. You can find these rubber rings in some specialty canning stores; however, due to their novelty, they are very expensive and sold in small quantities. Reserve this type of canning jar and kitschy design for your fun food gifts, not canning for a family's pantry.
In addition to the must-have items listed in the preceding, you may also want the following things. These items aren't critical to the outcome of your product, but you'll discover a more streamlined, efficient level of work if you use them (you can find out more about these and other helpful but not necessary tools in Chapter 2):
A teakettle or saucepan filled with boiling water to use as a reserve.
A ladle and wide-mouth funnel to make transferring food into your jars easier. The funnel also keeps the rims of the jars clean, for a better seal.
A lid wand so that you can transfer your lids from the hot water to the jars without touching them and a jar lifter so that you can safely and easily lift canning jars in and out of your canning kettle.
A thin plastic spatula to use for releasing air bubbles in the jar.
The Road to Your Finished Product
Every aspect of the canning procedure is important, so don't skip anything, no matter how trivial it seems. When your food and canning techniques are in perfect harmony and balance, you'll have a safely processed product for use at a later time.
The following sections guide you through the step-by-step process for creating delicious, high-quality, homemade treats for your family and friends.
Always practice proper kitchen sanitation and cleanliness, carefully handle your food, and follow your recipe to the letter. Don't alter your recipe or skip any processing step.
Step 1: Getting your equipment ready
The first thing you do when canning is to inspect your equipment and get everything ready so that when you're done preparing the food (Step 2 in the canning process), you can fill your jars immediately.
Inspect your jars, lids, and screw bands
Always review the manufacturer's instructions for readying your jars, lids, and screw bands. Then inspect your jars, lids, and screw bands for any defects as follows:
Jars: Check the jar edges for any nicks, chips, or cracks in the glass, discarding any jars with these defects. If you're reusing jars, clean any stains or food residue from them and then recheck them for any defects.
Screw bands: Make sure the bands aren't warped, corroded, or rusted. Test the roundness of the band by screwing it onto a jar. If it tightens down smoothly without resistance, it's useable. Discard any bands that are defective or out of round (bent or not completely round).
You can reuse screw bands over and over, as long as they're in good condition. And because you remove them after your jars have cooled, you don't need as many bands as jars.
Lids: All lids must be new. Lids aren't reusable. Check the sealant on the underside of each lid for evenness. Don't use scratched or dented lids. Defective lids won't produce a vacuum seal. Don't buy old lids from secondhand stores. Older lids will not seal properly.
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 these 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.
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.