Canning is one of the best ways to preserve our food and actually, it can become a rather rewarding hobby. Many people could actually do this and they may have watched how their grandparents canned food in the old fashioned way. No need to prepare industrial grade machinery, you will need only a pressure cooker and special canning jars with their lids. Regular jars may not be tight enough to prevent contamination. Cooking under pressure will force the steam to reach all parts of the jar, killing any kind of small organisms that may spoil your food. It is an affordable way of preserving food and you may be proud of what you will accomplish later. There are many things that can be canned, such as cucumber, fruits, tomatoes and others.
You should choose jars that are tempered for canning and it would be unwise to use regular jar, including the one that’s previously for jam, jelly and mayonnaise. For storing these jars, you also need a very big pot that allows you to put all these hats, while leaving some space. There should also be a rack inside the put, so these jars won’t immediately touch the bottom. Plastic spatula or knife may be needed to stir the recently filled jar to release the trapped air. A long handled and strong puller will be needed to take out jars from boiling water. Dry and clean towels are needed to remove excess moisture from warm jars. When canning fruits and vegetables, we should choose the freshest ones. They should be washed and peeled before being canned.
There’s a canning product that allows us to prevent the discoloration of canned fruits and vegetables. But actually there’s nothing wrong about the canned food being discoloured and using this product may add unnecessary chemical in your food. Canned fruits could also be added with syrup to improve its longevity. Depending on the type of the fruit, you may experiment with either using light, medium or heavy syrup. When boiling the fruit, we may pour the syrup. The jar and the lid should also be boiled in a separate place. Place the well cooked food, while jar is still hot and leave about ½ inch of space. Use spatula or wooden spoon to stir the jar and release any trapped air. Tighten down the lid and boil the jar again When boiling the food-filled jar, we should make sure that the boiling hot water covers all the jars and let them boil vigorously for 5 minutes.
When the jars are already properly cooked, we could turn the pot off and we need to remove the jars from the pot. Put those jars on a thick, clean towel, let them cool off and dry. The jars should be relatively dry and cool overnight. Check the jar and see whether lids have popped off. If it happens, it means that the jar doesn’t seal properly. If the canning process works properly, these jars can be properly refrigerated to lengthen the shelf life. In order to further extend the shelf life, you may boil these jars again after a few weeks. Being able to preserve food is a great thing to do, especially during winter.