Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with broken jars and a major mess. In fact, if you are a beginner to the canning world, high-acid foods (especially jams and jellies) are some of the best introductory canning foods anyway, so they are a perfect place to start.īecause you are putting glass jars on the bottom of a pot with a strong heat source underneath, a rack is a crucial piece of equipment in your canning toolkit. However, if you are canning high acid foods like jams and jellies, fruits (like canning peaches), applesauce, pickles, etc., you can use safely and confidently water-bath canning. REMEMBER: If you are canning low-acid foods such as vegetables, broth, and meats, you WILL need a pressure canner. You can find high-quality, safe water-bath canning recipes here on my website, in my Canning Made Easy System, the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and other FDA-approved websites and books. Please follow a safe recipe for water-bath canning. As long as your stock pot is deep enough for that, you are ready to can.Ī word of warning: I am a stickler for canning safety ( read more about canning safety here) because botulism ain’t no joke, friends. Fill the pot with enough water to cover your jars by at least 2 inches. Simply fill your mason jars as directed by whatever repine you’re using, put the lids and rings on, and place the jars into the stock pot. The only kicker is that it must be deep enough to cover the canning jars with at least two inches of water. While they are designed to be big enough for a bunch of jars and tall enough to hold enough water for water-bath canning, you do NOT have to have a special canning pot in order to water-bath can.Ī normal large stock pot and lid from your kitchen can totally work for canning purposes. Odds are, you likely remember those old graniteware or enamel canning pots from your grandma’s kitchen.
How to Start Canning with ZERO Special Equipment With these tips, you can start your journey into the world of preservation and canning without buying tons of equipment.
There is a preconceived notion that in order to start canning, you have to have an entire closet full of special canning equipment.Īnd while that is certainly the case if you are planning to pressure can, if you’re planning on water bath canning, you can absolutely get away without having special equipment or tools for water-bath canning. You already have almost everything you need to start canning in your kitchen right now. CLICK HERE to have a look at the course and ALL the bonuses that come with it.įor those of you who are ready to dip your toe into the water of home-canned food, but are feeling a wee bit apprehensive about investing a bunch of cash in canning equipment, I have some good news for you: If you are a canning newbie, I just revamped my Canning Made Easy course and it’s ready for YOU! I’ll walk you through each step of the process (safety is my #1 priority!), so you can finally learn to can confidently, without the stress. I’m seeing a surge of interest in food preservation right now (jars are sold out everywhere!), which I think is fabulous.
There’s so much I can’t control about this crazy world right now, but I CAN control how I’m feeding my family.Īnd oddly enough, that does indeed makes me feel better. Like so many of you, I’m feeling the pull to stock up and squirrel away food, even more than I usually do. The pantry shelf in my basement is noticeably more empty.