Serious newbie questions about canning

[SSDreamin]

If it were me (and it was, years ago ) I would start with some simple water bath items. Tomatoes were where I began. Progress slowly, experiment little if any (stick to the recipes exactly, until you are very comfortable). Since you've already done some things, you should already have the basic idea down. Personally, I would get comfortable with water bath canning before I moved on to the expense of a pressure canner. I have a friend who bought everything, then decided she hated canning (which was OK with me - she sold me her large canner for $5 ). I can quite a lot of things: meats, veggies, fruits, jams, butter (bah! Gov't warnings - phooey ). I have found that there are a lot of things I would rather dry than can now, but still process quite a bit every fall.

 

[moodlymoo]

I have a dehydrator so maybe I should just dry some things that may need a pressure canner, seems a little easier. I think I can do basics like tomato sauces, jams, and what nots. The one time I did can every one of the sealed perfectly so I was pretty proud of myself

 

[moolie]

Great advice above regarding websites and books to get--for starters you can also check your local library, mine has all the Ball/Bernardin books plus lots of others.

Some more general stuff:

Check Craigslist and Kijiji (if you have that where you live, it's big here in Canada) as well as your local Freecycle for canning jars--I found tons that way over the past year (literally hundreds). You may also luck into a great deal on a pressure canner this way as well.

Check your Dollarama or other discount stores for canning lids--here they are only $1.25/dozen for the standard mouth, though they don't have any wide mouth lids. Or invest in Tattler re-usable canning lids (I'm planing to put in an order this winter in prep for canning season).

When you do your canning, leave the jars out for 24 hours after you take them out of the pot before checking for a seal, then remove the rings and wash/dry them well--they will last longer this way (they can rust on the jars).

Keep your home canned food in a cool, dry, dark place--heat and light will degrade the food and excess humidity can degrade the lid/seal.

Label every jar before storing your canned food--type of food and date. Some things are hard to tell apart a few months later, and putting the date on helps you use the oldest food first. Easiest way to label is to write with a Sharpie on the lid.

When you can tomatoes or tomato sauce with the water bath method, add extra acid--lemon juice, vinegar, or citric acid--to ensure safety, especially with home-grown tomatoes which can sometimes be less acidic. Don't add onions, mushrooms, etc. to your home canned tomato sauce unless you are pressure canning--these ingredients reduce the acidity.

 

[myzanya]

I learned to can from U tube...
there are tons of great instructionals there...
just whatch till you feel competent to do it..

It is just so satisfying to can...Yes it is a bit of work but so worth it
and keeps you well stocked up...