The art of canning

I have a long history of canning. I grew up on a small farm and I can’t remember a time when my mother didn’t can garden produce in the summertime.

I wonder how many thousands of beans I have snipped in my lifetime. I know as a child I felt helping with the canning was a chore, but we all had to help when Mom had canning to do.

Green beans were the big thing; quarts and quarts of beans. We also cut corn off the cob so she could can it. We slipped skins from beets so she pickled them. We picked cucumbers for dill pickles. I grew up on a strawberry farm and picked gallons of strawberries.

Much of those were sold, but still, there was plenty for jam. We also had raspberries for jam. Mom did most of the work making jam and pickles, but we still had to pick the produce from the garden. Apples were made into applesauce.

Dad bought boxes of peaches and apricots and we canned those. Thankfully, carrots, potatoes and winter squash were stored in the root cellar, so we didn’t need to do much to preserve them. Now that I’m an adult and have my own produce to can, I am thankful I have been taught how to can. Back in my high school days, we had to take Home Economics.

One of the easiest things to can is tomatoes. On the farm, our tomatoes never got ripe enough to can, but I learned to can tomatoes in Home Ec. First, we blanched the tomatoes for about a minute, plunged them into cold water, and slipped the skins.

Then we squish the tomatoes into quart jars until it was full. No water needed. Add a teaspoon of salt, put on the lid and process. I know many people freeze their produce and I do some freezing too, but I prefer most of my produce canned.

There are two ways to process canned goods. One is the hot water method and the other is the pressure cooker method. Most fruits, jams, and high acid produce such as tomatoes can be done with the hot water method.

To do that, fill the jars, put on canning lids, and add the jars to a hot water canner. Water is added to cover the jars with about an inch of water above the tops of the jars. Bring water to a boil and boil for the amount of time stated in the recipe.

When time is up, remove the jars from canner, let cool, and hopefully the lids with pop closed indicating the jars are sealed. With the pressure cooker method, a pressure cooker is needed. Most vegetables need to be processed with the pressure cooker.

That includes beans, carrots, corn, beets, pumpkins and squash (although pumpkins and squash will keep for a while without being canned.) Greens such as chard, spinach, or kale are best frozen. To process with a pressure cooker, jars are put in the canner and three quarts of water is put in the canner. The lid is put on and secured tightly.

The water is brought to a boil and the pressure starts to build. There is a vent where the steam shoots out. The steam continues to hiss for about ten minutes so I know it’s boiling hard. There is a weight to put on the vent and the pressure starts to build.

For most vegetables, the pressure needs to build to eleven pounds. I adjust the heat to maintain the pressure at eleven pounds for the amount of time indicated depending whatever vegetable I’m canning. Usually most take about twenty-five minutes, but some take longer.

When the time is up, I turn off the heat and let the pressure gradually decrease back to zero. I then take the weight off the vent and open the lid. I take the jars out and let them cool and they usually seal. Preparing vegetables for canning is a lot of work.

Beans need to be snipped, cut, blanched and put in jars. Corn needs to be cut off the cob. Carrots need to be peeled and cut up. Beets need to be cooked, or at least partially cooked, so the skins can be slipped off, and then cut up.

Not all produce needs to be blanched, but beans, peaches and tomatoes need to be blanched.

When peaches and tomatoes are blanched, the skins just slip off. Blanching is done with a blancher which is a two piece kettle.

One is for boiling the water, and the other part is one with holes in it that fit inside the other kettle. The beans or tomatoes go in the part with the holes and when the water in the outer kettle boils, the container with the beans, peaches, or tomatoes is slowly lowered into the boiling water and scalded for about a minute.

Corn and carrots don’t need to be blanched. I found a way to make tomato sauce that works well for me. I slip the skins from the tomatoes, put the tomatoes in the blender and make them smooth, and put them in a crock pot.

I turn heat on high, leave the lid off the crock pot, and let it cook for about twenty-four hours. It cooks down until it’s thick, and then I can it. I could put it on the stove in a kettle and let it cook until thick, and it’s done in about an hour, but I need to stir it and I usually scorch it, so it’s easier to let the crock pot do the work and I don’t need to watch it.

Canning is a lot of work, but I certainly appreciate having my canned goods on the shelf in the wintertime. I take pride when I see those jars lined up in the cupboard, knowing I can plan a meal or dessert by just opening a jar without needing to do a lot of prepping.

The work has already been done. I didn’t realize when I was a child helping with the canning would be a skill I would use in my adult life, but I’m grateful I know how.