How to Can Step-by-Step

Perhaps you grew up watching an elder can and preserve food from the garden and want to try it for yourself. But you need some help with the details. A basic understanding of home canning, and a few step-by-step instructions, will help you to rest easy and have complete confidence that your experience will be just as joy-filled as those memories. 

Canning food, either by the boiling water bath, pressure, or steam method, involves filling jars with food and processing them in a heated chamber to form a vacuum seal. The process requires precision and care, but it is rewarding. So to fill your pantry with good things to eat, follow these basic steps, no matter which method you use. 

How to can: step-by-step

Follow these four 'P's to preserve your harvest.

1: Prepare the equipment

Ensure all your equipment and work surfaces are clean before gathering your fruits and vegetables. Also, ensure you have enough jars, lids, and rings and that everything is in working order.

Here's a checklist for easy canning preparation:

Basic equipment required for canning food:

• Ladle or large spoon- you can use a ladle to spoon your food into the jars.
• Oven mittens- wear oven mitts to protect your hands when lifting hot pots and using tongs.
• Jars and lids- you’ll need both to properly store and can your food.
• Large pot, water pressure canner or pressure canner- you can either use a large pot to make your own water bath, or you can use a water pressure canner or pressure canner to seal your jars.
• Canning jar lifters- similar to tongs, canning jar lifters are used to remove the jars from the hot water.
• Canning rack- this goes on the bottom of your pot or canner. 
• Small stick or chopstick- you can use a chopstick or small stick to release any bubbles before canning.

2: Prepare the food

Gather food from your backyard or the wild early in the day before the heat takes effect. Also, pick or purchase only as much as you can process the same day. 

• Wash and rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of soil. 
• Cut and prepare the food per your recipe. 
• Don’t can decayed or damaged food. Anything bruised or over-ripe, prepare for eating, not canning.

3: Pack the jars

Fruits, vegetables, and meat may be raw or hot when packed into jars. Add enough syrup, water, or juice to cover the food with the amount of headspace mentioned in the recipe.

Pack most fruits, vegetables, and meat tightly because they’ll shrink during processing. However, starchy items like corn, lima beans, potatoes, and peas expand during canning, so they should be packed loosely.

4: Process your food

As you pack each jar, load it into the canner with the water simmering to keep it hot. Once you’ve filled the canner, follow the recipe for processing times. 

• To process low-acid foods in a pressure canner, follow these instructions.
• To process fruit and acidified tomatoes in a water bath canner, follow these instructions.
• For altitudes over 1,000 feet, process an additional minute for every 1,000 feet of higher altitude. 

Canning FAQs

How long do you need to boil or pressurize jars of food for canning?

If you’re using a pressure canner, then you need to pressurize a load of jars for about fifty-five minutes, according to the National Center for Home Preservation.

Water bath canning is faster than pressure canning. Thus, canning foods with a water bath takes about twenty to thirty minutes.

How should you determine which canning method is best for you?

The best canning method depends on the food you’re canning. If you’re canning acidic foods, such as fruits, then you should use a water pressure canner.

You can use a pressure canner for canning meats, sauces, soups and nonacidic vegetables.