Canning

This summer was my first ever attempt at canning food. It was very simple, though time consuming. I LOVE having food in my pantry 'made' by me though! My first attempts were to can tomatoes and strawberry jam; and then I tried my hand at pickles. (Which I actually can't stand, but we'll discuss later...)

To can food you need a very large pot, canning jars, and a jar lifter. I think you can make do with these things if you don't want to go buy anything (except that jar lifter), however I did stop over at Walmart and pick up an 'official' canning set. This consisted of the large pot with a rack and lid, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, and funnel. These items were in the $30 range, so pretty reasonable, especially considering this is something that I plan on doing a lot of. In fact that 20 lb box of Starkrimson pears I received last week are calling to me from the basement.

 

These two photos show you a little of the set up. I've got the really huge pot, which is the canner. The medium pot I am using to sterilize and keep warm my jars, and then the small pot is to put the lids in. You want to do this for just about 5 minutes before you need them in order to make the gasket flexible for a good seal. If you don't want to mess with having your jars in the boiling water for sterilization, you can use your dishwasher. 

I'm just going to send you right over to Pick Your Own, they have a great description of how to can. Very simple! If you don't have your own tomato garden, run down to your local farmer's market or coop and pick some up. You'll just need some lemon juice and you are set.

Here's my strawberry jam. Really yummy! And I used very little sugar. Just the minimum to successfully can.

 

If you don't think you're up for canning, give freezer jam a try. Just as easy as the jam I made, but you will put it right into the freezer instead of going through the canning process. Makes great gifts!