Start Canning Foods At Home
One of the more reliable methods of storing foodstuffs is canning, which is an effective way to store any leftover fruit, meat or vegetables long term.
It also helps ensure that you don't waste any food while making sure you have supplies to get you through months of low production or harvest such as in winter.
Another great reason for doing this is that it is pretty easy to store canned foods in a dry, cool place and they won't take up a lot of space while keeping for several months or even years in some cases.
How to Get Started Canning
Let's take a look at the steps you need to take and the things you need to have to get you thorough the process. First off, to get started, you will need these items:
- Water Bath Canner: A water bath canner can be used for storing foods with high acidity (ie with a pH of 4.6 or lower). Some examples of high acid foods include most fruits, corn, lentils and olives.
- Pressure Canner: A pressure canner is perfect for storing low acid foods (those with a pH of 4.7 or above). Some examples of low acid foods include most vegetables and meats that will go into making soups and stews.
- Jars: Glass jars that have lids and sealing rings are just perfect for storing all kinds of foods at room temperature. They are easy to clean and store very well. Plastic freezer jars are better for use in storing foods in the freezer or refrigerator if you have that option.
- Jar Lifters: These are used for lifting hot jars out of the canner and moving them about to where you need them.
- Magnetic Jar Lid Lifter: A magnetic jar lid lifter is what you'd use to make it easy to lift lids out of very hot water when you're getting them ready to be sealed.
- Wide Neck Jar Funnel: A useful tool is a wide necked jar funnel which makes canning much easier, faster and less messy.
- Large Canning Ladle: A large canning ladle is a labor saving tool that allows you to fill jars at a much faster rate.
Once you have acquired all the equipment that you will need, it is simply a case of going through the process of washing, pre-cooking or blanching and then processing the food for storing in cans. It is easy enough to either look up some good canning recipes online or to buy yourself a book of canning recipes and you're all set to go.
But to save you some of that work, there are some articles right here that will guide you through the process of getting your stuff stored for common foodstuffs that you are likely to have on a homestead even if you are growing on a pretty small scale.
Further Reading
External resource: You can get more information on canning and food safety from this government resource site: www.foodsafety.gov and additional info from this educational site here: nchfp.uga.edu