The Art of Canning

As a young adult in my mid twenties cooking is a hobby I have started to take up. When COVID came through and started to take the world by storm restaurants began to close and in some states, like mine only remain open for outdoor dining and take out. This got me thinking, if I can't be the foodie I am at my local restaurants, then I need to be the foodie that I am in my own home! During this time, I have been buying lots of fruits and veggies and sustainable meats from my local farmers markets and CSA, while I typically cook the meats right away, sometimes I buy too much fruits and veggies for only a family of me, myself and I, but I can not let them go to waste.

It all started when I saw a TikTok of a girl making her own pickles and I love pickles, so I just followed her short 15 second video of homemade dill pickles and before I knew it, I had 4 jars of homemade pickles, but unfortunalty I did not know the proper way of canning and could not eat that many pickles. So I turned to amazon and target for all the proper equipment.

The Book

First, I purchased a book, while there are hundreds of recipes online, this book tells you all the need to knows on canning. For me I use the waterbath approach, have 3 different kinds of jars and wanted to can everything! This book, beginner's guide to canning is perfect for me. One thing to keep in mind, you need A LOT of fruits and veggies. For example the tradational salsa calls for 10 pounds of tomatos! While I only ever cook for one, I typically half those recipies and I still get so many jars.

The Cooking

I would typically do my meal planning and prep on Sundays, but in a world of staying home, that is not something I need to really do, so instead I will spend my afternoons canning. Chopping takes the longest espically when you literally need pounds of each item a chopper helps more than you know and you do not need to get an expensive one, they all do the same thing. Patience is key when you are cooking. I have a gas stove so my temperature typically gets high fairly quickly, which you need to watch out for if you are multi tasking, as you do not want anything to burn!

Smell is key when cooking. You know sometimes you may start a chili for Sunday football at 9 am so the flavors get to be really good? Well, that can be similar with canning. For example, dilly beans are one of my favorite things to pickle or can, but the longer they are canned the better they are, so you need to ensure you have enough vinegar to water, but no one wants to taste boiling vinegar and water! So every now and then as it is coming to a boil make sure you waft it towards you, allowing the smells to fill your kitchen.

This goes the same for just about everything, canning makes it taste better so you don't always know how good it will be until you open it. Onetime, I made pickles and I was SO EXCITED to try them, but I opened my jar to state them, and they went rancid, and were complete mush, and that made me angry as this does take time and I was looking foward to them, so make sure you are really following those ingrediants and do not substitute anything.

The Equipment

The proper equipment is a must, my first time attempting canning I did not have any of the equipment and it was very hard, and honeslty I could have hurt myself. Most stores like Target or Walmart will carry a kit that has the funnel, jar grabber and leveler, and they usually come in a kit! Also, a large stock pot to process your jars, you can also get a canner, but it is really whatever you can find. Different sized and shapes are jars are always helpful. You will want the different sizes becuase your batch sizes will vary or you may want pints of quarts.

Storing

It is very important that you store all your canned goods in a dark cool place. Do not store them in the cabinat over the microwave or fridge as the heat from usage will make the goods go bad. Since I have a small city kitchen with little storage place, I keep all my goods in my guest room closet. It is a good idea to keep them in a space that you may not need in the near future as sometimes the canned goods like to stay in their jars longer for better flavor.

So what will you make? As it is August may I recommend some pumpkin butter? It will get better with time and be perfect by the time October comes around. What about Garden Salsa? Perfect for a summer cook out, socially distant ofcourse. And do not forget those dilly beans I mentioned earlier those are easy and so delious.

Happy Canning!