10 Lessons from a 1st Time Canner

As part of our journey towards more self-sufficiency and homesteading, I committed to figuring out food canning this year.

Over the last few years I’ve read up on canning, attended a local canning seminar and collected the essentials for pressure and water bath canning. By this summer I knew the time had come to give it a try!

My first 3 canning experiences

1) In August, I had a last minute opportunity to pick fresh peaches at a local farm. Boy did it smell good walking through those rows of trees full of ripe peaches! From my harvest I made two pints of Spiced Peach Freezer Jam.

2) A few weeks later, I was offered a big bunch of green beans from a couple at my church. Their garden was much more abundant than ours this year so I gratefully accepted their generosity. Feeling successful after making the freezer jam, I decided their green beans would be the perfect opportunity to unpack our new pressure canner.

3) In September, this same couple offered up delicious apples from their tree. I visited their house weekly for most of September, collecting multiple bags of gorgeous red and yellow apples. I made apple crisps and a chunky cinnamon applesauce in our new electric water bath canner. Both were delicious!

I’ve learned a lot about canning by trying these three different canning projects this year. I was definitely nervous about pressure canning and you may be too. In the end, my results have me eager to do more and feeling confident that I’m able to can various foods safely!

Here’s what I learned during my first canning adventures:

1) It helps to give yourself enough time so you don’t feel rushed. I reread the instructions many, many times as I went through my first water bath and pressure canning experiences. I wanted to make sure I did each step as instructed. Taking my time and going slow helped me focus and build confidence as I went through each step. I made it my only task or obligation for the day and that helped me stay relaxed and take in the full experience. Plus, a large pot of water takes a really long time to boil so if you are in a rush, get that water started first thing!

2) Starting with something simple, like a freezer jam, was a great “warm up” to the canning process. Out of my three experiences, making a freezer jam was definitely the quickest and simplest process. Cooking and canning a freezer jam taught me a few basic building blocks of the canning process such as making sure my jars were clean and ready before being filled, and how to use some of my tools and accessories. I didn’t have to deal with the added complexity of boiling pots of water and processing time.

3) A pint of jam is a lot…and half pints or jelly jars exist for a reason! My spiced peach freezer jam was delightful however as the only person eating it, I had to be really creative with how to eat my jam before it went bad (at a month). Next time I will use half pint jars or jam jars so that I have less pressure to eat all of my lovely creation before it spoils.

4) It really helps to talk about your interest in canning to other people in your community! Remember the couple that offered me so much free produce? I met them during a summer church BBQ event. We were talking in a group with several other people about our summer activities and interests, and I expressed my desire to figure out canning. Little did I know at that moment how much support this couple would provide me in the coming weeks as a novice canner. Their generosity was the critical push I needed to unbox my new pressure canner. My relationship with this couple developed only because I spoke up.

5) It is really satisfying to share a canned goody with a friend. People have been so impressed by my initial canning attempts and were delighted when I shared a can of beans or applesauce with them. From now on I’ll always make a few extra jars beyond what I expect my household will consume so I have some to hand out. A home canned food item makes a great gift!

6) Seeing jars of your own canned food in your pantry is so satisfying, especially with knowing where the fruits or vegetables were grown. It feels healthy. It feels creative. It is also comforting knowing the history behind the food in my pantry.

7) Someone else helping you can foods adds to the experience in great ways. I was a little nervous to use the pressure canner for the first time so I invited my husband DJ to can the green beans with me. The other two times I did it on my own, which was fine with me. His presence provided comfort and fun, along with another set of hands to fill jars and get lids and rings out of the hot water. Together we figured out how the pressure canner worked, which was special for me because he gifted me the pressure canner last Christmas.

8) Taking time to read canning books and recipes before starting to can is a worthy investment. A lot of my weekly cooking is without a recipe. In my canning research I learned that canning is a science and following good recipes is essential for safe and successful canning. There is a lot of helpful information available online and in published books. The two recipe books I used this year are:

• The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning by Diane Devereaux

• Ball Canning Back to Basic published by Oxmoor House

9) Canning accessories and tools are handy! Whether you buy them used or new, or get them as hand-me-downs, having a jar wrench, jar lifter, extra wide mouth canning funnel, bubble popper/measurer, tongs and magnetic lifter all help during your canning process. I also splurged and bought a lid rack to organize my lids as they sat in the boiling water. This rack made them super easy to get out of the hot water safely as I filled each jar.

10) Lastly, summer garage sales are fantastic sources of used and new - yes new and unused - mason jars. I got many this summer for 25 cents each! What a deal for a durable and safe food container that I can use over and over again to create healthy foods for me and my community!

Bonus lesson: Canning is another a great way to take care of the environment and planet I love so dearly. I’ll be using the same jars and rings over and over again, sending very little to the trash pile in this process. By canning my own food I’m purchasing fewer plastic or disposable containers from the store, and adding less waste to the landfill or using resources to recycle plastics. I hadn’t thought of this impact at all until I was washing my first empty jar of applesauce. It hit me right then that this jar was about to go back into my stash of glass jars…only to be filled again some day soon, creating a pattern that would repeat again and again until I tire of the cycle…or I accidentally break the jar. Canning is a way I can take care of myself, provide for others, and be a good steward of creation. What a gift!

Go forth and can!

It was such a joy to finally experiment with canning this year. I’m sure there will be more to learn as I keep canning. If you are new to canning like me, or considering giving it a try, I’m excited for you. We’ve got many fun canning adventures ahead! The learning and pleasure has only just begun.