Canning

Recipes (including harder-to-find recipes)

The "Complete Guide to Home Canning, "Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA (Revised 1994) is a comprehensive resource for safe canning directions. Canning recipes not based on this latest revision may be unsafe. Here are four sources providing information based on this document. Links to some harder-to-find recipes are given at the bottom of this list.

• National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP)
  • General canning information
  • Most frequently asked canning questions (includes a section on vegetables, fruits and meats)
  • Fruits (recipes)
  • Tomatoes (recipes)
    • Why & how to acidify tomatoes
    • Sorting out tomato canning directions
  • Vegetables - includes SOUPS (recipes)
  • Poultry, red meats and seafoods (recipes)
  • Pickled foods, including special diets (recipes)
    • Most frequently asked pickle questions
    • General information, including ALUM
    • Salts used in pickling
  • Fermented foods, including sauerkraut & dill pickles (recipes)
  • Suitable containers, covers and weights for fermenting food
  • Jams & jellies (recipes)
    • Most frequently asked jelly questions
    • Remaking soft jellies
    • Low sugar alternatives to jams and jellies
  • Resources for home preserving venison
  • Testing jar seals, reprocessing unsealed jars & storing canned foods

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension
  • Let's Preserve: Canning Basics
  • Let's Preserve: Vegetables and Vegetable Products
  • Let's Preserve: Fruit and Fruit Products
  • Let's Preserve: Tomato and Tomato Products
  • Let's Preserve: Fermented and Pickled Foods
  • Let's Preserve: Jams, Jellies and Preserves

• The Penn State "Home Food Preservation Let's Preserve Series" Includes canning & freezing (2004 Update)
  • Apples
  • Blueberries
  • Cherries
  • Fruit Pie Fillings
  • Jelly, Jam, Spreads
  • Peaches, Apricots, Nectarines
  • Pears
  • Peppers
  • Pickles
  • Sauerkraut
  • Snap Beans
  • Strawberries
  • Sweet Corn
  • Tomatoes

• www.freshpreserving.com

  The Alltrista Consumer Products Company, source of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Canning, Freezing and Dehydration, offers canning directions and several recipes online at: www.freshpreserving.com

Harder to Find Recipes

• Salsa
  • Sensational Salsas (16 pages of recipes Source: NCHFP)
  • More salsa recipes (links to individual recipes)
• Wild Fruit Jams/Jellies
  • Chokecherry jelly/syrup, crabapple jelly and more (Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension)
  • Crabapple Jelly (Source: NCHFP)
• Uncooked Jams and Jellies (Source: University of Georgia Cooperative Extension)
• Watermelon Rind Preserves (Source: NCHFP)
• Tomato Marmalade (Source: NCHFP)
• Pickle Recipes Using Lime (Source: University of Georgia Cooperative Extension)
• Berry Syrups (Source: NCHFP)
• Refrigerator Jelly with Splenda® (Source: NCHFP)

Getting answers to canning questions

Toll-free Numbers and E-mail

• General Canning Questions:
  • National Center for Home Food Preservation
    To e-mail your canning question, click HERE.
    
    
  • Alltrista (source of Ball® and Kerr® canning products)
    • To e-mail your canning question, click HERE.
    • To call: 1-800-240-3340
      
  • Questions about Specific Canners:
    • National Presto Industries
      • To e-mail questions about Presto pressure canners, click HERE.
      • To call: 1-800-877-0441 (Parts & Service)
    • Mirro
      To call: 1-800-527-7727
      To e-mail a question, click HERE
      
  • Questions about Specific Canning Products:
    • Mrs. Wages
      To e-mail a question, click HERE.
      To call: 1-800-647-8170
    • Sure-Jell
      To e-mail a question, click HERE.
      To call: 1-800-323-0768
    • Splenda
      To call: 1-800-7-SPLENDA (1-800-777-5363)
      To e-mail a question, click HERE.

Frequently asked questions

• Most frequently asked canning questions (includes a section on vegetables, fruits and meats) (Source:NCHFP)
• Clemson University Cooperative Extension: A list of remedies for common canning problems.
• National Presto Industries (source of Presto pressure canners) Solutions to various canning problems.
• Approximate Yields for Canned or Frozen Fruits and Vegetables (Source: Clemson University Cooperative Extension) Weights of produce, such as for bushels, crates, lugs, etc. They also tell the pounds of produce needed for 1 quart jar or container. NOTE: Tomatoes are in the fruit section.

Pickles

• Most frequently asked pickle questions (Source: NCHFP)
• Causes and possible solutions for pickle problems (Source: NCHFP)
• General information, including ALUM (Source: NCHFP)
• Clemson University Cooperative Extension
• Salts used in pickling (Source: NCHFP)

Jams & Jellies

• Most frequently asked jelly questions (Source: NCHFP)
• Remaking soft jellies (Source: NCHFP)

Other

• Testing jar seals, reprocessing unsealed jars & storing canned foods (Source: NCHFP)
• Suitable containers, covers and weights for fermenting food (Source: NCHFP)
• Why & how to acidify tomatoes (Source: NCHFP)

Unsafe canning practices

• Unsafe canners and canning methods (Source: Penn State University)
• Dangers of using a boiling water bath canner with vegetables (except tomatoes), red meats, seafood, and poultry. Don't make the mistake this person who canned for 44 years made. Learn how to avoid botulism.
• Open Kettle Canning. Iowa State Cooperative Extension explains why this canning method is unsafe.
• Jars with wire bails and glass caps, one-piece zinc porcelain-lined caps. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension explains why these jars are considered unsafe.
• Canning bread/cake. Learn from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension why it's dangerous to can bread or cake.
• Dangers of using paraffin on jams and jellies. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension explains why this practice is no longer considered safe.

Sources of canning supplies

Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. Nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.)

For further help in locating canning supplies, use your favorite online search engine or contact your local Extension Office.

• Presto Pressure Canners
  
• Mirro Pressure Canners
• Alltrista (Ball/Kerr Jars, accessories, seasonings, etc.)
• Mrs. Wages (pectins and other ingredients)
• Sources of ClearJel®
  (You must use ClearJel® and not Instant ClearJel®, ClearJel A® or any other form of ClearJel® when given in a canning recipe. For more information, click HERE. (Some of them have toll free numbers)
  • Kitchen Krafts
  • Walton Feed
  • The Ingredient Store

Directions for using pressure & boiling water canners

IMPORTANT: Check the directions that come with your canner before starting to can. If you no longer have the directions or have questions about a specific canner, check with the company. Here are some links that may help you:

(Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension. Nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.)

• Pressure Canners
  • Presto Pressure Canners
    Download instruction books for specific models of Presto pressure canners from this Web page. A toll-free phone number and an address are also given for contacting Presto.
    
    
  • Mirro Pressure canners
    Mirro provides a toll-free phone number and an address for contacting them. Check their "Frequently Asked Questions" for answers to such questions as whether you can use a Mirro pressure pressure canner on a "flat top (glass or ceramic) range. (The answer to this question is no.)
    
    
• Using Pressure Canners
  This University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Publication provides a step-by-step overview of using a pressure canner.
  
  
• National Center for Home Food Preservation
  General information on using pressure AND boiling-water canners. REMEMBER: Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks.
  
  
• USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
  Includes pictures of various steps in using pressure AND boiling-water canners and of the parts of canners.

Pictures of canning equipment & procedures

(Source: National Food Safety Database)

• Canning jar with metal screwband and lid
• Boiling-water canner
• Pressure canner (includes dial and weighted gauge canners)
• Close-up of a dial gauge and 2 types of weighted gauges
• Loading a pressure canner with food and beginning timing
• Removing a pressure canner from the heat and opening it
• Testing whether a lid has sealed

Canning with Splenda®

(Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation [NCHFP])

• Can Splenda® (sucralose) be used in preserving food?
• Recipes using Splenda®
  • No-Sugar Added Sweet Cucumber Slices
  • No-Sugar Added Pickled Beets
  • No-Sugar Added Cantaloupe Pickles
  • Refrigerator Jelly with Splenda

Freezing

• How do I freeze? (Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation [NCHFP])
• Direct links to frequent requests
  • Corn
  • Fish
  • Fresh herbs
  • Green, snap or wax beans
  • Jam
  • Meats
  • Onions
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Peppers, bell or sweet
  • Poultry and game birds
  • Prepared foods (includes cakes, pies, casseroles, etc.) pdf
  • Tomatoes
  • Whipped cream
  • Zucchini (and other summer squash)
• Link to a list of ALL foods
• Freezing Vegetables (6 page fact sheet; Source: NCHFP)
• Most Frequently Asked Freezing Questions (Source: NCHFP)
• Resources for Home Freezing (Source: NCHFP)
• Foods that don't freeze well
• How to blanch food for freezing
• Freezer containers
• Thawing and preparing frozen food
• What to do if the freezer stops (Source: University of Georgia Extension)
• Approximate Yields for Canned or Frozen Fruits and Vegetables (Source: Clemson University Cooperative Extension). Weights of produce, such as for bushels, crates, lugs, etc. They also tell the pounds of produce needed for 1 quart jar or container. NOTE: Tomatoes are in the fruit section.

Harder-to-find recipes

• Freezing raw tomatoes with and without their skins
• Freezing raw "mature" onions
• Freezing Sweet/Bell and Hot Peppers
• What to Do with Zucchini (includes recipes beyone freezing)
• Freezing cole slaw (Source: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension)
• Freezer pickles (Source: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension)
• Resources for home preserving venison (Source: NCH)

Vacuum packaging

Perishable food that is vacuum packaged must still be frozen or refrigerated. For more information from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, check HERE.

Related Gardening Links

• Garden Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs
• Small Fruits