Canning books tend to be updated infrequently, but any changes could be based on new information about food safety. Even if you have a beloved copy enhanced with handwritten notes, it’s safest to compare it with the most recent edition and follow any changes. Some publishers and authors list changes on their website, including corrections and additions to the most up-to-date edition, so it’s worth checking to make sure you have the most recent information before each canning season.
Lab testing for home canning is expensive and time consuming, and only the most well-funded researchers and corporate-backed test kitchens can afford it. Processing times and pressures, altitude adjustments, head space, acidity, food density, and more all come into play. The resulting tested recipes have wide safety margins, so you can follow them and be worry-free.
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Outside lab testing, conscientious canning cookbook authors do their homework and stick to minor adjustments they know they can safely make. They keep their ratios and calculations well within USDA safety margins and follow current USDA processes and steps. So if you compare the author’s recipe to the lab-tested one, you should see all the same safe ratios, processes, and times. If you’re uncertain about a recipe’s safety, freeze it or use it fresh instead.
All canning equipment, including jars, lids, and rings, should be washed in hot, soapy water before use, either by hand or in a dishwasher. Jars need to stay hot until you’re ready to fill them with food, which is easy to do by submerging the cleaned jars in a water-bath canner full of simmering water or, depending on your dishwasher’s settings, by keeping them in the closed dishwasher after the wash and rinse cycles are complete. Empty jars only need to be sterilized if the processing time for your recipe is less than 10 minutes.
You need to sterilize canning jars only if the recipe says to process them for under 10 minutes—before your altitude adjustment. Put the empty jars in your water-bath canner like you would when processing them. Add enough warm water to cover the jars by 1 inch, bring it to a boil, and let it boil for 10 minutes, plus one minute for every 1,000 feet of altitude. Then simply lower the heat and remove and fill each jar, processing them in the same hot water.
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Canning jars and rings can be reused, but the lids that look like flat tin-plated discs are designed to seal only once. They will not reliably seal or stay sealed if processed a second time. They’re still useful if you’re storing unprocessed food in glass jars, from rice to dried beans to herbs to refrigerated condiments.
Canning salt lacks additives like iodine or anticaking agents. It’s sometimes sold as pickling or kosher salt, so the key thing to look for is a single listed ingredient: salt. Some salts used for canning weigh more than others, which can make them taste saltier. It’s best to use the type or brand specified in your canning recipe.
A lid seals to a canning jar as it cools naturally after processing. In the canner, oxygen escapes the jar. As it cools at room temperature, a vacuum is created that sucks the lid tightly onto the jar.
To check that each jar has sealed, wait 12 to 24 hours, remove the ring, and then press in the middle of the lid with a finger. If the lid stays slightly concave, then the jar has sealed properly. If it springs back, then the jar didn’t seal. You can double check by holding the jar at eye level and looking across it for a slightly concave center.
Pressure canning preserves low-acid foods, like vegetables and meats, by combining ultrahigh heat and pressure. Water-bath canning preserves high-acid foods, including most fruits and pickles, in boiling water thanks to acid that neutralizes unwanted microorganisms and bacteria. Each processing method is safe only if the proper steps are followed.
If you follow the proper steps and times for pressure or water-bath canning, including adjustments for altitude, you never have to worry about overprocessing. If you forget to set a timer, you risk more than overprocessing jams into taffy, vegetables into mush, or boiling the liquid out of jars: You also risk not sealing jars safely and allowing unwanted bacteria to flourish. Just check your processing time for your altitude, set your timer once the canner comes to full pressure or a rolling boil, and you’ll be fine.
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The short answer is no. No electric pressure cookers or multicookers, including Instant Pots, have passed safety tests for home canning by the NCHFP, the U.S. government authority on safety when preserving food at home. A Utah State University study found that processing food in electric pressure cookers led to a high risk of developing the botulism toxin.
Since that study, Presto, a trusted brand in stovetop pressure canners, has released an electric model that it says meets USDA guidelines, but the canner has not been tested independently. The NCHFP says, “We are not able to independently verify their marketing statements for you at this time. If someone wants to use this canner, they have to be willing to trust the manufacturer.”
Dry canning is an unsafe practice of heat-sealing dried food, like rice, beans, or nuts, into canning jars. Even though the food is in jars, it is not properly canned. If vacuum-sealing in jars is important to you, the best bet would be a vacuum sealer with an adapter for jars, but keep in mind that rice and beans can last for decades in an enclosed container in a cool, dark space.
Jars designed for home canning, flat canning lids, and rings to hold them together until they seal are essential for canning. A wide-mouth funnel, ladle, and jar lifter make it easy to move and fill jars. A second jar rack can help when stacking smaller jars in a large pressure canner. A marker or labels help you identify jar contents weeks after they’ve sat on your shelves.
Julie Laing has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years and published her first cookbook, “The Complete Guide to Pickling,” in 2020. Besides canning pickles, she has been preserving homegrown food as jams, sauces, and more for decades and likes to dive deep into the science behind the processes. Julie also teaches workshops on canning, pickling, and generally making good food from scratch year-round.
Renee Pottle is the author of “Profitable Preserves” and “Creative Water-Bath Canning.”
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