Hot water bath canning is for acid foods....vegetables, jams, jellies, butters, anything with vinegar in it...low acid foods MUST be pressure steamed or you risk food poisoning....even in the "old" days....they pressure canned..., meats,fish,are the 2 biggest one that should be pressured canned.....you can use real cans, or glass jars in a pressure canner...You will have to buy some things...seals, used once...rings...which can be re-used..a jar lifter..is a great investment....only a few dollars...a box of rings and seals(you can buy them as a set),would be about 4 dollars..you can buy rings only, or seals only...seals are about a dollar..depending on where you shop.anything you make fresh on a regular basis, can be canned...Canning is for quantity....You can but several different sizes of water bath canners..small, medium, large..depending on your need..they fit a different quantity of jars at a time...Some foods do well in hot water bath, but not so well in a pressure canner...green beans can be done either way...but I find them to get mushy and turn color a bit, in a pressure canner...same with peas....potatoes do better in a pressure canner than hot water bath...so...read your Ball canning books well..there are tons of books on canning out there..look at the library too...Canning involves a pretty exact way of doing things...and it takes a teeny bit of time...to be sure your seals are boiled just long enough to be soft...sealing is important too...to get a good seal before you put in a canner...trial and error for beginners...just like anything else in the kitchen. Caution is the watch word on canning....and remember...a lot has to do with how much you have fresh....what you want to do with it...how much you want "to put by", for a year...an example would be, to do a canning of apple juice, that would be 7 qts., takes a bushel of apples.......if you have a large family, or love apple juice....you need a LOT of apples...to justify canning...canning takes a lot of water....and gas (or electric, depending on your stove)-you have to bring a full canner of water to a boil...first....then add the jars..and bring to a boil again....and then time the boil...pressure canning takes less water...and you do not have to bring it to a boil first...you put hot water in...jars in, seal the canner lid...then it comes to a boil, stem builds...then you time....so...a lot of thought has to go into canning...sometimes it is easier to freeze, or dry....canning is hard work, on hot days! Because the foods all seem to come in Aug, thru Sept, even early Oct.....lots of lifting of heavy pots of cold water first to the stove, then boiling hot water..after all is done! although the boiling water after..is great to pour on weeds to kill them!
In the "old days", (I am 61), my Grandma had a canning kitchen....it was either in the basement, where it is cooler...or it was a separate space from the house..where the heat of canning did not bother the rest of the house..canning gets the kitchen very hot....
In the "old days", (I am 61), my Grandma had a canning kitchen....it was either in the basement, where it is cooler...or it was a separate space from the house..where the heat of canning did not bother the rest of the house..canning gets the kitchen very hot....
TUESDAY AND THURSDAY WILL BE CANNING DAYS THROUGH JULY THANKS TO SUE ANN. KEEP THOSE QUESTIONS COMING IN,