The Canning Kitchen (3 page)

MUST HAVE

Boiling water bath canner

Any large, deep pot with a lid can be used as a boiling water bath canner, as long as you have a rack to keep jars raised slightly off the bottom. Classic speckled enamel canners, which often come with a fitted rack and other canning tools, are inexpensive and easily found year-round in most hardware stores. If you want something that can double as a stockpot, choose a canning rack first, then find any large, deep pot with a lid that your rack will fit inside.

Canning rack

Filled jars should be held slightly off the bottom of the canning pot while boiling (processing) to maintain adequate water circulation for even heat distribution and to prevent jars from breaking. Racks are usually made of metal with contoured handles that rest on the canner’s rim for easy lowering and removal of
jars from the boiling water. Racks made of heat-resistant plastic are also available. While most mason jars will fit in any canning rack, some racks are better suited to certain jar sizes. A flat wire rack, rather than a contoured one, will fit all jar sizes nicely.

Chef’s knife and large cutting board

These two tools will play a part in almost every canning recipe you make, but that doesn’t mean they have to be pricey. I prefer an 8-inch (20 cm) chef’s knife, but it’s important to choose a sharp knife you feel comfortable using. If you take care of your knives they will take care of you, so learn to use a sharpening steel to keep your knives slicing cleanly and safely. If your cutting board slides around on the kitchen counter, slip a dampened dish towel or paper towel underneath to hold it steady.

Jars

Mason jars with either a standard or a wide-mouth opening are the most popular jar for home canning. Designed to hold up under high heat and fit a two-piece screw-on lid, they are commonly available year-round wherever canning supplies are sold. Several brands are available and they come in the standard sizes of 125 mL (½ cup), 250 mL (1 cup), 500 mL (2 cup) and 1 L (4 cup), although larger sizes are available. They are mostly sold in cases of a dozen jars, but patterned or interestingly shaped jars are also available in smaller quantities per package and usually for a higher price per jar. Do not use jars that are not designed for home canning.

Mason jars can be reused indefinitely, but always check for cracks and chips, as these can interfere with a good seal or can lead to breakage during processing. Jars do not need to be sterilized before filling if they will be processed in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes or longer. Since all the recipes in this book are processed for at least 10 minutes, you do not need to sterilize your jars before you fill them. However, they should be spotlessly cleaned by washing in hot soapy water and left to air-dry or washed in the dishwasher on a normal wash cycle.

Ladle

Using a ladle is the safest way to move hot liquids from a hot pot to hot jars. Since you’ll be working at very high temperatures, be sure to use a ladle that is made of a heat-resistant material such as stainless steel.

Large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid

Most of the recipes you put into jars to process will be cooked first. A large pot— one that can hold about 8 quarts (7.5 L)—will work for everything in this book, from jams, jellies and marmalades to pickles, relishes and chutneys. Use a pot that has a heavy, or thickened, bottom that will promote even heat distribution and help prevent scorching. Acidic ingredients like citrus and vinegar will discolour pots made of aluminum, tin or copper, so choose a nonreactive material such as stainless steel or enamel.

Lids

Self-sealing two-piece lids consisting of a flat lid and a screw-on band are the gold standard for home canning. Flat lids have a gasket compound on the underside, which is soft enough when hot to allow air to escape during processing. As the contents of a jar cool and shrink slightly, a vacuum is formed, pulling the lid down to form an airtight seal. This prevents any new microorganisms from entering the jar and spoiling the food during storage. Screw bands can be reused if they are undented and rust-free, but the flat lids are a single-use item. Two-piece lids come in both standard and wide-mouth sizes. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the package to prepare lids for processing.

Measuring cups and spoons

Since canning requires some level of accuracy, measuring cups and spoons are useful tools to keep within grabbing reach in your canning kitchen. A clear 2-cup (500 mL) or 4-cup (1 L) measuring cup with a marked scale plus a few smaller measuring cups—¼-cup (60 mL),
⅓
-cup (75 mL) and ½-cup (125 mL)—plus a set of measuring spoons will do the trick.

MUST HAVE FOR SOME RECIPES

Blender

Some canning recipes require puréed fruits or vegetables, and a blender makes the job quick and easy. Use a standard countertop blender if you prefer, or an immersion blender right in the pot. A food mill is a good substitute for a blender when puréeing cooked foods. When working with raw foods, a blender is the best choice. A food processor, while useful for finely chopping, doesn’t achieve a true purée.

Cheesecloth

Particularly useful for making marmalades, inexpensive cheesecloth is used to form a pouch for high-pectin citrus peels and seeds that can be submerged while cooking and easily discarded afterward. Cheesecloth is also handy for draining and squeezing out excess moisture from salted vegetables when making relish. Look for cheesecloth at any hardware store, kitchen store or even a dollar store. Washable muslin can be used in place of cheesecloth.

Jelly bag

Straining boiled fruit through a jelly bag is the first step in getting the clearest jewel-like jellies. The bag is suspended over a bowl to catch the drips, using a special stand or suspended from kitchen cabinet handles with a sturdy elastic. Washable and reusable, jelly bags are commonly available wherever canning supplies are sold. A colander lined with a double layer of water-dampened cheesecloth can double as a jelly bag.

Kitchen string

Cotton kitchen string transforms a square of cheesecloth into a pouch for adding flavour and natural pectin from citrus peels and seeds to preserves while cooking. Don’t substitute yarn or other coloured fibres, as the dyes may run. For a truly secure pouch, use a double layer of cheesecloth with a double knot of kitchen string.

Masher

That masher you use for making fluffy mashed potatoes is also the most effective tool for crushing berries and other soft fruits for jams, dessert sauces and other preserves. Crushing by hand, as opposed to chopping in a food processer, allows you to stop at just the right consistency.

Peeler

Using a potato or vegetable peeler is a quick alternative to peeling with a knife. Whether it’s inexpensive or pricey, straight or Y-shaped, choose one that feels good in your hand. Peelers do get dull over time, so it’s a good idea to replace your peeler when it isn’t working as well as it once did.

Wooden spoon

While silicone and metal spoons will stir jams and chutneys just fine, there’s nothing quite like the traditional simplicity of a wooden spoon to feel your way through a batch of preserves. A wooden spoon is also the ideal tool for skimming fruit scum off your cooked preserves before ladling them into jars, and the handle end is useful for stirring tender sliced fruits in light syrup without damaging them.

NICE TO HAVE

Canning funnel

A canning funnel is a handy and inexpensive tool that can speed up your canning. With a wide opening at the bottom that fits inside the rim of a jar, a canning funnel will help you get your delicious jams, jellies and other goodies inside your jars rather than down the sides of them.

Citrus juicer

Since citrus fruits are a common ingredient in canning recipes and are often processed in abundance, an effective tool for juicing citrus is handy to have. Either an electric citrus juicer or a manual reamer will save a significant amount of prep time and result in getting more juice from your fruit than squeezing by hand.

Food mill

Sometimes you want to use the fruit peels during cooking but don’t want them in the finished product. For example, applesauce takes on a beautiful rosy pink colour when the apple skins are left on during cooking. Running the cooked sauce through a food mill will purée the sauce while catching the skins so they can be discarded. A conical sieve, also called a chinois, with a wooden dowel to push the food through performs the same task.

Food processor

While not necessary in the canning kitchen, a food processor sure can speed things along when you’re prepping a lot of ingredients, particularly with finely chopped relishes. Look for one with a large bowl and sturdy parts from a brand you trust.

Headspace measuring tool/bubble remover

Poke one end of this plastic tool into your jars of relishes, chutneys and other chunky preserves to remove any air bubbles before processing. The jagged edge at the other end allows you to measure headspace—the gap between the surface of the food and the rim of the jar—in graduated ¼-inch (5 mm) increments for safe processing. Each recipe in this book specifies the correct amount of headspace to use.

Jar lifter

If you buy only one canning gadget beyond the basics, a jar lifter (also known as canning tongs) is the one to get. With heatproof handles at one end and contoured, rubberized grabbers at the other for gripping jars under the neck, this tool will help you safely and securely move hot jars into and out of boiling water.

Kitchen scale

A small kitchen scale is an invaluable tool in the canning kitchen for best results and reliable yields. Packaging alone can’t be relied upon for accurate weight measurements. For example, a 5-lb bag of apples usually weighs a little more than 5 lb. Weigh your ingredients at home on your own kitchen scale or use the scales available where you buy your ingredients. The right weights will lead to the best results.

Magnetic lid lifter

This pen-sized stick with a magnet attached at one end allows you to remove lids from hot water without burning your fingers or damaging the soft compound on the underside of the lid. It’s an example of how simple tools can elevate your canning experience from finicky to fun.

P
ROCESSING
C
HECKLIST

Use this handy step-by-step processing checklist to safely preserve each recipe in this book. Simply prepare your chosen recipe, then follow these 10 easy steps.

1. Fill jars

Make sure your canning jars are spotlessly clean before using, and inspect them for chips and cracks that could lead to breakage or prevent a good seal. Sterilizing jars is not necessary for the recipes in this book (see
page 4
). If you will be filling your jars with hot preserves, keep them in hot water until just before filling to avoid sudden temperature changes that could crack the jars. For cold-packed preserves such as dill pickles, start with room-temperature jars. A ladle and canning funnel will help make filling jars quick and tidy.

2. Check headspace

Headspace is the gap between the top surface of the food and the rim of the jar. The correct amount of headspace ensures a strong vacuum seal as jars cool. Some foods, such as jams and jellies, expand less during processing than whole or sliced foods like tomatoes and peaches, so follow the recommended headspace for each recipe. Too much headspace could lead to a weak seal, and too little headspace could cause foods to spill out onto the jar rim during processing, also preventing a good seal. A headspace measuring tool will help you quickly and easily check for accuracy.

3. Remove air bubbles

If the recipe recommends removing air bubbles, poke a non-metallic utensil inside each jar a few times to release any pockets of air. Use a plastic knife, wooden chopstick, narrow rubber spatula or headspace measuring tool/bubble remover to do the job. Do not use a metal knife or spoon, which could crack hot jars.
After removing bubbles, check the headspace again and top up with more of the preserves if necessary to reach the recommended headspace.

4. Wipe jar rims

Use a clean, damp cloth or paper towel to remove any food spills from the jar rims before securing the lids. Bits of food or stickiness between the lid and the glass rim could prevent a seal during processing. It’s also a good idea to wipe away food spills from around the jar threads where the screw bands come into contact with the glass.

5. Screw on lids

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging for preparing lids for processing. Position new flat lids over the clean jar rims and secure in place by twisting on the screw bands just until fingertip tight, which is just past the point of resistance. Not too tight—some air will need to escape during processing.

6. Lower jars into canner

It’s a good idea to fill your canner with water and set it over high heat at least 20 minutes before you need it so it’ll be boiling when the jars are ready to be processed. Larger canning pots may need longer for the water to come to a boil. If using a jar lifter, secure it under the neck of each filled jar to transfer it into the rack, keeping jars level to prevent food from spilling onto the jar rim. When the rack is lowered, make sure there is at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water above the jars. You may want to keep a kettle of boiling water handy in case you need to top up the water level once you lower your jars into the canner. Keep your canning pot covered with a lid when not moving jars in and out to maintain high heat and reduce evaporation.

7. Start timing

Wait until the water in the canner returns to a full boil before you start timing. Follow the recommended processing time for each recipe. Check the altitude chart (
page 9
) for timing adjustments if you live more than 1,000 feet (305 metres) above sea level. When the processing time is up, turn off the heat and remove the lid. Leave the jars in the canner for 5 more minutes.