If you grow your own garden, regardless of where you live, you know one thing to be true. You always have more than you can eat at any given time. Oftentimes, you find yourself handing out fresh veggies to your friends and neighbors, your family, and even people that you know through other people. Fortunately, if you want to preserve those precious, hard earned goodies for sometime later in the year, you can, through a process called pressure canning.
Pressure canning, although somewhat tedious, can actually be quite easy if you know how to go about preserving your yummy vegetables. However, in order to keep the vegetables tasting fresh and nutritious, you should steam them first, instead of boiling them. Mushy, boiled vegetables will only become mushier as they sit in the can, waiting for you to devour them.
Here are some materials that you will need:
Pressure canner
Pot with steaming basket
New lid rings and flats
Food funnel
Sterilized mason jars
Silicone spatula
First, make sure to rinse your vegetables very well, as any bacteria that are on the vegetables can enter the can, secretly multiplying. Then, when you eat the veggies, you may become sick. Also, you don’t want any dirt or little bugs with you veggies. Second, steam the vegetables, making sure not to overcook them, since they would lose valuable nutrients. During this process of the canning, you can add different seasonings to your veggies if you prefer, or perhaps just a pinch of salt.
Next, you need to funnel your vegetables into the different mason jars. The correct funnel will allow you to slide the vegetables into the jars without compacting or crushing them. Also, make sure to can the veggies loosely. In other words, do not press the food down. After the vegetables are in the jars, add some of the steaming liquid to each jar. If you run out, add some boiling water to the jars. But make sure to leave about an inch of airspace in each jar. Use the silicone spatula to ensure that no air bubbles are in between the veggies or on the sides of the jar.
After this process, close the jars with new flats and rings. Unless you want to possibly poison your family with botulism, you should always use new flats and rings. Used ones can have small dents, rust, and holes that allow air to seep in, giving botulism a medium for growth.
Then, add three inches of water to your pressure canner, as well as the rack. Open the valves so that the steam can escape. Then place your jars into the canner and close the lid, making sure that the seal is 100% closed and tight. Allow the pressure to build up to anywhere between ten to eleven pounds. Either use the chart that came with you canner, or go to Make-stuff.com to find out how long you need to keep that pressure on for which vegetables.
After the allotted time, turn off the canner and allow it to cool slowly and completely before opening the lid, to ensure that the seals on your jars remain intact. Then, remove the jars and allow them to cool overnight. The next day, you can remove the rings and begin labeling. Afterwards, you can pop open a jar anytime you want, enjoying the fruits (or in this case vegetables) of your labor.
