For those of you who are brand new to canning, I recommend starting with these posts.
If you have a question about canning, please read these through this page carefully, as you will probably find your answer in one of my earlier posts. Please do know that I am not a canning oracle. If you are questioning the recipe you followed, or if you deviated from proper canning procedure, please don’t email me to ask if your preserves are safe or unsafe, as there is no way for me to know. Remember, when it doubt, throw it out!
For even more canning information, a list of my recommended sites and resources can be found here.
Definitions
Lids, Seals, and Air Bubbles
- How To Check that Your Seal is Good
- How to Use One-Piece Lids
- How to Unstick a Stuck Ring
- How to Get Rid of Canned Goods Gone Bad
- Preserving With Tattlers Reusable Lids
- Why You Should Bubble Your Jars
- Air Bubbles in Finished Products
- Questions About Canning Whole Fruit (Air Bubbles and Liquid Loss)
- Some Canning Questions (Scroll Post for Air Bubbles and Siphoning)
- Why You Shouldn’t Can Like Your Grandmother Did
Jar Info
- A Field Guide to Jars
- Extending the Life of Open Jars
- Choosing Jar Size
- How to Use 24 Ounce Jars
- How to Help Prevent Jar Breakage
- What to Do When A Jar Breaks in the Canner
- What to Do About Spotty or Filmy Jars
- When Black Scum Forms on the Outside of Jars
- How to Can Using Weck Jars
- How to Can in Vintage Jars
- Should You Use Steam Canners?
- How to Pack Jars for Shipping
- How to Store Finished Jars
- Some Canning Questions (Scroll Post for Testing Comparable Recipes and Processing Time)
Process and Outlook
- Learning to be Flexible
- On Adjusting for Altitude
- How Long to Home-canned Foods Really Last?
- How to Make a Recipe Yours
- Skip the Plastic in the Bulk Section, Use Jars Instead
- Keeping Track and Taking Stock
- Label Your Jars Promptly
- How to Can Creatively and Still Be Safe
- Season to Taste
- Why Do Colors Change in Home-canned Foods?
- Is Condensation Inside Sealed Jars Safe?
- Can You Safely Can on a Glass Top Stove?
- Understanding Acid and pH in Boiling Water Bath Canning
Specific Ingredients and Their Roles
- How to Swap Vinegars
- Sugar’s Role in Home Preserved Food
- Can I Reduce the Sugar?
- Is it Safe to Can Products That Contain Oil?
- A Couple of Pumpkin Reminders
- Why Pumpkin Butter Can’t be Canned
- Tomato Float, Sauce Separation, and Loss of Liquid
- Why You Can’t Can Your Family’s Tomato Sauce
- Using Good Water
- How to Make Apple Butter and How to Use it
- Why You Can’t Cook Acidic Foods in Reactive Pots
- On Substituting Salt in Pickling
- Can you Reuse Pickle Brine?
- Why Recipes Call for Bottled Lemon Juice
- Fruit Butters in Slow Cookers
- Some Canning Questions (Scroll Post for Bottled Lemon Juice)
- Some Q&A (Blue Garlic, Too-Tangy Beets, and Using Frozen Fruit)
Jam, Jelly, Marmalade, and Fruit Butter Tips
- Pectin Versus Clear Jel
- How to Ensure that Your Jam Sets
- Tips for Making Good Marmalade
- How to Save Runny Jam
- The Shelf Life of Jam
- Why You Shouldn’t Double Batches of Jam
- How to Make Jam With Frozen Fruit
- How to Prevent Jam Separation
- Can You Make Jam With Artificial Sweeteners?
- How to Use a Thermometer to Achieve Set?
- How to Swap Pectins
- Use a Splatter Screen for Thick Products
