Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container. High acid foods can be processed by water bath boiling, while all other foods must use higher temperatures requiring a pressure canner.
Canning and Food Storage
Home canning tends to be what a lot of people think of when they think of food storage. The true long term food storage is shelf stable foods with long shelf lives such as grains and legumes. However, supplementing a plain diet with fruits and vegetables is important for your nutrition as well as to avoid flavor fatigue.
There are many many things you can preserve via water bath or pressure canning. Everything from jams and jellies, fruits and pie fillings to salsa, tomato sauce, chicken, hamburger, soups, and more. Because you can purchase foods in bulk when they are on sale, canning them can be a very cost-effective solution to add fruits and vegetables to your food storage (even taking into account the costs of canning materials).
Benefits of Canning
- You know exactly what ingredients are included (no artificial preservatives)
- Add the nutrition of fruits and vegetables into your food storage diet
- Ability to use recipes with meat as part of your three month supply (they become shelf-stable!)
- Home-canned foods taste significantly better than store-bought canned goods
- If you have a home garden, it’s a great way to preserve your harvest
More About Canning
Canning Peaches … Delish!
Learn how to can peaches, Jodi has a little different technique than most books recommend.
How to Make Strawberry Jam
Homemade strawberry jam is such a treat, it is so much yummier than store-bought, which is truly the reason to make it.
How to Can Homemade Applesauce
Applesauce is one of the easiest and most delicious foods to can. Step by step tutorial on how we do it.
How to Pressure Can Ground Beef
Jodi gives a step-by-step overview of her experiences with this process that intimidated her for a LONG time.
How to Pressure Can Chicken
See how easy it is to can your own chicken so that you can have shelf stable chicken ready for recipes, and in case of emergencies.
