Five Canning Tips To Make Your Harvest Life Easier

Canning can be a fun and rewarding process, but if you are not careful it can quickly turn stressful.  These five canning tips will help make your harvest life easier and keep your canning kitchen stress free. 

I was introduced to canning as a child as I watched my mom and grandma bustle around a hot kitchen with canners going, hair all disheveled. The kids always took part in the prepping of the vegetables or fruit, but were quickly shooed away when the canners came on. 

Later on in my early adult life I took to waterbacth canning jams and jellies, but in no way shape or form would I have attempted to call myself an avid canner. I didn’t really get back into canning until I met my husband and his grandmother.  That first year I learned for the very first time how to can deer meat and it has become one of my favorite ways to preserve our hunt. 

As I have expanded my garden and knowledge I have become more confident and creative in the canning kitchen.  There are some tried and true tips and tricks that will keep your kitchen safe and your canning days stress free that I want to share with you now. 

Make Sure You Have the Time

I know this sounds like a no brainer, but I will tell you that there is nothing worse than thinking you can get everything done before you have to be somewhere.  I have learned this stressful lesson the hard way.  When you plan to can, make sure that you can flex your time by a few hours so you are not rushing.  Rushing cannot only be stressful, but also dangerous, so be sure to dedicate your day to canning or be alright with being late to anything else.  

While making sure you have time, also plan a simple dinner.  I know you think at the beginning of the day when ambitions are running high that you will only be canning for a few hours and will be able to also make that four course dinner, but trust me you cannot. And even if you can, you will not want to by the end of a long day of canning, trust me.  Make sandwiches, order pizza, or any quick no fuss dinner option that will keep you from having to stop in the middle of canning to feed hungry kids.  I always have snacks and drinks handy on canning days to make sure they can self-serve.  

Have the Right Equipment

There is a difference between a pressure cooker and a pressure canner.  Please make sure you use a pressure canner for pressure canning.  That is the only safe way to pressure can your food without having to worry about a potential explosion. 

You should also make sure you have a jar lifter.  They are really inexpensive, but will be the safest way to remove hot jars from your hot water.  One thing you do not need is a waterbacth canner.  If you have a large stock pot that is all you need.  Don’t waste your money on this. 

A critical part of canning is making sure you have good jars, lids, and rings.  I recommend only using lids from a reputable source like Ball or Kerr.  Jars should be chip free and rings should be corrosion free. Jars and rings are reused year after year so make sure to store with care to avoid damage. 

Prep Everything

Almost as important as giving yourself enough time and having the right equipment is ensuring you have a clean clutter free environment to work in.  There is nothing more stressful than working around a mess in the kitchen while you are canning and nothing more unhygienic. In order to maintain sanity and safety make sure your space is clean and well organized.  

Make a plan on how you are going to go through the process and set your workspace up to accommodate everything you need to accomplish.  You will need a place to wash your produce and prepare it for canning. This will lead into the canning area where you will fill, wipe, lid and can your bounty.  Lastly you will need an area that will ultimately hold your cooling goods.  You will need to have a scrap bowl, more hand towels than you think you will need, and good clean jars.  Much like hand towels, prep more jars than you think you will need as well.  By having all these things in place and knowing your work flow, you will have a much less stressful time with the process.  

Use the Right Ingredients

If a recipe calls for lemon juice make sure you do not use fresh lemon juice. I know! It goes against everything you know to be true about flavor, but trust me you want to use the bottled stuff.  Bottled lemon juice has a balanced PH and is best when canning. 

Similarly, if a recipe calls for pickling salt, note that it is totally different than kosher salt or regular table salt. Refrain from using table salt as it has additives, if using any other kind of salt be aware that you may need to do more or less.  It is best to stick to the recipe.  

Make sure you also use ingredients that are ripe and ready for processing.  Underripe foods may change the consistency and overall taste of the final product so make sure you 

Know Your Headspace

Having proper headspace is important to ensure proper sealing and to prevent potential spoilage and discoloration of food.  If you aren’t sure what headspace is, it is the distance from the lid to the top of the food.  Canning recipes will call for a certain amount of headspace, so make sure you read and understand your recipe before starting. 

Making sure you know your recipe is important, but so is making sure your recipe comes from a reputable source.  Ball canning and preserving online has a great repertoire of recipes that have all been tested.  The recipes I share here are all tested in my kitchen  and have been serving my family for years.

Have Fun!

By following these five simple tips and tricks you will ensure a stress free and fun canning season.  I have learned over the years that canning, while a ton of work, is also a lot of fun. It is a time to make connections with your children and teach them a long lost art.  

Do you have any other tips for new canners?  We would love to hear them below in the comments!  Don’t forget to also check us out on Instagram, where we share daily photos of the goings on at the homestead from preserving to farm animals and renovation.  We hope to see you there!

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