The Basics of Home Canning and How to Get Started—Quick and Easy!

Canning is a good way to preserve your harvest, and it's easy once you know how to do it right. teatian/Shutterstock

So you planted a garden, lucked out when your property included fruit trees, stumbled upon a produce sale you just couldn’t pass up, or joined a Community Supported Agriculture group. Good for you! Now what? What will you do with all that bounty?

Your choices are 1) quickly consume your harvest before it spoils, 2) give it away, or 3) preserve it to enjoy in the future. One of the best ways to preserve—the method of food preservation that is making a big comeback—is known as home canning. Canning isn’t tricky, but it is a procedure that should be followed precisely.

Home Canning Overview

Generally, the process begins by sterilizing canning jars in boiling water. Then, once you’ve filled them with hot jam or another prepared recipe and applied lids, you boil them again. Proper canning or “heat processing” hermetically seals the jar, meaning no air or tiny organisms can get in. It also kills any undesirables that may be present, such as bacteria, yeast, or mold. In addition, it destroys naturally occurring enzymes that cause food to spoil.