Once you have decide to give pressure canning a try there comes the question of what equipment you will need as well as what to do. While most canners come with instructions, many of the instruction booklets are not very clear, especially if you are a beginning canner who has never done any canning before. This article is intended for beginners and is a step by step tutorial on choosing a canner, getting ready to can and canning for your first time.

What You Use a Pressure Canner For

Since this article is written for beginners I think it is important to take a moment to explain what you would need a pressure canner for and what types of foods it is used for. There is some confusion and misinformation on the internet about using the right type of canner, which can result in unsafe food.

Pressure canning is a method of preserving food that uses a higher heat than boiling water, which is what water bath canning methods use. While water bath canning is safe for certain high acid foods such as fruits and pickling, certain foods such as vegetables and meats are lower in acid and need a high temperature that can only be achieve with a pressure canner, in order to make them safe. Pressure canning also removes excess air that bacteria need in order to grow.

Without using a pressure canner you can risk food born bacteria such as botulism, making your foods unsafe to use.

Be sure to check a reliable source to see whether the food that you are processing should be processed in a water bath or in a pressure canner. As a safety precaution if I am ever in doubt I will pressure can something at the time listed for the ingredient that takes the longest in the food I am processing.

Choosing the Right Pressure Canner

Taking the steps to choose the best canner can make all the difference in how your canning will go. Canners start at around $60 and can go to $500 or more for a large home pressure canner. If you have been canning for some time, and are making the step to pressure can knowing that you will be using your canner on a regular basis, then it definitely makes sense to invest in a good quality canner now, for a variety of reasons. A bigger canner will allow you to can more at one time and a good quality canner will take much of the guess work out of pressure canning and leave you feeling more confident about food and pressure canning safety, as well as leave you with fewer parts that can break or cause problems with your canning.

If you are just starting out you may be unwilling to spend that much money on a canner, and you may not be canning enough to justify spending that much. There are good canners that can suit your needs for under $100 if that is the case. All canners must meet certain standards for safety and if used properly will work just fine for the small amounts of canning you are going to do. Should you decided later to move up to a better canner then you will be able to do so and pass your canner on to someone else that needs it.

Brands vary in what they offer, the All American at the top of the scale offers 4 sizes of canners, with their largest canner having enough room for 19 quarts or 32 pints of food, making it ideal for those that have a large garden. The All American has several Features that make it the canner of choice, from the lack of a rubber seal to a geared pressure system. This canner uses a metal to metal seal that is more consistent and does not require the need to replace the seal every few years like other canners do. This ensures consistent sealing which means better safety for your canned goods.  The geared pressure system, has an automatic overpressure release which allows you to walk away while your canner is cooking secure in the knowledge that it will keep consistent pressure. While canners should never be left completely unattended, this allows you to be doing other things and not requiring you to watch your canner at every second to ensure it is maintaining the proper pressure.

Presto and Mirro canners offer 2 models, the 21 quart model which holds 7 quarts or 14 pints or the 16 quart model that holds 7 quarts or 7 pints. These smaller models are the most budget friendly canners on the market; you can get a Presto or Mirro 16 quart canner for under 75 dollars. Both of these canners have weights for the pressure regulators, so you won’t have to get them checked every year, but they still have rubber seals which need to be inspected every so often and replaced when they become rigid, damaged or brittle.

The 21 quart models offer more room, and if you prefer you can get a Presto that has a dial pressure regulator, but it is important to keep in mind that these regulators much be taken someplace to be tested every year. They do offer a more precise measurement of pressure which some people prefer, but they must be watched more carefully. The weighted pressure regulators on the other hand release excess pressure so simply placing the right weight on your canner and adjusting the heat so they jiggle at a certain interval is all you need to do.

In the end when it comes to choosing a canner, choose the one that best suits what you will use it for, as well as the one that best suits your comfort level. I find the All American is well worth the extra money spent to ensure consistent pressure canning without a lot of extra effort on your part.

I hope this helps you to make a decision on which pressure canner is right for you, if you are still on the fence about whether you want to try pressure canning please take a look at my article 10 Reasons to Give Pressure Canning a Try.

On Monday I will have part 2 of Pressure Canning Basics, which will include safety tips for safe canning, then part 3 of this series will offer a step by step overview of your first canning session.

One thing I hear more than anything else is new canners talking about being afraid of using a pressure canner, this fear while understandable is unfounded in that the concerns they may have regarding these canners have long since been addressed.

I cannot encourage new canners enough to give this process a try once you do you will never look back.

Canners are much safer than they have ever been, and the chance of an accident when canning jars of food is extremely low. All canners have safety mechanisms that are designed to release any excess pressure as well as valves that will release at a certain pressure, to keep pressure from building up dangerously high.

The type of canner you buy will also offer you even more assurance of safe canning, not only from the standpoint of not having an accident but also from the standpoint of making sure that your food has been properly heated for safety. Canners such as the All American Canner offer several features that cheaper models do not, such as metal to metal seal, which means that there are no rubber seals to wear out. A geared steam gauge ensures that the pressure stays consistent, to ensure safe canning.

There are a Lot of Reasons to Try Pressure Canning

With canning being a lot safer these days, there are a lot of good reasons to try canning your own food and it won’t take long to become comfortable with the process.

1) Use a Pressure Canner to Preserve Home Grown Foods – One of the best reasons to can is that you preserve the harvest from your gardens and keep it for times when gardening is not possible because of the weather. Canning offers one of the longest lasting methods of preserving your food, and allows you to enjoy your own harvest year around.

2) Pressure Canning Lets You Buy in Season Locally – A lot has been said about buying your produce in season and locally as a way to help the environment and to ensure that your family is getting the best quality food. Buy your food in season, then can it so you can enjoy local foods year around. Local foods are picked ripe rather than being picked before they are ready as many farmers must do to ensure their crop makes it to market in peak condition.

3) Canned foods are Budget Friendly for Those that are On limited incomes - Once you have your canner and jars, (which can be found at yard sales and sometimes even given away by neighbors and those through your church) canning what you grow can be a cost effective way to feed your family. A 400 sq. foot garden can produce much of what your family will eat for a year, depending of course on the size of your family. Of course you can also tuck that 400 square feet in where ever you have room for it, it does not have to be all in one place. Urban gardening and edible landscapes are catching on even in the larger cities as a way to feed your family.

4) Using a Pressure Canner Gives You options in What You Feed Your Family - Not just budget friendly, using a pressure canner offers you more control over what you will feed your family. You might not be able to afford local fresh produce in the middle of the winter, but if you can grow and can or even buy your produce locally, it puts you more in control of what your family is eating.

5) Canned Goods Are not Affected by Power Outages - One of the more compelling reasons to use a pressure canner is that foods that are stored in a freezer are vulnerable in the event of long term power outages. Even if you are able to keep your food in your freezers safe, you won’t want to be opening them during the power outage so canned foods offer a ready and easy source of foods.

6) In The Event of a Disaster your Canned Foods Will be Safe to Eat - Canned foods are sealed, making them less vulnerable to damage than foods that are in your freezer or are packaged differently. In the event of a disaster you will need a readily available and easy to access and fix food source, canning offers all of that.

7) Canned Foods Last a Long Time - Stored properly you can get a shelf life of at least 2 to 3 years from your canned goods, and many people feel you can go much longer than that. Much depends on how your canned goods are stored, cool dry storage with minimal light can offer you a better shelf life for your canned goods.

8) Canned Goods Can be Stored Anywhere - Unlike a freezer that requires a place to sit and electricity, once canned, your food can be put anywhere where it is cool, dry and dark. This could include tucking a shelf in a closet, stashing jars under a bed, or using up that basement you have no other use for.

9) Then Energy and Resources Used to Store Canned Goods Are Far Less Than Frozen - Think about it, not only do you need to have a bag or container to put your food in but then you must pay for the electricity to store it for months at a time. Once you have a canner and jars, you will only be paying for the lids and the electricity to can your food, then you only need to find a place to store it.

10) Jars Can Be Reused - if you are concerned about waste, jars can be re-used provided they have no cracks or nicks in them. You can also buy the Tattler reusable lids rather than disposable lids for less waste and ultimately less cost. They are expensive but eliminate the need to buy new lids every year.

I tend to split my harvest between jars and freezer, canning gives me the peace of mind of knowing that my family will always have food regardless of the circumstances. While canning is a bit more labor intensive, it stores longer, and offers you more storage options as well as the ability to keep a larger inventory than a freezer can hold.

If you are interested in pressure canning there are many resources that can help you get started down the road to safe and cost effective food storage using a pressure canner. Once you take the leap you will never go back and you will find tremendous satisfaction in growing your own food and preserving it.