I just saw this tip on another site and one of the comments said something like "I wouldn't trust my canning information from just any blog". So I decided to go to the source. According to the manufacturers of Ball canning products, it is not necessary to heat the lids before placing them on the canning jars.
I found this page which talks about canning lids and how it is unnecessary to simmer them before using. This is not new information. It has been true since 1969, when the chemical composition of the sealing gasket was changed. As many of us learned to can from our older relatives, it is not surprising that this extra step has been passed on for so many years.
The Ball Corporation manufactured home canning jars and materials for over 100 years before spinning off the home canning manufacturing part of their business in 1993. The Jarden Corporation manufactures brands such as Ball and Kerr today. Their home canning site, freshpreserving.com, has information about all aspects of home canning.
When I was canning pickles this summer I would take a cut off cucumber end and put it up on my stove top to let me know each time I had put 1 cup of cucumbers in the pot.=
It costs a bit the first year to get set, but you could just get a boiling water bath the first year and use next year's savings to buy a pressure canner.
Thanks For The Nice Comments On Canning And Gardening. May I respond to all the nice people who commented on my home food canning tip?
This is just a tip for non-USA residents that I have finally managed to work out! Canning, for all of us Europeans, means preserving or bottling! Not a tin in sight!
I'm searching for information on recanning foods from #10 cans. I purchased several #10 cans of garbanzo beans that I'd like to recan into pints. I wasn't sure if I needed to reuse the thick liquid already in the cans, or if I could can the beans in water and discard the liquid. Any info will be appreciated.
By Talitha from Payson, AZ
I agree-I would not recan something that is already processed, but I would freeze. Just put your beans into freezer zip bags and label them. You can even freeze them flat to take up less room.
When you freeze garbanzo beans I believe you will find they turn mushy so decide how you wish to use them first. Open 1 can at a time and freeze the left overs. Your extension service will be able to tell you the most about canning and recanning. If you do decide to freeze them I would drain the juice off and just freeze the beans in separate bags....leave them frozen until use and put in recipe frozen to make better use of them.
When I make jams or jellies using the Sure-Jell method, my recipe calls to bring it to rolling boil that cannot be stirred down for exactly one minute. Instead of trying to guess or use a kitchen timer, I just use my microwave timer.
I store my emptied canning jars in the garage. I found that if I store the jars upside down, it saves a lot of time cleaning them up to use. No more dust or dead bugs inside.
Don't let your canning water go to waste. You can blanch green beans or other fruits or vegetables for freezing in boiling water bath canner water after you remove the jars of, say, tomatoes or fruit from the canner.
So many people are asking about canning foods or freezing them. I have an old Kerr Canning guide that is so old the pages are falling out, but I love it.
What do you do with jars that don't seal properly?
By Linda H
If they haven't sealed right away, some times it takes a few hours. (I'll here mine popping in the night). You either need to try and reheat the lid or get a new lid. If all fails again, use product right away.
Is there a simple, inexpensive way to can that doesn't take all day to do? If I have something I need to can, can I do it without spending tons of money to set up?
By Jamish
You have to buy jars, and you will either need a pressure cooker or a hot water bath canner. You will need a special pair of tongs to get the hot jars of canned goods out of the canner. Then you will need a cool place like a unheated basement to keep the canned produce, or a corner of the basement that isn't heated. By the time you prepare the produce for canning, until the time it gets done, you do spend a fair amount of time doing it.
Canning does take some start up money and a good chunk of time. I asked for the items I needed as gifts for Xmas and bdays for a few years. eBay is a good place to look too.
Less expensive is freezing items. I started freezing strawberries, peaches and zucchini while getting equipment. You need preserving agent for peaches. When freezing strawberries, clean, cut and freeze on tray individually.
It seems many commercially canned foods use jars that are deliberately just a bit different from traditional canning jars, and the rings and lids will not fit.
Is there someplace to buy those items? Can I buy in bulk the original covers the commercial companies used?
By Muriel S
