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With water-bath canning, you essentially use a special kettle to boil filled jars for a certain amount of time. Common foods for water-bath canning include fruits and tomatoes, as well as jams, jellies, marmalades, chutneys, relishes, pickled vegetables, and other condiments.
You’re probably wondering whether water-bath canning is safe for canning food at home. Rest assured: The answer is a most definite “Yes!” — provided that you follow the instructions and guidelines for safe canning.
In this chapter, you discover which foods are safely processed in a water-bath canner and step-by-step instructions for completing the canning process. In no time, you’ll be turning out sparkling jars full of homemade delicacies to dazzle and satisfy your family and friends.
Water-Bath Canning in a Nutshell
Water-bath canning, sometimes referred to as the boiling-water method, is the simplest and easiest method for preserving high-acid food, primarily fruit, tomatoes, and pickled vegetables.
To water-bath can, you place your prepared jars in a water-bath canner, a kettle especially designed for this canning method (see the section, “Key equipment for water-bath canning,” for more on the canner and other necessary equipment). You then bring the water to a boil and maintain that boil for a certain number of minutes, determined by the type of food and the size of the jar. Keeping the water boiling in your jar-filled kettle throughout the processing period maintains a water temperature of 212 degrees. This constant temperature is critical for destroying mold, yeast, enzymes, and bacteria that occur in high-acid foods.
Foods you can safely water-bath can
You can safely water-bath can only high-acid foods — those with a pH factor (the measure of acidity) of 4.6 or lower. So just what is a high-acid food? Either of the following.
Foods that are naturally high in acid: These foods include most fruits.
Low-acid foods that you add acid to, thus converting them into a high-acid food. Pickled vegetables fall into this category, making them safe for water-bath canning.You may change the acid level in low-acid foods by adding an acid, such as vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid, a white powder extracted from the juice of acidic fruits such as lemons, limes, or pineapples. Some examples of altered low-acid foods are pickles made from cucumbers, relish made from zucchini or summer squash, and green beans flavored with dill. Today, tomatoes tend to fall into this category. They can be water-bath canned, but for safety’s sake, you add a form of acid to them.
Key equipment for water-bath canning
Just as you wouldn’t alter the ingredients in a recipe or skip a step in the canning process, you don’t want to use the wrong equipment when you’re home-canning. This equipment allows you to handle and process your filled jars safely.
The equipment for water-bath canning is less expensive than the equipment for pressure canning (check out Chapter 9 to see what equipment pressure canning requires). Water-bath canning kettles cost anywhere from $25 to $45. You may want to purchase a “starter kit” for about $50 to $60, which includes the canning kettle, the jar rack, a jar lifter, a wide-mouth funnel, and jars.
Following is a list of the equipment you must have on hand, no exceptions or substitutions, for safe and successful water-bath canning.
A water-bath canner: The water-bath canner consists of a large kettle, usually made of porcelain-coated steel or aluminum, that holds a maximum of 21 to 22 quarts of water, has a fitted lid, and uses a rack (see the next item) to hold the jars (see Figure 4-1). Do not substitute a large stock pot for a water-bath canner. It is important for the jars to be sitting off the bottom of the canner, and racks that fit this purpose are included in your canner kit. Although aluminum is a reactive metal (a metal that transfers flavor to food coming in direct contact with it), it’s permitted for a water-bath canner because your sealed jar protects the food from directly touching the aluminum.
A jar rack: The jar rack for a water-bath canner is usually made of stainless steel and rests on the bottom of your canning kettle. It keeps your jars from touching the bottom of the kettle, or each other, while holding the filled jars upright during the water-bath processing period. The rack has lifting handles for hanging it on the inside edge of your canning kettle (refer to Figure 4-1), allowing you to safely transfer your filled jars into and out of your kettle.FIGURE 4-1: A water-bath canning kettle with the rack hanging on the edge of the kettle.
Canning jars: Canning jars are the only jars recommended for home-canning. Use the jar size recommended in your recipe. For more on canning jars, refer to Chapter 2.
Two-piece caps (lids and screw bands): These lids and screw bands, explained in detail in Chapter 2, create a vacuum seal after the water-bath processing period, preserving the contents of the jar for use at a later time. This seal protects your food from the reentry of microorganisms. The older-style rubber rings are no longer recommended. Although they are sometimes still available secondhand, the seal is no longer dependable enough to result in a safe product. You can find these rubber rings in some specialty canning stores; however, due to their scarcity, they are very expensive and
