As the cost of food rises my wife and i are looking into getting into canning more than just the jalapeños and pineapple jalapeño stuff i do now. any suggestions?
like what to try and equipment to get
by MarsupialOld292
5 Comments
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poweller65
Where did you get your recipe?
n_bumpo
Canning is what you might call an exact science. If you follow the instructions carefully, you’ll end up with a shelf stable product that will last for a long time. Tweak recipes, follow recipes found on facebook, TikTok or other social media sites could, no, will lead to bad things. While botulism is definitely a possibility, regular old food poisoning sucks and I wouldn’t recommend it. Look at the information on trusted sources such as [The National Center for Home Food Preservation](https://nchfp.uga.edu) [Ball Mason Jars](https://www.ballmasonjars.com/recipes?fdid=recipes) or [Bernardin](https://www.bernardin.ca/EN/Default.aspx)If you want to search for recipes, end it with .edu that way your results will be from university laboratories and will be safe. As far as equipment, there are two leading contenders, Presto and All American. Presto is somewhat more affordable but requires occasional maintenance. I don’t know much about them personally I have the AA pressure canner. It should be noted that pressure canners and pressure cookers are not the same and a cooker can not be used as a pressure canner. I think once you get into it you next problem will be where to store all the stuff you canned. For example, Aldi’s have turkeys for $1.07/lb so we bought two that we will can all the meat in a bunch of recipes, make gallons of stock and can that as well. Every once and a while, we will do a “Pantry Challenge” where we only buy dairy and coffee at the grocery store and eat what we have canned. It’s great to have the monthly food bill be under $20 for a family of four.
Welcome to canning! As others have mentioned, the most important thing is to source safe, tested recipes – [here is a link to our sub’s wiki](https://reddit.com/r/Canning/w/index/), with lots of safe websites and books listed. I’ll also include this link for [the official recipe for candied jalapenos ](https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=candied-jalapenos) – while you can do some modifications safely, such as swapping white sugar for brown, using different types of peppers, or adding or changing dried spices, it’s not safe to add more peppers, as that changes the acidity, which is what does most of the preserving (the rest is done by the water bath)
As for canning as a way to challenge rising food costs – the best way is to grow your own (which comes with its own costs and challenges) – next best is to search for local, seasonal produce, or (if you have a pressure canner) amazing sales on meat. Someone else mentioned now is the time to get turkey for canning meat and broth; pork shoulder can be found cheap and is excellent for canning; I often find chuck roast on clearance and make up a batch of [beef stew](https://www.healthycanning.com/beef-stew).
Please let me know if you have questions! We have a great team of mods and users here who really do just want to help people enjoy safe canning.
5 Comments
Hi u/MarsupialOld292,
For accessibility, please reply to this comment with a transcription of the screenshot or alt text describing the image you’ve posted. We thank you for ensuring that the visually impaired can fully participate in our discussions!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Canning) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Where did you get your recipe?
Canning is what you might call an exact science. If you follow the instructions carefully, you’ll end up with a shelf stable product that will last for a long time. Tweak recipes, follow recipes found on facebook, TikTok or other social media sites could, no, will lead to bad things. While botulism is definitely a possibility, regular old food poisoning sucks and I wouldn’t recommend it. Look at the information on trusted sources such as [The National Center for Home Food Preservation](https://nchfp.uga.edu) [Ball Mason Jars](https://www.ballmasonjars.com/recipes?fdid=recipes) or [Bernardin](https://www.bernardin.ca/EN/Default.aspx)If you want to search for recipes, end it with .edu that way your results will be from university laboratories and will be safe. As far as equipment, there are two leading contenders, Presto and All American. Presto is somewhat more affordable but requires occasional maintenance. I don’t know much about them personally I have the AA pressure canner. It should be noted that pressure canners and pressure cookers are not the same and a cooker can not be used as a pressure canner. I think once you get into it you next problem will be where to store all the stuff you canned. For example, Aldi’s have turkeys for $1.07/lb so we bought two that we will can all the meat in a bunch of recipes, make gallons of stock and can that as well. Every once and a while, we will do a “Pantry Challenge” where we only buy dairy and coffee at the grocery store and eat what we have canned. It’s great to have the monthly food bill be under $20 for a family of four.
https://preview.redd.it/0h2hy8r3b21e1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ef2e8d156062e45a8aeb00f66a334362c5ee852d
One of two shelving units in our kitchen
Welcome to canning! As others have mentioned, the most important thing is to source safe, tested recipes – [here is a link to our sub’s wiki](https://reddit.com/r/Canning/w/index/), with lots of safe websites and books listed. I’ll also include this link for [the official recipe for candied jalapenos ](https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=candied-jalapenos) – while you can do some modifications safely, such as swapping white sugar for brown, using different types of peppers, or adding or changing dried spices, it’s not safe to add more peppers, as that changes the acidity, which is what does most of the preserving (the rest is done by the water bath)
As for canning as a way to challenge rising food costs – the best way is to grow your own (which comes with its own costs and challenges) – next best is to search for local, seasonal produce, or (if you have a pressure canner) amazing sales on meat. Someone else mentioned now is the time to get turkey for canning meat and broth; pork shoulder can be found cheap and is excellent for canning; I often find chuck roast on clearance and make up a batch of [beef stew](https://www.healthycanning.com/beef-stew).
Please let me know if you have questions! We have a great team of mods and users here who really do just want to help people enjoy safe canning.
Want to have your mind blown? Here’s a breakdown of how a canning recipe is tested in a lab to ensure pathogens are destroyed and contents are shelf stable: https://nchfp.uga.edu/resources/entry/backgrounder-heat-processing-of-home-canned-foods