Modern Self-Reliance

Teaching Homesteading and Preparedness Skills

Simple Guide to Water Bath Canning

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Simple Guide to Water Bath Canning

For many people canning is a fun and safe way to preserve garden produce. Canning provides a way to make food shelf stable without risking it going bad before you can eat it.

It also provides food security if the power goes out and food spoils in the fridge, at least your cans are safe to eat.

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Canning: There are three parts to the basic "can". The glass jar, the metal lid and the metal band. There are two types of jar mouth sizes: Regular  and wide mouth.

Some people will say regular is good for pour-able items and wide mouth is better for like beans and chunky things. To me, the real different is wide-mouth jars stack on top of each other and regular mouth jars don't. See my full comparison of wide mouth vs regular cans here.

First things first: Safety

  1. Find a trusted approved recipe for what you want to can. Some things can be processed using a water bath canner (high acid foods like tomatoes) and some things need to be pressure canned (low acid foods like meat). And some things are not recommended for home canning (like pumpkin). I use the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving (Ball Blue Book) You need to know how long to can it for, how many pounds of pressure if pressure caning and the amount of head-space to leave in the jar. See details on pressure canning here.
  2. Yes, bacteria (like botulism) can grow in an improperly sealed jar. However, using an approved recipe, you know your family will be safe.
  3. It is NOT recommended that you reuse the metal lids. Once the rubber seal is used for a jar, it cannot be reformed to a new jar. You can reuse the metal bands and you can reuse tattler lids (this is what I mean).
  4. It is recommended to eat your canned products within a year, this is more for quality sake than safety's sake.

Required Tools

  • Large pot
  • Canning Jars
  • Metal Lid
  • Metal Ring
  • Basic Canning Kit:
    • Jar Lifter
    • Headspace Ruler
    • Magnet on a stick
    • Funnel
  • Something to can: Jam!

In this post I will cover the most common method of canning with a water bath canner. You will need a really big/tall pot. You can sometimes find these large 22- quart pots at thrift stores or you can buy on Amazon here.

You need glass mason jars designed for canning (Ball jars), a metal lid plus the ring. The jars can be found at dollar stores, Target, Amazon, or sometimes thrift stores. The canning lids and rings can be found on Amazon of course, but also at local hardware and grocery stores.

I recommend getting a basic canning kit. It should include a head-space ruler, jar lifter, magnet on a stick and funnel. I use this Canning Kit and it serves my needs well.

Let's get down to business:

  1. Choose what you are going to preserve: strawberry jam.
  2. As you finish cooking the jam, fill your large pot with water. Add the clean jars you plan to use, and enough water cover the jars. Bring to a boil. In the end, you will want 3-4" of water above the jars.
  3. If you have hard water, like I do, you may want to add a splash of vinegar to the water. The minerals in the hard water can create a film on the outside of your jar. Vinegar will prevent the hazy film on the outside of the jar, purely for aesthetics.
  4. In a separate pan, put the lids in water and bring to a simmer.
  5. When the water has been boiling for 10 minutes, remove one jar with your jar lifter. Fill jar with your hot jam using the funnel. Use your head-space ruler to set the proper head space (1/4" for jam), or empty air space in the jar. Too much or too little head space can cause the jar to not seal properly.
  6. Be sure the rim is clean, wipe if need be. Using your magnet on a stick, get a lid from the simmering pot and center it on your jar.
  7. Tighten the metal band, to be "finger" tight. Meaning, tighten just enough till it catches. You want it to be tight enough so water doesn't get in, but loose enough to let some air out.
  8. Return the hot jar back into the boiling water and repeat for all other jars.
  9. At this point, you should have a boiling pot of water with all cans filled. Check that there is 2-3" of water over the jars. Add more hot water is necessary.
  10. Keeping boiling for the length given on the recipe, for strawberry jam it says 15 minutes.
  11. When the time is up, remove jars with tongs from the water. Set the jars in a place out of the way to cool. You should hear the satisfying "ping" as the metal lids are sucked down onto the jar. This means the jar is sealed properly. You can check the seal by pressing down on the lid, if it gives a little, it is not sealed. A properly sealed lid will have no play, and when upended will not leak. The bands may be loose as the lid is sucked down. Do NOT tighten the band when the jar is hot, as it makes it very hard to get off.

Label and store. For storage, you do not have to store the bands on the jars but I find it keeps them all together.

You may want to remove the band and clean any water so the bands don't rust on your jar.

strawberry-cranberry jam

Reusable lids: There is a company, who makes reusable lids called tattler lids. I have not used them, and I have never seen them in stores. The idea is that there is a thicker rubber seal that can be used more than once. They can be purchased through Amazon, which I plan to do and will report back. I have heard the process for preparing these lids is slightly different, but not much more complicated.  (Tattler Lids)

Lastly, now that it's late winter and you pull out your summer strawberry jam, how the heck do you open the jar?

  1. Remove the metal band.
  2. Put a rag over the top of the can, and grip the can from the top. Do NOT grip the can like you are opening a jar of pasta sauce on the side.
  3. With a butter knife (not a sharp knife), find a spot on the jar where the lid hangs out slightly. There will be easier and harder spots to open from.
  4. Wedge the knife up under the seal and twist gently until you hear the seal break and air is sucked in.
  5. Remove the rag and you should be able to lift off the lid.

Why do I recommend this method? When your knife to breaks the seal the pressure from the knife is upwards. If you do not have your hand on the top of the jar, when you break the seal the lid is also under pressure and it will fly (!) off your can, splattering the contents everywhere.

That's all folks. What are you hoping to can this coming garden season? What special recipes would you love to see or share?

Ready to take your canning to the next level? Check out how to pressure can next ----- No Fear Pressure Canning -----

Quick Reference Guide to Canning

Available through Kindle

  • Chapter 1 Deciding between a Water-bath or Pressure Canner
  • Chapter 2 How to use a Water-bath Canner
  • Chapter 3 How to use a Pressure Canner
  • Chapter 4 Common Canning Mistakes
  • Chapter 5 Canner Specifications
  • Chapter 6 Additional Tools
  • Recipes

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Simple Guide to Water Bath Canning
One-Month Food Stash for Less than $150

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One-Month Food Stash for Less than $150

One thing that is important when it comes to survival situations is food. Even a simple power outage can shut down the local grocery store, forcing you to eat what is already in your house. I want to share today our one-month food storage box.

This food gives us peace of mind and assurance that we always have food in the house. When unexpected guests arrive, we know we can pull from our box a delicious, hearty meal. If one of us where to lose our jobs unexpectedly, we could reserve our savings and eat out of the box for a while.

This box includes all shelf stable items, and some that require no cooking, just reheating. Not having to cook means you could in a pinch eat at room temperature without the need for a cook stove or fire or drawing attention to the meal. It may seem silly but cooking a big pot of steaming chili may cause others to lift their noses at the smell and come down to check it out.

Our box is designed for one person to eat comfortably, without rationing, for one month. For us, it means we could eat for 2 weeks, or find space in our apartment for another box. This box currently lives under our end table next to the couch and fits nearly everything. (Water we store elsewhere, learn about our water storage here.)

So how much does it cost? About $140. But we didn't buy it all at once. After the first list was made, every grocery trip we selected 5-6 items to buy and slowly built up our supply.

But what if it expires before I use it, seems like a waste of money? First we created this box around foods we eat every day. So, when we plan chili for dinner in a week, we buy what we need but take the items out of the box and restock with the items we bought. This keeps things rotated and fresh. It also ensures we are stocking the box with things we like and eat regularly. Second, think of it like car insurance. Most months you don't have an accident, don't need repairs but you still pay for insurance. This box is food insurance, most months you won't need it, but will be very happy to have it when you need it. Third, peace of mind is not a waste of time (or money).

So, let's get down to the details, what’s in our box?

One-Month Food Stash for Less than $150
Our Food Stash

Breakfast meals: (38 meals)

  • Oatmeal and brown sugar or jam or honey (15)
  • Protein powder (15)
  • Corned beef hash (8)
  • Protein bars and canned fruit (15)

Lunch + Dinner: (56 meals)

  • Pasta and tomato sauce (8)
  • Easy Chili (16)
  • Shepard's Pie (16)
  • Tomato Soup (8)
  • Mac and cheese (8)

Snacks:

  • Ritz and peanut butter (-)
One-Month Food Stash for Less than $150
Absent of protein powder and fruit

Here with 38 breakfasts and 56 lunch/dinner meals that comes to 94 total meals which is 3 meals a day for 31 days. The recipes are pretty simple.

Oatmeal: (1 serving x 15)

  • 1/2 cup oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup water (to preference)
  • 1 dab of honey, jam or brown sugar

Corned Beef Hash: (2 servings x 4)

  • 1 can Corned Beef hash

Protein + Fruit (1 serving x 15)

  • 1 protein bar
  • 1 fruit cup

Protein Shake (1 serving x 15)

  • 1 scoop of powder
  • milk or water to preference

Pasta and tomato sauce: (2 serving x 4)

  • 1 box pasta
  • 1 jar tomato sauce
  • sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (for morale)

Easy Chili: (4 servings x 4)

  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can baked beans
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can corn
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • optional canned meat (not included)
  • optional rice

Shepard's Pie (4 servings x 4)

  • 1 can peas
  • 1 can corn
  • 1 can gravy
  • 1 packet of dried mashed potatoes
  • optional canned meat (not included)
  • optional rice

Mac and Cheese (1 serving x 4)

  • 1 box mac and cheese

Tomato Soup (1 serving x 4)

  • 1 can tomato soup
  • rice/pasta optional

For variety, try mixing half a can of tomato soup with half a prepared box of mac and cheese. This nice blend changes things up and is still the same amount of servings.

Note: Rice is very easy to make with water and easy to store dry. It has a long shelf life, is packed with calories and fills your stomach. This makes rice a great way to stretch a meal, chili over rice can double the servings of chili. Rice in tomato soup (think Spaghetti-O's) or Shepard's pie can do the same, making your food supply last much longer.

Cooking without Power

Do you have a plan to cook this food without electricity? Say there is a bad wind storm that knocks out power. You have food from your box but some require cooking and some reheating. How do you plan to heat or cook the items in this box?

A good apartment solution is a camp stove. I recommend this Butane Gas camp stove. It is large enough for your standard cooking pots. The Butane Canisters are not easy to find in stores but can be ordered easily from Amazon. (Small propane canisters are also becoming harder to find in camping stores.) Each canister last for 3- 4 hours of burn time. Don't forget to stock up on Butane canisters too! With this link, you can buy 1 canister for about $1. That is a great deal!

One warning with using butane stoves inside: Carbon Monoxide. Get a simple battery powered detector and you will be all set. You could open a window if it's not cold outside.

Want a free printable list ? I will email it to you. Check out the box below.

What other recipes do your family love that are made of shelf-stable ingredients? What would you swap out in this list?

Looking for more great content:

  1. Water Storage for Today, This Month and This Year
  2. 8 Steps to Evaluating your Food Preparedness for Power Outages
  3. Homemade White Bread Recipe - Tastes Nothing Like Store Bought

Free Print Out

Do you want this information in a great printer-friendly format? We will include our sample food plan and ideas for how to create your own plan for your family.

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One month shelf-stable food for one person, apartment sized.
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