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Canning is the best form of food preservation because canned food can last on the shelf for a couple of years. Also, many people do not have the time to cook meals from scratch because of their tight daily routine. For that kind of people, it is easier to warm their canned food.
For the two reasons mentioned above, canning has become indispensable in many houses. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to buy a pressure canner. We want you to know that it is possible to can your food without a pressure canner, and that’s what this article is all about.
Before we teach you how to can without a pressure canner, we’d like to state categorically that using a pressure canner is the best way to can. Any other method is a less effective alternative. That being said, let’s list out the steps involved in canning without a pressure canner.
10 Steps On How to Can Without A Pressure Canner?
To can without a pressure canner, you can use a thick pot or a water bath. With either of them, you should follow the steps below to can your food.
Step 1 – Wash and sterilize your canning jars. After that, you should wipe each of them dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
Step 2 – Fill the jars with the food you want to can and dip a spatula into all of them to remove air bubbles.
Step 3 – Seal them one by one.
Step 4 – Fill the water bath or pot with some clean water. Ensure that the water is enough to reach half or two-thirds of the height of the jars.
Step 5 – Put the water bath or pot on the stove before placing the food jars inside it.
Step 6 – Cover it and turn the stove on.
Step 7 – Pressure builds up in the pot or water bath when the water starts boiling. So, wait until the water starts to boil. You should hear the sound. Now, you can start to time it. Followed the time stipulated in the recipe.
Step 8 – When the time elapses, you should turn off the stove and leave the pot/water bath on the stove for another 10 – 15 minutes to cool down.
Step 9 – Now, you can open it and remove the jars.
Step 10 – Wait for the jars to cool before you check their seals. If the seals are intact, you can label and store them for as long as you want.
Water bath canners are the best alternative. Although it’s not as efficient as a pressure canner, yet it does a great job in canning/preserving your food. The construction of the water bath canner is similar to that of the pressure canner.
It has racks underneath for separating the mason jars. You can use a water bath canner by preheating the jars beforehand so that when you pour in your hot sauce, the shielded glass wall won’t crack.
So, remove the jars and fill them up with sauce. Cover them up and put them in the already-filled water bath canner. Submerging the jars is the appropriate thing to do, if you may ask.
Ensure the water boils to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Thereafter, remove the jars after you’ve left them for minutes in the canner to acclimate them. Leave them on your kitchen slab or inside a container for more than 12hrs before saving them in your pantries.
Can You Pressure Can Without a Pressure Canner?
No way! You can’t pressure can your food without using a pressure canner. Unlike cauldrons, pressure cans are designed perfectly to pressurize your food to lessen bacterial buildup.
It’s an advanced technology for homemade DIYers that enable food storage possible for a long time. There is a pressure gauge that stops the pressurizing processes when the time elapses.
The pressurizing options on most pressure canners are always three, and they are 5-pound, 10-pound, and 15-pound options. Nevertheless, individuals still have to read the manual before using any pressure canner because they all come in their distinctions. In a nutshell, it’s absolutely impossible to pressurize jars ‘effectively’ without the use of pressure canners.
How Do You Seal Canning Jars in Boiling Water?
- Decide to use either pints or quarts as your selected jars. There is a need to sterilize the jars anyway, so do it before you proceed.
- Use hot water to sterilize the jars so that filling the jars with the simmered pickles will be safer. Just haul the sauces inside the jars while you immerse them in the 212 degrees Fahrenheit boiled water after sealing them with their respective lids.
- Allow the water to boil while the pressure canners are submerged in the water. It would be best if you could use a jam ring for each of the jars.
- Using the ring together with the lid covers makes removing the pressure canner so easy when it’s due. So, get the canning jar remover available so that you can easily scoop them out.
- Table them on a towel to abate the temperature to room temperature. You can leave them there for 12hr or so to keep them ready for savings.
How Do You Seal Canning Jars in Ovens?
This is a solid alternative to pressure canners and water bath canners. It all begins by sterilizing the jars and the lids before pouring the prepared sauce or whatever the food content in them. You can put them on a baking sheet while you put them in the oven for a while or preheat the oven to a 250-degree Fahrenheit.
Fill the jars up with the food while you stow them in the rack of the ovens. Heat them between 15min to 20min before removing them. Meanwhile, you’d want to leave a 1-inch space at the top of each mason jar or a pint to avoid an overflow of the food when the jars are heated up.
Nevertheless, once the time elapses, remove them and set them 1-inch apart from each other and leave them for a period of 12hrs before saving them in your pantries.
Final Word
With the method discussed above, you should be able to can all kinds of food, fruits, veggies, meat, sauces, and soups. So, the unavailability of a pressure canner should not hinder you from canning your foods anytime you want.
However, we’ll advise you to purchase a pressure canner whenever you can. The best way to can is with the use of a pressure canner.
