Canning at home can be an economical way to preserve food for later use.
Pressure canning is a great way to store home-cooked soups, sauces, stews, stocks, vegetables, fruits and meat for later use. Nearly any recipe can be pressure canned, with slight modifications. The benefits to canning include allowing you to control the amount of sugar, salt and fat that goes into a recipe and using canning as a money saving tool. Canning your own food for use throughout the year can help ease the pressure you feel on your wallet.
Instructions
Prepping the Jars and Lids
1. Heat 2 qt. of water to boiling in the stock pot.
2. Wash your canning jars with hot water and anti-bacterial dish soap. Turn the jars upside down over a clean dish towel and allow to air dry.
3. Drop your lids into the boiling water and allow to sterilize at a slow boil while you fill your jars and prepare to can.
Filling the Jars
4. Fit the funnel into the top of one of your canning jars.
5. Ladle enough soup into each jar to fill it while leaving 1 inch of head-space.
6. Tap the side of each jar to release any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the rim of each jar with a clean, moist rag to clear away any spillage.
7. Lift the lids out of the boiling water using the lid lifter and fit a lid to each filled jar. Tighten the lids until fingertip tight, but do not over tighten them.
Processing the Jars
8. Place the pressure canner on the stove. Use the largest burner.
9. Drop the rack into the pressure canner and place your filled, sealed jars in one layer on top of the rack.
10. Pour enough hot water into the pressure canner to fill it a few inches.
11. Fasten the lid on the canner and remove the weight from the vent port. Turn the stove on high and heat the canner until the water boils and steam pours strongly through the vent port. Maintain the high heat setting and allow the steam to vent for 10 minutes.
12. Place the weight over the vent port and allow the pressure canner to come up to 11 lbs. of pressure. Once the canner reaches this pressure, start timing. You will process the soup for 75 minutes. If you are canning meat or seafood, you will need to process for 100 minutes. Adjust the burner to maintain the desired pressure as shown on the gauge.
Finishing Up
13. Turn off the burner once the proper processing time has elapsed.
14. Allow the canner to cool down until the pressure has been completely vented. The gauge will begin to drop toward zero as the pressure decreases.
15. Remove the weight from the vent port while wearing an oven mitt. Once all of the steam has vented and the pressure gauge reads zero, remove the lid. During this step, wear protective eye goggles or glasses for safety.
16. Lift the jars out of the canner using the jar lifter. Carefully place the jars onto a cooling rack or dry towel in a warm place away from cool drafts. Allow the jars to cool overnight and then store in a dry place.
Tags: pressure canner, vent port, boiling water, canning jars, from vent