Canning & Freezing
IMPORTANT!
- Altitude. When canning foods, it is important to know your local altitude. Your altitude determines the amount of pressure (pressure canner) or time (boiling-water canner) for your food. In Lancaster County, Nebraska, the altitude ranges from 1,200 to 1,700 feet above sea level.
To learn the altitude in other areas or if you're not sure about your Nebraska location, contact your local Extension office -- contact information is at lancaster.unl.edu/office/locate.shtml OR check this Web page from the National Center of Home Food Preservation. - Use up-to-date canning recommendations.
The latest canning recommendations are based on the 2006 revision of the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. A list of the revisions in the 2006 edition are listed in a handout presented by Elizabeth Andress, PhD during a presentation at the University of Florida. For more information on Dr. Andress's presentation, check the UF Website.
Two of the recommendations involve new waiting time recommendations. These new waiting time recommendations were added to improve lid performance and reduce sealing failures. These directions should be added to canning procedures for all products.
In 2006, water bath canning directions were updated, advising consumers to "Wait 5 minutes before removing jars" to be consistent with a major canning lid manufacturer's advice based on their research on lid functioning and seal formation. (When using a boiling water canner: "After jars have been processed in boiling water for the recommended time, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Wait 5 minutes before removing jars from the boiling water bath canner.")
Also in 2006, pressure canning directions were updated advising consumers to "Wait 10 minutes, unfasten the lid, and remove it carefully" to be consistent with a major U.S. pressure canner manufacturer's advice, as well the advice from the major U.S. canning lid manufacturer. (When using a pressure canner: "After the canner is completely depressurized, remove the weight from the vent port or open the petcock. Wait 10 minutes; then unfasten the lid and remove it carefully." - Review how to use a boiling water canner and/or a pressure canner before you begin. Here are two good resources from the National Center for Home Food Preservation:
Webpage Quick Links
- Recipes (includes harder-to-find recipes)
- Getting answers to canning questions
- Unsafe canning practices
- Sources of canning supplies
- Directions for using pressure & boiling water canners
- Pictures of canning equipment & procedures
- Canning with Splenda ® (includes recipes)
Freezing (includes recipes)
Recipes (including harder-to-find recipes)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP)
- General canning information
- Most frequently asked canning questions (includes a section on vegetables, fruits and meats)
- Find your altitude (needed for processing time or pressure)
- Fruits (recipes)
- Tomatoes (recipes)
- Vegetables - includes SOUPS (recipes)
- Poultry, red meats and seafoods (recipes)
- Pickled foods, including special diets (recipes)
- Fermented foods, including sauerkraut & dill pickles (recipes)
- Suitable containers, covers and weights for fermenting food
- Jams & jellies (recipes)
- Most frequently asked jelly questions
- Remaking soft jellies
- Low sugar alternatives to jams and jellies
- Resources for home preserving venison
- Testing jar seals, reprocessing unsealed jars & storing canned foods
- USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2006 revision
- University of Nebraska
- The Penn State "Home Food Preservation Let's Preserve Series" Includes canning & freezing (2008 Update)
Harder to Find Recipes
- Salsa
- Sensational Salsas (16 pages of recipes - Source: NCHFP)
- More salsa recipes (links to individual recipes)
- Wild Fruit Jams/Jellies
- Crabapple Jelly (Source: NCHFP)
- Uncooked Jams and Jellies (Source: University of Georgia Cooperative Extension)
- Watermelon Rind Preserves (Source: NCHFP)
- Tomato Marmalade (Source: NCHFP)
- Pickle Recipes Using Lime (Source: University of Georgia Cooperative Extension)
- Berry Syrups (Source: NCHFP)
- Refrigerator Jelly with Splenda® (Source: NCHFP)
o General information, including ALUM (Source: NCHFP)
o Salts used in pickling (Source: NCHFP)
Jams & Jellies
o Most frequently asked jelly questions (Source: NCHFP)
o Remaking soft jellies (Source: NCHFP)
Other
o Testing jar seals, reprocessing unsealed jars & storing canned foods (Source: NCHFP)
o Suitable containers, covers and weights for fermenting food (Source: NCHFP)
o Why & how to acidify tomatoes (Source: NCHFP)
- Danger of botulism with unsafe canning practices (Source: NCHFP)
- Dangers of using a boiling water bath canner with vegetables (except tomatoes), red meats, seafood, and poultry. Don't make the mistake this person who canned for 44 years made. Learn how to avoid botulism.
- Open Kettle Canning. Iowa State Cooperative Extension explains why this canning method is unsafe.
- Jars with wire bails and glass caps, one-piece zinc porcelain-lined caps. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension explains why these jars are considered unsafe.
- Canning bread/cake. Learn from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension why it's dangerous to can bread or cake.
- Dangers of using paraffin on jams and jellies. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension explains why this practice is no longer considered safe.
(Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. Nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.)
For further help in locating canning supplies, use your favorite online search engine or contact your local Extension Office.
- Presto Pressure Canners
- Mirro Pressure Canners
- Ball (Jars, accessories, seasonings, etc.)
- Mrs. Wages (pectins and other ingredients)
Sources of ClearJel®
You must use ClearJel® and not Instant ClearJel®, ClearJel A® or any other form of ClearJel® when given in a canning recipe. For more information, click HERE. Be sure you are getting cook-type ClearJel®. Here are two frequently-mentioned sources of ClearJel®
Directions for using pressure & boiling water canners
IMPORTANT: Check the directions that come with your canner before starting to can. If you no longer have the directions or have questions about a specific canner, check with the company. Here are some links that may help you:
(Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension. Nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.)
- Pressure Canners
- Presto Pressure Canners
Download instruction books for specific models of Presto pressure canners from this Web page. A toll-free phone number and an address are also given for contacting Presto. - Mirro Pressure canners
Mirro provides a toll-free phone number and an address for contacting them. Check their "Frequently Asked Questions" for answers to such questions as whether you can use a Mirro pressure pressure canner on a "flat top (glass or ceramic) range. (The answer to this question is no.) - Using Pressure Canners
This National Center for Home Food Preservation Web article provides a step-by-step overview of using a pressure canner. - Using Boiling Water Canners
This National Center for Home Food Preservation Web article provides a step-by-step overview of using a boiling water canner. - National Center for Home Food Preservation
General information on using pressure AND boiling-water canners. REMEMBER: Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks.
Pictures of canning equipment & procedures
(Source: National Food Safety Database)
- Canning jar with metal screwband and lid
- Boiling-water canner
- Pressure canner (includes dial and weighted gauge canners)
- Close-up of a dial gauge and 2 types of weighted gauges
- Loading a pressure canner with food and beginning timing
- Removing a pressure canner from the heat and opening it
- Testing whether a lid has sealed
(Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation [NCHFP])
- Can Splenda® (sucralose) be used in preserving food?
- Recipes using Splenda®
- How do I freeze? (Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation [NCHFP])
- Direct links to frequent requests
- Corn
- Fish
- Fresh herbs
- Green, snap or wax beans
- Jam
- Meats
- Onions
- Peaches
- Pears
- Peppers, bell or sweet
- Poultry and game birds
- Prepared foods (includes cakes, pies, casseroles, etc.) pdf
- Tomatoes
- Whipped cream
- Zucchini (and other summer squash)
- Link to a list of ALL foods
- Freezing Vegetables (6 page fact sheet; Source: NCHFP)
- Most Frequently Asked Freezing Questions (Source: NCHFP)
- Resources for Home Freezing (Source: NCHFP)
- Foods that don't freeze well (Source: NCHFP)
- How to blanch food for freezing (Source: NCHFP)
- Freezer containers (Source: NCHFP)
- Thawing and preparing frozen food (Source: NCHFP)
- What to do if the freezer stops (Source: University of Georgia Extension)
- Approximate Yields for Canned or Frozen Fruits and Vegetables (Source: Clemson University Cooperative Extension). Weights of produce, such as for bushels, crates, lugs, etc. They also tell the pounds of produce needed for 1 quart jar or container. NOTE: Tomatoes are in the fruit section.)
Harder-to-find recipes
- Freezing raw tomatoes with and without their skins
- Freezing raw "mature" onions
- Freezing Sweet/Bell and Hot Peppers
- What to Do with Zucchini (includes recipes as well as freezing)
- Resources for home preserving venison (Source: NCHFP)
Site maintained by:
Alice Henneman, MS, RD,
Extension Educator
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in Lancaster County,
444 Cherrycreek Road, Suite A,
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