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Everything You Need to Start Canning Your Own Food
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items Becoming self-sufficient and gaining food security doesn't have to be hard. You can start by learning how to can your own food. Here you'll find tips on water bath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating tips, and ways to preserve your harvest. Learn ...
Sections
8
The Basics of Water Bath Canning
How to Pressure Can for Beginners
Canning Jars & Supplies
Canning Recipes
The Best Canning Books
Dehydration Tips & Tricks
The Basics of Water Bath Canning
This is your go-to resource on how to water bath can for beginners.
Leilani of Makeitmake lives near an Amish community in Pennsylvania, and the wisdom that was shared with her by her friend Susie is just unmatched. I absolutely am so grateful for her creating her water bath canning playlist, as it made it so simple for me to get started.
Amish Canning 101 | Water Bath Can Everything
Rachel really breaks down it step by step what you need to do when you're just starting water bath canning. This tutorial is gold.
Canning 101: A Beginner's Guide (Back to Basics)
Now their website was like the VERY FIRST I came across a couple years before I even realized I was being led by the LORD to go into this lifestyle. I am eternally grateful for all the resources available on their website, but this in particular is o...
Water Bath Canning | A Beginners Guide
Some water bath canners can be realllllyyy expensive, but this one is affordable and gets the job done!
Black Enamelware Canner - 21.5 qt
One of the best water bath canners out there.
Kitchen Crop VKP Brands 20 Quart Canner
These are great for water bath canning for easy lifting of the jars!
Concord 12" Stainless Steel Canning Rack
Once you really get into water bath canning, you should realllllyyyy invest in one of these. They're absolutely brilliant and great to use outside on a campfire stove!
Amish 15 Quart Water Bath Canner with Drain Valve
Love the racks for the pressure canner? Here's one for that lovely amish water bath canner!
Amish 15 Quart Rack
How to Pressure Can for Beginners
Learn how to pressure can food the right way!
Honestly, this should be your first stop. I completely used this website to print out the entire PDF available here (though you can buy the book) and it's great to have on hand after reading through.
The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
Rachel is not only going to teach you the basics, but you're gonna feel confident in knowing how to pressure can once she's done with you.
Pressure Canning 101: A Beginner's Guide (Back to Basics)
This is an excellent book and probably one of the best ones to get you started!
Pressure Canning: Easy Recipes for Beginners
This is the one I'm working on getting once I finish getting super comfortable with water bath canning! ☺️
Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker, 23 qt
When it comes to the Presto brand, it's the sealing ring that you're gonna need to replace over time and this is your place to get them.
Presto Pressure Canner Sealing Ring & Plug (2 Pack)
This is the crème de la crème of pressure canners. Seriously. While Presto and other pressure canners are great, they have gasket rings that need to be replaced, otherwise, you just have a water bath canner if you have no rubber gasket. This is the h...
All American 21-1/2 qt Pressure Canner / Cooker
Canning Jars & Supplies
Build your pantry with canned goods with these beautiful heirloom jars that will be able to be passed down through generations! 🫙
After doing my research, I knew that if I was going to invest a lot of my time into canning and preserving food, I wanted to have jars that would last me a lifetime and really be some great heirloom jars. I went with WECK. These ¾ liter jars (for Ame...
Weck Canning Jars 743 (Mold Jars, Set of 2)
Are these not beautiful? Are these not beautiful! Lemme tell you, they're even better in person! 😭 These are going to be (for Americans) about 36fl oz, so reallllyy great for storing your broths and stocks if you're used to buying the cartons of bro...
WECK 745 Tulip Jars 1 Liter (Set of 2)
Now these are ¼ liter (12.5fl oz) and will become your pint jar (for Americans used to 16oz jars).
WECK 741 Mold Jars (Set of 6)
I love love LOVE these!
WECK 746 Tulip Jars (1/5 Liter / 12.5 Oz) Set of 6
These fit a myriad of their jars (check the number that matches your model before you buy) and are helpful for when you open one of your canned goods and want easy access to the food while it's in the fridge! (Pssttt! The small and large lids are ava...
WECK Jar Keep Fresh Plastic Lids (6 PACK, Medium)
Now with Ball jars or Kerr, for example, the rubber gasket is on the lid. With the WECK system, you have a reusable rubber gasket that's separate from the lid! LOVE IT! These are some of the replacements for when your gaskets eventually crack and bre...
Weck 100mm Rubber Seals / Rings (Set of 10)
You're gonna need a few extras of these on hand, trust me.
12 Weck Jar Stainless Steel Clips/Clamps
These are my jelly and jam jars (for food I know I'm going to gift and give away 🤭). Because my WECK jars are so expensive, I know when I wanna make food to gift, these are my go-tos!
Ball Mason 8oz Quilted Jelly Jars (Set of 12)
LIDS LIDS LIDS LIDS LIDS! The one thing that you're gonna need (even more than jars) when working with ball jars are LIDS! These are the BEST around (unless you're into reusable Tattlers) and I highly recommend you stocking up on them! These fit my quilted jelly jars perfectly!
FORJARS Canning Lids Regular Mouth (100-Pack)
This is your all in one starter kit. Seriously, everything you need to start (outside of the jars and your canning pot) are right here.
Norpro Canning Essentials 6 Piece Boxed Set
I OWN THESE AND THEY ARE AMAZING! 😭 I multipurpose use these (like they're great for serving stews and soups) but lemme tell you, using these to pour food through a funnel into your jars is so much easier, this is the best ladle around PERIOD!
Prepworks by Progressive Canning Scoop
Great funnels for both big and little jars! 🫙
Delove Canning Funnel with Strainer for Mason Jars
THESE ARE GREAT! They allow you to stack in your water bath or pressure canner with ease!
Impresa 2-Pack Pressure Canner Rack
This is just some of the basics on how to sterlize your jars before you get started with your water bath or pressure can recipes!
How to Sterilize Canning Jars and Lids: Canning Basics
Canning Recipes
Here are wonderful recipes to try!
This is my pinterest board of all the things I've saved over time for great canning recipes! 📌
Canning Recipes | Preserving Your Harvest
This book is filled with the kinds of recipes that were hand written on index cards and say, “add a pinch” or “add a dash” of this and that. It's great, and most importantly, comes with time tested recipes for canned foods like relishes and jams that...
Mennonite Community Cookbook: Family Recipes
This has been an indispensable addition to my collection of cookbooks/information guides on how to get started with fermented foods. You're gonna really enjoy how in depth it gets and how beautifully illustrated this gem of a novelty book is. 💎
Farmhouse Culture Guide to Fermenting
These are just GREAT. I mean it. 😋
Fermented Vegetables: 10th Anniversary Ed.
Did you know that you could store eggs to extend their shelf life? You're welcome! 🥚
The Prairie Homestead | Water Glassing Eggs: How to Preserve Your Fresh Eggs for Long-Term Storage
The Best Canning Books
These are must haves for any homesteader's library! 🏡📚
This book is an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone who wants to use WECK jars. It made it very simple for me to understand how to use them properly, and they come with BRILLIANT recipes! 😍
WECK Home Preserving: Recipes for Canning & More
This has some realllllyyyy good jam and preserve recipes! 🍓
The All New Ball Book Of Canning & Preserving
I bought this after a recommendation from Leilani of Makeitmake and it's my go-to book.
The Amish Canning Cookbook: Plain and Simple
I own the spiral-bound version of this book and it is like the encyclopedia Britannica of homestead living! It's just a great resource to have on hand and pick through on down time to obtain good ideas, resources, and life skills!
The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 50th Anniv.
Dehydration Tips & Tricks
Learn the basics on how to dehydrate food to preserve your harvest!
DARCY. IS. A. GOD. SEND! 😭 Seriously, what an angel! I just love her as my go-to resource for all thing dehydrating! Her website is amazing, and I'm subscribed to her email list! I truly truly TRULY enjoy just absorbing her wisdom, and you will too!
The Purposeful Pantry
This is where you begin. Truly. If you buy ANY dehydration book, let it be this one.
The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook: Guide & Recipes
This guide is GREAT for beginners. It really illustrates exactly what you need to digest to just get started in the dehydrating learning curve.
The Beginner's Guide to Dehydrating Food
I love getting these types of books in a spiralbound edition if I can't get like a layflat hardcover book. It makes it easier to look at while you're in the process of following a recipe. 🙈 That being said, this is one of the essential dehydrating b...
The Dehydrator Bible: 400+ Recipes [Spiral]
This is the one that I own thanks to Darcy's wisdom over at The Purposeful Pantry!
Excalibur Electric Food dehydrators, 9 Tray
This is another GREAT investment for dehydrating food!
COSORI Food Dehydrator
Kitchen Tools to Make Life Easier
These kitchen gadgets will help make it easier to can and preserve your own food!
When you use Rakuten on top of the GREAT deals that QVC has on their Kitchenaid mixers, you save so much and own a lovely addition to your kitchen arsenal!
KitchenAid 5-qt Artisan Stand Mixer w/ Pastry Beater and Flex Edge
This food mill should be one of your № 1 investments once you really get into canning. It'll take all the time out of making your tomato sauces or things like applesauce, it's a real Godsend.
Weston Roma Tomato Press and Sauce Maker
One of my favourite things that I love about this kind of air fryer is the fact that there is a dehydrating option, so if you're using your dehydrator and want to do something else to maximize your time, your air fryer is a secret backup dehydrator o...
Gourmia 8-Quart Digital Window Air Fryer, with 8 One-Touch Functions, White
One of the things that helps with food preservation is really utilizing food in their natural state. When you realize you can store wheat berries for like… TEN YEARS WITHOUT SPOILAGE?!?! 🤯 It literally makes more sense to store wheat berries > flour for long term sustainability. To do that, however, you need a grain mill to be able to turn your berries into flour. And that's where this beauty (available in eight colours) comes in. ♥️
Harvest Grain Mill by NutriMill
You'll never regret going with Vitamix.
Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender, 48 Oz.
This is the food processor that I own, and even though it's been discontinued, you can still find it here. It's wonderful, and I honestly prefer it over the 14 cup one that is available by Cuisinart. Seriously, it's a workhorse.
Cuisinart Elemental 13-Cup Dicing Food Processor
I want one. 😂 I mean it. I can't get over how fresh freeze dried food compares to dehydrated food. Which, dehydrated is GREAT! I mean it! But even the colour preservation of freeze dried foods helps when it comes to adding natural food colouring dye...
Harvest Right Home Pro Freeze Dryer
You won't (and I really mean WON'T) regret investing in some of these bags! Not only do they help with canning (when you're infusing food scraps into your preserves or canned goods) but they're just useful for sooooo many things!
Reusable Cotton Muslin Bags with Drawstring
Extended Resources
If you're just getting into the urban homestead life or even have purchased a small farm, these resources go into canning… but soooo so much more!
This is an absolute blessing. They really have such in depth research available FOR FREE to read and utilize.
National Center for Home Food Preservation
I absolutely adore this family and all their tips and tricks on canning and homesteading have reallllyyy given me the confidence to dive headfirst into the lifestyle of my wildest dreams 🥰
Homesteading with the Zimmermans
This Azerbaijani family opens up the world of canning and food preservation like nobody's business. It's hard work, but it's one of the most relaxing YouTube channels you'll find, and one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to slow living and re...
Country Life Vlog
Jill is a blessing. With more than a decade under her belt in the homesteading field, her canning recipes and tips and tricks on her website will upgrade your life!
The Prairie Homestead