Home Canning Reference

9.22.25
by: Jill@321Oak
Pennsylvania, USA

My home canning reference guide

Tested recipes and information is found in a few places around the web, but they're all relatively wordy and hard to use. I've collected the things I use often from all of these sites, and I've provided a link to the references.

TOC for this page:

• Canning times
• Do your own research
• Altitude
• Hot or Raw
• Headspace and de-bubbling
• Acidity and method pressure, water bath, or steam?
• Things to add when reheating

Other Canning Articles

• How to Start Home Canning (Beginner’s Guide)
• A Brief History of Canning
• Home Canning Risks - Spoilage and Botulism Basics
• Botulism Facts
• Flat-Sour in Home Canning - Causes and Prevention
• The Canning Wars
• Home Canning Methods I Don’t Use (and Why)

Canning times

Tested Recipes

Untested or Unsourced

These are times from random posts and the internet. If you have a 'tested' source for these, please let me know!

• Corn Stock: 20 min pints, 25 quarts, PC only
• Canning in 1/2 gallon jars: add 20% to quart time, round up to nearest 5 minute increment

Notes

Do your own research

The canning times tables I have here are my own notes. Please follow the source links to do your own research. My table may be different from the source for two reasons.

1. Sometimes the source changes with new research, and my notes are old.
2. I have simplified many of the rows, using "stone fruit" for example instead of separate rows for peaches, nectarines, and plums. Sometimes the source recommends different times for things I've grouped into categories. In these cases, I use the longest time in my table.
3. I don't record headspace - I always use the same headspace in my jars regardless of the published guidelines

Altitude

I'm canning at sea level. If you're at above 1,000 feet, you'll need to adjust for it.

Pressure canning: Look up the correct pressure for your altitude. The time remains the same across the board, but the pressure differs. If you're using an electric canner, it probably adjusts for you - check out your owners manual to be sure. If you have a weighted gauge, then you'll just be using the 15 lb. weight. If you have a dial gauge canner, you'll want to look it up. You can use less than 15 lbs. if you're under 8,000 ft.

Water bath and steam canning: you'll need to add time if you're water bath or steam canning above 1,000 feet: up to 3,000 is +5 min; up to 6,000 is +10 min; up to 8,000 is +15 min; and higher than that is +20 min. (source)

Hot or Raw

I almost always prefer raw packing food. It's just so much easier to deal with jars that are cool and safe to handle with bare hands. It also usually means I don't have the added prep time of cooking things, and it lessens the over cooked or over processed texture some canned foods can get.

That said, I do understand that some foods - especially dense ones like winter squash and beets - can take a very long time to heat through to the center. So, I do generally follow the guidelines to heat things if the "Style" column says Hot.

But what about sterilizing the jars?

As long as you're processing for over 10 minutes (either water bath or pressure), your jars will sterilize in the canning process. If I ever make a recipe for something that is raw packed, and I process it for less than 10 minutes, then I may worry about sterilizing the jars. Or, I may just process it for 10 minutes instead. I'd at least try a 10 minute process first.

Headspace and de-bubbling

I don't pay very much attention to headspace guidelines.

• If you use too little headspace, you're at risk of the food boiling out of the can and siphoning. I don't like siphoning - while your jars may still seal, they have more water in them than you wanted. Also, the canner and jars are messier to clean up.
• If you use too much headspace, the risk is that there may be a lower vacuum and your jar wont seal, or will have a weaker seal. Since I always check my jars for seal before I store them, I think I'll catch any that are weak and be able to either use, freeze, or re-process them.
• Bottom line, I get pretty consistent results from filling to the base of the neck every time. I have way less siphoning since I started this practice.

De-bubbling also doesn't make much sense to me most of the time. Your food is literally going to be boiling in the jar - and creating it's own bubbles. That said, I do de-bubble when I have chunky ingredients like when I can hearty soups and stews. It is possible in those cases for relatively large air pockets to get trapped with thicker liquid and bigger pieces of food.

Acidity and method: pressure, water bath, or steam?

Acidity and method

The published guidelines, both in the US and in Europe, call for pressure canning only for all low acid foods. This includes most vegetables, and all meats. Water bath and steam canning are considered equal, and you can use water bath times if you're using a steam canner. High acid foods, including most fruits, things that have been intentionally acidified, and fermented foods can usually be canned using any of these three methods.

Adding acid

When acidifying fruits and vegetables, use the following measures. Note the amount of vinegar you need well within the amount you'd use for pickling, so I think that pickled anything should have enough acid to be considered high acid food.

• Pints: 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp vinegar OR, 1/4 tsp citric acid
• Quarts: 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 4 Tbsp vinegar OR, 1/2 tsp citric acid
• (Source)

Why do People Water Bath?

Many people prefer water bath canning because...

• they don't have access to a pressure canner
• they don't want to fuss with the pressure canner (stovetop ones are kinda scary)
• they're not used to it, and can the way their moms and grandmas did
• the texture of the finished food may be preferable

Why do I usually pressure can?

I prefer pressure canning for many foods because...

• My electric canner makes it so so easy
• It takes less time and attention overall
• I often can sauces, juices, an purees - and the texture of these is not affected
• I often can vegetables (especially root vegetables) that are destined to be pureed before serving, and so the texture of these doesn't matter either
• I do water bath fruit when I intend to use it as sliced fruit, pie filling, and other preparations for which the texture is important.

Other Notes

Things to add when reheating

Dairy: Cream and dairy problems can be problematic. The published advice is not to use them because they are too low acid. I don't use them because I don't want to run the risk of curdling. I see the internet saying it's fine and you just shake the jars, but I've got some picky eaters in my family, and if they saw curdled dairy, they would be a hard no on whatever was in the jar. (source)

Thickeners: One of the keys to canning is making sure that everything in the jar gets heated to boiling (for water bath) or higher (for pressure canning). The way the heat travels through the jar and ingredients is key, and thickeners interfere with that. Also, It's easier to control how thick the soup/sauce gets if you do it when you heat the food up. So, I avoid flour, cornstarch and other thickening ingredients in soups, stews, and sauces. (source)

Blended soups: For similar reasons as thickeners, I avoid canning blended soups. Instead, I can cubed ingredients, and blend when I heat it up. No source - this is just my preference.

Seasoning:

• Quarts: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp other herbs and seasonings, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp heat.
• Pints - half that: 1/4 tsp salt and other seasonings, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/16 tsp heat.

Links and Resources

Video Links:

• These are first videos in my canning series:
  • Make Tomato Juice - Just the Facts
  • Make Tomato Juice - Ramble Cut
  • Turn Juice into Sauce
  • Can Tomato Sauce for the Pantry (coming soon - check after 10/1 at 4pm)
  • How to use a presto precise digital canner (coming soon - check after 10/4 at 10 am)

Equipment Links:

• Presto Precise Digital Canner 12 Quart: https://amzn.to/473JzLN (this is the one I have)
• Presto Precise Digital Canner 17 Quart: https://amzn.to/3IJ0n1o (this is the one I'd buy if I was starting again)
• Viking 8 quart pasta pot: https://amzn.to/4nRUiyu
• 24 quart stock pot (it's new! You'll see it soon.): https://amzn.to/3KsF3Oc
• Ladel: https://amzn.to/3W4joi1
• Strainer: https://amzn.to/42ki6CY (not the one I have, but the closest I can find)
• Jar Lifter: https://amzn.to/4mMNwcq
• Jars: Quart https://amzn.to/4gMpz3y, Pint https://amzn.to/4gOgYxv, Half Pint https://amzn.to/46O7EoD
• Enamel Dutch Oven: https://amzn.to/46wW6av (Not the on I have, but the one I'd buy if I had to replace mine.)

Links:

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Email: jill+comments@321Oak

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