Safe Home Canning-All About Jars
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EmailUsing recommended canning jars and sterilizing when necessary are important steps for safe home canning.
As home canners begin preparing for the harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables, now is the time to inventory your canning supplies to ensure you have safe equipment ready to go when the produce is. Jars are a vital piece in safe home canning and need to be examined yearly, so begin by inspecting your canning jars. Are you using jars that you have recycled over the years, or are you purchasing brand new jars for use this summer? All jars need to be checked for any nicks in the rim and cracks in the jar. If present, do not use these for canning. Even when purchasing new jars in a box covered in wrapping, those jars are still not in a sterile environment. In addition to contamination by microorganisms that cannot be seen, packaged jars may accumulate dust, small bits of debris and even chips of glass in the case of breakage.
Michigan State University Extension reminds you that no matter what jar you are using, brand new or recycled from past use; you should always thoroughly wash jars just prior to filling them with your fruits or vegetables. Wash jars in a dishwasher or by hand, using detergent and rinsing well. Clean jars should then be kept warm prior to filling. You can leave them in the closed dishwasher after the cycle, place them in your canner as it is preheating, or create a separate water bath to keep jars clean and warm. As you are washing jars, it is a good time to inspect them again for any cracks or chips. Discard any jars that are chipped or cracked as they will not seal properly.
Jars need to be sterilized for home canned products when the research-based recipe has a processing time of 10 minutes or less. If the process time is 10 minutes or more, pre-sterilization of jars is not needed. Examples of products that need to be filled into sterilized jars include jams, jellies, and pickled products with processing times less than 10 minutes. Always check your research-based recipe’s processing time to determine if sterilization of jars is needed.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends sterilizing jars by placing the clean jars standing on a rack in a canner and filling the jars and canner with water to one inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a boil and set a timer to boil for 10 minutes at altitudes less than 1,000 feet elevation. When the timer goes off, the jars are now sterile and ready to fill. When you are ready to fill the jars, remove the jars one at a time, emptying the water out of them back into the canner. You can use the hot water in the canner for processing filled jars.
Using jars recommended for home canning, sterilizing when necessary and using safe methods and research-based resources will enable you to preserve a safe and great tasting product for you and your family to enjoy all year long.
