Types of Food Canning Equipment
They are intended for preserving fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies, pickles and sauces. Most canning equipment is designed for boiling-water-bath home canning methods. It includes jars with two to four-inch mouths, a jar lifter, and a lid lifter.
Electric preserving unit, which includes a heating element that is kept at 240 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to sterilize jars before filling them with food. This is typically done using a heat source such as gas flame, electric power source, or even sunlight or microwaves. Electric preserving units are often used for high-volume commercial canning operations, but most home canners use a more extensive metal storage can with a lid that may or may not have a heat source.
Low-temperature water bath preserving equipment includes metal or plastic containers with external metal lids and rubber gaskets but no heat source. The jar or jar rack is put in the bottom of the container, filled with water up to the level of the jars. Most food must be cooked in this type of vessel before it can be canned, and most should not be processed at temperatures below 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Low-temperature processing keeps food fresh longer so that it won’t need to be frozen or refrigerated as much.
Sterilized jars with a screw-on lid can be opened after canning without blowing out the contents. These jars are used for storing foods that do not require heating before canning, such as salsa and jelly.
Canning jars with a straight, not-cheddaring lip reaching up to the pot’s rim. These jars are used to prepare acidic foods and to process foods where the level of acidity is not essential before canning. The glass or aluminum jar must be heated before filling; otherwise, there will be an undesirable amount of trapped air.
Canning jars with a condiment cup on top are used in place of a flat lid. Canning jars with this feature are also called “French” or “French-style” jars because they were designed for use with pickles and relishes canning recipes that call for a little extra liquid over the food itself.
Canning jars with a two-piece lid that is put on before canning are removed for opening when the jar has cooled sufficiently. These lids are used for fruits and vegetables preserved by heat processing and for jams, jellies and syrups that have not been subjected to heat before canning.
The following tools will help to ensure you have the best experience possible when canning foods. The supplies listed below are necessary for water bath processing:
Canning jar lifter – lifts hot jars out of the boiling water bath or from the lower shelf to the upper shelf of a hot water sterilizer.
Jar funnel – helps pour hot liquid into hot jars.
Magnetic lid lifter – lifts metal lids out of hot water; keeps hands safely from heat.
Headspace measuring cup – measures the room needed to allow the food to expand in the jar. This is always important when canning fresh vegetables, meats and poultry products. Some fruits and vegetables naturally release air that needs to be added back into the contents of the jar during processing; other foods don’t release air as they are processed, and this must be taken into account when preparing food for canning according to a recipe’s instructions.
Lid wand – removes flat metal lids from hot water; keeps hands safely away from heat.
Jar wrench – firmly tightens lids on jars.
Canner, boiling-water-bath – large, standard size with rack holds seven one-quart jars or nine one-pint jars at once. It can be placed on countertops or tabletop and filled with water up to the desired processing level. The average canner will hold four to six-quart jars and seven one-pint jars at a time, but extra space is always needed during the final ten minutes of processing when steam escapes rapidly.
Pressure canners – with a pressure canner, you can follow recipes for foods requiring a longer processing time and higher temperatures than for water bath processing. Pressure canning is necessary for low-acid foods such as green beans, corn, and peas.
Cleanliness is essential when preparing food for home canning. The glass jars and metal lids must be free of chips or cracks before they are put into the boiling water bath or pressure cooker. Any damages could cause the contents to spoil. The jars and lids should always be sterilized in boiling water for 10 minutes before canning. This is done by boiling the jars and covers for 5 minutes with a lid on, then removing them from the water, letting them cool and filling them with warm water again.
The equipment used to heat the food must also be clean before it is put into the jars. The cooking pot or pressure cooker must first be cleaned very well and then can be sterilized by being placed in a drying oven or over another heat source (such as an electric burner).
At the end of the canning process, the jars should be removed from heat and allowed to cool completely before opening them. This cooling process takes two to three hours and is critical to ensure the jars seal properly and the contents remain suitable for a long time.
A pressure cooker can also be placed on a rack in a pot filled with water and then added more water until it reaches about 2″ above the top of the pressure cooker. The lid is tightly fitted, with no slack in between, but it still needs to be sealed. The water should be brought to a rolling boil, with bubbles rising and overflowing the pot. When at this point, the heat is turned off. No more heat can be added during this time.
The pressure cooker must cool until it is possible to remove the lid without steam escaping but with very little water being lost to evaporating or boiling. This process may take anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on how much food there is in the cooker and how thick it is. Once cool enough to open again, a rubberized lid lifter/mash fork is used to lift off the lid, which has become like a vacuum seal and sticks firmly onto the edge of the cooker when cooled completely.
In conclusion, canning is a time-tested way to preserve your food and ensure it stays healthy for the long term. Different types of jars are used to preserve different kinds of foods. Canning equipment, such as a canner, is also required should you wish to prepare the food using this method.
