Food canning at home is a cost-effective way to preserve the harvest from a backyard garden. Canning can be used to preserve almost any food, but the type of food and the recipe must dictate the method of processing. In the home kitchen, canning is usually done with a pressure canner or a boiling water bath, also known as open kettle canning. Each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Knowing these is essential before beginning any canning project, as using the incorrect method can be dangerous and lead to severe food poisoning. x000D_
There are numerous advantages to open kettle canning over pressure canning. It can be done in almost any pot large enough to hold the jars, as long as there is a way to keep the jars above the pot’s bottom, preventing them from cracking or bursting during the process. The most common type of large stock pot is an enameled steel, covered pot with a rack for holding jars, and these pots are relatively inexpensive. To keep the jars off the bottom of the pot, some home canners use a regular stock pot with a heat diffuser or pizza disc. Because of these factors, open kettle canning is less expensive and easier to improvise with in terms of equipment than pressure canning. x000D_
Open kettle canning is suitable for many of the most common foods that are canned at home. This method works well with tomatoes, pickles, jams, and jellies. The reason for this is that high acid foods rely on the acidity of the food to keep bacterial growth at bay, making the preserved food safe to eat.
The temperature at which open kettle canning is done makes it impossible to safely process certain foods, which is the method’s main disadvantage. To ensure food safety, foods with low acidity must be processed in a pressure canner. This also limits the flexibility with which recipes can be changed. Because the pressure canning process kills bacteria in the food, recipes for pressure canners can be changed more easily without fear of compromising safety. Because of the possibility of altering the acid content of the food, which is the main mechanism for slowing the growth of potentially dangerous bacteria in this type of canning, open kettle canning recipes cannot be changed without increasing the risk of food-borne illness.