Because canning comes second nature to it me {I swear I could do it with my eyes closed} it never occurred to me that someone might actually want a step by step tutorial on HOW TO CAN using the hot water bath canning method until I received an email from One Hundred Dollars a Month reader Emily asking if I could post a picture tutorial.
Um, yes, absolutely. Here we go!
Hot Water Bath Canning Tutorial
First, pop over to my canning essentials post to make sure you have everything you need.
Wash all of your canning jars {I use the dishwasher, mostly because I have a sanitize function on it, and I am lazy.}
Fill your canner with water. The water will need to completely cover your jars and lids, so how full you fill the canner with depend what size of jars you use.
Pour a 1/2 cup or so of white distilled vinegar into the water. This will help keep your canner and jars from getting a film from minerals in the water.
Bring the water in the canner to a boil.
You will want to do all of these steps BEFORE you start prepping whatever you are canning, because it takes forever for the water to boil. Seriously, wars have been won and lost in the time it takes to get my canner to come to a rolling boil.
After you have prepped whatever you will be canning, heat a small sauce pan with water. When it reaches a LOW simmer, drop your lids into the pan and turn the burner off. Leave the lids to sit until you are ready to use them.
Fill your canning jars, leaving the appropriate amount of head space {space between whatever you are filling the jar with and the top of the jar}.
Now wipe all of the rims of the jars with a wet clean washcloth or paper towel. This is to remove anything that might cause the lid not to seal properly.
Place the lid on the jar and screw a ring onto the jar.
Don’t over-tighten the rings, just screw it on like you are putting it away in the fridge, not like you are hoping to ask Ryan Gosling to help you open it later.
Now, fill your wire canning rack with jars and gently place the rack into the canner. The water will stop boiling the second you submerge the jars. That is normal. Make sure the jars and lids are completely covered and will be the entire time you are processing {boiling the jars}.
When the water reaches a rolling boil again, start your time. This may take awhile, don’t be worried.
While the jars are processing, lay out towels on your counter to place the jars when you remove them from the canner.
Once the timer goes off, grab your jar lifting tongs {the jars are, I’m pretty sure, as hot as the sun, so the tongs are a must} and gently lift the jars out one by one, placing them on the towels you laid out.
Be careful to give each jar plenty of space on all sides, placing the hot jars too close together can result in the jars breaking. Also, accidentally hitting the hot jars on another jars equals breaking, or so I’ve heard. Ha.
You may hear a popping sound as the jars cool, that is the lids sealing.
Yeah! {You may not hear that noise, either, but that doesn’t mean they are not sealing. No noise good. Noise good. Everything good.}
After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing the middle of the lids with your finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. You can further test it by removing the rings and lifting the jar an inch or two holding only the lid. If it stays sealed to the jar, you did good.
Now remove all of the rings for storing your canned goods, the sealed lids are good enough. Clean your jars with a wet cloth {stickiness on the jars is pretty normal, but you don’t want to store it that way, it will attract ants, etc.} and store them.
That’s basically it. In a nutshell, water bath canning is just boiling your jars of canned goods for a designated amount of time. Sheesh, I should have just said that instead of breaking it into 15 steps! Ha.
Need a Water Bath Canner? Amazon has them in stock and ready to ship.
A few of my favorite canning books:
The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Put ’em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide
Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen
See More of my Canning Recipes HERE
Holly says
Thanks Mavis! My family members have canned before but I’ve never done it myself and this is really helpful! I definitely want to try it – I’ve been eyeing your blueberry mint jam recipe a while now and I might just have to try it.
Thanks!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yay! You can do it Holly. 🙂
Madam Chow says
Fantastic, Mavis!
I grew up canning, although I am not as prolific as you are! I think the couple of tips that I would give to people are safety related. First, home canning is safe IF you follow instructions and do not take shortcuts. That means, if the headspace is 1/2″, it’s 1/2″, not 1″. It means use the right equipment (if you want to can meats or low acid foods, you must use a pressure CANNER, which is not the same as a water bath canner, and it is also not the same as a pressure cooker) and follow the recipe.
The second thing is related to the first, namely, the recipe. If you pull out the 60 year old recipe from your Aunt Tilly, I recommend checking the Nation Center for Home Food Preservation website for up-to-date advice on canning. You may have to tweak that recipe to make sure it’s safe. http://nchfp.uga.edu/
Mavis, do you ever can meats or soups or broth?
Mavis Butterfield says
Great advise! I have done soup before but I am to “chicken” to can meat. We’ll see. Have you canned meat before?
Valerie says
Back a hundred yr.s ago i canned venison stew in the giant jars they use to have. I was too young to think’omg’ i might get poisoned, i was thrilled to have the food for my children an myself. I processed it same as now in hot water bath.
Joni says
Do you need a canner to make jam?
A.G. says
No not if you have a very large stock pot. You do however need a canning rack that goes inside for the jars to sit on so they dont touch the bottom of the pot. You also need a thermometer to check your water temperature and a way to time it. I recommend buying the canner kit with the funnel and the grabber to be able to transfer hot jars and such and hold them while you tighten lids. It has all the tools you need for low cost. You can also use certain types of juice to make jellys which is very economical and fun. Lots of videos on youtube for that. Have fun!
Susan says
I am a daily reader, and this is very timely advice. I canned today for the very first time. My mom canned a lot when I was growing up. I just never felt the need before, but lately I have just wanted to give it a whirl. Maybe because I see all the great stuff your canning all the time. 🙂 Thanks for posting.
Sarah L says
Are the nutritional benefits of canned produce still significant? I’ve never tried home canned produce, and i try to stay away from canned food from the store, because of the added sugar/chemicals.
Lisa says
Speaking of canning, does anyone know if my tomatoes are safe?
I canned them yesterday. When I removed the jars from the canner (hot water) I smelled canned tomatoes. Then, today, when I moved the jars, the dish cloth under the jars was stuck to the jars with red. But, the jars lids are tight, the middle down, and I can’t lift them with my fingers, which would mean they are sealed correctly.
Would you remove the tomatoes and start again? Or, more likely, remove the tomatoes, heat them again, and freeze them? I don’t want to can again, it’s nearly 100 degrees as it is!
Madam Chow says
Never take chances. Stick the jars that did not seal in the fridge and use it up soon, or freeze the tomatoes. You do not have to throw them out.
Virginia says
Sometimes there is a little leakage when canning and the jars still seal correctly, and this is all perfectly normal. I have never had any of the actual tomato leak out though which is what it sounds like here (if the jars were stuck to the towel with red stuff). Without actually being able to see what has occurred, I would say it would be best to either empty the contents of the jars into a pot, boil them again, and reprocess them in sterilized jars with new lids or just bag them and freeze them. With them being tomatoes, reprocessing shouldn’t have a negative affect on the texture like it would with peaches or other canned goods. I agree with Madam Chow that you do not need to throw them out as long as you take care of them right away. Good luck!
Virginia says
I should have said that reprocessing will not have a negative effect. Sorry. 🙂
carol says
It’s always better to be safe than sorry. I think maybe you weren’t as accurate on the suggested head space as you thought. However, I understand that cooking foods at a full boil with the lid off for 10 minutes will kill any bacteria. However, that wouldn’t help much if the food had gone bad–it still wouldn’t be fit to eat.
Annie says
I’m with madam chow. Put them in the fridge and use or freeze. Better safe than sorry.
Susan says
So funny you are posting this! Although I have canned jams, jellys and fruit for years, I have never tried anything else. SERIOUSLY afraid of botulism!!
I picked green and yellow beans this morning and canned 8 pints of Dilly Beans. Looks good! I think I read the directions no less than 5 times. I have the Ball Canning Book.
Of all the herbs I have, NO DILL!! The best place to buy it is Winco. $2.48 for 15 “stems” about 5′ tall! Looks like you got a tree in the cart! My guy Ken went in the back and picked me a fresh bunch. Also bought the gallon of vinegar there. The pickling vinegar happened to be the cheapest. And NEVER buy the salt that is with the canning supplies! It is more than 50% less on the shelf with the regular salt!!!! I was really surprised about that.
Lynne says
I heard canning salt isn’t full of chemicals like the kind you buy on the shelf.
Carrie says
I just looked at the Amazon page for the water bath canner and it said that a glass stove top is not recommended…only gas or electric. I am so bummed… I had vowed to learn how to make blackberry jam this year from the overabundance I see coming here in western WA (if we get some rain)! Can you make the jam and freeze it? Then thaw the jam and put it in the cute little jars for immediate use? Can you do a tutorial on blackberry jam making?! Love your blog Mavis!!
Cecily says
Get a steam canner. I have a glass top range and I use one with no issues (the USDA doesn’t recommend using them although I have been using mine for over 6 years with high acid foods and have never had a problem).
Lisa says
I am a little leery of steam canners since, as you say, the USDA doesn’t recommend them, and neither does my local extension office. I got my canning fears from my grandmother, who boiled all her canned goods until they were grey before she served them to us! I took a class a Master Gardener taught, and she never eats any canned goods that she herself didn’t can!
I am afraid of pressure canners (and pressure cookers, and air compressors)! So, a steam one would be nice, if I trusted myself!
Cecily says
I was leery too until I read in an EPA guide that some commercial canning companies use steam as a means of heat sterilization. Although, if you don’t trust the steam canners, definitely don’t use one, peace of mind is the most important thing.
Jennifer says
I have a glass top too, and after much research a few years back I bought a smaller, tall stock pot that would fit the burner and is the same size as the Ball Home Canning Discovery kit basket! 🙂 It only holds 3 jars at a time, but it is so worth it! 🙂
carol says
I have a glass topped stove and did find a water bath canner that works safely on the stove top. It has a lot to do with the circumference of the pot in relation to the circumference of the burner. The canner should be not more than 1″ larger than the burner. Glass topped stoves also need a flat-bottomed canner. Because most glass topped stoves have a burner with fluctuating heat, if the pot is not flat, the temperature might not be high enough to sustain a full rolling boil for safe canning. Mine is a flat bottomed, stainless steel canner with a glass lid. You can’t slide the canner on the stove top because of scratching. It’s pricier than the old fashioned variety, but I’ve had it for a couple of years and have had no problems. I can pickles, jams and tomatoes (with extra lemon juice added), so they are all high acid foods and tend to be safer to can. You cannot use a pressure canner on a glass topped stove, so canning low acid veggies, etc., is not a possibility.
Lacy says
I have a glass stove top and I can on mine at least once a week. Knock on wood–no problems. I’ve been using my glass top for going on 2 years now with no problems. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Lynne says
I use my glass top to can, too. I have found an electric water bath canner. It plugs in, instead of putting it on the cooktop. Now we cook 2 batches on the cooktop and the canner doesn’t take up the space. I love it!!
Kim says
I bought I single stand alone burner that I plug in on my counter to del with this issue.
Jodi V says
I am new to gardening and canning. I have actually never eaten anything canned. Does anyone know if freezing or canning is better in terms of taste and nutritional value.
carol says
Freezing is generally better than canning for nutritional value, especially for fruits and vegetables. That said, it’s fun to make your own pickled veggies and can them for later use. I also love my canned tomatoes and jams.
Nancy says
Thank you for posting these instructions. I’ve been too scared to even begin research canning, but you’ve made it seem easy enough.
Also, I laughed out loud at your Ryan Gosling comment 🙂
Carrie says
I wrote that I was bummed I could not can on a glass top stove. I solved my problem! I will heat the waterbath canner on the extrea burner on our outdoor grill! This occured to me as I was waking up today… This will also keep the heat out of the kichen. I will try to write back when the blackberries are ready to pick and process!
Claire says
I have been given an automatic canner second hand. Basically, its the same as the contraption you would use on a stove top, but it’s electric and has a thermostat to regulate the temperature. The problem is it didn’t come with any instructions. I have been figuring out how to use it, but don’t know what processing times I should use. Help!
Carrie says
I have seen some for sale on the web…maybe it is the same thing. You could email that company for another set of instructions.
James Rancourt says
My suggestion would be to Google the mfg. and look up the manual for your model. Most mfg. have these available for free download.
Carol says
did you go online and search for the manual? that is what I do all he time. so far have found them.
Heather from MA says
I have a glass cooktop and read that heating was inconsistent (because of the way it turns off and on), it can scratch the glass, and the weight of the water and canned goods can crack the glass cook top. To solve this problem I popped into Bass Pro Shop and bought a camp stove which I put on my deck near my slider. This way I keep the kitchen cool, save my glass top and can can myself silly. Plus it doubles as a wicked handy lobstah pot!!
James Rancourt says
Hi Heather,
Excellent Idea. Personally, I would opt for one of them there propane fired turkey deep fryers. Just put the canner on the burner, adjust the heat and go for the gold. I can say, that would not necessarily be the best way to go in our Massachusetts winters. But, then again, by winter everything that can be, and should be, canned will hopefully have been canned. Try saying that 10 times fast with a mouthful of lobster roll. 😀
Gwenn says
Can apple sauce be canned in a water bath canner or does it have to be canned in a pressure canner?
James Rancourt says
Gwenn, from my experience, most definitely. The only thing with doing this is to make sure the acid content is high enough. This can be done by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (use lemon juice from the store rather than squeezing a fresh lemon…the acid content is more closely controlled in the lemon juice than what you may get from a fresh lemon…). However, please make sure that you follow the most recent guidelines for time and altitude. 🙂
Jennifer says
I read to only water bath can fruits and jams, but it looks likes you canned green beans and corn… can you safely water bath can these? Are there any other veggies you can do?
Alexandra says
Thanks for the tutorial! I’ve been meaning to try canning for a while. I don’t have a pressure canner, but I’m familiar with bath canning, I just didn’t know the specifics. In one of the instructions you mention setting a timer, but you didn’t specify how long the jars need to boil for. How would I find out how long the jars need to be submerged in boiling water?
Mavis Butterfield says
It depends on the recipe and size of jars you are using.
Linda says
Someone mentioned oven canning- I do not believe that is safe.
D'Anna says
I grew up spending every birthday in August w/ my Mom canning blackberry jelly. I knew of canning, but had never actually canned until last Summer when we had a majillion Jalapenos from 2 plants the spouse grew on the patio.
I found a pretty good pickled jalapeno recipe online, bought some cute little jars and gave it a whirl…with my glass top stove and a stainless stock pot. A few did not seal, I forgot the part about wiping the jar rim on the first batch, but those went into the fridge. My BIL took a jar last Summer, we served some up on the 4th last week and guess what? No one died HURRAY! So I think I’m willing to try something else this Summer so I thank you for this tutorial, I’m learning some new things.
Paris says
Does anyone know the difference in the height of the water over the jars depending
on the type of lid used. With plain screw on lids some people are telling me to bring
the water level under the rim. With Ball lids maybe its different.
Kristina says
No seriously, thank you for breaking it into 15 steps. I’m about to try canning for the first time, and I’m nervous. But this is helpful!
Deborah says
Mavis,
I have been canning jams, jellies, and fruits for years. But pressure canning scares me! I noticed that green beans are pictured. They must be pickled, right? If so, I’d love the recipe. If they just regular canned beans, I’d like that recipe as well. I start my day with God and then you. Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Deborah, I think those are dilly beans. You can find all my canning recipes here –> http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/category/canning-101/
Elisa says
I would like to pass on some information about the bacteria that causes botulism, because I am seeing a lot of misinformation in the comments section here that might cause people to get really sick.
Botulism is a deadly condition caused by a toxin made by a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. C. bot is a common bacteria that lives in soil. When exposed to a low-acid, oxygen-free environment, this bacteria produces botulinum toxin. When ingested by humans, this toxin causes muscles to lock up. This would include all muscles in your body, but most importantly your diaphragm (the muscle we use to inhale/exhale), and cardiac muscles in your heart. This is why botulism poisoning is deadly.
Boiling does NOT kill the bacteria that causes botulism. The boiling temperature of water, 212 F, is simply not high enough. Boiling merely forces C. bot into a dormant state called an endospore. The acidic environment of high-acid foods KEEPS the bacteria in this dormant state after boiling/processing. If you eat C. bot in its endospore form, your acidic gastric juices will help keep it in this harmless form and it will pass through your body too quickly to come out from hibernation and produce the toxin. This is why processing high-acid foods such as marmalade in a water bath canner is generally safe.
If you process low-acid foods such as beans and meat in a water bath canner, you will initially force the bacteria into their dormant state, but after sitting on the shelf for a while in the low-acid, oxygen free environment, they will become active and begin producing the toxin. You’ll notice that they produce this toxin in oxygen-free environments. That means if your can sealed properly, you just created a perfect environment for this bacteria UNLESS the food is acidic.
The reason I am passing on this information is that people need to understand WHY it is NEVER ok to process low-acid foods in a water bath canner. It doesn’t matter if that’s the way you’ve always done it and you survived. You survived because you were lucky, not because you did anything right. Low-acid recipes either need to be made acidic (below pH of 4.6) by adding lemon juice or vinegar (such is the case for tomato sauce), OR, they must be processed in a pressure canner. The combination of high pressure and temperature in a pressure canner causes the temperature of the food to rise much higher than boiling temperature (250 F instead of 212 F). Only this super-high temperature is enough to kill C. bot completely, rather than just force it to hibernate.
I see pictures of beans on this post (only safe if pickled in acid first) and people mentioning meat in the comments and that scares me. Canning is fun and safe when done properly, but not every food can be preserved by water bath canning. Understanding the organisms you’re working with will help you do it properly. Learn what is ok to be canned and what is not.
If you want to learn more about Clostridium botulinum, this is a good page by the USDA: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/foodborne-illness-and-disease/clostridium-botulinum/ct_index/
I hope this helps.
Carol says
I made a Huge pot of green soupp —- could i water bath can it?
Jayme says
Thank you so much for this tutorial. Exactly what I needed to read before I start. I will be stepping into canning soon for the first time and am very excited. I grow a lot of foods throughout the summer and fall.
Andria says
I’m determined to learn to can this year, as my mother always canned everything when I was growing up on the farm, and now without her to teach me, I was so grateful to find this post. Can you please tell me, however, would I be able to use a tamale steamer rather than a canner pot? I live a small apartment and these huge pots do take up valuable real estate in our storage. I’ve seen some people suggest it’s possible if metal canning rings are placed under the jars, etc. but I wanted to see what you recommened.
Thank you!