Looking for Comprehensive Canning Resources in 2026? Scroll down this page and follow the links. And if you bring home some fruit or vegetables and want to can, freeze, make jam, salsa or pickles, see this page for simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving directions. There are plenty of other related resources, click on the resources dropdown above. If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.
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Comprehensive Canning Resources
Comprehensive Canning Resources
Everything You Need to Know About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams and Jellies From The Fruits and Vegetables You Picked!
Photo source: University of Missouri Cooperative Extension System. http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/foodnut/gh1461.htm |
You think making and canning your own applesauce or jam is difficult? Not at all! The links below take you to a US government web site that is a treasure trove of useful information and how-to's!
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[Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!]
- Blake's Easy and Illustrated Canning, Freezing and Jam Directions
- Apples
- Beans
- Berries
- How to freeze berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, tayberries, loganberries, strawberries, saskatoons, cranberries, marionberries, boysenberries, etc.)
- How to make berry jam (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, etc.)
- How to make blueberry jam
- Citrus
- Corn
- Herbs
- Other fruit jams
- Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, other stone fruit
- How to freeze peaches, plums, nectarines, figs and cherries
- How to make apricot, peach, plum or nectarine jam.
- How to make your own home canned peaches or nectarines (in a light sugar, regular sugar, natural fruit juice or no calorie sweetener solution)
- Pickles
- How to make pickles (kosher dill, bread & butter, etc.)
- Pumpkins
- How to prepare cooked pumpkin from a fresh pumpkin (for use in all the recipes)
- Illustrated instructions to make a pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin - the best pumpkin pie you will ever taste!
- How to home-can pumpkin (in a cooked, cubed form) and why you shouldn't home-can the pureed forms.
- Traditional Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin muffins
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Butter!
- Pumpkin cheesecake - INCREDIBLE!!! You have to try this one!
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin soup - even if you normally aren't a soup lover; you will love this one.
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- No Sugar Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Cider Doughnut Recipe (with maple glaze or sugar glaze)
- Low sugar pumpkin pie - see below!
- Tomatoes
- Coming in Spring 2006
- How to can figs
- Canning your own cherries
Canning, Freezing and Drying Equipment and Supplies
- Books on canning, freezing, drying, preserving and jam making
- Canners, both water bath and pressure canners. Canners for glass top stovers?
- Strainers, pit removers, seed-skin-stem removers, jelly strainers, etc.
- Vacuum Foodsealers for freezing, dried foods, and refrigerated foods - the FoodSaver line
- Canning Lids and Rings,
- Canning jars,
- Canning mixes, pectin, etc.
- And just for fun, the history of the canning jar
Canning Information from Various Government and University Sources
- General Information
- A Brief History of the Home Canning Jar: From Mason to Kerr to Ball and More
- Canning Fruits and Fruit Products
- Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products
- Canning Nuts and Nut Products
- Canning Vegetables and Vegetable Products
- Preparing and Canning Poultry, Red Meats and Seafoods
- USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning without Pictures, September 1994 - Allows you to select specific topic sections within each guide. Does not contain pictures. From: Available through Penn State University
- Bad Bug Book: Clostridium botulinum - From: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Home Canning Step by Step - From: Alltrista Consumer Products Company
- pH Values of Various Foods - From: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Selection, Use, and Care of Canning Equipment - From: Mississippi State University Extension Service
- Using Boiling Water Canners - Reprinted with permission from the University of Georgia. Andress, E. (1999). Preserving Food: Using Boiling Water Canners. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension Service.
- Using Pressure Canners - Reprinted with permission from the University of Georgia. Andress, E. (1999). Preserving Food: Using Pressure Canners. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension Service.
- Answers about Canning - Many topics related to canning, developed by the North Dakota State University Extension Service.
- Preserving Food Safely - A brochure developed by Patricia Redlinger,
Extension Food Science Specialist and Diane Nelson, Extension Communication
Specialist, with Iowa State University.
More Canning recipes
- Other People's recipes!
- Canning Hot Peppers - from Michgan State Univ.
- Canning green tomato pickles
- Canning hot and sweet Peppers - from Recipe Ideas
- Canning peppers - from the US Dept. of Agriculture
- Canning Chile Peppers (pressure bath, no vinegar)
Making Jams and Jellies
General Information
- General Information on Canning Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades
- Making Jelly without added Pectin
- Making Jam without added Pectin
- Making Jams and Jellies with added Pectin
- Processing Jams and Jellies Steps in Processing Jams and Jellies
- Testing Jelly without Added Pectin
-
Remaking Soft Jellies
Making Jams and Jellies from the Department of Family and Consumer
Sciences and North Carolina State University
Other Recipes (these directions usually aren't illustrated like mine are!)
- Apple Preserves Pear-Apple Jam Apricot Jam
- Berry Jams
- Blackberry Jelly Citrus Marmalade Crabapple Jelly
- Corncob Jelly
- Fig Jam
- Fig Preserves
- Strawberry-Fig Preserves
- Strawberry-Rhubarb Jelly
- Blueberry-Spice Jam
- Grape-Plum Jelly
- Grape Jam without Added Pectin
- Golden Pepper Jelly
- Loquat Jelly
- Mayhaw Jelly
- Mayhaw Jelly with Powdered Pectin
- Mayhaw Pepper Jelly
- Damson Plum Jam
- Plum Conserve
- Plum Jam
- Plum Jelly
- Plum Preserves
- Pear Preserves
- Tomato Marmalade
- Spiced Tomato Jam with Powdered Pectin
- Watermelon Rind Preserves
Reduced Sugar Recipes
- Making Reduced-Sugar Fruit Spreads
- Reduced-Sugar Peach-Pineapple Spread
- Reduced-Sugar Refrigerated Apple Spread
- Reduced-Sugar Refrigerated Grape Spread
- Apple Jelly Without Added Sugar
- Grape Jelly Without Added Sugar
Additional Resources
- Additional Resources for Making Jellied Fruit Products
- Making Jams and Jellies from Frozen Fruit
- Using Honey and Corn Syrup in Jelly . N. Dakota State Univ. An excellent horticultural overview of wild berries can be found at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-324.html.
- Kraft Sure-Jell website has links to all Kraft recipes including Certo and MCP pectins. Ball (Alltrista): Fruit-Jell Pectin , No Sugar Needed Fruit Jell Pectin , Liquid Pectin .
- Pomona s Universal Pectin Telephone and Hotline: 413-772-6816 Mrs. Wages Pectins Home-Jell Fruit Pectin and Lite Home-Jell Fruit Pectin . A link to recipes can be found here as well.
Freezing
- General Information
- Blanching Vegetables
- Animal Products
- Apples
- Apricots
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Beans: Green, Snap, or Wax
- Beans: Lima, Butter, or Pinto
- Beets
- Blackberries or Dewberries
- Blueberries or Huckleberries
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Butter
- Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Cheese
- Cherries: Sour
- Cherries: Sweet
- Citrus Fruits
- Clams
- Crab
- Fresh Coconut
- Corn
- Cranberries
- Currants
- Dates
- Eggplant
- Eggs
- Figs
- Fish
- Gooseberries
- Grapes
- Grapes: Muscadine
- Greens (including Spinach)
- Guavas
- Fresh Herbs
- Ice Cream
- Kohlrabi
- Lobster
- Loquats
- Mayhaw Juice
- Meats
- Mangos
- Melons
- Mushrooms
- Okra
- Onions
- Oysters
- Edible Pea Pods
- Blackeye or Field Peas
- Green Peas
- Peaches or Nectarines
- Pears
- Bell or Sweet Peppers
- Hot Peppers
- Persimmons
- Pesto
- Pimentos
- Pineapples
- Poultry and Game Birds
- Plums
- Pomegranates
- Prepared Foods
- New Irish Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb
- Rutabagas
- Scallops
- Shrimp
- Sour Cream
- Chayote Squash
- Summer Squash
- Winter Squash
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Green Tomatoes
- Turnips or Parsnips
- Whipped Cream
- UACES: Publications: Freezing Vegetables University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Publications: Freezing Vegetables
- FOCUS ON: Freezing - From: Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Freezing Basics - From: Clemson Extension
- Freezing Fruits and Vegetables - From: Virginia Cooperative Extension
- Keeping Food Safe During a Power Outage - From: Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Montana University Guide to freezing
Drying foods
- Dehydration:Alternative to Canning & Freezing - Alternative to Canning & Freezing. Dehydration: An Alternative to Canning and Freezing by Pat Kendall, R.D.,
-
Drying Fruits and Vegetables
From UGA -
Drying Fruits and Vegetables
From: Virginia Cooperative Extension -
Food Safety of Jerky
From: Food Safety and Inspection Service -
So Easy to Preserve Guide to Drying
From: University of Georgia -
Preserving Food - Drying
- Fact sheet revised April 1995,developed by the North Dakota State
University Extension Service Nutrition Specialists.
-
Drying Foods at Home
- Written by individuals with the University of Minnesota Extension
Service.
-
Drying Foods
- Written by individuals with the University of Minnesota Extension
Service.
Tomatoes!
- Canning and freezing tomatoes - Stocking a cupboard or freezer with home-preserved tomatoes can be a satisfying experience, if you have the time and necessary equipment. Improperly canned tomatoes have caused some cases of food poisoning, so preserve it right. Canning and freezing tomatoes. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science. and Technology, Ames, Iowa.
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Tomatoes, Introduction
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Tomato Juice
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Tomato and Vegetable Juice Blend
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Crushed Tomatoes (with no added liquid)
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Standard Tomato Sauce
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in water)
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in tomato juice)
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed raw without added liquid)
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Tomatoes with Okra or Zucchini
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Spaghetti Sauce without Meat
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Spaghetti Sauce with Meat
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Mexican Tomato Sauce
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Tomato Ketchup
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Country Western Ketchup
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Blender Ketchup
- Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Chile Salsa (Hot Tomato-Pepper Sauce)
Looking for canning equipment and supplies?
Water bath canner with a jar rack
Pressure canners for gas, electric and induction stoves: Presto 23Qt or T-fal 22Qt
Canning scoop (this one is PERFECT)
Ball Blue book (most recent version)
Jars: 8oz canning jars for jams
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Canning and preserving, making jams, salsa, sauces, pickles, etc is SO easy with our step by step directions! Just about all you need is a canner and canning jars!
