Looking for Home canning questions and answers: Can I safely can the follwing at home? 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.
If you have questions or feedback, please let me know! There are affiliate links on this page. Read our disclosure policy to learn more.
Home canning questions and answers: Can I safely can the follwing at home?
So Grandma died but left you her secret pickle recipe in her will. Or you found a salsa recipe that you love in the newspaper and want to can it. Or maybe you you and three of your football buddies invented your own barbecue sauce. Now, you want to can it, give it to friends, sell it at the bake sale or become the next Famous Amos or Mrs. Fields!
Can you? Is it safe?
The answers could be any one of these: No, probably not or maybe.
The bottom line is that the ONLY way you will know if it is safe is if:
- You follow a lab-tested recipe (like the ones published on
PickYourOwn.org, which come from the USDA and Ball)
and you make no alterations to it that could affect the growth or viability of food pathogens
OR - You have your recipe tested by a reputable food laboratory.
There's no formula that you could follow to know in advance if a recipe will be safe. The safety of canned foods, home or commercial, is determined empirically, by making and testing batches of the recipe, repeatedly, to create a statistically significant set of consistent data showing it is safe.
Subheading
text
Picking Tips
[General picking tips and a guide to each fruit and vegetable] [How
much do I need to pick?
(Yields - how much raw makes how much cooked or frozen)] [Selecting
the right varieties to pick] [All
about apple varieties - which to pick and why!] [Picking tips for Vegetables]
[ Strawberry picking tips]
[ Blueberries picking tips]
Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes
[ Easy Home Canning Directions] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]
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
Want to start your own Podcast, Blog, Vlog, etc? This
GoPro kit has EVERYTHING you need:
all accessories
Find Other types of farms:
Farm markets and roadside stands
Road trips and camping resources
Local Honey, apiaries, beekeepers
Consumer fraud and scams information
Home canning supplies at the best prices on the internet!
Maple Syrup Farms, sugarworks, maple syrup festivals
Environmental information and resources
Farms For Your Event for birthday parties, weddings, receptions, business meetings, retreats, etc.
Festivals - local fruit and vegetable festivals
Get the
most recent version of
the Ball Blue Book
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!
