Modern-Day Canning: A Beginner's Guide
Photography by Marta Xochilt Perez for Gardenista
Step 1: Produce
As with any kind of cooking, the most consequential thing when canning is the freshness and quality of the ingredients. To get started, we went off in search of our preferred kind of produce—local, organic, and harvested this morning.
Upon returning to the kitchen with armloads of delicious yet perishable produce, it’s important to take inventory, and immediately.
Step 2: Prep, ASAP
For canning, make thick cuts, as a chunkier vegetable is less likely to soften too much or get slowly broken down by vinegary brine as your jars sit on a shelf in the pantry for months.
Adding freshly crushed or ground spices, such as black peppercorn, yellow and black mustard seed, dill seed, coriander seed, and more is crucial to achieving a flavorful result.
Step 3: Start Canning
The basic process of canning: sealing your vegetables or pickles in sterilized glass jars, and dunking them into boiling water for about 30 minutes
Your new best friend: The jar lifter
1. Heat your water
The Canning Breakdown:
2. Wash your jars, lids, and screw bands
3. While the water is boiling and the jars are drying, it's time for mise en place.
4. Now that everything is set up, it's time to sterilize the jars and lids.
5. Prepare your vegetables in pickling liquid.
6. Fill your jars with the vegetables and brine