Home Canning Makes A Comeback

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
October 2009

Home Canning dates back to the 18th century during the time where Napolean Bonaparte realized the need to provision his army with food while they were away fighting. By providing these canned foods to his army, it gave him a huge advantage over his opponents. The canning process allows us to keep food way beyond it’s normal storage period by preventing microorganisms from deteriorating the food. Because the food is canned at the time of the fruits/vegetables prime nutrient content, they will retain most of their nutritional content if not gain more nutrients from the canning process.

Benefits of Home Canning Foods

Save Money
Use Food To The Fullest Measure
Eat Healthier
No Additives or Chemicals
Better Taste
The liquid used to preserve fruits and vegetables also includes nutrients, so rather than draining and adding water, use the canning liquid, especially in soups or stews.

Having a ready supply of home canned and store bought canned goods can be of benefit if their is a potential for a national disaster.

How To: Can Fruits or Vegetables

How To: Pickle Vegetables

How To: Can Meals

Author: Tess Pennington
Web Site: http://www.ReadyNutrition.com/
Date: October 15th, 2009

Related Categories: Dietary Wellness, Reserve Supplies

Join the Conversation! There are 4 responses to this article.

Cathy Miller says:

January 6, 2012 at 7:20 pm

I can pickles but they get soft. Can anyone tell me a recipe for crunchy pickles. Thank you, Cathy

- Tess Pennington says:
  
  January 6, 2012 at 7:31 pm
  
  I heard that if you cold pack your pickles, they are crunchy after the canning process. Here is a great blog post on how to do this:
  
  http://a-homesteading-neophyte.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-i-think-my-pickles-gone-soft.html
  
Christine says:

January 23, 2012 at 12:16 pm

When lacto or salt fermenting pickles, adding some carrots to the jar can help keep the cukes crispy.

Hot Fruity Vinegar says:

March 29, 2012 at 11:11 pm

The keys to keeping your pickles crisp are:

Cutting of 1/8 inch of the blossom end (the opposite from the stem end),
Brining the cucumbers, and
if you do not remove the blossom end, add 2 grape leaves to every jar (I kid you not, they have something in them that makes the pickles crunchier, by neutralizing the enzyme in the blossom end that makes the cukes soft).
Cold packing your cucumbers also helps with keeping them crisp.
Soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 – 5 hours prior to pickling.
Alum may be safely used to firm fermented pickles. Alum does not improve the firmness of quick – process pickles.
The calcium in lime may improve pickle firmness. If you choose to use lime, purchase food-grade pickling lime, DO NOT USE AGRICULTURAL OR BURNT LIME. Food-grade lime may be used as lime-water solution for soaking fresh cucumbers 12 to 24 hours before pickling them. Excess lime absorbed by the cucumbers must be removed to make safe pickles. To remove excess lime, drain the lime-water solution, rinse, and then resoak the cucumbers in fresh water for 1 hour. Repeat the rinsing and soaking steps two more times.

You don’t have to do all of these but any try one or more of these steps and you should notice an improvement.