What to Start Canning?

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Emotional-Card7478@reddit

Beans. They aren’t any use dried and they take too long to cook in a power outage. I put the pintos in there with onion and spoonful of knot chicken bouillon and a little of their tomato bouillon and one small jalapeño pepper in pint jars and they taste amazing and I’m not even a bean person.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

You could start canning the cans themselves.

That way we could finally answer the pressing question:

"How many cans can a canner can if a canner can can cans?"

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HummousTahini@reddit

I would highly recommend checking out r/canning. The mods there maintain a high standard of posts and ensure information disseminated is science-based and not something folks just make off the fly.

I didn't know that, with canning, you need to follow recipes - and you need to follow recipes from approved, scientifically-backed sources (local extensions, Ball, etc.). This subreddit educated me on that. Also had no idea that there is no proven recipe for salsa larger than a pint jar. All thanks to r/canning!

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Fun_Journalist4199@reddit

I pressure can meat

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HappyAnimalCracker@reddit

Me too. I hate the thought of losing all the meat in my freezer if the power goes out.

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Counterboudd@reddit

Learning how is the most important step. I’d start with easy projects like tomatoes, pickles and jam. Eventually working your way up to pressure canning- stuff like canned soups and ready meals seem like they’d be very useful in situations, though the general know how of how you could utilize crops after harvest to last through the winter would be the most useful aspect of it.

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wistful_cottage_core@reddit

Since it's your first year, I recommend starting small with water bath canning projects. Once you get a sense of the flow in your own kitchen, work your way from jams, to sauces, and then eventually pressure canned items. I can hundreds of jars a year for my family and I still remember getting super overwhelmed my first years by doing too much. You can take this time as well to figure out local sources for buying produce like local farm stands and markets. That's half the battle if you're not growing it yourself (which is totally fine)!

Also, if you haven't already, definitely buy an approved canning book from Ball or download free recipes from the National Center For Home Food Preservation. They'll instruct you on making safe and high quality (i.e. things you'll actually want to eat) canned goods.

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TheMeninao@reddit

Thank you

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PHealthy@reddit

https://nchfp.uga.edu/

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HopefulBackground448@reddit

Thanks!

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Slow_motion_riot@reddit

Can things you already eat. Don't get super in to making jams unless you like giving away gifts. No one eats that much jam. I've made gallon batches of raspberry jam only to realize that despite my love for it, I maybe use 2 pints a year.

Now, that said; i was able to pick up a 25lb case of Jalapenos (for FIVE DOLLARS) a couple years back and used them to make my own sriracha. Although i have already consumed it all, it was worth it, and now I have the jars for other uses.

Don't pickle/can green beans if you dont like pickled/canned green beans is what I'm hitting at.

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linniex@reddit

Someone mentioned actually canning water (not water canning) in another sub and I thought that was brilliant. The water would be sanitary and you can use that to practice the other stuff.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

Are you growing/raising anything currently?

There have been years where we (glass jar) canned 500 or more quarts, but it was always stuff we were growing/producing on the homestead. For certain things like Salsa we might have bought a few onions since they are usually out of season by the time we are flooded with tomatoes and peppers, but 99% of the time it's food we have grown or raised ourselves.

If your producing food, start by learning to put up what you are growing. Ideally in addition to our LTS stocks, we want to build a "Pioneer food supply." Basically where you would grow enough to eat fresh while it's in season as well as putting enough up to last you till the next harvest.

If however your not producing any food, then just whatever you can find cheap and clean. It's like the folks that buy freeze drying machines but produce no or little food at home- I just don't see the savings there if you have to BUY the food your putting up in this manner. If you have to buy the food, might as well just buy LTS and enjoy the much longer rotation times/longevity.

If your looking to just learn the skill, then start with something easy like a high acid food and water bath canning. Going to be cheaper than a proper pressure canner like an All American.

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redpain13131313@reddit

Just wanted to add my two cents and say if you haven't gotten a canner yet I highly recommend the digital one made by presto. It makes the process a lot easier.

Also, be aware that a lot of videos from YouTube are not using safe practices. I've noticed a lot more videos coming across my feed that are using ingredients or processes that are not approved either for water-bath or pressure canning.

Also, also, if you boil whatever you open, say you canned ground beef and are opening a jar to use, for 10 min at a rolling boil it will kill off any active botulism in the food making it safe to eat. I do this for all of my canned foods I open even tho I follow safety guidelines just to be extra safe. This will not kill off any botulism spores in the food so if you do not eat all of the food right away it could still grow more botulism. If you follow safe practices you should be ok. Just wanted to add this because it took a bit of digging to find that information. I had always wondered why we didn't just boil everything and then it would be ok.

There are several canning communities on here that love to help out new commers and share experiences. r/Canning is one.

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TheWoman2@reddit

I had always wondered why we didn't just boil everything and then it would be ok.

One reason is that botulism toxin is so very, very, very toxic in very small quantities. If you have a jar where botulism has been growing and try to just boil it for 10 minutes, the stuff in the middle of the pot may be safe, but what about the stuff that clings to the part of the spoon that wasn't fully immersed in the boiling liquid for the full 10 minutes? What about the several drops that splattered out unnoticed when you poured the food into the pot? What about the rubber scraper used to fully empty the jar that was put in the dishwasher that hadn't been started yet, but your spouse came along and thought the dishes were clean and started emptying the dishwasher and now that scraper is being used to spread mayo on sandwiches?

Boiling your canned food for 10 minutes is fine as an additional step just in case, but if you aren't super duper sure that your low acid foods have been canned properly you should throw them out instead of counting on boiling to ensure safety.

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KilledByDoritos@reddit

This is totally incorrect.

Botulism bacteria aren't the issue, they even naturally occur in honey. You can kill those.

You cannot destroy the toxin the bacteria produce in certain conditions, by cooking or boiling the food.

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Spiritual_Elk_9076@reddit

You are wrong too. There are three things: the bacteria, the spores, it toxins. The bacteria and toxins are heat sensitive. After cooking you are safe to eat, but not to store since the spores can start bacteria which can make new toxins.

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KilledByDoritos@reddit

Yep you're right. Toxin is heat sensitive.

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KilledByDoritos@reddit

I'm not wrong. What's wrong about what I said?

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OldSchoolPrepper@reddit

I have a slightly different angle to suggest you start from. Make SURE you understand what are Proper Canning rules and Rebel canning rules. meaning the proper canning are scientifically TESTED recipes that ensure good results. the Rebel canning are thing that people just do and "no one has died yet". Before you risk your life and you families on random recipes I would suggest that you learn the science behind the rule and make educated and informed decisions. So when you start stick with the Ball Canning Guides or National Center For Home Food Preservations (both free online) or any college "Extension Service" canning guidelines. Just because someone has done something for years doesn't mean it's safe, it just means they are lucky. I mean I've never been in a car accident but I still wear my seatbelt every day right?

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Ra_a_@reddit

Start with? I’d do Meats. Beef. Chicken

Storing carbs is pretty low cost easy and abundant

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Ra_a_@reddit

Edit. Raw pack meats. Beef. Chicken

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Additional_Insect_44@reddit

Pickled vegetables or jams/preserves.

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DocForgeGuides@reddit

Great question for new preppers. For a starter canning list I'd prioritize: dry beans and lentils (protein, 5+ year shelf life), white rice, oats, and canned tomatoes as a base for everything. Avoid anything that requires refrigeration after opening. The key is storing what you actually eat — don't prep food you've never cooked before, you won't know how to prepare it under stress.

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DocForgeGuides@reddit

Great question for new preppers. For a starter canning list I'd prioritize: dry beans and lentils (protein, 5+ year shelf life), white rice, oats, and canned tomatoes as a base for everything. Avoid anything that requires refrigeration after opening. The key is storing what you actually eat — don't prep food you've never cooked before, you won't know how to prepare it under stress.

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LopsidedRaspberry626@reddit

Carrots.

You need a pressure canner. They come in weighted, dial gauge, or completely digital (like a giant instapot). You cannot use an instapot.

Carrots or Green beans are so easy. It's the veggie, a little sea salt if you want and filtered water. That's it. Packed Raw

National Food Preservation - Carrots

Beans

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CheesePizzaForMe@reddit

I'm going to can carrots soon. I've never done them before. How soft do they come out? I was thinking about canning baby carrots. I'm afraid they're going to turn to mush. How soft do the green beans come out? Thanks in advance :-)

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LopsidedRaspberry626@reddit

They'll be the same consistency as store canned. Not mush at all!

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Snooball4@reddit (OP)

Thank you all for the responses. I really appreciate the guidance and the collective experience of this group!

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MobileAd8857@reddit

Things you actually like. We can a lot of tomato products, jam, beans, and apple sauce.

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Delgra@reddit

Meat

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Mayberrymom@reddit

Applesauce is one of the first things I canned. Turns out delicious. Be sure and use Fruit Fresh when canning apples, peaches, apricots, etc. It keeps the fruit from turning a yucky brown color.

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LizDances@reddit

What is ample and (relatively) inexpensive where you live? I am in the PNW and at that certain time of year...apples are everywhere, literally falling into the street from neighborhood trees. Bonus, they don't need added sugar to water-bath can. You can make unsweetened applesauce for dayz, for practically just the cost of the lids (assuming you are re-using the jars and bands).

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Big_Satisfaction_876@reddit

Jams and pickles were my gateway cannings.

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CloverEyed@reddit

I started with apple/pear puree since we could get bags of fruit cheaply. Then moved on to jams, salsa, pasta sauce. When poultry comes on sale it's great to can jars of "ugly chicken" so you have shelf stable meat ready to add to anything.

You'll need a pressure cooker for meat or vegetables (except for pickles), so start with fruits to see if you even like canning first.

Please do not use recipes from random books and websites, many of them aren't safe. You can branch out a little after you learn what makes a recipe safe, but start with Ball or NCHFP recipes.

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Very lean beef + mushrooms + dill + salt + water