- Basic food safety principles
- How to use a water bath canner and a pressure canner
- Canning tomatoes, pickling and making jams and jellies
- Freezing fruits and vegetables
- Accessing reliable research-backed resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, OSU Extension, etc.
Pressure Canning
Does your pressure canner need tested? Schedule an appointment with OSU Extension today to keep your family safe!
It’s just about time to fetch canners out of the basement or garage. Fresh summer produce is on its way. When was the last time your dial gauge pressure canner was tested for accuracy?
Home canning is a relatively simple process, but many variables can affect your finished product. There are so many resources with unsafe information that it is important to make sure you are following the most recent safe home canning guidelines. One guideline for home canning foods safely is using a pressure canner to process low-acid foods, such as vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish. These low-acid foods must be pressure canned at the recommended time and temperature to destroy Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism food poisoning. Home canning lowacid foods in boiling water canners is absolutely unsafe because 212 degrees F is not high enough to destroy botulinum bacteria. With good reason, most people have a healthy regard for the possible dangers of pressure canners. Usually this respect is based on an old story of a pressure canner “blowing up” in someone’s grandmother’s kitchen. Regardless, it is important to realize that pressure canners are safe if the safety precautions are followed and the canner is used properly. Dangers arise when the unit isn’t maintained and/or used properly. To make sure your pressure canner is working properly, all dialgauge pressure canners should be tested for accuracy each year. Remember, home food preservation can be safe, simple and easy to learn!
To schedule an appointment, contact Margaret at Jenkins.188@osu.edu or 513-732-7070.
Canner testing is also available in office, by appointment. Tests are $5/unit.
To schedule an appointment, contact Margaret Jenkins at Jenkins.188@osu.edu or 513-732-7070
Resources
Get Your Pressure Canner Ready!
Does your pressure canner need tested? Schedule an appointment with OSU Extension today to keep your family safe!
Food Preservation Guidance Brochure
Download this resource guide to assist with canning questions and procedures
National Center for Home Food Preservation
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation. The Center was established with funding from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA) to address food safety concerns for those who practice and teach home food preservation and processing methods.
Ohioline Food Preservation Fact Sheets
Preserving jams or pickles? What about home preservation for fish or beverages? Whatever you choose to preserve, the Ohioline website probably has a fact sheet to help.
Canning Tomatoes in a Water Bath Canner
How to Freeze Green Beans
Water Bath Canning of Salsa
Water Bath Canning of Sweet Pickles