This at-a-glance guide shows how to preserve foods by canning, freezing, and drying. People have been preserving food for eons. Newer, safer food preservation techniques and equipment enable you to stock your pantry or freezer with delicious, healthy foods. Pick your preferred method — water-bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, or drying — and follow these basic instructions.
| Water-Bath Canning | Pressure Canning | Drying | Freezing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gather supplies and equipment; keep jars hot. 2. Prepare food. 3. Fill your jars, leaving proper headspace and releasing air bubbles. Put on lids and hand-tighten screw bands. . 4. Place jars in water-bath canner. 5. Bring water to boil and allow to boil for amount of time specified in recipe. 6. At end of processing time, remove jars and allow to cool completely. 7. Test seals. 8. Store! |
1. Gather supplies and equipment; keep jars hot. 2. Prepare food. 3. Fill your jars, leaving proper headspace and releasing air bubbles. Put on lids and hand-tighten screw bands. 4. Place jars in pressure canner. 5. Close and lock the canner. 6. Process jars as outlined in the recipe. 7. At end of processing time, allow pressure to return to 0. 8. Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely. 9. Test seals. 10. Store! |
1. Gather supplies. 2. Prepare food. 3. Arrange food on dehydrator trays. 4. Dry at specified temperature, occasionally turning food and rotating trays. 5. Check for doneness, using guidelines in recipe for what properly dried food looks and feels like. 6. Place in airtight storage container and store in cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. |
1. Gather supplies. 2. Prepare food. 3. Place food in freezer containers, leaving specified headspace (if using rigid containers) or pressing out all excess air (if using freezer storage bags). 4. Slightly chill food or, if it was blanched, allow to come to room temperature. 5. Loosely pack food in freezer. 6. When completely frozen, repack more tightly in freezer. |