Tag: canning tips

I have a whole shelf’s worth of books on the art of preserving—from the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving" to Sandor Katz's "Wild Fermentation." All of them attentively detail the equipment, ingredients, safety measures and mechanics of food preservation. But not one of them reveals how an everyday cook can reasonably manage the workload of canning in the home kitchen.

After 15 years as a devoted food preservationist, I can tell you that things can very quickly get out of hand, even small-batch canning. What with washing and sanitizing jars, peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables, and timing the steady boil in the giant cauldron called a canner, it's always more involved than I remember.