You want to preserve food, but do not have a preserving machine? Never mind! With these tips, canning in a pot is guaranteed to work. Here's what you have to watch out for!
If you like to preserve food like I do, but you don't have any canning equipment, you can just use the crock pot. You can preserve food in the pot with commercially available accessories.
It is guaranteed to succeed. I've been doing it this way for several years and nothing has ever gone bad for me.
For you to boil down in a water bath, all you need is a saucepan, water and a kitchen towel.
This method is optimal for those who prefer to preserve smaller quantities or are just starting out and do not want to buy expensive equipment.
I have with this method of boiling down already spicy tomato sauce, Pear puree with cinnamon, green beans, red cabbage and much more preserved.
Here comes a tutorial that will make it work for you too!
Table of contents
The basics: What do you have to pay attention to when canning in a pot?
In the past, our grandmothers almost all cooked in a normal saucepan. They simply didn't have the money for expensive equipment. Yes, an automatic preserving machine is super practical. You can boil down a large amount at the same time and the stove is not occupied.
However, an automatic preserving machine can also be expensive. For the first attempts or smaller quantities of preserves, you can resort to the saucepan.
I've been doing it this way for years because I just don't have storage space for the canning pot. Canning in the pot is my thing :).
By the way: canning and preserving mean the same thing. Einwecken is a term derived from the company Weck, a store where you can find everything about preserving.
Important: Hot filling is not boiling down!
Let's dispel the first myth right away before we get into the subject. Many people think that hot-filled sauce is cooked down. However, the canning process doesn't begin until the sauce is already in the jars. Canning is the next step in preserving food.
If you preserve food properly, it will keep almost indefinitely. Hot-packed food, by comparison, has an expiration date.
What foods can I preserve in the pot?
Pretty much any food can be canned in a crock pot or canning machine. The method makes no difference. Fruits and vegetables are the most likely to succeed. As well as vegetable sauces and fruit purees.
Protein-rich foods such as legumes, meat or stews take a particularly long time to preserve. They must be preserved for 120 minutes. Therefore, experience in canning is an advantage. A detailed table with canning times can be found at the end of this article.
What foods can I not preserve?
When canning, be careful what ingredients you add to sauces, fruit purees and the like. There are a few foods that can't be boiled down. If you add them to the sauce, then the whole sauce can no longer be boiled down. The alternative in such a case is to freeze it.
I only ever use home-cooked food for cooking and don't use powder or sauces from bags. Because you never really know what's hidden in them. Often ingredients are mixed in that cannot be cooked down. These include:
- Dishes bound with flour from cereals (such as wheat, corn, rice, rye, spelt, etc.)
- Starch from cereals and corn (only exception: potato starch, cassava, tapioca, sweet potato starch)
- Dairy products of all kinds (plant-based substitutes such as Almond flour* are fine as long as they do not contain binders)
- Eggs
- Corn, corn flour and corn starch
- Fish and seafood
- Meat containing bones
Beware: With vegetable broth cubes from the supermarket - they all contain grain as a binder! Better: Make vegetable broth powder yourself - you can use that without any problems!
Hygiene is important
Whether you want to preserve in a pot or opt for the automatic preserving machine: Hygiene is a top priority. You need to rinse and wash all the accessories very thoroughly.
Both pot, wooden spoon, ladle, knife, board and everything else must be hygienically clean. Otherwise, it begins to mold quite quickly in the jar and that would be really annoying.
You should pay special attention to the sterilization of the jars lay. How to do this correctly and what you need to pay attention to, I have told you in a separate blog post.
This is the only way to sterilize jars and bottles properly!
Do I have to boil down 2x?
This myth is also widespread. Some believe that the day after canning they need to do another. But this is not true. Neither meat nor vegetables or anything else must be canned 2x!
Can you boil down with screw jars?
You can use screw jars or preserving jars with rubber rings for canning. The advantage of twist off screw jars is that you can collect them throughout the year and then use them for bottling. They are suitable for filling jams, but you can also preserve sauces, vegetables and fruits in them.
If you want to use screw jars for canning in the pot, you must make sure that they are about the same size. Later, a mixture of jars of different heights in the saucepan is very inconvenient.
I have therefore settled on three jar sizes and only take those for canning.
If you decide to use preserving jars, you will need, in addition to the lid, suitable rubber rings and clamps so that you can close the jar and boil it down in a water bath.
How high can I fill the jars?
When boiling down, the contents of the jar also begin to boil. Therefore, you must leave enough space to the top so that the liquid can expand.
As a rule of thumb, leave 2 to 3 centimeters of space to the beginning of the thread from the screw cap. Better a little too much space than too little.
If you fill the jars too much and then bring them to the boil in the jar, the preserves may be forced through the screw cap. In the worst case, the jar may even burst.
Do I need to turn the jars upside down after canning?
No! Please, don't do that! This misconception is widespread and causes the preserves to spoil faster. You are creating a germination bridge. The contents of the jar will spoil faster.
The sauce (the mush or whatever you put in the jar) draws vacuum as it cooks down.
You ensure with the on the glasses upside down that
- the lid sticks together and mold and bacteria can penetrate the glass more easily
- softeners come out of the lid and end up in the boiled down product
- the lid comes off in the worst case and the sauce ends up all over the floor
- the formation of the negative pressure is prevented and the boiled down is not durable for a long time
In short, just let it be :)
For smaller quantities
Boiling down in a pot is not suitable for huge quantities. I always boil down in two large soup pots at the same time to get ahead. There is room for 6 jars in each pot. After the canning time, I take the finished jars out of the pot and put the next ones into the cooking pot.
Important: When you boil down a second batch, you must pour cold water. You must not put cold jars into hot water. They will burst! Please be very careful!
If you love to preserve and preserve vegetables, fruits, then I recommend you the book the preserving bible at Amazon* to view. You'll find 325 recipes and tricks for preserving, pickling and fermenting.
I have myself the preserving bible at Amazon* and have been using them since last year. I've already made lots of recipes with it, such as pickled gherkins, tomato sauce and baked apple spread.
The equipment for canning in the pot
For canning in the crock pot you need the following equipment:
- Cooking pot with lid
- Tea towel
- Water
The cooking pot
Find a crock pot that will fit all the jars you want to preserve. I use a large stockpot with a capacity of 5 to 10 liters. The only important thing is that the water covers the jars by 3⁄4 litre.
Important: The pot must have a lid that remains closed for the entire boiling time. Not tilted - but properly closed to be able to maintain the temperature.
You can stack the jars on top of each other. But make sure that the top row of jars is two-thirds covered with water.
The tea towel
Why do I need a tea towel for canning in a pot? That's what I asked myself the first time. The tea towel goes in the pot and serves as a buffer between the pot and the jars. It prevents the jars from being damaged or falling over in the boiling water.
Without a cloth, the glasses bob up and down in the boiling water. There it can happen quickly that a glass jumps.
You can use any tea towel for this. I use an old cloth that has survived its best days.
The water
Yes, logical. Of course, you can't do it without water. Place the jars in the saucepan and only then fill with water. This saves annoying draining when the jars are already in the pot.
If the boiling time is long, some of the water may evaporate. In such a case, add hot water and immediately close the lid of the pot again.
Optimal for beginners: boil down tomato sauce!
The step by step instructions for canning in the pot
Are you ready? Then let's get started right away.
I'm going to assume that you've already filled the jars with your preserves, sealed them tightly, and are ready to start canning.
1. the tea towel
In the first step, place the tea towel in the pot. Place it so that it thoroughly covers the entire bottom and bend it up slightly on the sides, if possible.
2. put the jars in pot
Now take the glasses (be careful if they are hot!) and place them next to each other in the pot. Straighten the tea towel again and make sure that all glasses have a secure stand.
3. fill the water
Note: The water in the pot must always have the same temperature as the contents of your jars. Otherwise, the jar will burst.
Example: You have filled the jars with boiling tomato sauce. If you want to boil it down, the water in the pot must be hot. If you boil down raw zucchini, the water in the pot is cold.
Important: When boiling down, the water must be high enough to cover the 3⁄4 jars.
4. turn on the stove
Now turn on the stove top and cover the pot with the lid. Now you have to wait until the water starts to boil.
5. observe the cooking time
The boiling time always starts when the water boils. From here you can start the timer, never before!
Depending on the recipe, you will need to follow a specific boiling time and temperature. Set a timer so that the jars do not remain in the water bath longer than necessary.
There are recipes that need to boil down for a very long time. Everything with meat, for example. Vegetable sauces, compotes and fruit are usually ready after 30 minutes.
If the water evaporates too much during the boiling down, then you have to add more water. But please pour hot water and not cold!
6. lift the jars out of the pot
What you don't have to do is leave the jars in the pot after canning. While many recommend this, if you have followed the canning time, it is not necessary.
Use a tea towel or a glass lifter to lift the glasses out of the hot water. If you have stacked the glasses, wait until the water is cold.
Now place the jars on a tea towel and let them cool. Put them not on the head!
If you used canning jars with clamps, take the clamps off when the canning has cooled.
How to cook applesauce properly!
Table food preservation times
Equally important: Food must be boiled down for different lengths of time. Here you will find a list as an orientation, which should support you.
| Food | Canning time | Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Fruits | 30 min | 90 degree |
| Fruit puree, fruit juice, compote | 30 min | 90 degree |
| Pure tomato sauce | 30 min | 100 degree |
| Tomato sauce or soup with onion and garlic | 90 min | 100 degree |
| Root vegetables like celery, carrot | 120 min | 100 degree |
| Legumes, pumpkin, cabbage | 120 min | 100 degree |
| Vegetable broth without meat | 90 min | 100 degree |
| Vegetable soup with meat, meat broth | 120 min | 100 degree |
| Meat and sausage | 120 min | 100 degree |
Basically: If in doubt, it is better to boil down a little too long than too short. This is especially true for vegetables. There are big differences here. While mushrooms should be cooked for 90 minutes, cabbage and pumpkin, for example, should be cooked for 120 minutes.
If you want to get into the topic, I recommend joining a Facebook group on canning. I'm active in two of them myself and have been able to pick up a lot of great recipes and tips.
After canning: What you need to know
Have you completed the "canning in the crock pot" project? Then there are now three points that I would like to recommend to you.
Do I have to turn the glasses upside down?
No, please do not turn it upside down. You may burn yourself in the process. If a glass is not closed 100 %, this can result in serious burns.
In addition, softeners that you don't want in your food come out of screw jars. By turning the jar upside down, you ensure that jam and other substances can get into the coils of the jar, which causes the food to spoil more quickly.
And besides, it sticks terribly when you open the glass. In short, it brings you no advantages, only disadvantages.
How do I store preserved foods?
When you are done canning, store the cooled jars in a dark cupboard or cellar. You do not need to refrigerate the jars additionally.
However, you need to put them dark. That is why most people choose the cellar. A pantry is also suitable for storage.
Don't forget to put labels on the jars and label them properly. Otherwise, you'll eventually find yourself in the basement or pantry and won't know what's in the jar.
I bought a chalk pen for the labeling, which can be wiped off. This way I don't have to fret about sticky labels and can quickly reuse the jar for new preserves.
Immediately after removing them from the cooking pot, however, you let the jars stand for a while so that they can cool down and form a vacuum. You should not move them for 24 hours so that the vacuum can stabilize.
What is the shelf life of preserved jars?
If you stick to the canning time and canning at 100°, the canning will keep almost indefinitely. I have eaten cherries that were 5 years old. They tasted as if they had been freshly preserved.
You can tell if your jars are still edible by the vacuum. During the canning process, a vacuum is created in the jar. When you open it, it cracks or fizzes.
If the lid is quite loose or there is no vacuum, then the contents are probably spoiled. As always, see, smell, taste and decide if it's still good.
In many home liquidations or home purchases, jars are found in old cellars that are over 60 years old. You can still eat that, too, if it smells and tastes good. Often, however, the preserved food loses flavor. Fruits can still be consumed for punch or cake.
Our conclusion
Canning in a pot is a piece of cake. You don't need expensive equipment and can get started right away. Pay attention to the boiling time and that the water is always boiling during the process. Then nothing can go wrong. Have fun making it!
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