When the summer time is near, everyone is preparing for the fresh fruits and vegetables coming over either from the nearby farms or from the local farmer marketplace in town. Be ready to pick up your favorite strawberries and tomatoes. To help you make them last for long, there are several ways you can try on how to can fruits and vegetables so you can still enjoy their healthful tastes long after the harvesting season is gone.

One of the many ways to reduce your grocery bills is to buy fresh fruits and vegetables in bulk and preserve them on your own. For one, it is a fact that home preservation of foods is really cost-effective. You can choose from different food preservation methods such as drying, freezing, pickling, and canning. Let us discus the canning method, particularly the hot water bath.

In food canning, you can adopt either the hot water bath process or the pressure canning process. Whichever process is much easier for you, the most important thing is that you use a jar with lid specifically designed for food canning purposes. Because jars come in different sizes, always choose the one that is just enough for your preservation recipe.

For the hot water bath process, this is best for acidic or neutral foods which pH reaches 4.6 or higher. Many foods canned using this method can last for 10 to 12 months. This process is good for pickles, jams, jellies, fruits and fruit butters, sauerkraut, tomatoes, peaches and beans, mushrooms, and marmalades. For jams and jellies, ensure that you sterilize first your jar and its lid and the rings for 15 minutes or so using hot water. Here are the steps.

1. Prepare the supplies needed. The materials you will need for the hot water bath canning process include the food you are about to can, your pre-sterilized jar and its lids and rings, large-sized pot, thermometer, and jack rack or jar lifter.

2. Follow the direction on your chosen recipe. Whether it is jam, sauce, jelly, or canned vegetables, the important thing is you follow the process as provided in the recipe. Based on the recipe requirement again, fill your jar with the finish product and then put into it tightly both the lid and the ring.

3. Pre-heat your large-sized pot. Fill in your pot with sufficient amount of water and preheat it from 140F to 180F. Avoid putting excessive amount of water to avoid spilling the hot water later on.

4. Put into the pot your canned goods. Check first if the water in the pot is already hot. Then tighten again the lid and the ring of the jars. It is better if you are using a canning pot that has rack so you can easily load the jars into it. At the same time, the rack makes it a lot easier to remove each jar later. If your canning pot has no rack, just carefully place each jar deep down the pot. To remove the jars afterwards, you make use of your lifting tongs designed for jars.

5. Completely submerged all jars. On the premise that you have prepared early on another amount of hot water, pour it slowly into the pot until it reaches 1 inch to 2 inches above the jars. This will ensure that the whole pot will undergo thorough boiling.

6. Set on your timer. You cannot set your timer unless the whole amount of water is clearly boiling already. Your indication when to begin your timer is the actual boiling of the water itself. When that happens, reduce the heat into a low-boil degree. Then check on your recipe the length time recommended for boiling.

7. Carefully remove the jars and allow them to cool down. Always caution yourself that what you are doing is extremely hot. When the boiling time is over as indicated in your recipe, remove the jars piece by piece using the lifting tongs. Situate them all over your cooling rack or thick cottony towel. After 12 to 18 hours, you check on the seals.

At any time that you gathered various fresh fruits and piles of fresh vegetables, there is really no problem as to how you will keep them for long. Insofar as you know how to can fruits and vegetables, you can always preserve all your foods for longer months. In any season of the year, you can enjoy their mouthwatering tastes.