Canning 101

Berries, tomatoes, and zucchini everywhere! When blessed with too much of a good thing, it’s time to get canning. Here’s how to do it.

What Is Canning?

If you enjoy eating in season, meals can get really, well, boring in the dead of winter. Wouldn’t it be nice to reach into your pantry and pull out a jar of summer-perfect peaches on a blustery day? It’s possible with canning, a method of preserving food in airtight containers that can be stored at room temperature.

Once the domain of grandmothers, canning is making a comeback: Sales of home canning products have risen nearly 35 percent over the past three years as the popularity of local, seasonal eating has grown. “It’s a craft we’ve gotten away from,” says Sherri Brooks Vinton, author of Put ‘em Up! A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook ($20, amazon.com), “but home food preservation is the way we’ve fed ourselves since we’ve been upright.”