How to Can With Old Fashioned Canning Jars

Measure the inside bottom of the kettle you will be using and cut a piece of wood to fit that is at least 1/2 inch thick. Do this because the wood will absorb the shock from the boiling and help to keep the jars from clinking together, and breaking. Insert the wood into the bottom of the hung kettle.

Pick, clean and rinse all of the vegetables you with to can. Cut beans to size, dice potatoes, chop tomatoes or carrots, etc. Add seasonings and spices if desired, along with a canning preservative if you use one. Boil the vegetables longer if you do not add a preservative.

Close the lockable lids of the old fashioned canning jars tightly, or insert the disks and screws on the lids tightly, depending on which type of jar you are using. Place the jars in the kettle gently, each jar 1/2 inch or farther apart from the others, then slowly add water to the kettle until it is 3/4 of the way full.

Light a fire under the kettle, making sure the grass is cleared away and you have a rock boundary around where the fire will be. Stack small pieces of wood and kindling 1 foot high to create a lasting fire. Allow the water to come to a boil, then keep the boil rolling by adding more wood to the fire as needed. Decide whether you want to just blanch the vegetables, or to cook them completely. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes to blanch, up to an hour to fully cook.

Put the fire out once you are finished using the kettle. Remove the jars very carefully after the water in the kettle has cooled for at least an hour. Dip large, heavy duty metal tongs into the water. Grasp the jar with the tongs straight up and down and carefully pull the jar out of the water. Put an oven mitt on one hand, or use pot holders to hold the jar as it will still be very hot then place it in a container which you can add the rest of the jars to then pick up and carry into the house, or root cellar.