Money Making Ideas: Canning

Well you're probably thinking about right now what is this all about? Making money from canning. Yes this is possible and yes it can be done. You're probably thinking but I do not know anything about cannning. Canning is actually not hard to learn and it is a great hobby. Today everyone is concerned about everything being organic. What better way to ensure the safety of your food than to process and preserve your own food. First I will need to tell you there are two ways of canning produce: waterbath canning and pressure canning. Waterbather canning is for acidic foods; jams, jellies, applesauce, and fruits. Pressure canning is for low acidic food; beans, corn, meats, etc. When canning fruit make sure that is not over ripe, do not add butter or fat to your canned products, do not add thickeners; flour, starches, rice, unless it is "Clear Gel" which has been tested and is USDA approved.

For water bath canning follow these instructions:

• Fill the canner at least halfway with water. A little practice will help you to know how much water you will need to start out with to ensure the jars will be covered by at least 1 inch of water.
• Preheat water that is added to the jars (when called for) to very warm but not boiling (around 140 degrees F) for raw-packed foods (the lower temperature helps to reduce jar breakage) and to boiling for hot-packed foods.
• Put the filled jars, with lids and rings on, onto the canner rack and use the handles to lower the rack into the water. Or you may fill the canner, one jar at a time, with a jar lifter. Obviously, you'd need to be quick, or the first jar could be in the bath for substantially longer than the last jar you add. If you don't use a jar rack, then a flat rack on the bottom helps to reduce break. One of these comes with each canner.
• Turn heat to its highest position until the water boils vigorously, and then set a timer for the minutes required for processing the food.
• Cover the canner and if necessary, lower the heat setting to maintain a full but gentle boil throughout the processing time. Generally, I find I need to keep the burners on high.
• When the jars have been boiled for the recommended time, turn the heat off and use a jar lifter to remove the jars and place them on a towel in an area that is not drafty, leaving at least one inch between the jars during cooling.
• Do not retighten the jar lids - it may break the seal.
• Do not leave the jars in the boiling water after processing time is done, because the food will become overcooked.
• Check the jar seals 12-24 hours after processing for leaks and broken seals. Just press down on the lid. If it seals, it will be sucked down tight. If it did not seal, it will flex and make a popping sound each tip. , remove the screw bands and wipe the jars clean. Otherwise, the rings may rust tight to the jar!

For Pressure Canning follow these instructions:

Read manufacturer's directions for pressure canner before placing filled jars in rack. Place jars in pressure canner that has approximately 2 to 3 inches of hot water covering the bottom of the canner. Fasten cover. Heat, allowing steam to escape for 10 minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions. Close vent and bring pressure canner to required pressure. Start counting processing time when pressure is reached. Maintain pressure and process for recommended time. Turn off stove and remove canner from heat. Let pressure drop to zero naturally. Wait an additional 2 to 5 minutes after the pressure has reached zero. Open vent by releasing valve slowly. Unfasten cover. Lift cover and open away from you. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove jars to cool on rack or towels. Do not tighten ring bands. Within 24 hours test seals and remove ring bands. Wash outside jar surface. Store sealed jars in dark, dry, cool place below 95 degrees F.

Now remember as with anything in order to make money, you will need to advertise your product. You can do this by visiitng your local farmer's market to see if they will place your product on their shelves for a small fee, blog, writing articles and placing them in strategic places where your target audience visits, make business cards and present them to family, friends, and prospective clients, social media ex. facebook, myspace, orkut, etc.The ways you can market this is endless. Good luck!!!!!!