Canning appears to be a big hobby in the USA. After growing mounds of food you couldn't possibly eat, give to all your neighbors, friends and co workers, you can. Perhaps this is a more rural pastime.

Anyhoo, I have just partaken in my first experiment with canning. Which was jam making back in the UK. For me this was apple and rhubarb jam. Can anyone tell me, did we ever "process" jam in the UK? This means putting each jam jar in a bath of boiling water for five to ten minutes? My mother made jam and marmalade year after year, never did this "processing" and we never got sick from the stuff.

Never mind, thought you said caneing.

You want to kill the bacteria and yeast that is naturally present in/on the fruit. You might not get sick from it, but it has the potential to spoil what you are preserving, or maybe ferment it and blow up the jar. You can either boil the mixture before you put it in the santised jar, or sanitise the whole thing in one go by boiling the filled jars.

Instead of boiling, some people make freezer jam, which uses a freezer to slow down the growth instead.

I made homegrown red grapefruit and Meyer lemon marmalade for the first time this year. It was a lot of faffing about with sterilizing, but I wanted to do it right. I'm storing the remaining jars in the fridge to minimizie the chance of it going off. It does taste good though. My mum did make marmalade and jams, and I think I remember her sterilizing the jars in a low temperature oven.

I just called my mother who said she used to boil the jars before putting the hot jam or marmalade in. I quite like putting it in the boiling water bath as after they come out I can hear the lids of the Ball canning jars pop as they seal.

I could probably do the same thing with salsa later on as I have jalapenos and tomatoes growing.