Canning potatoes is a fantastic way to preserve the bountiful harvest of your garden or take advantage of a sale at the grocery store, ensuring you have a stash of this versatile vegetable ready for use year-round. Home-canned potatoes are perfect for quick meals, emergency food supplies, or simply as a way to enjoy your homegrown potatoes long after the growing season has ended. Here’s everything you need to know to start canning potatoes at home.
Why Can Potatoes?
Potatoes are a staple in many diets around the world due to their versatility, nutritional value, and long shelf life. Canning adds to their shelf life, making them an even more invaluable resource in your pantry. Canned potatoes are ready to use straight out of the jar, saving you peeling and cooking time for soups, stews, roasts, and mashed potatoes.
Choosing the Right Potatoes
The best potatoes for canning are firm, fresh, and free of bruises or green spots. Smaller potatoes can be canned whole, while larger ones should be cut into cubes or slices, depending on your preference. Waxy or all-purpose potatoes like Yukon Gold, Red Potatoes, or new potatoes hold their shape well during the canning process.
Preparing for Canning
Before you start, make sure you have all the necessary equipment:
Pressure canner (important: potatoes must be canned using a pressure canner as they are a low-acid food)
Canning jars, lids, and rings
Jar lifter, canning funnel, and bubble remover
Large pot for blanching potatoes
The Canning Process
Clean and Prepare Potatoes: Begin by thoroughly washing your potatoes. Peel them and rinse again. Cut larger potatoes into cubes or slices of uniform size to ensure even cooking.
Blanching: Blanch the potatoes by boiling them for a few minutes. This step stops enzyme action that can spoil the food, keeps the color bright, and removes some of the starch. Drain well.
Fill Jars: Using a canning funnel, pack the blanched potatoes into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add a teaspoon of salt per quart jar (half a tea spoon for pints) if desired for taste, but it’s not required for preservation.
Add Boiling Water: Pour boiling water over the potatoes, maintaining the 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles with a bubble remover or a non-metallic spatula.
Seal and Process: Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth, place the lids on the jars, and screw the bands on until fingertip tight. Process the jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure (adjust for altitude) for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.
Cooling: After the processing time, turn off the heat and let the canner cool down naturally. Wait until the pressure has fully dropped before opening the lid. Remove the jars using a jar lifter and place them on a towel or cooling rack, ensuring they are not touching to allow for air circulation. Let them cool for 12-24 hours.
Check Seals and Store: Check that all jars have sealed properly by pressing down on the center of the lid. It should not pop back. Remove the rings, wash the jars, label them with the contents and date, and store in a cool, dark place.
Safety Tips
Always use a pressure canner for canning potatoes. Botulism, a serious foodborne illness, is a risk with improperly canned low-acid foods.
Follow your pressure canner’s manual for specific instructions and safety information.
Use only tested recipes and procedures from reliable sources like the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Canning potatoes at home is a rewarding process that can help you make the most of your harvest or bulk purchases. With some preparation and care, you can enjoy delicious, home-canned potatoes throughout the year. Happy canning!
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