Pressure Canning with Spices

I have turned into a dedicated, pressure canning momma.  Like most people, I was more than a little intimidated by it but after getting comfortable with water bath canning, pressure canning was a breeze! In the last two years, I have learned how to can meats, veggies, and stock (both meat and vegetable stock). With each batch, we continue moving forward on our goal to eat less of the boxed and canned stuff from the store. Now that I have the basics out of the way, I am moving on to canning whole meals and that means playing with spices! I have learned through trial and error that when it comes to canning, spices are treated very differently than in regular cooking.

Besides salt, you need to be careful and consider what may happen to certain spices if pressure canned and then left to sit in a jar for months or years. It is best to proceed with caution but not so much that it keeps you from experimenting with different combinations! When pressure canning, flavors are intensified. Textures are changed and even color can be altered. That is true even before you ‘add in the spice,’ You’re entering a new level of canning!

Using salt, pepper, onions, and garlic are pretty common when it comes to canning meats and some vegetables but what about things like parsley, oregano, basil, and rosemary? Most people would assume those are just fine but I know from personal experience than canning with sage is a really, really bad idea. The sage takes on a sour, tart flavor though whether that is from being pressure canned or sitting in a jar for a long time (6 months or more), I am unsure. All I know is the batch of beef I jarred with sage did not turn out so great. This was a big eye opener for me and made me really consider what was going on inside those jars when they heated up and cooked the food. If I had used less, perhaps that would have made the difference but the experience was so awful, I no longer put sage in anything that will be pressure canned.

Remember: You can always add more spices later! (It’s kind of hard to take them away.)

Another lesson I learned that I will pass along is to avoid putting the spices in the bottom of the jar. Even though you know the liquid inside will be boiling and moving things around, it does not ‘mix’ the spices in. You will end up with a lump of pepper and slices of onion at the bottom. Granted, this is only when jarring meat and vegetables. If you pack your jars with the food first and then add the spices in, whatever liquid (if applicable) you fill the jars with will help mix things up a bit. I still recommend putting the spices on top of the food even if you are not adding any liquid to the jars.

Consider soups, stews, and chili. You may make it like you always have and then jar some ready-made meals for convenience, only to open them 3 months later and it tastes completely different! As stated above, pressure canning intensifies any flavors and not always in a good way. When I make a large pot of my favorite soup that is meant for dinner and the canner, I put the main ingredients together and then pull out enough for dinner. I will spice it the way I always do but for the rest, I tend to go much more lightly. I know that the pepper will be amplified, the oregano and rosemary will permeate the other ingredients, and I always use less salt than recommended when it comes to canning. Part of the joy of canning is knowing exactly how your food was processed and having control over what and how much goes into it.This is especially valuable to people with special diets due to allergies or health issues! My mother in law is diabetic and her sugar levels are much easier to control since she started cooking with food I had grown and processed. That means money saved on medications, not to mention the money you save by doing it yourself and cutting out the big food companies! It also means you will eat better than the majority of Americans, too!

Growing your own herbs and spices further lowers your food bill and gives you a higher quality product, too! One thing to keep in mind is that dehydrated or dried spices are more potent than fresh ones. The general rule of thumb is to use 3 times the amount of fresh versus dried. When using dried herbs in your canning, it is always best to err on the lighter side to make sure you do not overdo it. You need to also consider the size of jar you are using and not make the mistake I did once: I was canning up some pints and quarts of pork and wasn’t paying close enough attention. I added the same amount of spices in each jar and processed. Needless to say, the pints were extremely strong flavored and ended up being used in a soup (without anything else added haha!).

There may be some stumbling blocks along the way as you dive into using different spice combinations when canning. That is part of learning! I would love to hear some of your experiences, including the not-so-successful ones, in a comment below. Who knows? You might just save someone from making the same mistake. 😉

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