Canning Summer Squash

It's that time of year again where we are hot and heavy into the canning season. We have already canned over 100 jars for our larder!! This week we canned another 16 quarts of summer squash. While we are eating it fresh as quickly as it's coming in, there's still plenty left over that we do not want to ruin. Plus, one of our major goals with homesteading is to be able to enjoy our harvests throughout the year. Canning just so happens to be our favorite method for making sure that happens.

To kick off our squash canning session we washed the squash and cut them into large slices. Make sure that your slices are fairly large but not too large that they don't fit into the jars. Often times we do this the night before, leaving the bowls of squash on the counter and covering them with a towel. We try to accumulate at least a couple grocery store sacks full of squash before planning a canning day; since it does take a good bit of squash to fill a jar, and we want to make the most of our time.

Some people choose to freeze their summer squash. Because we have such a large producing garden we must be cautious on what we store in the freezer and what we can. Some produce just seems to fair better being canned and vice versa. For our family we just prefer the summer squash to be canned.

Canning squash requiers a pressure canner. Squash can be canned using the hot pack method or the raw method. We prefer the hot pack method for a couple of reasons. The first being that it seems to prolong the shelf life of our squash and hey we want our hard work to last as long as possible. Second, the hot pack method insures that each jar is filled with the most amount of squash as possible. Since summer squash has a high water content it tends to compress when cooked. By performing a quick boil the jars of squash have the opportunity to settle more than if they had been filled with raw squash ~ allowing for more squash in each jar. 

Canning Summer Squash

1. Wash and slice squash
2. Fill large pot 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil
3. Add squash
4. Bring back to a boil and boil for 3 minutes
5. While squash is boiling fill another large pot with water and bring to a boil
6. Remove pot of squash from stove and quickly fill quart jars with squash
7. Take the other pot of boiling water and fill jars to neck
8. Cap jars with lids and rim per safe canning procedures 
9. Process in pressure canner according to manufacturers instructions for 40 minutes @ 10 pounds of pressure

Some words of caution when it comes to canning squash: Let squash sit in jars for a few minutes to settle, you may be able to add a few more pieces of squash. Once you cover the jars of squash with water let them sit again for a few minutes because you may be able to add more water to the jars. It's important to make sure the jars are filled to the neck, because when they are cooked in the pressure canner some of the water will evaporate. This does not effect the squash, but it does have the tendency to turn the squash brown. 

I know a lot of people get nervous when it comes to pressure canning, but once you learn safe handling practices it really is a breeze. I actually find that it can almost be easier to pressure can than water bath can because I'm usually only working with one produce item as opposed to multiple different ingredients,  i.e. spaghetti sauce in a water bath opposed to squash in a pressure canner. 

The key to getting comfortable with pressure canning is to simply to do it and keep doing it. There's no better teacher than having to do. Trust me if it weren't for the deep desire NOT to let our harvests of non-acidic foods go to waste I probably would have never learned to pressure can. I have no doubt in my mind that if I can learn to pressure can, anyone can learn to pressure can.

With Love & Hope

Jennifer