Can I Use My Own Canning Recipe?
Quick Answer
Do not use your own recipe or someone else's recipe for canning. Use a current, research-tested canning recipe. Follow the recipe and do not change its ingredients, preparation procedure, jar size, or canning method. The processing time and/or pounds of pressure will need to be adjusted based on your elevation. Using a recipe you or someone else created, or changing a validated canning recipe beyond the permitted modifications, could make food unsafe to eat.
Can I Double or Halve a Canning Recipe?
Make one batch at a time as the tested recipe directs. The National Center for Home Food Preservation advises against doubling recipes. Larger batches can heat unevenly or cool while waiting for the canner to finish. Jams and jellies may also fail to set.
For a smaller batch, use a tested small-batch recipe or the publisher's directions. Do not assume you can halve a recipe, and never halve the canning time.
Can I Use a Jar Smaller or Larger than the Recipe Specifies?
You may use a smaller home-canning jar and follow the process for the next larger jar size listed in the tested recipe. For example, if a recipe gives you the option of pint and quart jars, but you only have half-pint jars, you can use the half-pint jars. But you must use the processing time for the pint jars. Do not shorten the time just because you are using smaller jars.
Do not use a jar larger than the largest size listed. There is no safe formula for adding time to an untested jar size. For example, most salsa recipes are designed to be processed in pint jars. You cannot process the salsa in quart jars unless the tested recipe provides instructions for that size.
If you choose to use a smaller jar, follow all other directions in the recipe, including headspace, pressure, and elevation adjustments.
Do Canning Recipes Include Every Step for Operating the Canner?
Not always. Read the tested recipe and the instructions in the canner's manual before you begin. You need to know:
- The type of canner the recipe requires.
- How to prepare your jars and lids.
- How much headspace to leave between the food and the jar rim.
- Which time or pressure setting applies to your elevation.
- The amount of time to process the food.
- How to safely finish the canning process.
Check out these two helpful articles that go over the step-by-step process for properly operating a boiling-water canner and a pressure canner.
Can I Make Any Changes to a Tested Recipe?
You can make only a few safe changes to a tested canning recipe. The exceptions are as follows.
- Salt levels
- You can change the salt level in canning recipes except for pickled products.
- Sugar level in syrups
- When canning fruit in a sugar syrup, you can choose how much sugar to include.
- Adding extra acidity
- You can add more of the specified lemon juice or vinegar to a recipe. Never reduce the required amount of lemon juice or vinegar or substitute a different acid unless the tested recipe allows it.
- Vegetables in salsa
- You can reduce the amount of vegetables in a salsa recipe, except for tomatoes.
- Types of peppers in salsa
- When canning salsa, you can substitute bell peppers, long green peppers, or jalapeño peppers for each other. The total measured amount of peppers must stay the same or be reduced. You cannot add more peppers than the tested amount.
References
- USU Extension — Avoiding Common Canning Mistakes
- USU Extension — Principles of Pressure Canning
- USU Extension — Principles of Boiling Water Canning
- USU Extension — Canning Questions
- USU Extension — Tips for Safely Preserving the Harvest
- NCHFP — Can I Double the Recipe?
- NCHFP — Jar Size Choices Have You Frustrated?
Adapted from USU Extension food preservation resources.
Contact
Jenna Dyckman, USU Extension Associate Professor
Jenna Dyckman
Extension Associate Professor | Cache County Director
Home and Community Department