Cooking Tricks: How to Make Homemade Canned Vegetables

Homemade preserves are perfect for out-of-season food. They are also perfect for a hurry when you don't know what to prepare to eat, but to make them at home we have to take not only hygiene measures, but also conservation and sterilization so that food is not contaminated with bacteria.

To avoid this type of problem you must follow the following steps:

1. Select vegetables that are not damaged, are all the same size, and are just ripe.
2. With completely clean hands, wash the vegetables in plenty of water.
3. Once clean, peel the vegetables, cut them into pieces and blanch them in a pot, putting half a kilo of vegetables with about 4 liters of water and 120 centimeters of lemon juice or vinegar.
4. There are times when you have to remove excess water from some vegetables, in that case, let them marinate in salt for a couple of hours in the fridge.

How should we prepare the jars?

1. Always use glass jars for canning.
2. Small in size.
3. Clean and hermetic closure.
4. Sterilize them before using them in boiling water for about 15 minutes and let them drain without touching the inside.
5. Fill each jar with the preserve, evenly, leaving as little air as possible inside when closing the lid. Leave about 2 cm without filling with vegetables, and to prevent bacteria from forming, fill those two centimeters with brine that you will prepare with 20 g of salt for each liter of water and let it cook.
6. Always label the jar with the product it contains and the date it was made.

How should we preserve and store canned food?

1. Leave the jars in the water until they are warm.
2. Take them out and check that the lid is closed.
3. Once you open the jar, store it in the refrigerator and use it within a week.
4. Do not take preserves that have a bulging lid, as there will be bacteria inside.