The science of canning to preserve food coming up next on year-round gardening.

[music playing] Canning is a tried and true method of preserving and storing those vegetables and fruit you grew in your garden.

It's also great for storing meats like venison and soups.

Dating back to the 1800s, the process of Canning has been shown to be able to store food safely for a period of time.

But what exactly is happening in the process?

I'll show you what's going on.

It kills and prevents the growth of harmful microorganisms.

Yeast and molds can grow on your food after a period of time.

They can produce turbidity, discoloration, and bad flavor.

More importantly, they can produce harmful toxins like mycotoxins and botulism that can make you sick or even kill you.

The process of canning kills these microorganisms and prevents them from forming during storage.

Heating process.

Whether it's low acid foods like corn, chicken, and beets, or high acid foods like apples, pickles, and jams and jellies, the canning process involves a key ingredient, heat.

It's the heat that will initially kill any microorganism that can grow and contaminate your food.

The heating process is generated in boiling water bath canners or atmospheric steam canners for high acid foods and pressure canners for low acidic food.

Keep in mind that the higher the altitude, the lower the boiling point temperature, and therefore, the longer you'd have to boil the food, anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.

Pressure canning is also affected by altitude and would require adjustment to make the amount of pressure applied.

Removing oxygen.

As you probably know, yeast, mold, and other microorganisms need oxygen to form and spread.

During the boiling and steaming process, the canner will remove oxygen and create a vacuum seal to prevent oxygen from entering the container.

Oxygen is removed when steam escapes out of the can, jar, or other container.

And then a seal is applied.

This vacuum seal in turn prevents microorganisms from forming and contaminating food during storage.

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