There are now many online opportunities to learn about safe home canning.
Some are free, some have a nominal fee.
To the best of our knowledge, all these courses are available to anyone, no matter where they reside in the world. Links last verified summer 2017.
National Course
National Center for Home Food Preservation online course. Free. NOTE: THIS COURSE IS UNAVAILABLE AS OF FALL 2015 OWING TO INSUFFICIENT FUNDING TO KEEP IT RUNNING AT THIS PRESENT TIME. (Feel free to let your elected representatives know if you think it’s important the government try to find a few shekels somewhere in its $3.5 trillion budget to get this course back up.)
A definitive online self-study course on preserving food at home. Training modules include: “Introduction to Food Preservation”, “General Canning”, “Canning Acid Foods” and “Canning Low-Acid Foods”.
University Extension Courses
- University of Alaska (Free as of 2018. Requires Flash. See bottom of this page for additional Alaska links)
- University of Idaho: Preserve at home course. (See here for more info on how the course is delivered: Meisenbach, Terry. New Generation of Home Canners Learn Online through Preserve @ Home. 4 April 2013. )
- University of Illinois Extension ($30.00 as of 2017)
- University of Iowa ($35.00 as of 2017)
- Kansas State University and the University of Missouri Extension Services: Series of 17 short canning video tutorials (Started in summer 2016)
- Michigan State University Extension ($10.00 as of 2017)
- University of Minnesota. Canning Basics (Free as of 2017)
- University of Minnesota: online pressure canning tutorial. (Free as of 2017)
- University of Minnesota: online water bath canning tutorial (Free as of 2017)
- University of Minnesota: online canning tomatoes tutorial (Free as of 2017)
- University of Minnesota learning modules (Free as of 2017)
- Washington State ($25.00 as of 2017)
Alaska Additional Links
Dinstel, Roxie Rodgers. Food Preservation. University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Revised March 2013.
- Back to Basics
- Canning Overview/Equipment
- Canning Acidic Foods – Fruits and Tomatoes
- Canning Low Acid Foods – Vegetables and Meat
- Jams and Jellies
- Pickles and Relishes
- Freezing
- Drying Fruits and Vegetables
Steve Buissinne / Pixabay.com / 2015 / CC0 1.0
Instructional home canning videos from reputable sources
Instructional videos produced by the Ball Canning company are available on Ball’s Youtube page.
Instructional videos produced by Bernardin are available (in both English and French) on Bernardin’s Youtube page.
The Kansas State Extension’s Youtube page offers many home canning instructional videos.
The Minnesota State Extension’s Youtube Page offers a series of home canning instructional videos.
Not online, but So Easy to Preserve has two instructional DVDs that can be ordered.
Spanish language resources
Guía Práctica para Envasar a Presión (Pressure canning. Kansas State)
Guía Práctica para Envasar con Baño de Agua y Envasar al Vapor (Water bath and steam canning. Kansas State)
10 Consejos para Enlatados Caseros Seguros (Safety tips. Kansas State)
Atrevida Salsa Casera Segura (Safe home-canned salsa. Kansas State)
¿Cuál es su altitud? (Altitude. Kansas State)
Secando Carne en Casa en Forma Segura (Drying meat at home. Kansas State)
Other educational resources for canning
Put it up! Food Preservation for Youth: Free lesson plans for teaching youth how to preserve at home
Webinar about the National Center for Home Food Preservation
Healthy Canning’s collection of resources about home canning
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