canning potatoes

Wash and clean your jars. Fill with hot water or keep them warm in a clean dishwasher or oven.

Wash your lids with hot soapy water. Rinse and place them in a clean bowl.

Rinse and scrub your potatoes. Peel and rinse again.

For canning diced potatoes – cut into 1/2 inch cubes and rinse. Cook in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.

For canning whole (baby) potatoes – choose potatoes that are 1-2 inches in diameter. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes and drain.

Add 3 quarts of water to your pressure canner and put it on a burner set to high. Make sure there is a canning rack in the bottom of the canner.

Fill a medium to large saucepan with clean water and bring to a boil.

Add the potatoes to the jars. (optional) Add 1/2 tsp canning salt to each pint or 1 tsp to each quart.

Using a canning funnel, carefully and slowly add clean boiling water (do not use the same water you used to cook the potatoes), leaving 1-inch of headspace.

Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.

Clean the rim of the jar very well with a hot damp rag.

Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.

Using canning tongs, gently place the jars in the canner. Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe.

Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes. Then put the pressure regulator on top.

Pretty soon, the air vent will pop up.

In a dial-gauge pressure canner, process pints and quarts based on the elevation guide below (see processing chart in post for additional altitude adjustments):

*0-2,000f ft {PSI: 11 lbs of pressure} = Pints 35 min, Quarts 40 min

*2,001-4,000k ft {PSI: 12 lbs of pressure} = Pints 35 min, Quarts 40 min

*4,001-6,000k ft {PSI 13 lbs of pressure} = Pints 35 min, Quarts 40 min

*6,001-8,000k {PSI 14 lbs of pressure} = Pints 35 min, Quarts 40 min

When the dial gauge reaches the appropriate PSI, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at the PSI or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cooking time.

When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping. Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: use oven mitts to take the lid off because the steam is super hot).

Let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs.

Place on a thick clean towel undisturbed for 12 hours.

After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed.