Pressure canning, water bath, steam canning, FV...? What's the difference?

Firstly, why are we calling it ‘canning’? It’s all in jars!

The real answer to this one might be lost to history. If you Google this question, you’ll see some sites claiming it’s as “canning was short for putting foodstuff up in canisters” and that the ‘canning’ name just stuck around (1). Another site will tell you it’s as the process was originally a commercial process, and done in tin cans - hence ‘canning’ (2).

The use of the term canning has come out of the US. In Australia, and in the UK, it’s often referred to as ‘bottling’. However, it seems that the American ‘canning’ terminology is becoming more prevalent.

What was (and is) done as ‘bottling’ in Australia and the UK was generally water bathing, or a variation of that (i.e. the Fowlers Vacola method). In some cases, no processing was done at all; for something to be ‘canned’ there needs to be a ‘canning’ process done, in that the filled jars must be heated through an appropriate method.

Some argue that only pressure canning is canning, however, to me, water bathing, steam canning, pressure canning and Fowlers Vacola method are all ‘canning’ processes.

Call it what you prefer - just make sure you follow the correct method for the recipe that you are making.

Pressure canning, water bathing, steam canning… oh my!

(And Fowler’s Vacola, or “FV”, because I’m Aussie so I need to address that!)

Different methods are for different foods, and work in different ways.

*A brief comparison of the main canning methods*

What method to use? Whichever one your recipe recommends - the general principles above will apply, but if your recipe doesn’t give you processing instructions, you might want to give that recipe a miss.