Bottled Goods

Home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables and meats by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to create a vacuum seal and kill the organisms that would create spoilage.

Though ceramic and glass containers had been used for storage for thousands of years, the technique of canning which involves applying heat for preservation was only invented in the first decade of the 1800s. Before that, food storage containers were used for non-perishable foods, or with preservatives such as salt, sugar, vinegar, or alcohol.