06/12/2026
A little bit of food preservation history for the day!
The term “canning” comes from the early 19th‑century method of preserving food in metal tins, not from the glass jars we use today. The process began in 1795 when French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte offered a prize for a way to preserve food for his army. In 1809, French chef Nicolas Appert developed a method of sealing food in glass “fruit jars” and boiling them to kill bacteria, effectively preserving the contents. This was the first modern canning process.
At first, the jars were sealed with corks and luted (filled with cement or luting) to create an airtight seal. Over time, the method was adapted to tin cans, which were more durable, easier to transport, and better for mass production. The word “canning” stuck to the overall preservation technique, even though the vessel changed.
By the mid‑1800s, American tinsmith John Landis Mason patented a screw‑threaded glass jar in 1858 that could be sealed airtight and processed in a boiling water bath. These became known as Mason jars. Even though they were glass, the process was still called “canning” because it was the same method — sealing food in airtight containers and heating them to preserve freshness.
So, the name “canning” reflects the technique and process, not the specific container. Whether you use tin cans, glass jars, or other sealed vessels, the method of preserving food by sealing and heating remains the same.
