As many of you have come to know, water is often a primary player in canning. Most pickling recipes call to dilute vinegar by half. We can whole fruit by making a syrup of sugar and water. When I want to include an intense flavor (like ginger) in a preserve, I blend it with some water before squeezing it through some cheesecloth to get a potent little brew.
In all of these recipes, I make a point of using filtered water. Preparing fruits and vegetables for canning is often a process of cooking down and concentrating your ingredients. I really don’t want to concentrate any extra crud or crap in my finished product. I live in an older apartment building, so who knows what kinds of funky particulate matter is in the H2O that comes out of my tap? It’s just one of those steps I like to take to ensure that the quality of my product is as good as I can make it when I go to open those jars six or eight months later.
Edited to add: There’s been a little confusion in the comments. I don’t use filtered water in my processing pot. I only use it IN the canning recipes. Regular tap water is fine for the outside of the jars.
For most of my adult life, I’ve been a Brita water filter user. Recently, I had an opportunity to try the new Elemaris filter and I really like it. It’s made by Mavea (which is part of Brita), is entirely BPA-free and the filters are recyclable. It has a meter on top that tells you when the filter is due for a refill and the lid is designed so that you can simply position it under the tap and fill, no need to remove a piece or flip open a flap.They’ve even created a nifty blog called Inspired Water to help spread the word about this product.
Thanks to Mavea, I have five (yes, five) of these nifty Elemaris pitchers to give away. Winners will get to pick their color (they come in black, purple, red and white). To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and share your favorite way to drink water (reusable bottle? tea with milk? infused with a squirt of lemon?). Comments will close at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 18, 2011. The winners will be selected at random and will be posted the following day (I promise).
Disclosure: Mavea gave me that black water pitcher you see above. I’ve also filmed a series of canning videos with them that will be appearing in the next few weeks. No money has changed hands and I wouldn’t say nice things about their pitcher if I’d didn’t genuinely like it.
I like my dihydrogen oxide (H20) straight up, either in a glass or reusable metal or otherwise nonBPA container. Oh, and filtered is my preference unless it is NYC water, mainly because I dislike the chlorine taste and smell in most tap waters.
My favorite way is from the tap, here in Portland OR our water tastes great! otherwise from the water dispenser at work – so cold!
The best way to drink water is in herbal tea of course!
Second best would be with some lemon and basil on a hot summer day.
Room temp in the winter ice cold in the summer.
I like may water straight up! Or in with Earlt Grey tea or a nice chai. Would love to have a BPA free pitcher!
Favorite way to drink water… does wine count? OK, coffee then.
I’ve been using brita for a couple of decades and boy oh boy what a difference. You can’t drink the tap water where I live, It’s nasty. I used to go through about 10 gallons of filtered water and I don’t miss lugging heavy water jugs. I’d LOVE a new pitcher, as my is OLD. I use my filtered water to drink as is, in my tea, when I make coffee, rice, ice cubes, etc, etc.
I love in steeped in tea bags in the sun with lemon slices and some fresh lemon balm leaves 🙂
I love water with lemon. I use the same lemon most of the day and keep adding water to it. It’s so yummy!
I keep a glass of filtered water on the kitchen counter all day, to sip on as I go by. But it’s so much better with a little flavor. I’ve been putting 2 T of home-canned blueberry or blackberry juice (unsweetened) in the water, and it gives me a bit of the good stuff from dark-colored fruits.
Mmm…water. I normally drink mine plain with a mug or a reusable bottle. Periodically I’ll go for some warm water.
I love to drink my water at room temperature so I can drink it fast. Usually drink it out of a reusable bottle but sometimes in a glass.
Lots of ice & fresh lime slices.
I try to drink several glasses of plain cold water each day, but I’d prefer it as decaff sweet tea.
I like to drink water with lots of ice out of my stainless steel bottle.
I also like it in my coffee! 😀
I drink water with a slice of lemon – I also water down fruit juice during the day to add more flavor!
My favorite way to drink water is over ice in a tall glass with a sprig of field mint! Perfect refresher on a hot summer day!
My favorite way to drink water is to just drink water! Nothing more refreshing.
I have a beautiful cut crystal pitcher I keep on my desk at work that holds about 40 oz of water that I drink through out the workday.
i’m always drinking water out my reusable camelbak bottle.
My husband and I were just discussing purchasing a Brita. Before we moved last summer, I was never without a glass of ice water at my side. Unfortunately, moving to a different water district means different water and I don’t like it. I don’t consider bottled water an option so I’ve been making tea (hot and cold) to try to mask the taste of our water. Whether I win or not, there’s definitely a purifying pitcher in my future!
I like my water crisp and cold from my stainless steel bottle. It just tastes better somehow. When I’m sick and congested, warm water with a couple of teaspoons of wildflower honey mixed in does wonders.
Just chilled and in a mug.
I try to drink as much plain water as I can remember every day, usually straight from the tap. The most water I consume every day is definitely in the form of tea!
Hot water with honey and lemon is soothing.
Cold with mint and lemon. Doesn’t get any better.
Iced tea made with fresh lemon juice and sometimes fresh mint.
My favorite is cold out of the fridge, with a few splashes of lime juice.
I drink my water with a little bit of lemon and ice. 🙂
Favorite – cold from a pitcher out of the fridge!
Must have cubes and no floride!
Cold cold cold water…needs nothing else!
All of the above. Only Yorkshire tea, though, it’s the best kind. I ADORE adding lemon juice to my water as well, it tastes just a little brighter and the Vitamin C is very helpful. 🙂
Straight up in a class, cool, but not cold
love water with lemon juice
My favorite way is definitely hot tea. In fact, I’m sitting here having some while I type this comment 😀
Water with lemon – room temperature.
mostly as coffee or tea (especially lately as I’m down with the flu).
In the summer, it’s hard to beat a slice of cool cucumber. Maybe a bit of lemon and ginger if I’m feeling fancy.
I had never thought about the importance of the water in a canning recipe. Definitely food for thought.
I love a very cold drink of water. no ice, just cold tap. Delicious.
I would like to win and get a purple pitcher, please. 😉
My favorite way to drink water is in a glass, no ice please. Filtered from the tap works for me.
My favorite way to drink water is with a few slices of cucumber. I used to use lemon, but i found it so tiring! Cucumber gives the water this fresh crisp taste without distracting from the water the way lemon can. If you haven’t tried it yet it is a must, everyone scoffed at my cucumber water but after trying it, all my friends now drink it too. Simply the best way to drink water.
I love drinking water by the glass! I also love to use water to make tea. A red pitcher would be fabulous!
I like my water straight up and in a clear glass.
I have a big handmade ceramic mug, and I drink my water ice cold and plain, and refill the mug multiple times a day.
Plain, at room temperature is best!
Have to go with my most frequent way of drinking water- in my banged up metal bottle with a squeeze of fresh red grapefruit or fresh lemon juice- at least 6 of these per day!
Straight up, cold, out of the tap. I <3 plain ole' H2O!!
With cucumber and orange like I’m at a spa. Or cucumber and mint.
Straight up is good by me. I always have a glass on my night table. And any color pitcher is fabulous!
I drink water all day at work, I need the trips to refill my cup and get away from my desk.
My favorite way to drink water is probably in a large glass, with plenty of ice and a bit of lime or lemon. Usually, though, it’s out of my giant lidded cup from the hospital or from a metal reusable water bottle.
Cool (not icy) with a thin slice of cucumber 🙂
I’ve been home for 2 weeks with 3 out of 4 sick kiddos. So for my sweeties I make an infuson of Buckwheat honey, fresh sage sprigs, fresh meyer lemon slices and some juice in water and warm it. I love giving a bit of cookie to make it tea time too..hehe they get that liquid in them with out thinking about it they love water too. I found you from reading the urban homestead blog your a favortite there. I zoomed over and will continue to visit!
WARMLY
Stacy~cREATIVEMUSE
I like to drink tap water from a glass {either plastic or the real thing}. But I also have a Sigg with the special cap that is leak-proof, and pressure sensitive.
But I am discovering lately that I really enjoy drinking through the straw on my reusable iced coffee cups.
Ice cold, carried in my reusable metal bottle.
We used to have a triple osmosis filter under our sink but my plumber yanked it out. According to him, unless you are compounding medications, you have no need for it. I’d like to filter a little out, but our well water is yummy.
I love water – drink it out of the tap room temperature, and I really try to remember to bring my bottle with me.
I’m pretty happy with plain water. I’m lucky enough to live in an area where the water is pretty darned good. Lately I’ve been taking diluted tea to work – just enough flavor to change things up a little bit, at least to start the day. Then when the weak tea is gone, I fill the bottle back up with plain water.
I’m also excited to find out that Britta recycles their filters! I can take the filters from the pot at work to Whole Foods or mail them straight back to Britta, and they become stuff like backyard benches and toothbrush handles!
I like my water at room temperature, straight from a BPA-free Intak bottle by Thermos- I can drink out of it all day and the water never takes on any funky plastic taste. My 4 y.o. daughter is a water hound, and she likes hers ice cold. We keep a pitcher of Pur faucet-filtered water in the fridge for her and my husband.
I like my water a little cooler than room temp….a little lemon or some bubbles to mix things up is always nice.
Plain water for me! Pregnant with twins means it’s a good thing, too–lots of water per the OB
i prefer sparkling water. my next major water-related purchase will be a sodastream. i think it will change my life!
i love to drink room temperature water out of glass jars!
I like my water frozen into cubes and served with a generous proportion of Whiskey!
I love to use filtered water in my morning smoothie – water, spinach, flax, frozen blueberries, strawberries, banana, pineapple, and a little stevia for sweetner…YUM! This is my “red bull” of choice! I also only drink water all day – never soda or caffeine drinks!
My favorite way to drink water is the same way as my Grandmother–who lived to a feisty 93 and Aunt Irma–an elegant 97 at her death last year. They each started their morning with a mug of hot, steaming water. Sure, you can add lemon or a shot of Bragg’s vinegar, but I like to go classic and I often give a little toast to this healthy, stalwart women,
I never thought about the water that I use for preserving. Thanks.
I just like a big glass of cold, filtered water!
Every morning when I brew my PG Tips….and in a Bobble on my desk all day long.
Clear and cold, with ice!
I just like it in a big white mug. I don’t like carrying flasks around, and I don’t buy bottled water so I have mugs at home and at work.
Once in a while, if I’m feeling fancy and I have some extra lemons, I’ll pop a lemon slice in it.
I drink my water in my homemade kombucha! I’ve noticed a change in the flavor since I moved into a new place with different water, too.
with chia seeds and a squeeze of lemon from my tree!
I like to carbonate my water and drink it sparklingly straight~!
I just found this delightful blog recently and have already made the ginger syrup (delicious, btw!) I look forward to making many more things!
My favorite way to drink water? There isn’t one. I despise drinking water, even though I know I should!
I love water as cold as possible with lots of lemon or lime juice.
I like a big glass of room temp water in my favorite mason jar from Lagunitas Brewery.
Iced tea and lots of it. I also enjoy water with a bit of cranberry juice added. I also use water for coffee and my husband likes it straight up on the rocks :). We would truly love to have a water filter unit. Thanks for the giveaway
I love my water in a large red wine glass, ice-cold with fresh lemon and lime wedges squeezed in it. It’s such a delicious way to enjoy a class of water. It feels decadent during dinner!
Also, I love a raspberry Emergen-C in my trusty stainless steel water bottle when I’m at work. It’s a great afternoon pick me up.
I love your site!!!
I drink a lot of water since I quit drinking sodas. I prefer ice cold filtered water with ice. At times I like Crystal Light Peach Tea or hot green tea also. My old Brita gets quite a workout.
with sliced cucumber…yummy
Water at home is plain on ice. A perk of work is free bottled water from a bubbler that goes into a sigg.