An alternative to pressure canning potatoes is water bath canning them. If there happened to be times without power, water bath canning could be the only option that we have. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with water bath canning. This style of canning was created in 1805 when food preservation came into existence. The history of canning started with Napoleon's Food Preservation Prize (1795) It took 15 years for someone to come up with something. Nicolas Francois Appert invented water bath canning by boiling water and using jars that sealed. This was needed to support Napoleon's Army.