Words to the Wise: Canning Is as Much About Safety as It Is About Preservation
Karen Ward has been teaching canning and preserving classes at Great News! cooking school in Pacific Beach, Calif., since 1999. What is the most frequent question she is asked?
"They all want to learn how to not kill people," said Ward, who, in addition to teaching, penned "Canning & Preserving for Dummies" in 2003. "A major concern in home canning is safety and knowing the rules."
To that end, Ward offers these tips for a safe and successful canning experience:
Keep current: Your grandmother's recipes aren't going to cut the piccalilli with today's canning guidelines. Although technical, a good resource for up-to-date processing methods is the "Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A revised edition was published in October 2008 and is available at Amazon.com and local bookstores.
Canning a deux: There are two USDA-approved ways to can -- with a boiling water bath canner, which reaches 212 degrees, or with a pressure canner (not to be confused with a pressure cooker), which reaches 240 degrees. Each one kills different types of bacteria and sterilizes food in jars. Fruits and veggies for high-acid foods such as jams, jellies, chutneys, marmalades and most pickled items are processed in a water bath canner. Low-acid foods -- such as vegetables, meat, fish, whole tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa -- need to be pressure canned.
Tried and true: Canning is not a time to experiment, Ward said. Use a proven recipe. "Don't substitute or change ingredients. If you decrease the sugar, for example, you are going to change the final product. If you start adding a little bit of this and that, you can change the acidity without knowing it," she said.
Prep work: Canned food is only as good as its ingredients. Always choose fruits and veggies at their peak of freshness. Overripe or underripe produce will not yield the best results.
Storage: Store jars in a cool, dark place. It's important to label and date the jars. Check seals occasionally by tapping on them to make sure the vacuum hasn't released. Ward advocates storing jars without the rings on. "If something is brewing inside the jar that shouldn't be there, it will force the vacuum seal to break or cause seepage," she said. "A ring on the jar will disguise that."
Longevity: Home canned food generally lasts 1 year. Before using, look inside the jar to ensure there is no unusual coloration on top and there are no moving bubbles inside the jar (like the effervescing bubbles in soda bottles).
For more 411: The second edition of Karen Ward's "Canning & Preserving for Dummies" was released this month. Ball offers recipes and complete canning instructions at freshpreserving.com.
Get canning: "I'm superstitious," said Ward. "Until you can your first jar of strawberry jam, you aren't really a canner."
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SCRUMPTIOUS BERRY JAM
48 ounces of any combination of at least two fresh berries: strawberries (stems removed), blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries
3 tablespoons fresh or bottled lemon juice
1 (1 3�4-ounce) box powdered fruit pectin
6 cups granulated sugar
Makes about 5 (12-ounce) jars
Crush the berries in batches using a potato masher (about 5 1/2 cups).
Prepare your canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot.
Combine the crushed berries and lemon juice in a 6- to 8-quart pot. Add the pectin, stirring to wet the powder. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that can't be stirred down) over high heat, stirring constantly. Add the sugar all at once, and return the jam to a full rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove the pot from the heat. Remove any foam with a foam skimmer.
Ladle the hot jam into the prepared jars, leaving headspace of 1/4-inch. Wipe your jar rims with a clean, damp cloth. Seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands. Process your filled jars for 10 minutes from the point of boiling in a water bath canner.
Remove the jars from the kettle, and place them on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels, away from drafts. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. If you have jars that haven't sealed, refrigerate them and use them within two months.
-- Karen Ward
Caroline Dipping writes about food for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
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