Storing the bounty:
canning foods safely at home
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this challenging economy, more and more of our readers are looking for ways to eat well, while saving money. With that in mind, once a month throughout the growing and harvesting season, Foster’s Daily Democrat will publish information on storing and preserving food courtesy of the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service of Rockingham County. The information will be published on Foster’s regular food page and on our website, www.fosters.com
By Claudia Boozer-Blasco, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Resources
UNH Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County
By all accounts, the interest in home canning is on the upswing this summer. For example, compared to last year the UNH Cooperative Extension has had more requests for home canning workshops and demonstrations. More folks are canning for the first time, or those who have canned before want a brush-up to make sure they are canning foods safely. Home canning has been around for generations, and the reasons why people can today have similarities and differences compared to years ago. Gardening and home canning can lower your grocery bill. Home or community gardens, pick-your-own farms, and farmers’ markets have fresh produce at no or low-cost. Preserving these foods by canning means you can enjoy these foods into the fall and winter months and thus reduce food costs.
Home canning supports sustainable lifestyles. Canning locally-grown produce reduces the carbon footprint created by transporting vegetables and fruits from other states or countries in the off-seasons. Preserving foods at home helps manage nutritional content. By canning fresh produce, you have more control over the ingredients that go into the canned products. For example, some recipes have been designed for reduced sodium or sugar. Also, home canned products don’t have the additives or preservatives that many commercial products contain.
Creating home canned foods is rewarding. A leisurely afternoon preparing fresh produce for canning can be an enjoyable experience. The “ping” of a processed jar of fruits or vegetables forming the vacuum brings a smile of satisfaction. Serving and tasting “the fruits of your labor” or giving a gift of your canned products is an enjoyable experience. The use of science-based, tested processes is critical to the safety of home-canned foods. Unsafe canning methods can result in food spoilage or foodborne illnesses such as botulism. Following these key recommendations and techniques for canning produces safe and tasty results.
Use only tested recipes and procedures. Recipes for canning must be analyzed and tested to make sure they won’t develop pathogens that can cause foodborne illnesses or food spoilage. During the 1980’s canning recipes were reviewed by various food science laboratories throughout the country. Check the copyright of cookbooks to make sure they have been produced after this time. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has tested recipes available and many can be found at the UNH Cooperative Extension web site, http://extension.unh.edu/FoodSafe/FoodPreservation.htm
Follow recipe directions precisely. Canning recipes must be followed with the exact amount and types of foods indicated in order to make sure they will result in a safe product. An exception is if the ingredient is listed as “optional”. Often this is an herb or spice, and can be included for flavoring if desired. High-acid food can be processed in a water-bath canner. High-acid foods such as fruits, jams and jellies, pickled products, and tomatoes can be processed in a water-bath canner at the boiling point of 212 degrees Farenheit at sea level. The acid plus the boiling temperature work together to prevent botulism from developing. Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner. Low-acid foods such as most vegetables, meats, poultry, and fish must be processed in a pressure canner. The temperature of the water and the steam must get above the boiling point to at least 240 degrees Farenheit. This very high temperature is needed to kill any botulism spores that could be present in the low-acid foods.
Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/
Recipes for Canning Fruits and Vegetables
The following recipes are samples in the Let’s Preserve series developed by Penn State Cooperative Extension. More recipes can be found at the UNH Cooperative Extension web site at http://extension.unh.edu/FoodSafe/FoodPreservation.htm
Canned Peaches in Very Light Syrup
Peaches can be canned in water, apple or grape juice, or more commonly with a very light, light or medium syrup. This recipe uses a very light syrup and will yield 7 quart jars of peaches.
17 ½ pounds peaches
1 ¼ cups sugar
10 ½ cups water
Procedure: Dip peaches in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skin loosens. Dip quickly in cold water and slip off skins. Cut in half, remove pits, and slice if desired. To make very light syrup, mix sugar and water in a large pan and heat to dissolve. Place peaches in syrup and bring to boil. Fill clean jars with hot fruit and cooking liquid. Leave ½ inch headspace and wipe sealing edge of jars with a clean, damp paper towel. Add lids and screw bands. Process quart jars in a water bath canner for 25 minutes (0-1,000 foot altitude), 30 minutes (1,001-3,000 ft. altitude), 35 minutes (3,001 – 6,000 foot altitude), 40 minutes (above 6,000 ft. altitude).
Chili Salsa (Hot Pepper-Tomato Dip)
Yield approximately 9 pints
7 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1-2 pounds chili peppers, chopped (wear rubber gloves)
1 pound onion, chopped
1 cup 5% vinegar or ½ cup bottle lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Procedure. Before chopping tomatoes, remove skins by dipping in boiling water for 30-60 seconds or until the skins split. Dip in cold water, slip off skins, remove cores, and coarsely chop tomatoes. When chopping chili peppers, wear rubber gloves. Combine all ingredients in a large kettle. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Fill pint jars, leaving ½ inch head space. Adjust lids and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (0 – 1,000 ft. altitude), 20 minutes (1,001 – 6,000 ft altitude), 25 minutes (over 6,000 ft. altitude).
How to Process Jars for Canning
After following a canning recipe precisely according to directions, then filling clean glass jars with the food and covering with a two-piece lid, you are ready to process the jars. Canning recipes will indicate whether or not you should process in a water-bath canner or pressure canner. Processing times will vary in water-bath canners and pressures will vary in pressure canners, due to the change in boiling point with altitude. Water boils at a lower temperature the higher the altitude. For example, at sea level (around 0-1,000 ft. altitude) water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. On Mt. Washington above 6,000 feet, water boils at 201 degrees Fahrenheit. Canning recipes should provide a variety of processing times and pressures to use, depending upon the altitude at which the canning is taking place.
Processing in a water-bath canner is used for high-acid foods such as jams, jellies, pickled products, fruits and tomatoes. Fill a large canner half-full with water, place on a large stove-top burner, and preheat the water. Place filled jars on jar racks in the canner and add more water, so that the water level is at least one inch above the jar tops. Turn the heat to the highest setting, cover the canner with the lid, and heat the water until it boils vigorously. Set a timer for the total minutes required in the recipe for processing the food. Keep the canner covered for the processing time. When the jars have been processed for the required time, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Wait five minutes before removing jars. With a jar lifter, remove the jars one at a time and place them on a towel or cake cooling rack. Let the jars sit undisturbed while they cool, from 12 to 24 hours. There will be a “ping” sound as the vacuum is formed in the jar. Remove the ring bands from the sealed jars, label and store in a cool, dry place out of direct light.
Processing with a pressure canner is used for low-acid foods such as vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish. Put 2 to 3 inches of hot water in the pressure canner. Place filled jars on the rack, using a jar lifter. Fasten canner lid securely. Leave weight off vent port or open petcock. Heat at the highest setting until steam flows from the petcock or vent port. Maintain high heat setting, exhaust steam 10 minutes, and then place weight on vent port or close petcock. The canner will pressurize during the next 3 to 5 minutes. Start timing the process when the pressure reading on the dial gauge indicates that the recommended pressure has been reached, or when the weighted gauge begins to jiggle or rock.
Regulate heat under the canner to maintain a steady pressure at or slightly above the correct gauge pressure. Quick and large pressure variations during processing may cause unnecessary liquid losses from jars. Weighted gauges on Mirro canners should jiggle about 2 or 3 times per minute.
On Presto canners, they should rock slowly throughout the process. When the timed process is completed, turn off the heat, remove the canner from heat if possible, and let the canner depressurize slowly at room temperature. After the canner is depressurized, remove the weight from the vent port or open the petcock. Wait 2 minutes, unfasten the lid, and remove it carefully. Lift the lid away from you so that the steam does not burn your face. Remove jars with a lifter, and place on towel or cooling rack, if desired. Let the jars sit undisturbed while they cool, from 12 to 24 hours. There will be a “ping” sound as the vacuum is formed in the jar. Remove the ring bands from the sealed jars, label and store in a cool, dry place out of direct light.
Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation, http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/
Web links for the New Hampshire Harvest
Visit these web sites to get the most up-to-date information on home gardening, pick-your-own farms, farmers’ markets, and storing and preserving fruits and vegetables.
Home and Community Food Gardening http://extension.unh.edu/HCFG/Home_Com_Garden.htm has been created on the UNH Cooperative Extension web site to help New Hampshire residents start and care for productive food gardens, preserve some of the bounty, and keep up with the latest gardening research and ideas.
Seacoast Growers Association, http://www.seacoastgrowers.org/, provides the days, times and locations for the Farmers’ Markets that take place in Dover, Durham, Exeter, Hampton, Kingston, and Portsmouth. The Farmers’ Markets are now open! The Dover Farmer’s Market is at a new location at the Herbal Path on 835 Central Ave in Dover, NH.
2009 Directory of NH Farmers’ Markets, http://agriculture.nh.gov/publications/documents/FMNPDirectory.pdf that has been developed by the NH Department of Agriculture.
Statewide Directory of Farmers’ Markets, Farm Stands and Pick-your-Own Farms, http://www.directorynh.com/NHAgriculture/NHFarmStands.html
Farmers' markets now open
Mondays
2:15—5:30 Durham ~ Pettee Brook parking lot on the downtown loop (in front of Durham Bike)
Tuesdays
2:15—5:30 Kingston ~ Main Street / Route 111 "on the plains" in the center of town
3:00—6:00 Hampton ~ Route 1 (just north of Route 101) in the Sacred Heart Church School parking lot across from the Post Office
Tuesdays and Thursdays
3:00—6:00 Rochester ~ Foster’s Daily Democrat parking lot, 90 North Main Street
Wednesdays
2:15—6:00 Dover ~ new location at the Herbal Path, 835 Central Avenue
2:00—5:30 Rye ~ 855 Washington Road
3:00—6:00 Gilmanton ~ Academy at the 4 Corners
Thursdays
2:15—6:00 Exeter ~ Swasey Parkway, downtown off Water Street on the banks of the Squamscott River
3:00—6:00 Lee ~ old Fire Station, Route 155
3:00—6:30 Northwood ~ corner of Routes 4, 202A/9, and Route 43, at the Municipal building parking lot
Fridays
3:00—7:00 Deerfield ~ Deerfield Fairgrounds
Saturdays
8:00—12:00 Laconia ~ Beacon Street East
8:00—1:00 New Durham ~ off Depot Road, next to the Post Office on the lawn
8:00—1:00 Portsmouth ~ 1 Junkins Avenue in the City Hall parking lot
8:30—12:00 Farmington ~ intersection of Routes 9 and 25
9:00—12:00 Rochester ~ 4 Corners Antique Shop parking lot, junction of 202A, Estes Road, and Meaderboro Road
9:00—1:00 Barrington ~ intersection of Routes 9 and 25
9:00—1:00 Newmarket ~ Stone Church Meeting House parking lot, 5-7 Granite Street
Sundays
1:00—4:00 Nottingham ~ Blaisdell Memorial Library, 129 Stage Road
Source: 2009 NH Directory of Farmers’ Markets, http://agriculture.nh.gov/publications/documents/farmersmarket.pdf
