Now that your summer garden is (hopefully) in full production mode, you may wonder how to use all those tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. The events of the last year have fueled interest in home canning and food preservation, especially among those who are growing their own vegetables. I’ve noticed a lot of bad, even dangerous, food preserving advice being shared online, so I’m going to put on my master food preserver hat this week.
I grew up helping my mother with her home canning endeavors, so I was somewhat familiar with the process. When my husband and I finally had a garden and fruit trees of our own, I decided to try my hand at canning again. I invested in a big water bath canner, a home canning tool kit (consisting of a funnel, jar lifter, plastic spatula, and magnetic lid lifter), and the latest edition of the Ball Blue Book. Soon I transformed 75 pounds of fresh apricots into many jars of delicious apricot jam. I was hooked!
My next project was to can whole tomatoes, which ended up being less successful. Everything seemed to be going well, but when I pulled the jars out of the canner, I ended up with about 2 inches of tomatoes floating atop 4 inches of clear liquid. So much for my newfound expertise. I soon concluded that our tomatoes could be put to better use and began researching salsa recipes.
If you want to try your hand at canning, please don’t go to any random web site for advice or recipes. My favorite resource for beginning canners is still the Ball Blue Book, which is updated every year. Their recipes have all been thoroughly tested for safety, and the directions are clear and well-written. Ball has an excellent website (freshpreserving.com) that offers many up-to-date recipes and information. Other reliable internet resources include the National Center for Home Food Preserving (nchfp.uga.edu), the United States Department of Agriculture (nifa.usda.gov) and any cooperative extension’s website.
Advice to avoid includes anything that starts out with the statement, “I haven’t killed anybody yet…”
One of the more popular, but dangerous, canning methods involves filling hot canning jars with hot food, placing the lid and securing the ring, then inverting the jar and letting it come to room temperature without processing in the hot water bath. A common misconception is that since the jars seal, they are safe.
Processing in the hot water bath completely sterilizes the contents and the seal ensures that no new bacteria or mold gets into the food.
However, inverting the hot jars may cause the jar to seal, but if there are even a few bacteria inside that jar, they can multiply and cause spoilage.
Some canning recipes call for the addition of lemon juice or vinegar to acidify the contents. Do not skip this step since this ensures that the food is acidic enough to safely can in a water bath.
Next week I will talk about all the wonderful things you can do with those tomatoes!
Have questions? Email gardening@scng.com.
Looking for more gardening tips? Here’s how to contact the Master Gardener program in your area.
Los Angeles County
mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/
Orange County
ucceocmghotline@ucanr.edu; 949-809-9760; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/
Riverside County
anrmgriverside@ucanr.edu; 951-683-6491 ext. 231; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/
San Bernardino County
mgsanbern@ucanr.edu; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu/
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What to know before canning fruit and vegetables from your garden - Press-Enterprise
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