Canning: Preserving an Old Form of Food Storage
With a little time and effort, you can extend the life of your produce and your paycheck.
I love making savory jam and chutneys to use on a cheese tray…my favorite dessert.
— Sherri Brooks Vinton, food preservation expert and author
It takes a good bit of time to clean and slice strawberries, simmer them with sugar and a little lemon juice and transfer to sterilized glass jars in the proper manner. The same can be said for turning a small crop of cucumbers from the backyard garden into several jars of bread-and-butter pickles.
In an age when cooking dinner often means staring at the microwave for 90 seconds, canning produce has a decidedly old-fashioned feel. But a growing number of home canning enthusiasts agree that their old fashioned craft is economically smart and environmentally responsible. Plus, they say, good things come to those who wait.
Safety Comes First
Before you get started preserving and pickling fruits and vegetables in your kitchen, you’ll need to do a little prep work.
Read up on safe canning guidelines. Countless sources exist on the Web, but the Web site for the National Center for Home Food Preservation is a particularly valuable resource. Improperly canned food can become contaminated with microorganisms and lead to serious illness.
Stock up on canning jars – 1/2 pint to quart size – with self-sealing lids and metal screw bands. You’ll also need a pot large enough to contain several of the jars while allowing for water to cover the tops of the jars.
1-2-3 Recipe
Once you acquired the necessary knowledge and equipment, canning can be pretty simple, according to Brian Armour, executive sous chef at Dante’s Kitchen in New Orleans.
“A basic 1-2-3 recipe is one part sugar, two parts vinegar and three parts water,” Armour said. “Then you season it according to your preference. Stock pickling spices are a good place to start.”
The most popular form of home canning is called boiling water bath canning -- the type used with highly acidic foods such as jams, tomatoes and pickled vegetables. In water bath canning, the jar is packed with food, the self-sealing lid is placed atop the jar with its rubber seal positioned on the jar’s rim, the metal band is partially screwed on and the jar is submerged in boiling water.
As the contents of the jar are heated, air and steam escape, creating a partial vacuum that keeps the lid firmly in place and contaminants out. The lid on a properly sealed jar will be slightly concave, indicating that the vacuum is intact. A convex lid may be evidence of microbial growth and contaminated food inside the jar.
Many vegetables that do not have high acid content can be canned using the pressure canning method. Essentially, it is the same as a water bath; however, you use a pressure cooker. Place your jars on a rack within the pressure canner to ensure they do not break from the heat.
Save Money, Reduce Waste, Eat Well
The benefits of canning, advocates say, are legion. In addition to the obvious economy of preserving food for later consumption instead of tossing it in the garbage can, there is a clear epicurean advantage to canning. A philosophy held by many canning enthusiasts involves using locally grown produce. By getting fruits and vegetables from a local farmer or from your own garden, you’re getting it at its freshest and ripest, ensuring the preserved end product will be as flavorful as possible.
Armour says the staff at his restaurant typically takes advantage of spare time afforded by the slower summer months to prep and process pickled vegetables and preserved fruits that chefs use in dishes throughout the year.
“This is how canning was meant to be utilized,” Armour said. “It’s a way to maintain a food source between growing seasons. So we source our produce as locally as possible, and when we’re overloaded, we can that particular fruit or vegetable.”
Armour says cooks at Dante’s pickle green beans and okra to garnish the restaurant’s popular Bloody Marys, and dishes on the menu regularly feature preserved peaches and pickled beets, rutabaga and turnips, all processed during their marathon summer canning sessions.
Start Simple, Then Go Gourmet
Food preservation expert and writer Sherri Brooks Vinton suggests starting out with a simple, basic recipe before taking a run at more complex flavors and ingredients.
“Bread-and-butter pickles are a great place to start,” Vinton said. “They're easy to make and are a popular item on the summer picnic table.”
Author of “Put ‘em Up!” and founder of Farm Friendly LLC, an organization that supports local agriculture, Vinton stresses using modern canning recipes and methods that maintain a high enough pH level to ensure the absence of microorganisms. She says renewed interest in canning has precipitated a recent wave of canning books with a wealth of recipes that reflect the modern palate.
“I love making savory jam and chutneys to use on a cheese tray…my favorite dessert,” Vinton said. “I'm also a huge fan of bringing down the sugar a notch on preserves and giving jams and jellies a little spice or heat.”
A Family Affair
The joy of canning is not limited to the enjoyment of the preserved food and the budget impact and the elimination of food waste. From growing the fruits and vegetables yourself or shopping for them at your local farmers market to the ritual of cleaning and preparing the produce to cooking and canning, many consider the process to be a pleasure unto itself. And it's one the whole family can share, Vinton says.
“My kids are always helping me in the kitchen,” she said. “Peeling tomatoes, skinning grapes, pitting cherries – these are all great jobs for little hands.”
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
