Old-Fashioned German Ways of Canning Food

Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage.

German food is similar to the way Americans like to eat, emphasizing meat and potatoes, according to Nika Standen Hazelton, the author of "The Cooking of Germany. Many of the dishes, such as pot roast, stews and hearty soups are familiar to U.S. tastebuds. Preserving German food includes drying, smoking, curing and, of course, canning. Canning includes brining and pickling, making jams and jellies, and preserving fruits and vegetables.

Brining

Sauerkraut is probably the dish that most comes to mind when the term German food is mentioned. Cabbage is shredded, packed with salt and allowed to ferment at room temperature for several weeks. A heavy weight on top of the crock -- several clean bricks on a heavy plate will work -- helps press the juices out of the cabbage.

Pickling

Germans pickle cucumbers, beets and other vegetables in vinegar and salt and package them in glass jars. Spickgans is a German dish of pickled smoked goose breast. Old-fashioned pickling works with pork, a favorite meat of Germans, as well as fish. The meat is cooked, packed into jars with spices and vinegar and then processed by placing the jars in a boiling water bath for 20 to 30 minutes. Modern canning calls for the use of a pressure cooker. Old-fashioned canned and pickled meats are more prone to spoilage and contamination.

Jams and Jellies

Jams are made from fruits that includes the flesh of the fruit while jam is made from the juices. Lingonberries are a small berry found growing wild on shrubs. They're a staple of Scandinavian cooking as well as German. Old-fashioned methods of making jellies and jams call for long slow cooking rather than the addition of modern-day pectin. Instead of the standard water-bath method of sealing canned foods, jellies are topped with a layer of melted paraffin. When the paraffin hardens the jelly is sealed. Of course, lingonberries aren't the only fruits favored by Germans. Apples and plums, jams and jellies are canned as well.

Vegetables and Fruits

Some root vegetables will keep through the winter if stored at cold but not freezing temperatures. These include carrots, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips. Other vegetables were canned and provided a bit of color and flavor to German suppers during the cold winters. The vegetables are picked at the peak of freshness, washed, peeled in some cases and put into glass jars with a snap shut lid. A round washer was placed between the glass jar and the lid. The lid is snapped shut. The filled jars were submerged in boiling water for 20 to 40 minutes. The heat causes a vacuum preserving the vegetables because the rubber seal keeps any air out of the jar.

References

• "The Cooking of Germany"; Nika Standen Hazelton; 1969
• "The Joy of Cooking"; Irma S. Rombauer; 1972