Home canning
Home canning can be one of the most rewarding projects that you can do
for your family. Knowing that the food that you are baking with is fresh
and has not been filled with additives or preservatives can be very
comforting and satisfying. With so many upsides to this process that our
grandmother's used to do all the time, why is it that it has become a
lost art in many homes? Simple, people tend to steer away from things
they do not know how to do. Home canning is a process that is not hard
for even the novice to learn and can end up saving you money in the long
run, and with a few tips, who knows, you might even become an expert.
There are many different recipes from jellies, jams, preserves, whole
fruits, vegetables, and much much more that you can preserve through
home canning, and you can usually find many of these either from friends
and family or online. The focus of our home canning tips will be on the
process of canning itself and some of the problems that you might run
into. The three areas that we will discuss is: Setting, Sealing and
Storing. Many people are frustrated with these areas in one way or
another, but I have a few tips that you might find helpful and it just
might change your attitude toward canning at home.
Setting
How many of you have been so excited to make your very own strawberry
jam only to be disappointed to find out that you made strawberry syrup
instead? Learning how to tell if your jelly or jam will set can be
tricky at first but hopefully with a few tips, you will get the hang of
it. Whether or not your jam or jelly is going to set can be contingent
on a number of factors.
Let's talk about Pectin, Baby:
There are several things that you will need to consider whenever you are
adding pectin to your jam or jelly, the first being, whether or not you
will be adding it. There are some recipes out there that you can use
that do not add pectin if you would like to go this route, but as we
will discuss later, ratio is important. So do not take a recipe that has
directions to add pectin and decide that you will try to make it work
without pectin, because it will not work. If you are using pectin, you
need to make sure that the pectin you are using is recent and has not
been sitting on your shelf for very long. Pectin can and will expire and
this will affect the gelling process of your jelly or jam. I always
just wait until I decide to make a jam or jelly before I go and buy my
pectin.
Many different fruits have different amounts of pectin already in them
so for instance, I usually do not have to use the whole bag of pectin
when I am making blackberry jam, but when I am making strawberry jam I
definitely have to use the whole bag. Usually fruits will have enough
pectin in them to help you along in the setting process. The frustrating
task is working with certain vegetables or peppers and getting them to
set because they naturally have less pectin in them. A good rule of
thumb is to look up online how much pectin might be in your selected
fruit or vegetable before you start making the jelly. For instance,
blackberry jam= 1/2 bag of pectin, strawberry jam = one bag of pectin,
hot pepper jelly = 2 bags of pectin.
As if this is not enough to consider, let's throw another monkey into
the wrench and look at dry pectin versus liquid pectin. In my experience
I have had to use two bags of liquid pectin to get the same results of
one bag of dry. I am sure that this probably varies from person to
person. Also, there are different recipes for liquid pectin and dry
pectin as you put them into the recipe at different times. Liquid pectin
will usually go in after the sugar has been entered whereas dry pectin
will be entered before the sugar. I know I know, you are probably ready
to go to the store instead and just buy the jelly off the shelf. The
trick is to find a process that works for you, and stick with it. I
would suggest finding the process that works best for you and sticking
with it for a while, so that you can really understand what you are
doing whenever you do decide to try to switch it up.
One last thing about pectin before we leave it. There are some types of
pectin products that you can use that do not require you to add sugar
such as, Pomona. Again there are specific recipes that you will need to
look at to get the right ratios, but these are usually very helpful for
the diabetics out there that would like to can their own jelly or jam
without all the added sugar.
Ripe or not ripe...that is the question
As my grandmother used to say, "Somewhere in the middle is good." The
trick is, finding out where the middle actually is. If you get your
fruit before they are ripe, it will not set, if you get your fruit late
in the season, it most likely won't set. It is difficult to work with
but knowing the age of the fruit and vegetables you are working with is
very important. This is why work with produce that has been bought at a
grocery store can be frustrating at best. If you do not have your own
garden or fruit trees, I would suggest going to a farmer's market or an
orchard where you know where your food has come from. I don't say this
because of some biological scare or pesticides or hormone fears blah
blah blah. It is just overall less frustrating in the end.
And finally if you are still having trouble with your jam or jelly
setting, you might need to look at the ratio of ingredients you are
using in your recipe. Compare it with other recipes that you may come
across with. Try different recipes. When I made my first batch of jelly,
I became so consumed with following the recipe to the letter that I was
ignoring the process. I followed the directions, rolling boil, add
pectin, stir one min, add sugar, stir, rolling boil for one min, put in
jars. I did it perfectly, but, guess what. It didn't set. A couple tips
that you can use during this process: Use a stainless steel slotted
spoon and test your jelly on a cold plate. Stop worrying about 1 minute
here 2 minutes here and notices the process. Before I even put my fruit
on the oven, I will put a plate in the freezer. When I add the pectin
in, I make sure that all of the pectin has dissolved and that none of it
has clumped together. Then as I am stirring after I have added the
sugar, I will take the cold plate out of the freezer and once all the
sugar is dissolved I will put a small sample on the plate and set it
aside and then continue to stir on a reduced heat. After a minute, I
will run my finger down the middle of the sample of jelly or jam that I
have put on the plate and there should be a clear mark down the middle
of the plate with no jam or jelly in it. If the jelly runs back in, I
know I need to add more pectin or cook for a little longer. Some will
add more sugar, but I find that jelly/jam usually has plenty of sugar in
it already and that by adding more this will usually make it too sweet.
Sealing
So you finally made the recipe, and you can tell your jelly or jam is
going to set properly and now you want to make sure that it seals. One
of the biggest mistakes that is made most commonly by many many people,
including myself, is reusing lids. I know that this can be very
tempting, and I understand that it is very hard to throw the other lids
out and buy new ones, but trust me...it's better this way.
Reusing lids = not a good idea
In the end, it usually just ends in frustration. A good tip for home
canning, if it could possibly lead to frustration later, don't do it.
The markets will sell the lids separately so you can reuse the jars and
the rings, but lids do need to be a reinvestment that you plan on making
each year. Another mistake that is very commonly made is the idea that
you can reuse food jars that you bought at the grocery store. You can
make a small investment into mason jars that you can continually reuse
each year and store easily. If you reuse the food jars, you will not be
able to reseal the lids and the integrity of the glass was not made for
continual heating and reheating that is needed in order to process the
jars properly.
Before you use your jars make sure you check the top ring of your jars
for any cracks or dings that you may find. Many might not think this is a
big deal, but these dings and cracks can definitely affect the sealing
of your jars and can cause your food to go bad. Another tip is to make
sure that the food you are processing does not end up on the rim of the
jar. You can easily avoid this by measuring and making sure that
whatever you are storing in the jar is at least 1/8 of and inch from the
rim, and then wipe any excess food off the rim before sealing. Make
sure to warm your lids to almost boiling temp before placing on jars for
maximum seal.
Storing
This may not seem like a very important topic when it comes to home
canning tips, but I believe that these may be the most important tips of
this entire article. Many people have different systems or shelves or
pantries that they use to store their home canned goods and you can get
many of these ideas online. There are some important things to remember
whenever you are looking for a place to store your home canned goods.
A big tip for storing your home canned items is to label them, what they
are, the date they were processed, etc. Also, be sure to store the
older items at the front to make sure that you eat them first.
Temperature is also a very important consideration in your choice of
storage. It is important that you store your items in a place that can
maintain a temperature between 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Some people
like to freeze their food. If you would like to do this, I would suggest
looking into some of the freezable plastic containers that can be used
to store food safely in the freezer. Do not use your glass jars to store
in the freezer because it could lead to them being broken for starters.
I can also break the seal that you had on the lid causing the food to
become freezer burned or at best mushy. You also want to make sure that
the area you choose is out of the sunlight and not near moisture. High
temperatures can cause your food to spoil, and sunlight can cause your
food to lose nutrition so it is best to keep them in a dry dark place.
For these reasons many people choose to store them in a basement, but
make sure that they will not be exposed to moisture down there because
moisture can cause the lids to corrode and eventually unseal.
As you can see, there is much to consider when you are learning the fine
art of home canning. The most important tip I can give you is to advise
you to figure out your own process that works best for you and gets the
best results. This will most likely mean that you will have to mess up
some batches, and as frustrating as this might be, I have learned the
more from some of the messes I have made than some of the successes.
Those of you starting out on your home canning adventure, good luck to
you, and enjoy the process of learning a dying art.
