When selecting fruit and vegetables for home canning try to buy them in approximately the same size so they'll cook more evenly before canning. To make sure that canned foods keep a fresh flavor, choose only those foods that are firm, ripe, and fresh, with no bruises that will spoil overtime. Always wash foods thoroughly before canning; discard any rotting sections. Fruits, tomatoes, and pickles are acid foods and can be safely preserved by canning by the boiling water bath method. Use a pressure canner to prepare low acid foods such as meats and vegetables. Label all your preserved foods with the contents and the date. To cool hot jars removed from the canner, set them uncovered on a cloth, board, or wire rack, away from any draft.
Some supermarket jars can be used for canning if you select them veiy carefully. Jam and jelly jars can be used for canning jams and jellies, and some ketchup bottles can be used for special vinegars. When you re canning and preserving, match the jar size to the eventual serving size whenever possible. Then you won't have a refrigerator full of half empty jars. You can process 2 layers of jars in your canner if you place a small wire rack between them, so that water and steam can circulate evenly in the space between the 2 layers. An easy way to check whether a jar is sealed is to tap the lid with a metal spoon. If you hear a ringing sound, the jar is sealed.
If the seal of a canned jar won't move down when pressed, the jar is properly sealed and ready for storage. It's easier to fill the jars if you use a wide neck funnel placed on top of the jar, then spoon the contents into the funnel. Don't open a processed jar to add more liquid. You'll have to reprocess the jar to prevent the contents from spoiling. To prevent canned foods from darkening, rinse the foods in a quart of cold water mixed with 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Discoloration can also be prevented by adding 50 mg of vitamin C to each quart jar. To prevent cut fruits from discoloring before preserving, place them in a gallon of water mixed with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Drain well before packing in jars.
Table salt leaves sediment in the bottom of canning jars, so use canning or pickling salt instead. Vegetables can be canned without salt if you're on a salt free diet. Before canning fresh fish, soak it in a solution of brine (8 ounces of salt to 1 gallon of water) for between 10 and 60 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Eliminate any air bubbles by working a flexible knife or spatula around the inside of a filled canning jar. Place several marbles in the kettle when you're making jelly preserves, apple butter, or other foods requiring continuous stirring. The marbles will roll constantly across the kettle bottom and prevent sticking. When you're mixing homemade jelly, use a potato masher for stirring. The handle is long enough to keep your hand cool and the shape prevents the masher from slipping into the pot.
To test whether fruit juice contains enough pectin to jell, mix 2 tablespoons of cooked fruit juice with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon Epsom salts and let stand for 20 minutes. If the juice contains enough pectin the mixture should form into a semisolid. For pickling be sure your vinegar has at least 5 percent acidity; otherwise your pickles may soften and spoil. Preserve cucumbers within 24 hours of harvesting before they have a chance to get soft or hollow. If canned food smells strange or looks cloudy after opening, discard it immediately without tasting it. If the lid on a canning jar is bulging, the contents may be spoiled. To avoid spoilage and explosions, home canned foods should be stored out of direct light and away from direct heat sources.
When you open a jar of canned food that's been stored for some time, watch for spurting liquid. If any liquid does spurt out, the contents have spoiled. Two of the easiest alternatives to canning are winter storage during cold weather months and dehydration in dry climates. In winter storage, such vegetables as celery, Brussels sprouts, turnips, and winter radishes can be left outdoors if well mulched. Dehydration involves letting the hot sun do all the work or purchasing a dehydrator. If you don't have a water bath canneryou can improvise with a large pot with a rack inside. The rack prevents the jars from breaking as they would if they stood directly on the bottom of the pot. If you re using pint jars, the pot should be 8 to 10 inches deep; for quart jars, 9 to 12 inches.
If someone in the family is on a sugar or salt free diet, these ingredients can be omitted from many recipes, but not from recipes for pickles and preserves. In these cases the sugar and salt are essential to the canning process. When you freeze food, label each package to avoid future guesswork. Mark the contents and the date on each package. When you freeze food in a plastic bag remove as much air from the bag as you can. Thaw frozen foods by placing the container under cold running water for a few minutes. Then place the container in a pan of lukewarm water until the food slips out easily. Dial gauges on a pressure canner must be checked each canning season.
The home economist at your local Cooperative Extension Service Office can tell you where and when you can have the dial tested. If the dial varies more than 5 pounds per square inch either way get a new one. If the variation is less than 5 pounds, adjust pressure using the chart below. Weighted gauges don't need to be tested, but they must be kept clean. Don't freeze overripe foods. They'll have no flavor or color after you defrost them, freeze them until just solid. Then transfer them to containers and store them in the freezer. Freeze fresh dill in season so you 11 have it on hand for pickling time. Many other herbs also freeze well. Freeze small amounts of herbs in individual plastic packets; seal each packet well, label it, and staple the packets to a piece of cardboard.
For ready made bouquets garnis, tie together several sprigs of different herbs (for instance, parsley, bay leaf, and thyme), and freeze in individual plastic bags stapled to a piece of cardboard.
If you want the blueberries you freeze to retain their shape and color, don't wash them. Simply freeze them in their containers, and wash them just before use. To prevent foods such as berries from sticking together when frozen, flash freeze them first. Here's how: Separate them on a cookie sheet, freeze, remove, and while still frozen pack them together in airtight containers before replacing them in the freezer.
Instant beef stock can come from the freezer, too. When you cook a beef roast, save and refrigerate the pan juices. After the fat has hardened, remove and discard it. Pour the remaining juice into an ice cube tray; when the juice is frozen, wrap the cubes individually in foil and store in the freezer for later use. Save watermelon rinds from meals or picnics. Keep them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until you have enough to pickle. lf you have leftover tomatoes, freeze them for later use in stews and soups. Freezing makes them soft, but this won't affect their taste.
The warmth of a gas range pilot light makes an oven a perfect food dehydrator. Chop the food you want to dry, spread it on aluminum foil, and place it on the broiler rack for a day or two. This system, however, only works for foods that won't spoil before drying is complete. Uncooked souffles can be successfully frozen. Pour the batter into the souffle dish, then cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap before placing it on a level spot in the freezer. If using a freezer to oven dish, the souffle can be baked directly from the freezer. If using a china or porcelain souffle dish, remove it from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. In both cases, bake the souffle for twice as long as the recipe indicates.
If you have a gas stove with a pilot light, you can dry fresh parsley by placing it on a cookie sheet in your oven, where the slight heat from the pilot light will evaporate its moisture in a few days. When the parsley feels dry to the touch, put it in jars and store in a cool, dry place.
When you're drying herbs for their seeds dill or caraway, for examplehang small bunches in a warm, dry place and tie a paper bag over each bunch to catch the seeds.
Some supermarket jars can be used for canning if you select them veiy carefully. Jam and jelly jars can be used for canning jams and jellies, and some ketchup bottles can be used for special vinegars. When you re canning and preserving, match the jar size to the eventual serving size whenever possible. Then you won't have a refrigerator full of half empty jars. You can process 2 layers of jars in your canner if you place a small wire rack between them, so that water and steam can circulate evenly in the space between the 2 layers. An easy way to check whether a jar is sealed is to tap the lid with a metal spoon. If you hear a ringing sound, the jar is sealed.
If the seal of a canned jar won't move down when pressed, the jar is properly sealed and ready for storage. It's easier to fill the jars if you use a wide neck funnel placed on top of the jar, then spoon the contents into the funnel. Don't open a processed jar to add more liquid. You'll have to reprocess the jar to prevent the contents from spoiling. To prevent canned foods from darkening, rinse the foods in a quart of cold water mixed with 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Discoloration can also be prevented by adding 50 mg of vitamin C to each quart jar. To prevent cut fruits from discoloring before preserving, place them in a gallon of water mixed with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Drain well before packing in jars.
Table salt leaves sediment in the bottom of canning jars, so use canning or pickling salt instead. Vegetables can be canned without salt if you're on a salt free diet. Before canning fresh fish, soak it in a solution of brine (8 ounces of salt to 1 gallon of water) for between 10 and 60 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Eliminate any air bubbles by working a flexible knife or spatula around the inside of a filled canning jar. Place several marbles in the kettle when you're making jelly preserves, apple butter, or other foods requiring continuous stirring. The marbles will roll constantly across the kettle bottom and prevent sticking. When you're mixing homemade jelly, use a potato masher for stirring. The handle is long enough to keep your hand cool and the shape prevents the masher from slipping into the pot.
To test whether fruit juice contains enough pectin to jell, mix 2 tablespoons of cooked fruit juice with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon Epsom salts and let stand for 20 minutes. If the juice contains enough pectin the mixture should form into a semisolid. For pickling be sure your vinegar has at least 5 percent acidity; otherwise your pickles may soften and spoil. Preserve cucumbers within 24 hours of harvesting before they have a chance to get soft or hollow. If canned food smells strange or looks cloudy after opening, discard it immediately without tasting it. If the lid on a canning jar is bulging, the contents may be spoiled. To avoid spoilage and explosions, home canned foods should be stored out of direct light and away from direct heat sources.
When you open a jar of canned food that's been stored for some time, watch for spurting liquid. If any liquid does spurt out, the contents have spoiled. Two of the easiest alternatives to canning are winter storage during cold weather months and dehydration in dry climates. In winter storage, such vegetables as celery, Brussels sprouts, turnips, and winter radishes can be left outdoors if well mulched. Dehydration involves letting the hot sun do all the work or purchasing a dehydrator. If you don't have a water bath canneryou can improvise with a large pot with a rack inside. The rack prevents the jars from breaking as they would if they stood directly on the bottom of the pot. If you re using pint jars, the pot should be 8 to 10 inches deep; for quart jars, 9 to 12 inches.
If someone in the family is on a sugar or salt free diet, these ingredients can be omitted from many recipes, but not from recipes for pickles and preserves. In these cases the sugar and salt are essential to the canning process. When you freeze food, label each package to avoid future guesswork. Mark the contents and the date on each package. When you freeze food in a plastic bag remove as much air from the bag as you can. Thaw frozen foods by placing the container under cold running water for a few minutes. Then place the container in a pan of lukewarm water until the food slips out easily. Dial gauges on a pressure canner must be checked each canning season.
The home economist at your local Cooperative Extension Service Office can tell you where and when you can have the dial tested. If the dial varies more than 5 pounds per square inch either way get a new one. If the variation is less than 5 pounds, adjust pressure using the chart below. Weighted gauges don't need to be tested, but they must be kept clean. Don't freeze overripe foods. They'll have no flavor or color after you defrost them, freeze them until just solid. Then transfer them to containers and store them in the freezer. Freeze fresh dill in season so you 11 have it on hand for pickling time. Many other herbs also freeze well. Freeze small amounts of herbs in individual plastic packets; seal each packet well, label it, and staple the packets to a piece of cardboard.
For ready made bouquets garnis, tie together several sprigs of different herbs (for instance, parsley, bay leaf, and thyme), and freeze in individual plastic bags stapled to a piece of cardboard.
If you want the blueberries you freeze to retain their shape and color, don't wash them. Simply freeze them in their containers, and wash them just before use. To prevent foods such as berries from sticking together when frozen, flash freeze them first. Here's how: Separate them on a cookie sheet, freeze, remove, and while still frozen pack them together in airtight containers before replacing them in the freezer.
Instant beef stock can come from the freezer, too. When you cook a beef roast, save and refrigerate the pan juices. After the fat has hardened, remove and discard it. Pour the remaining juice into an ice cube tray; when the juice is frozen, wrap the cubes individually in foil and store in the freezer for later use. Save watermelon rinds from meals or picnics. Keep them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until you have enough to pickle. lf you have leftover tomatoes, freeze them for later use in stews and soups. Freezing makes them soft, but this won't affect their taste.
The warmth of a gas range pilot light makes an oven a perfect food dehydrator. Chop the food you want to dry, spread it on aluminum foil, and place it on the broiler rack for a day or two. This system, however, only works for foods that won't spoil before drying is complete. Uncooked souffles can be successfully frozen. Pour the batter into the souffle dish, then cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap before placing it on a level spot in the freezer. If using a freezer to oven dish, the souffle can be baked directly from the freezer. If using a china or porcelain souffle dish, remove it from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. In both cases, bake the souffle for twice as long as the recipe indicates.
If you have a gas stove with a pilot light, you can dry fresh parsley by placing it on a cookie sheet in your oven, where the slight heat from the pilot light will evaporate its moisture in a few days. When the parsley feels dry to the touch, put it in jars and store in a cool, dry place.
When you're drying herbs for their seeds dill or caraway, for examplehang small bunches in a warm, dry place and tie a paper bag over each bunch to catch the seeds.
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