With bountiful harvests coming from local gardens and farms, local produce is readily available. Whether you grow your own food in the backyard or buy fresh local produce from CSAs or farm stands, it seems like the availability of local fresh fruits and vegetables passes much too quickly. Fortunately, canning allows you to preserve delicious local fruits and vegetables so you can have them all year round.
Jolynn Elliott, of Onalaska, helps people safely can their fresh fruits and vegetables to last all year. Elliott teaches canning classes in local homes, helping people realize just how easy and safe it can be.
“I got into it because I wanted to know what was in the foods I eat,” Elliott said. “So many foods are full of preservatives and junk.”
That’s not the case with home-canned foods. Depending on the recipe you use, home-canned fruits and vegetables typically contain no preservatives, although they may contain sugar, vinegar or other ingredients. Instead, home-canning uses heat to remove any dangerous bacteria, and then allows you to vacuum seal the food while it’s still sterile.
For Elliott, it was the lure of eating delicious homemade salsa throughout the year that got her interested in canning.
“I made a yummy salsa and wondered how I could have it all year around,” she said.
Her ex-boyfriend’s sister showed her how to can, and Elliott was hooked.
“It’s so easy and fun,” she said.
Now Elliott and a friend bring that fun to others, teaching them to can their own fruits and vegetables. Elliott uses the water bath canning method, which requires very little special equipment. All you need is two large pots, tongs, mason jars with new lids and rings, and fruits and vegetables. You also need recipes specifically written for canning.
Elliott explained why she prefers water bath canning to pressure canning. “It’s more foolproof,” she said. “It’s easier for beginners.”
According to Elliott, the trick to safe water bath canning is making sure everything is clean and sterilized. Elliott recommends washing mason jars, lids and rings with dish soap and hot water, and then boiling them in a large pot for at least 20 minutes. While the jars sterilize in the hot water, Elliott prepares her fruits and vegetables. Then, she pulls the sterilized jars from the boiling water just as she’s ready to fill them with her fruits or veggies. She adds these items and then fills the jar with liquid, pulls a lid from the boiling water, and seals the jar.
“Make sure that the fruits and vegetables are covered completely with the liquid,” Elliott said. “Otherwise, bacteria can grow.”
Once the jars are tightly sealed, put them in a pot of boiling water so the water covers the jar tops by 2 to 3 inches. Then, process the jars according to the recipe, which typically means boiling them for about 30 minutes. When you remove the jars from the hot water after the appropriate amount of processing time, the jar lids pop as they vacuum seal.
“That’s how you can tell they’ve sealed safely,” Elliott said. “You hear pop, pop, pop after you remove the jars from the boiling water.”
If the jars don’t pop, all is not lost. While you cannot preserve the fruits and vegetables they contain, you can put them in the refrigerator and eat them for the next two or three days.
Once canned, the foods will last for up to two years, but the quality of the food may begin to decline after about a year. Store the canned foods in a cool, dark, dry place with a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees. Date the jars so you know when you canned them.
Canning Safety Tips:
• Test jar seals after cooling canned jars for 12 to 24 hours. Press the middle of the lid with a finger. If the lid springs back, the jar is not sealed.
• Inspect jars for cracks or chips before using them, because these things may keep them from sealing properly during the canning process.
• Can low-acid foods such as green beans, meats, or corn using a pressure canner, which is the only safe method for removing potential botulin toxin in low-acid foods. Elliott recommends adding acids, such as vinegar or lemon juice, to low-acid foods to make them safer for water bath canning.
• Do not store canned foods above 95 degrees. Do not store them near hot pipes.
• Discard jars of canned food with swelled lids and always examine lids for tight vacuum before consuming canned foods.
• Visually examine the jar for rising air bubbles or unnatural colors, which may be signs of bacteria.
• Sniff open jars for unnatural odors. If it smells off, discard it.
• Low-acid foods are more likely to grow botulin toxin than high-acid foods. Botulin toxin is a potentially deadly bacteria that can contaminate via skin, respiration or ingestion. If you suspect botulin toxin, do not open the jar. Put on rubber gloves and boil the jar in a large stockpot with 2 to 3 inches of water over the top of the jar to disinfect it. Then, throw away the food, container and all.
• Wear rubber gloves and use household bleach to clean up any areas where you suspect botulin toxin has contacted any surfaces or utensils with a 6 percent bleach solution. Apply the bleach solution and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then, wipe up any treated spills with paper towels before spraying with bleach solution again. Allow it to sit for another 30 minutes. Dispose all items used in cleanup, including the gloves, in a sealed plastic bag. Then, resanitize and wash all surfaces again.
• For more information on canning safety, visit http://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/home_canning.html and download “The Complete USDA Guide to Home Canning.”
