canning – Fruition

February 15, 2024Kathryn Farr

The Food Preserver’s Garden

One of the great things about food preservation is the freedom to choose both foods and methods that suit our lifestyle. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed pickling vegetables, especially cucumbers, but then they sit on the shelf because I’m not excited about eating them. Nor do I usually eat the jams, jellies, or relishes I make and can. This year, I am focusing on choosing vegetables that I am confident I can preserve in ways that will appeal to me during the winter months. In this post, I’ll share some tricks I’ve learned over the years to grow and preserve foods I like. The Resources section at the end of this post includes links to get thinking about your garden.

Some preserving methods I’ve used in the past include both boiling water bath and pressure canning, pickling, dehydrating, freezing, and fermenting. I know right away that I’ll skip fermenting this year. I know, I know—probiotics, gut health, etc. I’ll get with the program someday, but not someday this year. Pickling is a tad up in the air, too, but I know for sure I will freeze many vegetables, with some canning and dehydrating thrown in the mix.

Last year I planted herbs for the first time in many years, and I was glad to freeze them to spice up winter meals. I prefer freezing herbs because they taste fresher than dried herbs, although I do have some dill and sage hanging around in the kitchen. I tried freezing herbs in a silicon mold and then storing them in baggies. I found I preferred these because they were not as messy as the loose herbs, which stick to my fingers when I use them. Plus, herbs frozen in molds [or ice cube trays] can be pre-measured.

silicon mold — These herb flowers are very convenient to drop into soups and sauces. And they’re cute.

Although technically not a “preservation” method, I dug up and repotted basil and parsley plants, both of which did well in my kitchen window. Snipping fresh herbs for recipes and garnish feels very Martha-like. This year, I will plant basil, parsley, and probably oregano with the intention of repotting them to my windowsill.

potted parsley — This parsley plant has provided fresh flavor to many recipes over the winter.

I also like to freeze what I call “flavor packs”, usually for use in soups. I prepare one-pint portions of recipe ingredients, including the vegetables, and leave out anything that does not freeze well, such as potatoes, pasta, and beans. I add those along with any thickening sauce, roux, milk, or cream when making the actual soup. I grow vegetables to make flavor packs for soups such as:

Is My Old Pressure Canner Safe to Use?

So, you spot a used pressure canner at a thrift store. Given the average price of a new pressure canner [around $200.00], that $25.00 price tag looks pretty good, but is the canner safe to use? What should you look for before using an older pressure canner? Extension employee Leslie Swartz recently posed that question to the Master Food Preserver group. Leslie had been gifted with a used Presto pressure canner and asked the group to evaluate it for safety.

The Master Food Preserver group evaluated this Presto pressure canner.

First Things First: When do I use a Pressure Canner?

A boiling water bath canner is fine for processing high acid foods like jams and pickles because molds, yeast, and enzymes are destroyed at temperatures below 212°F [the boiling point]. However, botulism spores can survive a boiling water bath, creeping inside the sealed jars of foods. Pressure canners use—well—pressure to heat the inside of the canner to 240 degrees. Water inside the canner is transformed into steam, which replaces the air in the canner, forcing the air out of jars and preventing bacteria from coming in. [The Cooperative Extension offers hands-on classes in how to use a pressure canner. See the Extension’s Events schedule.]

The Parts

The first thing the group asked was to see the canner’s user manual. We found the model number stamped into the side of the body and found the user manual online. The diagram below is an excerpt from How to Use and Care for Your Presto® Pressure Canner. Considering the critical functions of the various parts during the canning process, the group checked each part to see that it was in usable and working condition.

First Impressions

One MFP suggested checking the bottom of the canner body to see if it was perfectly flat because a warped canner bottom will prevent the canner from heating evenly. Our canner did not rock on a flat surface; its bottom was flat. Read more Is My Old Pressure Canner Safe to Use?

April 7, 2023Flip

Contributing to Future Food Preservation

Within minutes to the end of a workday, my energy was waning when the phone rang and the caller ID said Denver, Colorado. The person asked for me by name and then shared some lovely news. She was so tickled by the idea of our Canning Jar Drive, she went online, ordered new jars, and had them delivered directly to the Extension Learning Farm! She has family in the North Country and they love participating in Extension programming. I was touched by her generosity and after chatting for a few minutes, I set the phone down.

Two minutes later, the phone rang again. It was an elderly gentleman in Chase Mills. He said he and his wife had canned and preserved food for decades and now they were ready to pass on the supplies to others to carry on the tradition. He planned to drop off the canning supplies when he was next in Canton for an appointment.

These calls happened within minutes and energized me! They are fabulous examples of the thoughtfulness and care in our community, and showcase creative ways to participate in this brand new activity at Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.

Just like these generous callers, you too can support the preservation programming offered by our Extension educators and Master Food Preserver volunteers by participating in the Canning Jar Drive. Our preservation workshops are hands-on and offered in a sliding scale format where participants can choose how much to pay $10-40. Your donations will offset the costs of programming while also helping your fellow community members gain the supplies and skills to preserve foods.

How to participate in 4 easy steps

1. New or used jars welcome. Collect canning jars from your storage areas or friends and family. If you’d like to support our programming but have no jars, simply purchase a case to donate. Make sure the jars are intended for canning, such as Ball, Kerr, Bernardin, etc. All sizes welcome.

2. Drive jars to the donation site, the Extension Learning Farm in Canton. Donations are accepted anytime Monday through Friday 9am-3pm throughout the month of April.

If you want to order online and have them delivered here as in our kind caller, send to Harvest Kitchen 2043B State Highway, NY 13617.

3. Deposit jars in the shed. The shed is on the right side of the driveway when pulling into the farm so it’s easy to move jars into this covered location. Read more Contributing to Future Food Preservation