Home & Garden
Preserve food to enjoy! Julie Cascio, MatSu Cooperative Extension Service, UAF Vegetables are growing in our gardens with this lovely Alaska summer. Harvesting lettuce, chives, arugula, bok choi, herbs, radishes, and spinach has given us vegetables and flavors to summer meals. A friend shared her abundance of chard. There was so much it filled several pint jars to can for use this winter. Watching the blossoms of apple trees, currant and raspberry bushes (and more plants) turning into buds, anticipating catching salmon and halibut, harvesting other vegetables, and hunting for moose makes me plan to preserve food to have this fall and winter. Using the USDA advice is helpful for methods to preserve and store food. Options to preserve include to freeze, dehydrate, ferment, or can food. Having research-based recipes to preserve food in jars is important for making sure the food is safe to eat. Whether canning is a new process for you to try or one you are familiar with because you do it regularly, it is always check the method to be used and the steps needed for the type of food. Check your equipment to make sure it is in good condition. If using a pressure canner with a dial gauge, bring the dial gauge to the UAF Cooperative Extension Office (1509 S Georgeson Drive, Palmer) to be checked for accuracy. Call 90-745-3360 to find dates for this. Or take a class. Sign up for online classes at www.uaf.edu/ces/matsu July 21, 2022 Noon to 1 pm Food Preservation Canning Fish in Jars – This class will go through the steps in heat processing fish, which are low acid food, in jars, botulism prevention, use and care of a pressure canner, and types of pressure canners. July 28, 2022 Noon to 1 pm Making Jelly and More – This class will go through making jellied products: Jellies, Jams, Preserves, Marmalades, and Conserves, ingredients needed for jell to occur, extracting juice for jelly, options for making low or no sugar products, canning fruit, preserving using boiling water bath canner. August 4, 2022 Noon to 1 pm Food Preservation Canning Vegetables, Legumes, Meat and Poultry – Heat processing low acid produce in jars, botulism prevention, use and care of a pressure canner, methods of preparing the vegetables and legumes, meat, commercial and wild game, large and small, and poultry, stock and soup. Then, when you have preserved your food by canning in jars, consider putting entering in the Canning Department at the Alaska State Fair, Palmer. Exhibit entry is Friday, August 5 and Sat-
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urday, August 6 between 11 am and 7 pm in the Hoskins Building. Follow current USDA guidelines, label the product(s) correctly, in the required type of jars and lids for that product. www.alaskastatefair.org A boiling water bath is simply a large pot (you can use a stockpot) with a rack on the bottom. Canning jars filled with food and with special canning lids secured are completely immersed in boiling water for time specified in the canning recipe. After processing, as the jars cool, a vacuum seal is formed Gaskets in unused lids work well for at least 5 years from date of manufacture. The gasket compound in older unused lids may fail to seal on jars. Buy only the quantity of lids you will use in a year. www.nchfp. uga.edu Products that will be canned for less than ten minutes need to be sterilized. That is jelly and fruit juices. To sterilize jars for these products, submerge the empty jars in (covered by) boiling water for 10 minutes. When the process time for canning a food is 10 minutes or more (at 0-1,000 feet elevation), the jars will be sterilized DURING processing in the canner. Then the hot product is poured into the hot, sterilized jars. To check the seal, tap the lid with the bottom of a teaspoon. If it makes a dull sound, the lid is not sealed. If food is in contact with the underside of the lid, it will also cause a dull sound. If the jar is sealed correctly, it will make a ringing, high-pitched sound. A false seal is a weak seal that can happen for a number of reasons. False seals occur when the products are not canned correctly, when jar rims are not wiped clean before processing, or if jars are not filled correctly. After your jars are completely cooled, you should remove the rings then wipe down the jars to remove any stick residue. Remaining residue on the jars will begin to mold and that mold grows and can push on the edge of
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lid and break the seal. Store canned food in a clean, cool, dark, dry place. Don’t store jars above 85 F. Ideal temperatures are 50°F-70°F. Don’t store near hot pipes, a range, a furnace, in an uninsulated attic, or in direct sunlight. Under these conditions, food will lose quality in a few weeks or months and may spoil. Stored in a damp area could cause tin cans to rust. It would be a good idea to not stack jars too high directly on top of each other; one manufacturer recommends no more than two layers high. It would be best to provide support between the layers as a preventive measure against disturbing the seals on the lower jars. According to the USDA, canned goods will last indefinitely if they are kept in good condition. Though, that’s no guarantee that the food’s texture and taste will be the same as when you first bought it years past the expiration date.M Botulism in a jar is indicated when the container is leaking, bulging, or swollen; the container looks damaged, cracked, or abnormal; the container spurts liquid or foam when opened; or. the food is discolored, moldy, or smells bad. www.cdc.gov Notes: From the Tattler website states it utilizes an FDA and USDA approved, food grade product known as Polyoxymethylene Copolymer (POM) or Acetal Copolymer. The rubber rings (gaskets) are made from a food grade nitrile rubber and contain no latex. https://extension.psu.edu/canners-and-canning-methods-that-are-not-recommended Solar canning, oven canning, open kettle canning, microwave processing, and dishwashing processing are not safe canning methods. Steam Canners Steam canning guidelines have been updated (June 2015). The University of Wisconsin has published research which indicates that an Atmospheric Steam Canner may be safely used for canning naturally acid foods such as peaches, pears, and apples, or acidified-foods such as salsa or pickles, as long as specific criteria are met. Oven canning is not a recommend process. The glass jars are not designed to withstand the intense dry heat and may shatter in the oven. There is also the danger of breakage and burns while removing them from the oven. www/extension.psu.edu Oven Canning Oven Canning is extremely hazardous. The oven canning method involves placing jars in an oven and heating. In oven canning, product temperatures never exceed the boiling point because the jars are not covered. It is, therefore, not safe to use for low-acid products (e.g. meats, most vegetables) which
require temperatures higher than 212°F. Oven canning is not a recommend process. The glass jars are not designed to withstand the intense dry heat and may shatter in the oven. There is also the danger of breakage and burns while removing them from the oven. Also, and most importantly, the transfer of heat into the jars is much slower through air in an oven than in a water bath or a pressurized steam canner. The recipes that we recommend have been scientifically tested using a water bath or pressure canner and should be followed exactly as written. Otherwise there is a heightened risk of spoilage, or worse, survival of Clostridium botulinum spores, the source of deadly botulism poisoning. Open Kettle Canning The open-kettle method involves placing hot food in jars and sealing with no further heat treatment. This method is not recommended for home canning because the amount of heat applied may not be sufficient to destroy bacteria and the product may spoil quickly or cause illness when consumed. Microwave Processing Microwave oven cannot be used for home canning. Microwaved food reaches 212°F but heating is not uniform. There is also a danger of explosion of the jars within the microwave oven or as food is being removed from the oven. Micro-Dome Food Preserver Micro-Dome Food Preserver Recalled Washington, DC--The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in cooperation with Micro-Dome of San Ramon, CA, has warned consumers of certain safety hazards associated with the use of the “Micro-Dome Food Preserver” manufactured by Micro-Dome and sold and distributed to consumers after August 1987. The CPSC has also urged consumers to destroy all food that has been preserved using a Micro-Dome Food Preserver. Dishwasher Processing Processing canned foods during a dishwasher cycle can be dangerous. The temperature of the water during the cleaning and rinsing cycle is far below that required to kill harmful microorganisms. Thus the product will be under-processed and unsafe to eat. The botulism risk is greater for homecanned foods that have not been processed using safe canning guidelines. Boil all homecanned foods before serving. First, bring the food to a rapid boil. This brings out any telltale botulism odors. Some botulism bacteria produce gas you can smell; some don’t. If the product smells right, lower the heat and continue boiling the food. At altitudes below 1,000 feet, boil foods for 10 minutes. Add an additional minute of boiling time for each additional 1,000 feet of elevation.
