Safety When Canning and Making Preserves

[southern girl]

After reading Stellabella's post on figs where she mentions fig preserves I thought I would ask about preserves and canning...I have never tried it as I have always been afraid I would poison myself (or friends) with botulism. How hard is it to do? What are the most important things to remember so I don't make anyone ill? Any tips for making what seems complicated (to me ) easier? And what would be the best thing to try first (the one with the best chance of success). Thanks in advance for the help!

Edit to correct spelling

[Sandra Levine]

It's the low-acid items that are the potential trouble makers. It you stick to making fruit james, jellies and preserves, you needn't worry. It you make very small quantities that you can keep in the refrigerator, you don't even have to worry about processing those properly, although it is not hard to do.

You hear a lot about pectin, in reference to preserving. Pectin is the substance that causes jelling. Certain fruits are high in pectin, others are low. Underripe fruit has more pectin than ripe fruit, as do the skins.

Apples, grapes, cranberries, currants and quinces have high pectin; apricots, blueberries, peaches, strawberries have low pectin. Nevertheless, strawberries jam is easy to make. Even the low-pectin fruits can be made to jell with enough cooking and boiling down of the juice, if necessary.

In general, the easiest type of preserve to make is jam. Before starting, bring a big, deep pot of water to the boil. Put the canning jars in the boiling water and keep them boiling for about 15 minutes to sterilize them.

To do it with the greatest degree of safety, use jars that come with a two-part lid, made by Mason or Ball. The actual lid is a flat metal disc with a rubber seal that presses against the glass jar. These are used once and discarded. The lids are secured by a screw-on metal band, once the jars are filled and the lids are placed on top.

You want to use somewhat less sugar (by volume) than quantity of fruit, say, about 3/4 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit. Use only perfect fruit, and cut it before cooking into appropriate sized pieces. Peel, if necessary, before proceeding. Combine the fruit and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan much taller than you think you need. Cook, stirrring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat to prevent the mixture from threatening to boil over. You will see why it is important to use a large enough and deep enough pan. The mixture will begin to thicken. To test to see if it has actually jelled (it can take from 15 - 40 minutes, depending on the amount of pectin in the fruit) dip a metal spoon into the jam, hold it tipped so the jam runs off the side and observe the drops. At first they are merely syrupy. At one point, two drops will form at the same time and drop together. (This is a thin jell.) Wait a little longer and the drops will form a sheet, for a thicker jelly. You can further test by letting a few drops drip into a plate and observing the thickness as the drops cool.

When you have your jam, remove the jars from the boiling water, drain and fill, using a wide-mouth funnel. Dip the jar lids into the boiling water and seal the bottles. Leave about 1/2 inch at the top. Put the sealed and filled jam jars back into the boiling water and cook further for about 15 minutes. This is called a water-bath process. (If you are making just one or two jars that you will keep in the refrigerator, this step is unnecessary, although sterlizling the jars is always a good idea, in my opinion.)

As the jars cool, if you have used a two part canning lid (Ball or Mason), there will be a loud pop, as a partial vacuum is formed and the lid becomes slightly concave. his is your assurance that you have achieved a good seal. If it doesn't happen, just store the jar in the fridge.

The above is the proper way to do it, but many people, including me, will just re-use whatever jar is handy and hope for the best, figuring that the acid and sugar are adequate preservatives.

Commerical pectin is available and people use it, but it requires more sugar and to me, the point of homemade jam is the intensity of the flavor that you simply do not get in a commercial product. I've never used pectin. If I find some especially delicious fruit, I very often make a jar or two of jam or jelly with it.

If you really are interested in canning and preserving, the basic book on the topic is the Ball Blue Book. Fine Preserving, by Catherine Plagemann with annotations by M.F.K. Fisher has some very good recipes, but I don't know if it is still in print. It does not go into the basics the wall the Ball Blue Book does. The Joy of Cooking also has detailed basic instructions.

If you plan to can non-acid foods, like mushrooms, or vegetables, theprocess is far more complicated and requires a pressure cooker for processing.

[Sandra Levine]

SG, have you tried it, yet?

[Suvir Saran]

It's the low-acid items that are the potential trouble makers.  It you stick to making fruit james, jellies and preserves, you needn't worry.  It you make very small quantities that you can keep in the refrigerator, you don't even have to worry about processing those properly, although it is not hard to do. 

You hear a lot about pectin, in reference to preserving.  Pectin is the substance that causes jelling.  Certain fruits are high in pectin, others are low.  Underripe fruit has more pectin than ripe fruit, as do the skins. 

Apples, grapes, cranberries, currants and quinces have high pectin;  apricots, blueberries, peaches, strawberries have low pectin.  Nevertheless, strawberries jam is easy to make.  Even the low-pectin fruits can be made to jell with enough cooking and boiling down of the juice, if necessary.

In general, the easiest type of preserve to make is jam. Before starting,  bring a big, deep pot of water to the boil.  Put the canning jars in the boiling water and keep them boiling for about 15 minutes to sterilize them.

To do it with the greatest degree of safety, use jars that come with a two-part lid, made by Mason or Ball.  The actual lid is a flat metal disc with a rubber seal that presses against the glass jar.  These are used once and discarded.  The lids are secured by a screw-on metal band, once the jars are filled and the lids are placed on top.

You want to use somewhat less sugar (by volume) than quantity of fruit, say, about 3/4 cup of sugar for every cup of fruit. Use only perfect fruit, and cut it before cooking into appropriate sized pieces.  Peel, if necessary, before proceeding.  Combine the fruit and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan much taller than you think you need.  Cook, stirrring until the sugar is dissolved.  Reduce the heat to prevent the mixture from threatening to boil over.  You will see why it is important to use a large enough and deep enough pan.  The mixture will begin to thicken.  To test to see if it has actually jelled (it can take from 15 - 40 minutes, depending on the amount of pectin in the fruit) dip a metal spoon into the jam, hold it tipped so the jam runs off the side and observe the drops.  At first they are merely syrupy.  At one point, two drops will form at the same time and drop together.  (This is a thin jell.)  Wait a little longer and the drops will form a sheet, for a thicker jelly.  You can further test by letting a few drops drip into a plate and observing the thickness as the drops cool. 

When you have your jam, remove the jars from the boiling water, drain and fill, using a wide-mouth funnel.  Dip the jar lids into the boiling water and seal the bottles.  Leave about 1/2 inch at the top.  Put the sealed and filled jam jars back into the boiling water and cook further for about 15 minutes.  This is called a water-bath process.  (If you are making just one or two jars that you will keep in the refrigerator, this step is unnecessary, although sterlizling the jars is always a good idea, in my opinion.)

As the jars cool, if you have used a two part canning lid (Ball or Mason), there will be a loud pop, as a partial vacuum is formed and the lid becomes slightly concave.  his is your assurance that you have achieved a good seal.  If it doesn't happen, just store the jar in the fridge. 

The above is the proper way to do it, but many people, including me, will just re-use whatever jar is handy and hope for the best, figuring that the acid and sugar are adequate preservatives.

Commerical pectin is available and people use it, but it requires more sugar and to me, the point of homemade jam is the intensity of the flavor that you simply do not get in a commercial product.  I've never used pectin.  If I find some especially delicious fruit, I very often make a jar or two of jam or jelly with it.

If you really are interested in canning and preserving, the basic book on the topic is the Ball Blue Book.  Fine Preserving, by Catherine Plagemann with annotations by M.F.K. Fisher has some very good recipes, but I don't know if it is still in print.  It does not go into the basics the wall the Ball Blue Book does.  The Joy of Cooking also has detailed basic instructions.

If you plan to can non-acid foods, like mushrooms, or vegetables, theprocess is far more complicated and requires a pressure cooker for processing.

Sandra, I had missed this great post by you.

Thanks! I process jams, jellies and preserves all the time. And your explanation has demystified this procedure.

I am glad the post was revived. It certainly will be helpful to many as we head into spring.

[elyse]

I have a question about pectin. I bought some a while ago to use for something or other, used a bit, and it didn't work out. Now I have an open package and want to use it up, but don't know for the life of me what to do with it. For some reason, the instructions make my head spin, and I usually don't have that problem. They're really quite confusing. So, any help by the teaspoonful? Rules of thumb?

[Sandra Levine]

I have never used pectin, even when making jam from supposedly low-pectin fruits. The recipes I've seen that call for it use far more sugar than the non-pectin methods. The reason I like to make my own jam is that I can achieve an intensity of fruit flavor not usually found in commercial products. I like jam that tastes strongly of the fruit with which it is made, not of the sugar. Pectin jams are sweeter and blander than I prefer. If you really want to use up the pectin you have, follow a recipe that calls for it and don't worry about the theory. Maybe someone else can help you with a real answer, but I can't.

[Suvir Saran]

Unfortunately, I too have Sandras problem.

I do have a package of Pectin. But never mustered enough desire or courage to use it.

[Suzanne F]

No pectin. Fruit and sugar. And a good thermometer if you have trouble figuring out when it will jell enough. (Spoon a little onto a saucer and see how fast it runs when you tilt the saucer; if it gloms up and only runs a little, it's ready.) Otherwise, cook it to about 220ºF.

Fill as Sandra suggests; process if you want to keep them in the cupboard. I always keep my jars in the fridge anyway, so I don't bother with processing the filled jars. And I've never had my jams go bad (except for the one time I made it in the microwave; never again).

The only time I tried using pectin was in some green tomato-lemongrass conserve. Didn't work. But it makes a great fool, swirled into whipped cream. Now I have a package of powdered pectin, which fortunately says on the box that it keeps indefinitely.

[maggiethecat]

Lou and I had the opportunity to taste Suvir's celestial apricot jam last night at Awbrig and Allison's. Awesome.

A rich, deep golden brown, speckled with nuts (or seeds?) not sure. And some haunting seasonings that we can't immediately place.

C'mon, Suvir the Magician. Help us out!

[Suvir Saran]

Lou and I had the opportunity to taste Suvir's celestial apricot jam last night at Awbrig and Allison's. Awesome.

A rich, deep golden brown, speckled with nuts (or seeds?) not sure.  And some haunting seasonings that we can't immediately place.

C'mon, Suvir the Magician.  Help us out!

Thanks Maggie! If I had more, I would send you some in the mail. This jam is the most popular one after the meyer lemon marmalade. But there are some that crave it and request many bottles.

It is made with these very tiny apricots that come to the Union Square farmers market for a very short period. I use them and some sugar, and cook a long time. The jam then becomes nice and thick. It has apricot seeds in it. No nuts. In India we used bitter almonds.

And the spices are red chile (very little) and some black pepper. That is all.

If I am around this spring, I shall make a larger batch (not that I do not make a huge one already) and send some to you and some others that have wanted more.

You are as usual very kind maggie.

[Mottmott]

Suvir has mentioned bitter almonds. Is there a way to get them in this country? I've little energy anymore for smashing through to the apricot pits. (Or perhaps someone has a trick to extricate them.)

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir has mentioned bitter almonds.  Is there a way to get them in this country?  I've little energy anymore for smashing through to the apricot pits.  (Or perhaps someone has a trick to extricate them.)

I know David Karp had done a story in LA Times about them. Maybe if you search their online archives you can find them.

There are sources for them. I am not aware what they are.

I bake the seeds till they are nice and dry. And then I crack them in my mortar and pestle one at a time. Just a few seeds can go a long way. It is worth the effort.

[sparrowgrass]

The Ball Blue book is a great resource for the beginning canner. Another source of good info is the University Extension Service, probably located in your county seat.

Do follow the directions to the letter, don't take any shortcuts or add extra ingredients. Acidity, sugar content and heat levels are all critical elements, and messing around can hurt ya!!

The preceding message was brought to you by University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, the ultimate authority on most every damn thing, including canning. (We also know most everything about gardening, livestock, child rearing, small business development, agricultural engineering, septic tanks, community development . . . . )

[vega]

Jars sold usually have good instructions as well as master canners in your area.

Make sure the lip of the jar is clean with no spillage.

Another tip I learned the hard way is only the Ball grey rubber lids are used without deterioration.

if your recipe has oil in it, i.e. marinara or salsa etc.

I have to hunt for these lids west of the Mississippi. I have found only one store in the nearby

area that sells them.

[Huevos del Toro]

Has anyone had direct experience with steamer/juicers such as these? I recall my mother using one (back in the 50’s) and what beautiful, almost jewel-like juice it produced. My question is, what’s the down side with a steam juicer? Is it only good for juicing for jellies but not useful for making jams or preserves? How about juicing grapes for winemaking? Any hands-on information would help me make a decision to buy (or not!).

[Kim D]

I picked up a flat of strawberries for $3 because I just couldn't pass up such a deal. Then I had to figure out what to do with all those strawberries.

I found this thread when I searched on making strawberry preserves. I am on my way out the door to try and find the Ball Blue Book at one of the used book stores. Thank you Sandra Levine for a great post!

I made two batches of strawberry preserves (using a recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook), one batch of strawberry custard ice cream, one batch of strawberry sorbet and I still have strawberries!

Lucky for me, I left some of the strawberries out on the countertop in a covered beanpot and they got moldy. I was happy to have an excuse to throw them away. I still have a good quart of strawberries covered in the fridge and need to do something with them before they mold. Or maybe not.

I'm thinking about making Strawberry Preserves with Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar.

One way or another, that will be the end of the strawberries!

- kim

[andiesenji]

You can always make strawberry syrup, you can freeze it and use it later for flavoring, ices, even with ice cream and seltzer water for a great soda.

I make a sort of thin cream Anglaise, crush the strawberries and fold into the mixture and freeze in an ice cream freezer. It has a different texture and mouth feel than sorbet or ice cream, rather rich. I also may add toasted and salted pecans as I like the flavor combination.

[andiesenji]

I wasn't around when the previous post was put up. I have mentioned several times how much I enjoy my steam juicer. In fact I have a bunch of cranberries that need to be processed pretty soon. Perhaps a task for tomorrow.