The art of canning: Maybe our grandmothers were on to something

By Andrea Weigl

McClatchy Newspapers

Canning foods is something our mothers and grandmothers did. Not us.

But this homemade art is making a comeback. Ball Corp., the maker of those ubiquitous Mason jars and other canning equipment, saw a 30 percent increase in retail sales last year, and sales continue to rise in 2009.

Ball hired a market research company to find out who is causing this upswing. The answer: men and women ages 35 to 50. Their traditional customer had been a rural woman who was older than 50.

Maybe it’s the recession. Maybe it’s the focus on eating local foods and eating in season: To do so in winter, you have to put up summer’s bounty. Whatever the reason, I’m here to tell you: It’s not as hard as you think.

I canned for the first time last year. I canned peach preserves, fig jam, whole figs and strawberry jam. Last weekend, I did dill pickles. It’s not a lot of work, but it does take time and patience. I consider it early Christmas shopping because I’m making presents for people.

One note: These are instructions for water bath canning, which can be used to make jams, jellies, pickles and preserves and to can tomatoes. For low-acid vegetables, such as green beans or vegetables that you are not pickling, you’ll need to use a pressure canner to prevent bacterial growth. Otherwise, you could make your family or friends sick. That’s no present.

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WHAT YOU NEED

“Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: 400 Delicious and Creative Recipes for Today,” edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine. This is the ultimate go-to guide for the canning beginner. It will answer all your questions. It is the book to which I defer on canning questions and techniques.

Jars with screw bands and lids. You can reuse the jars and screw bands but not the lids. Always check the jars to make sure they don’t have nicks or cracks. Check the screw bands for rust. Check the lids to make sure the rubber seal is not deformed.

A water-bath canner. It is a large, deep pot with a metal rack inside to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot and to prevent them from touching one another.

Canning utensils. Not necessary but helpful. A jar lifter is a large set of tongs coated with soft plastic that is used to lift the jars in and out of hot water. A canning funnel has a wider mouth to make filling the jars easier and less messy. A magnetic wand, a magnet on the end of a plastic stick, helps lift the lids out of the simmering water. Canning basics

Wash jars, lids and screw bands in warm, soapy water. Rinse. Set aside.

Place rack in the bottom of the canner. Place jars on top of rack. Fill canner with water until the jars are covered by about 1 inch. Bring water to a simmer.

Place lids in a small saucepan filled with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Keep lids hot until ready to use them.

Prepare recipe per instructions. Remove jars from canner. Fill jars, leaving either a ¼-inch or ½-inch head space, as the recipe dictates. Insert a small spatula or similar slender nonmetallic object into the jar two or three times to help release air bubbles. Wipe the jar’s rim with a damp, clean cloth or paper towel.

Center lid on top of jar. Place screwband on the jar. Twist screwband until fingertip-tight.

Place jars back into canner, place lid on canner and bring water to a full rolling boil over high heat. Let jars process for 15 minutes. Then turn heat off, remove lid and let jars stand in the water for 5 minutes. Then remove jars from canner. Let jars sit upright on a towel. Let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours.

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DILL SANDWICH SLICES

13-1/3 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers

3 tablespoons pickling spice

4 cups cider vinegar

4 cups water

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup pickling salt (see note)

5 bay leaves

5 cloves garlic

2-½ teaspoons mustard seeds

5 heads fresh dill (see note)

Wash five pint jars, lids and the screw bands in warm soapy water. Rinse and set aside.

Place rack in the bottom of the canner. Place jars on top of the rack. Fill canner with water until it covers the jars by about one inch. Bring water to a simmer.

Place lids in a small saucepan filled with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Keep lids hot until ready to use them.

Slice cucumbers and set aside.

Tie pickling spice in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag.

In a large stainless-steel saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, pickling salt and spice bag. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat and boil gently for 15 minutes, until spices have infused the liquid.

When pickling liquid is ready, remove jars from the canner. Place one bay leaf, one garlic clove, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and one head of dill in each jar. Pack cucumber slices into hot jars to within a generous ½ inch of the top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into the jars to cover cucumbers, leaving ½ inch head space. Insert small spatula or similar slender nonmetallic object into the jar two or three times to help release air bubbles. Wipe jar’s rim with a damp, clean cloth or paper towel.

Center lid on top of jar. Place screwband on the jar. Twist screwband until fingertip-tight.

Place jars back into canner, place lid on canner and bring water to a full rolling boil over high heat. Let jars process for 15 minutes. Then turn heat off, remove lid and let jars stand in the water for 5 minutes. Then remove jars from canner. Let jars sit upright on a towel. Let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours.

Note: Pickling salt can be purchased at any store, such as Wal-Mart, with a large canning section. If you do not have fresh dill, use 1 to 2 teaspoons dill seeds or 2 teaspoons dried dillweed instead of each head of fresh dill.

Source: “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: 400 Delicious and Creative Recipes for Today,” Edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine.

Food safety for canning, processing at home 

We are what we eat. But we also are where that food comes from.

“Food safety begins in the fields,” said Michele Schermann, a research fellow in agriculture safety and health research with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. She spoke at a recent workshop for home gardeners, especially those thinking of selling their harvest or making products from their vegetables to sell at farmers markets.

Yet for those who mean only to feed their families from their back-yard garden plots, the information was useful, even crucial. In the decade ending in 2006, 37 percent of food-borne outbreaks of illness were linked to produce, most of it grown in the United States. (The definition of an outbreak? As few as two people getting sick from a common original source of food.)

Yet the good news is that we’re eating more fruits and vegetables. Combine that with the popularity of farmers markets, as well as people’s efforts to bolster their incomes, and you have the foundation for both better nutrition and concerns about food safety.

A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE

There are lots of publications that walk you through the process, from field to farmstand. Among the best:

— “Food Safety Begins on the Farm: A Grower’s Guide,” available through the Cornell Good Agricultural Practices Program; e-mail at eab38@cornell.edu, or at www.gaps.cornell.edu.

— “A Food Safety Plan for You (FSP4U),” compiled by Michele Schermann and available through the University of Minnesota Agricultural Safety and Health Program; e-mail safety@umn.edu, or at safety.cfans.umn.edu

While lauding people’s efforts to grow and preserve local produce, Botzek-Linn urged newbies to read extensively. Better yet, partner with an experienced preserver, noting the call she once received from a woman who couldn’t get her canning jars to seal. After going through a list of possibilities, it emerged that the problem was with the hot water bath: The woman had placed all of her filled jars in her bathtub.