Photos courtesy of Jarden Home Brands
YES,YOU CAN!
Tips for preserving the harvest so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long
P
erhaps you remember your grandmother
standing over a giant pot of boiling water as
she canned tomatoes or peaches. Maybe you
have no idea what’s involved with canning
but you are pretty sure it’s complicated.
With the fall harvest coming in, now
is the perfect time to try canning and other
proven food preservation techniques. We asked area experts
and residents to share their advice, including easy ways to start.
WHY CAN?
For Karin Roberts of St. Charles, her inspiration for canning
came from her mother, who canned vegetables grown in the yard
of her childhood home, as well as her personal interest in the
environment. “I just wanted to have some healthier, more organic
choices,” she explains.
Roberts found a canning set in a garage sale for $10 and
decided to give canning a try five years ago. She first planted a
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salsa garden with tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic, which has
since expanded to include other favorites such as herbs, zucchini
and cucumbers, grown from seeds she has collected from her own
garden. She now makes tomato sauce, pickles, and hot pepper
jelly, some of which is prepared for freezer storage.
Roberts also learned more about canning at Cantigny Park as
part of its “Grow It Forward” initiative each spring, in which they
donate plants to participants to grow, who in turn, donate the
produce to those in need. Roberts shares her excess produce with
the Northern Illinois Food Bank and neighbors.
Roberts is part of a growing trend. “There has been
tremendous interest in food preservation in the last five years
and it just keeps climbing,” says Drusilla Banks, nutrition
and wellness educator for University of Illinois Extension
in Bourbonnais. “People who grow their own food want
to save some of it. Preserving is the next natural step.”
Banks conducts demonstration classes in the suburbs
of such home food preservation techniques as canning,
by Sara Pearsaul Vice
freezing, drying and fermentation.
WHERE TO START?
makes it easy to peel the skins. She then packs them in jars,
adds salt and cooks them according to canning procedures,
which makes the jars shelf-stable for a year.
“Freezing is the simplest and least complicated method,” Banks
says. Vegetables should be blanched before freezing, but fruits
HOW DOES CANNING WORK?
do not need to be pre-cooked and can be frozen with or without
The two types of canning are hot water bath and pressure
sugar, she explains. She prefers freezer jams and jellies, which do
canning, which are used for cooking different types of foods
require cooking, for the fresh taste. The jams can last for several
at high temperatures for specific periods of time. Acidic foods
months after thawing by keeping them refrigerated. But she also
such as tomatoes, pickles and fruits can be canned with the water
encourages home cooks to try
canning. “It’s not rocket science,”
“People who grow their own food want to save
Banks says, “There are just a few
steps to follow and you can be
some of it. Preserving is the next natural step.”
self-taught.”
However, she cautions that
quack advice about canning abounds online, like the myth
bath method, while non-acidic foods such as meats and beans,
that you can use your oven or dishwasher to safely can foods.
require the higher temperatures of pressure canning.
“Get a reliable recipe and follow instructions that are up to date,”
“It is all about the pH of the produce, when determining
she says. “Always get the latest, research-based information.”
the proper method of preservation,” states Laura Barr, nutrition
For Mary Krystinak of West Chicago, owner of Mary’s
and wellness educator with University of Illinois Extension in Kane
Wholesome Living, who conducts classes on food preservation,
County. “Fruits tend to be more acidic than vegetables, with an
“The easiest way to start is with a tomato class.” Although the
established pH of 4.6 or lower. This allows a water bath choice
abundance of rain this summer has lessened crop yields, those
for preserving them. Tomatoes have a borderline pH and need
who grow tomatoes tend to grow too many. Krystinak explains
added acid for the same method. This practice decreases incidence
that tomatoes should be plunged in boiling water first, which
of potential foodborne illness.”
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YES, YOU CAN!
Canning Classes, Recipes and Resources
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED? CANNING 101,
The Resiliency Institute,
McDonald Farm, Naperville
Suburban Chicago
Permaculture Guild,
Marie Herman, instructor
Saturday, September 12,
9 a.m. to noon
$35 registration at
www.theresiliencyinstitute.net
Photo courtesy of Mary’s Wholesome Living
CLASSES
PRESERVE THE TASTE OF SUMMER, University of Illinois Extension
Self-paced, eight session online class. $50 registration
at web.extension.illinois.edu/foodpreservation
CANNING PEACHES,
Mary’s Wholesome Living
Tuesday, September 1,
6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.,
Heritage Prairie Farm, Elburn
Tuesday, September 15,
6:30 to 9:00 p.m., Whole Foods,
Naperville
$30 registration at www.maryswholesomeliving.com
To make canning more fun,
RECIPES AND RESOURCES
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Complete Guide
to Home Canning is available for free download at the National
Center for Home Food Preservation, where you’ll find recipes and
preservation tips at nchfp.uga.edu.
The 37th edition of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving offers
200 pages of instructions and recipes. You’ll also find free recipes
at freshpreserving.com/recipes, including Ball’s most popular
recipe for strawberry jam.
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Moore recommends having
a canning party, and then
sharing the bounty with
friends and family.
Moore suggests using the dishwasher to wash and
preheat jars and then allowing the hot water bath
to sterilize the jars for safety.
If you want to take the guesswork out of
canning, Jarden just introduced the Ball electric
water bath canner and multi-cooker, with a 21-quart capacity,
and also offers a high-tech automatic home canning system, both
of which save your stovetop for other purposes. Pressure canners
come in stovetop and electric versions from manufacturers such
as Presto and Mirro.
To make canning more fun, Moore recommends inviting
friends over and having a canning party. After all, the great thing
about preserving the harvest is the ability to share the bounty
with friends and family all year long. n
University of Illinois Extension offers instructions for canning,
pickling, preserving and fermenting at web.extension.illinois.edu/
foodpreservation.
U of I Extension recommends that vinegar, lemon juice or
citric acid be added to tomato recipes when processing in a hot
water bath. If not, a pressure canning method — which brings
the temperature to 240 degrees —should be used to keep the final
product safe. This practice, based on University research, may
be counter to some older recipes or past traditions. But better
safe than sorry — improperly prepared home-canned goods can
be a source of botulism, with an average incidence of 10 to 30
outbreaks annually.
To keep canned food safe, jars made specifically
for canning are a must. “Don’t reuse mayo jars,”
Krystinak advises. “You need to have real canning
jars made of tempered glass and new lids each
time you use them.”
The canning jars themselves can be used
for generations. The granddaddy of them all
is the Ball® jar, manufactured by Jarden Home
Brands. Janine Moore, senior brand manager
of Fresh Preserving for Jarden, recommends
its discovery kit for first-time canners. “It’s an
inexpensive way to get started and you can use
your existing pots,” she explains. The kit comes
with an illustrated guide, three jars and the
all-important jar lifter, which everyone agrees
is absolutely necessary to get those hot jars out
of the boiling water.
An important step is cleaning and warming
the jars before filling with hot jams or veggies.