Canning and Preserving For Dummies (2 page)

Introduction

You’re not alone if you’ve thought about canning and preserving your own food but haven’t tried it because you’re afraid it’s too involved. Well, it’s time to set aside your hesitation. Today’s methods and procedures for home-canning, freezing, and drying food are simple and easy. Many of the techniques may be similar to those your grandmother used, but you’ll find they’ve been perfected. In this book, you get all the information you need to can and preserve food safely.

About This Book

Welcome to the wonderful world of canning and preserving. This book presents four preserving methods — water-bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, and drying — in an easy-to-understand format and walks you step by step through each technique. You don’t need any previous canning or preserving experience in order to start, or continue, your endeavor to become a first-class food preserver. Within these pages, you’ll find information like the following:

What to look for to make sure you’re preserving the best, most fresh fruits and veggies.

A list of canning supplies and equipment (complete with illustrations), as well as instructions on how to ensure your canning equipment is in good working order.

What techniques help you preserve the best flavor in your foods and how to avoid spoilage and recognize it if it does occur.

Illustrations of different techniques and equipment along with tips for making your canning and preserving journey fun and rewarding.

A whole host of favorite recipes for your enjoyment.

Consider this book your guide to discovering simple ways to preserve all the foods your family loves, without any mystery or confusion along the way.

Conventions Used in This Book

The recipes in this book include preparation times, cooking times, processing times, and the yield you should expect from your efforts. Here are some details that apply to all of the recipes but aren’t repeated each time:

Use a vinegar with 5 percent acidity.

Use pure salt with no additives. (Canning or pickling salt is best.)

Cook all food in heavy-bottomed pots and pans.

Use nonreactive equipment and utensils (items made from glass, stainless steel, or enamel-coated steel or iron).

Use glass jars and two-piece caps approved for home-canning.

Always use new lids for canning.

Start counting your water-bath processing time when the water reaches a full, rolling boil.

Begin counting your pressure-canner processing time after releasing air in the canner and achieving the required pressure.

Also, all temperatures are Fahrenheit. All recipes and processing times are developed for altitudes at sea level to 1,000 feet above sea level. (For higher altitudes, refer to the altitude adjustment charts for water-bath canning in Chapter 4 and for pressure canning in Chapter 9.)

Foolish Assumptions

In writing this book, we made some assumptions about you:

You know your way around a kitchen. You’re familiar with basic cooking techniques and food preparation methods.

You’ve never canned or preserved food before or have relatively little experience with food preservation methods and want basic, easy-to-understand-and-follow instructions.

If you have canned and preserved food before, it was long enough ago that you want to find out more about the newer, safer, and easier techniques that are recommended today.

Perhaps most importantly, you want to stock your kitchen with more natural, healthier, homemade alternatives to standard supermarket fare.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is organized into parts. The first part gives you basic information about canning and preserving, filling you in on terminology, equipment, and food safety. The next four parts show you the techniques for different preserving methods. Each of these parts includes tried-and-true, tested recipes and preserving tips that offer you a lot of practice for each technique. Motivation for trying each technique won’t be a problem.

Part I: Getting Started

With so many misconceptions about canning and preserving, this book begins with an explanation of each food preservation method and dispels any fears you may have about each technique. This part is a good starting point if you’re new to canning and preserving, or if you’ve been away from any of these techniques for a while. You’ll find information on specialty equipment and utensils for each method. Don’t overlook the chapter on food safety. It’s important to know what dangers may occur — and how to recognize them — if you skip any processing step, make adjustments to your recipe, or change a processing method and time.

Part II: Water-bath Canning

If you like sweet spreads, relishes, or pickled food, start with this part. Water-bath canning is the most popular food-preserving method and the easier of the two approved canning methods. This part leads you step by step through the process while explaining what foods are suitable for this preserving method. You can try dozens of recipes, from jam and jelly to chutney and relish.

Part III: Pressure Canning

Pressure canning is the approved method for processing food that’s naturally low in acid, like vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood. These foods contain more heat-resistant and hard-to-destroy bacteria than food that’s safely water-bath processed. This part carefully describes the procedure and steps for canning these foods, whether it’s vegetables or meals of convenience.

Part IV: Freezing

In this part, you discover that your freezer is more than a place for leftovers and ice cream. Utilize this cold area for planning and preparing your meals with a minimum of time and effort. After reading this part, you’ll understand why the proper freezer containers and packaging methods, combined with correct thawing practices, prevent damage to your food while preserving its quality, flavor, and color.

Part V: Drying and Storing

Drying, which preserves food by removing moisture, is the oldest and slowest method for preserving food, and this part explains how to dry a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs for future enjoyment. And you won’t want to miss the instructions for making fruit leathers. Who doesn’t like to unroll the dried sheets of puréed fruit? This is one time your kids can play with their food and get away with it.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

This part includes short chapters highlighting canning problems that you may encounter and fun places to shop online or by catalog to satisfy your canning and preserving needs.

Appendix

Near the back of the book, you find a metric equivalent chart that’s a handy reference guide for converting any measurements.

Icons Used in This Book

The following four icons appear throughout this book and point out specific points or remind you of items you’ll want to be sure not to miss.

This icon directs you to tips or shortcuts we’ve picked up over the years. The information here makes your work easier and more hassle free.

This icon means, “Okay, you’ve heard this stuff before, but the information is important and bears repeating.”

When you see this icon, pay special attention. The information tells you about a potential problem and how to overcome or avoid it.

These bits of technical information are interesting, but you can skip them if you want to. Of course, the info contained in these paragraphs makes you seem like you’ve been canning and preserving since you’ve been walking.

Where to Go from Here

Although you can start in any portion of this book, don’t skip Chapter 3. It describes safe processing methods and tells you how to identify spoiled food. If you have any doubts about canning and preserving safety, this chapter puts your fears at ease.

If you want to know about a particular food-preservation method, go to the part devoted to that method. Each one begins with a chapter that explains the technique. Review these initial chapters before selecting a recipe to make sure you have a decent idea what that particular food preservation method requires. If still can’t decide where to start, review the recipes and start with one that sounds good to you! Then just back-track to the general techniques chapter as you need to. If you’d like to make the Dilly Beans recipe in Chapter 8, for example, check out Chapter 4 for the basics on water-bath canning. If you want to dry strawberries (you find the recipe in Chapter 17), check out Chapter 16 for general drying information.

And if you want to jump right in? Go the Recipes at a Glance page to find a recipe that sparks your interest.