Home Food Preservation Appeals to Do-It-Yourselfers

Preserving food at home puts you in control. As your own food manufacturer, you determine the ingredients, quality and method of preservation you want to use. As every do-it-yourselfer knows, this leads to a sense of satisfaction and self-sufficiency.
However, along with the control and satisfaction comes responsibility. As a food manufacturer for your family, you are responsible for the safety and quality of the food you preserve.
Safety must be the foremost concern of every food manufacturer, and that includes home food preservers. When canning, safety is ensured by carefully following research-based recipes and instructions found in materials printed after 1989 by Extension services like University of Missouri, as well as United States Department of Agriculture. The Ball Blue Book is also a reliable source of tested recipes and information. The National Center for Home Food Preservation website (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html) is another excellent source of safe, reliable information on all types of home food preservation.
The quality of home-preserved food depends on taking care with each step in the process from selection of raw produce and other ingredients to storage of finished products.
Start with high quality fresh ingredients.
When possible, select fruit and vegetable varieties especially developed for the form of preservation you wish to use. This information may be available on seed packets, from staff at garden centers or through Extension offices and websites.
Begin with high quality fresh produce. Examine fruits and vegetables carefully for freshness and wholesomeness. While small spots may be trimmed with a knife, discard diseased or moldy food.
Process fruits and vegetables at their peak of quality, within 6 to 12 hours of harvest for most vegetables. Generally, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums should be ripened one or more days between harvest and canning or freezing. For longer storage, keep produce in a cool, shady place or refrigerate if possible.
Meat, poultry and fish should be chilled and canned or frozen without delay. Discard meat from sickly or diseased animals.
Process with care.
Foods prepared for home food preservation should be exposed to as little air as possible to keep quality and nutrient content high. Process them quickly once they are prepared. If prepared foods must wait for processing, keep them covered and refrigerated.
Light-colored fruits and vegetables darken easily. Prevent this by keeping peeled apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, and potatoes, as well as prepared mushrooms, cherries and white grapes in an ascorbic acid solution. Use 1 teaspoon ascorbic acid powder or six 500-milligram vitamin C tablets per gallon of water.
To freeze or dry vegetables, follow directions for blanching carefully to destroy naturally occurring enzymes that cause undesirable color, flavor and nutrient changes.
When canning, follow all directions to ensure safety and quality.

• Use the hot pack method and the proper amount of headspace. See sidebar articles for more details on both.

•  Process acid foods like fruits, pickles, jams and jellies in a boiling water bath, and low-acid foods like vegetables, meat, poultry and fish in a pressure canner for the specified time.

•  Keep pressure or boiling constant by closely regulating the heat source. Gently remove canner from heat at end of processing time.

•  For boiling water canning, immediately remove jars from canner to a cooling rack away from drafts.

•  For pressure canner, allow pressure to return to zero on its own to prevent loss of liquid from jars, sealing failures and food spoilage. Once the canner has depressurized naturally, remove jars from canner immediately and allow to cool.

When freezing, use moisture-vapor-proof containers and wraps to keep moisture in food, preventing freezer burn. Freeze food quickly without overloading freezer capacity—usually two to three pounds per cubic foot of freezer space in a 24-hour period.
Use a food dehydrator when drying food in our humid climate. Cut food into pieces of similar size and thickness for even drying. Follow manufacturer’s recommendations regarding settings and timing.
The final step is proper storage. Label all home preserved food with the name of the product and date before storing.
Keep dried foods packaged in glass jars, or other containers that seal tightly in a cool, dry location. Freezer storage is a good option for best keeping quality. Package foods in amounts that are likely to be used in one recipe since re-opening packages allows in air and moisture that reduce quality.
Frozen foods keep best if freezer is maintained at temperatures as close to 0ºF as possible. Length of storage time for optimum quality varies with product. Consult a freezer storage chart such as the one available through Kansas State University Extension at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/FNTR2/L805.PDF a copy of this storage chart is also available from any of the Quality for Keeps authors listed on page four.
Before storing home canned foods, remove jar rings and wash outside of jars with warm soapy water. For best color and nutrient retention, store jars in a cool, dark place. Avoid keeping in an unheated garage or other area where the temperature might drop below freezing.


Other May  2005 Articles:
Hot Packing Improves Canning
Canning and Freezing for One, Two or a Few
Strawberry Rhubarb Jelly