Tag: Food Preservation

Canning Summer Produce? Let Us Help?

Canning your own garden produce or farmer’s market purchase can be rewarding and a great way to save your food for later use.

Food preservation recommendations have been updated. If you are new to canning, are using recipes that are more than 5 years old, or haven’t canned in a few years, it is important to start out by getting educating yourself on preserving food safely to prevent foodborne illness.

For canning fruits, pickles, jams, jellies, and most tomato products, a water bath canner or large stock pot with a lid and rack is needed. Water bath canners have fitted lids and removable perforated or shaped wire racks. The canner must be deep enough that at least one or two inches of briskly boiling water covers the tops of jars during the entire water bath processing.

For canning plain vegetables, some tomato products, and all meats, a pressure canner is needed. Today’s pressure canners may have a weighted gauge or a dial gauge for indicating and regulating pressure. Dial gauges should be checked for accuracy once per year.

With either method of canning, always read the manufacturer’s instructions before canning any food. Be aware that some canners cannot be used on glass stovetops.

Learn more about water bath and pressure canning at www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation.

If you have questions about canning safely, need trusted canning recipes, or would like to have your pressure canning dial gauge checked for accuracy contact Jamie Rathbun, 785-524-4432 or jrathbun@ksu.edu.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Safe Kitchen Tips For Food Preservation

Cooking in the kitchen is a great learning experience for all ages. When it comes to food preservation, there are some potential hazards that can compromise personal safety. Here are some tips to remember:

  • Stoves are hot! Turn pans with long handles away from other burners and small helping hands.
  • Because of a lot of hot, wet food and liquid, keep potholders dry or use silicone rubber potholders for extra safety.
  • When removing lids from hot pans and canners, tilt the lid away from your face so steam doesn’t burn your skin.
  • Match the size of canner to the size of the stove burner to avoid hot burner exposure.
  • Knives are necessary for preparing food to preserve. Keep them sharp for safest use.
  • Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen in case of a fire.

By: Brenda Langdon

Don’t Forget to Vent When Pressure Canning!

When pressure canning, a critical step to achieving proper pressure inside the canner is allowing it to vent steam. What does this mean?

After placing jars inside the warm canner and attaching the canner lid, set the stove burner on high. Watch for steam to escape from the vent pipe. It should be a strong blast of steam that is visible in a funnel-shape. Let it continuously steam in this manner for 10 minutes. This allows the steam to build inside the canner and push the air out so that the canner will build pressure properly. After the 10 minutes, add the weight or counterweight to build pressure inside the canner.

Air trapped inside a pressure canner lowers the pressure achieved, but more importantly, it lowers the temperature obtained and will result in under-processed and unsafe canned food.

Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation and USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. Photo: USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

By: Ashley Svaty

Now Is The Time To Test Your Digital Gauge

If you preserve food using a dial gauge pressure canner, it is recommended to test the gauge for accuracy each year. Now is the best time to bring your canner lid into one of our offices to have it tested to accuracy by our Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Agent, Ashley Svaty, to help to ensure you have a safe home preserved product. If your dial gauge is not accurate, Ashley will help you adjust or replace your gauge to ensure you are safely processing. Overall, you don’t know how accurate your gauge is without having it tested. Testing is free. Just drop off your canner at any of our offices in Beloit, Lincoln, Mankato, Osborne, or Smith Center.  Test your dial gauges now, before canning season begins!

By: Ashley Svaty

Time To Get Ready For Food Preservation

Gardeners are planning what they want to plant this season, and they’re eager to plant early season crops. It’s also time to plan for how to preserve their bounty.

Canning supplies are refilling stores. But be a smart shopper and do your homework. There are many counterfeit products that can lead to problems in canning. All of the Ball® products are made in the U.S.A. so be sure to look for that designation on the packaging. The lids will have the Ball® logo and they are silver. If anything is “Made in China” and it looks like Ball® products, they are not legitimate.

Manufacturing of canning products is running 24/7 to get products restocked. Glass is the biggest concern in the supply chain to make jars. Lids are back to pre-pandemic stock numbers.

A new item coming out is a “throw back” to vintage jars. Ball® is making a rose-colored jar to celebrate that vintage color from the early 1900s. They are also coming out with some new storage containers.

If you have a dial gauge pressure canner, it is time to get it tested. Our Post Rock District offices can test the brands Presto, National, Maid of Honor and Magic Seal. We cannot test All American gauges. Call (785) 524-4432 to set up a time to get your gauge tested.

Learn more about food preservation at www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation/index.html

By: Ashley Svaty

Food Preservation workshop Coming to Beloit!

Join us on September 23rd at the First Christian Church in Beloit from 9-4 for a hands on Food Preservation workshop!

Participants will learn food preservation basics and will get hands on experience using a pressure canner and water bath canner. Karen Blakeslee, KSRE Rapid Response Center and Ashley Svaty, Post Rock District will facilitate the workshop. Cost is $30*, which will include lunch.

Each participant will leave with their canned items, materials, and door prizes! Please bring a box to the workshop to carry your canned items. Dial Gauge testing will be available on site.

Register at this link: https://kstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_2nwXe6QwHKxtItU?Q_CHL=preview&Q_SurveyVersionID=current

Or by calling (785) 524-4432 or visiting any Post Rock District office. Registration and payment is due September 20th.

*Financial scholarships available. 10 participants required to hold workshop.

By: Ashley Svaty

Why Blanching is Important Before Freezing Corn

 

Planning to freeze corn? Be sure to blanch it first! Blanching corn helps improve the texture and color during freezing.

Blanching is a process in which vegetables are lowered into boiling water for a specific time. The vegetables are subsequently dropped into ice water to quickly cool, then dried and placed in freezer containers. Freezing slows down enzyme processes, but it doesn’t stop them.

Blanching is recommended to assure your corn will taste as fresh as possible after they have been frozen.  That’s because blanching stops enzyme activity. Enzymes in produce help it ripen, and continue to do their work even after the produce has been picked. By stopping the enzyme action, blanching prevents the produce from becoming overripe. Blanching also helps retain color, flavor, texture and nutrients. Blanching also helps remove dirt and small organisms from the produce.

It is important to look up the specific amount of time corn needs to be blanched and follow those guidelines. If corn is under-blanched, it can actually speed up the enzyme processes. If corn is over-blanched, the nutritional value, flavor, color and texture can be negatively affected.

Learn more in Preserve it Fresh, Preserve it Safe: Preserving Sweet Corn.

By: Ashley Svaty