While elderberries are a fruit, they are actually low acid which can be problematic for canning.
There are some guidelines and instructions to make elderberry jam or jelly safely at www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation/doc/july-august-presnews2021.pdf.
Do not use low or no-sugar pectin as sugar is critical for safety. Do not replace any sugar with honey.
Freezing is always a safe option for preserving elderberries.
As gardens are getting planted, so are plans to preserve the harvest to enjoy in later months. To safely preserve food, education is key to know the best method and recommendations. The North Central Food Safety Extension Network is working to provide educational resources for a unified message. Here are some resources for your use.
Jar It Right! – Best practices for canning with Mason-type jars. Be sure jars are clean and free of nicks or cracks. Wash jars before use. Warm jars before filling with prepared food. Sterilizing jars is not required for processing times longer than 10 minutes.
Put a Lid On It! – Best practices for ensuring a safe seal on canning jars. Wash lids prior to use, do not heat or boil lids as they may not seal properly. Clean the jar rim before applying the lid to reduce seal failures.
Pressure Can It Right! – Tips to safely use a stovetop or electric pressure canner. Pressure canners must be used for canning plain vegetables or any meat product to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores.
Steam Can It Right! – Guidelines on using a steam canner for preserving high acid foods. This method can be used for any water bath canned food with a total processing time of 45 minutes.
Learn more at www.ncrfsma.org/north-central-food-safety-extension-network-ncfsen.
When preserving food, there are certain steps to take to be sure the food is safe after preserving. One of those steps is peeling produce. Why? Bottom line is food safety.
While the outside peels of many types of produce are nutritionally beneficial, those peels can hold onto microorganisms and dirt. Rinsing produce with water before peeling is the first step to remove microorganisms and dirt. Peeling physically removes that outer layer and drastically reduces contamination. After a final rinse with water, the food is ready to preserve.
Therefore, when a recipe says to peel the produce, it must be done. That recipe was developed and researched with that step included. Choosing to skip the peeling step can result in improperly processed food and spoilage.
Don’t let those peels go to waste! Save them to make a vegetable stock to freeze and use in soups and other recipes. Add them to your garden compost pile or feed your animals.
Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation
While a vegetable peeler or paring knife is useful to peel produce, for some foods there is an easier method.
For tomatoes, blanching them in hot water works well and less flesh is lost. Heat a large stockpot of water to boiling. Core tomatoes or poke the skin with a knife and place in the hot water for about 60 seconds or until the peel starts to pull away from the flesh. Remove them from the hot water and plunge them into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Gently rub the peel and it should slip off easily.
This method works well for fruits with thin skins such as peaches and nectarines.
Peeling produce is an important step to preserve food safely in all methods of food preservation.
While fat or oil can enhance flavor and texture in many recipes, when it comes to canning, fat and oil can lead to food safety problems. There are very few recommendations to use fat or oil in home food preservation.
Research shows that fats and oils can surround bacterial spores, if present, and protect them from heat destruction. This allows them to survive in the jar of food.
In canning meat it is best to use the leanest meat possible. Fat can boil up during canning and interfere with the sealing compound of the lid. Use the proper amount of headspace for best results.
Do not add oil to home canned tomato sauces, salsa or marinated vegetables. Making flavored oils that contain herbs, garlic, peppers, etc. can provide favorable conditions for Clostridium botulinum to survive when stored at room temperature. Store these in the refrigerator.
Besides canning meat, poultry and fish, there are very few researched canning recipes that use oil. Learn more at www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation/index.html.
Source: https://extension.psu.edu/caution-canning-with-fats-and-oils
North Dakota State University Extension offers a webinar series entitled Field to Fork. This series offers education about growing, preparing, preserving and selling vegetables and fruits. Presenters for these webinars are from several universities in the North Central region.
A couple of interest to home food preservation include:
See the Field to Fork website for the archives of all webinars and sign up for remaining webinars.
Making homemade fruit leather is a great way to use up extra fruit and have a healthful snack. But fresh fruit can harbor bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. It is best to heat the fruit for safety and better retain color.
North Dakota State University Extension recommends heating fresh fruit in a double boiler to steam heat the fruit. It takes about 15-20 minutes and the temperature should reach 160°F with a food thermometer. An alternative is to use canned fruit that is pureed, applesauce, or strained baby fruit.
Fruits choices for fruit leather include apples, apricots, berries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums and strawberries.
Learn more at www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/food-preservation-making-fruit-leathers.
March is here and early spring vegetables, such as asparagus, will be popping out of the ground. If you are lucky enough to have your own asparagus patch, you know the anticipation!
If you have an abundance of asparagus, preserve it for later use by freezing, pickling or canning. To help you plan, here’s a chart of approximate yields from Michigan State University Extension. Learn more at Preserving Vegetables, MF1181.
| 1 pound (snapped) | = 2 cups cut up |
| 1 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh | = 1 pint frozen |
| 2 1/2 to 4 pounds fresh | = 1 quart canned |
| 10-pound box | = 7-10 pints frozen |
| 24 1/2 pounds | = a canner load of 7 quarts |
| 16 pounds | = a canner load of 9 pints |
| 1 crate (31 pounds) | = 7 to 12 quarts canned |
| 1 bushel (45 pounds) | =30 to 45 pints frozen or 11 to 18 quarts canned |
Vegetable soups with or without meat or meat broth may be safely canned using the process time that takes the longest time as an individual ingredient. Most soups will take 60 to 90 minutes to process in a pressure canner depending upon size (pints or quarts) and ingredients. Never can soup in half-gallon containers.
Use caution to avoid packing ingredients into the jars. For vegetable soup, fill the jars half full of solids, add broth allowing 1 inch headspace and process in a pressure canner. Space is needed for the hot liquid to circulate between the food particles. Pieces of cooked beef or chicken can be added to the vegetables to make a vegetable meat soup.
There are no instructions for canning creamed soup or adding any flour, cornstarch, rice, pasta or cream.
Source: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/soups.html
There are no science-based recommendations for canning cured, brined or corned meat. This includes ham and bacon.
Canning these forms of meat has not been in any USDA recommendations for decades. The texture of these meats can be firmer which slows heat penetration during canning. That would change the processing time. The canning procedures that are available are for fresh meat only and should not be used for any other form of meat.
The best method to preserve bacon, or other cured meat, is to freeze it for later use.
Bacon should not be added to vegetables, such as green beans, when canning.
Source: Clemson Cooperative Extension
Instructions for canning fresh meat, poultry and seafood can be found at the National Center for Home food Preservation.