Well-Seasoned

Lock in the freshness

Cooperative extension agents ready for canning season questions

Anne Quinn Corr

Martha Zepp stood at the stove, adjusting the jigglers on the pressure canner. Participants in the canning workshop stood a respectful distance from the hissing appliance, carefully out of range of shooting steam, and watched the master.

Photos for the CDT/Anne Quinn Corr

Martin Bucknavage roasts peppers on the burner while Martha Zepp and Luke LaBorde watch the process during a recent two-day home preservation training workshop at Penn State. Local food-safety experts were taking the course to prepare for questions from residents.

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Cooperative extension agents from across Pennsylvania recently participated in a two-day home preservation training workshop at Penn State to better prepare for what is expected to be a lot of questions from first-time canners this summer. This spring’s increased interest in home gardening is blossoming into a revival of home canning methods — and some of those methods have been revamped.

Martin Bucknavage, Luke LaBorde and Catherine Cutter, of Penn State’s food science department, organized the workshop. A day of lectures about different aspects of home preservation was followed by a day of hands-on preparation of popular canned goods and then sampling and critiquing them.

Most of the participants were women and most serve as county agents who field questions when home food preservation methods go awry. Learning how to ask the appropriate questions in order to identify the source of the problem is critical.

“A sealed jar is not a safe jar,” stressed Zepp. “If someone has a problem you just keep asking questions to see how they did it. Terminology is key. ‘Process’ — what does that mean? Different things to different people. Find out exactly what the caller did.”

Zepp has had many a year of canning practice in Lancaster County where she has been a consultant to the extension office there, as well as a partner in developing Cooperative Extension’s “Let’s Preserve” series.

Nancy Wiker, also an agent at the Lancaster extension office, helped to plan the workshop with Zepp and facilitated throughout.

Home food preservation is a skill that used to be learned at home but later was codified as home economics. The women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s created a shift in terminology — and thinking — to rename that branch of domestic arts family and consumer science, with an emphasis on consumption. The pendulum is swinging back now, and an interest in how to run a household sustainably and economically is in vogue.

Workshop participants had fun preparing, then sampling, the range of products. Strawberry jam variables included the standard one made with sugar and powdered pectin, one made with Splenda, and two freezer jam varieties. Canned marinated peppers were much better when they were skinned after roasting. Beef and chicken canned hot pack and cold pack, with and without salt, illustrated a viable convenience food.

Bread and butter pickles are easy to make in a few hours. Hot packed and raw packed tomatoes showed a world of difference and two salsas demonstrated that fresh tomatoes make a world of difference in a salsa.

In addition to calling extension agents for advise, tips and resources for home food preservation resources may be found at www.foodsafety.psu.edu/preserve.html. Excellent print resources are available from the county Penn State Cooperative Extension office (http://centre.extension. psu.edu) or the university’s Publications Distribution Center, which can be contacted at 865- 6713 or AgPubDist@psu.edu. This is a great year for local black raspberries. Pick them in the woods and try this recipe, from the “Let’s Preserve” series, to make a freezer or refrigerator jam that does not require any special canning equipment.

Anne Quinn Corr teaches basic food preparation in the nutrition department at Penn State. She can be reached at 865-7431 or aqc@psu.edu. Her blog, “Eat Local!” is at CentreDaily.com.

Uncooked Blackberry or Raspberry Jam from fresh fruit

Yields approximately 7 half-pint jars

3 cups crushed blackberries or raspberries (about 1 1/2 quarts)

5 1/2 cups sugar 1 box powdered pectin 3/4 cup water

Procedure:If blackberries are very seedy, put part of them through the sieve or a food mill. Measure 3 cups of prepared berries. Place in an extra-large mixing bowl. Add sugar, mix well, and let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the powdered pectin in the water, bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Add pectin to berries and sugar and stir for 3 minutes. Pour the jam into freezer containers or canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover the container. Let stand at room temperature until set (up to 24 hours). Freeze or refrigerate.