During the summer, I usually go a little overboard at the farmers market in our town. But who can blame me? The sight of wooden crates overflowing with juicy plums and succulent cherries can make any sane person weak in the knees. And let’s not forget to mention the basil plants loosely piled high on a folding table or the bottomless barrels of sweet corn. Or the heirloom tomatoes. Or the yellow zucchini. Or the spaghetti squash. I usually arrive just as the last stand is setting up, with my four oversized yet empty canvas bags scratching my shoulders, begging to be filled. After what seems like an eternity but only minutes in reality, and with my bags brimming with the summer’s bounty, my husband shakes his head reproachfully and says, “How are we going to eat all of that?”
I’ve tried to make my farmers market purchases last well past the summer months—and sometimes through to the following summer—by freezing each week’s leftovers. Recently, it came to my attention that many people try to preserve their food by canning it and that I should try it, too.
Canning Gets Hip
Canning is a method of preserving food via heat processing in a sealed container. Also known as bottling or tinning, it can be traced to the days of Napoleon, when he sought a way to preserve food and transport it to his hungry troops hundred of miles away. Though popular for decades, it’s not your grandma’s pastime anymore. Today, there are dozens of books, all written and published in the last ten years, that have updated the recipes to suit the modern day home cook—smaller portions, better ingredients. And home cooks preserve their food via canning for different reasons, ranging from economical (e.g., canning my bulk purchases saves money) to socio-political (e.g., canning my own food keeps me independent of the agro-business cycle).
Now back to grandma. So, sweet granny sees that you are interested in canning and proudly presents you with her recipes and tips on canning. But in ye olden times, people canned their food using the open kettle method in which the food is cooked in an ordinary pot or kettle using brines or sugar syrups, then packed into hot jars, immediately sealed with a lid, and that’s it. But beware. The temperatures obtained in open kettle canning are not high enough to destroy all spoilage and infectious organisms that may be in the food. Also, when the food is transferred into the jars, it is exposed to the open air—which can re-contaminate the food. So do yourself a favor when grandma gives you her canning recipes: thank her profusely, shower her with your attention, and then, when she’s not looking, toss them in the trash.
