Welcome to The CSA Coach, where Jenn, our digital food editor, doles out advice to first-time CSA subscriber and digital features editor, Ashley. In this weeks episode, we decide its time to get canning!
Home-canned tomatoes -- worth standing over a hot stove in August? We say yes!
Jenn,
Summer isnt over, but I already feel like a little squirrel gathering my nuts for winter. The CSA bounty is going to end in about a month and a half, and I want to continue cooking with farm produce throughout the winter.
What can I do now to start freezing and preserving? What veggies should I focus on to make warm winter meals in January?
Ashley,
Okay, first question: How committed are you? Mind you, canning isnt difficult, it just requires dedication. Dedication to following all of the procedures to the letter for sterilizing and processing, dedication to buying a whole canning setup (great big pot, rack, jar tongs, jars, and lids) and perhaps most significant, dedication to spending an entire sweltering August day over a pot of boiling water.
Does it sound like Im trying to talk you out of canning? Not exactly. Six months from now, popping open a jar of tomatoes that you put up at their peak is going to make you very, very happy. Home-canned food just tastes better, particularly because youre starting out with really good ingredients.
A lower-commitment but still perfectly viable option is to freeze some of your produce
Jenn,
My grandparents had a garden, so I know my way around canning tomatoes pretty well. (My favorite part was listening for the jar lids to pop.) Im dedicated. Bring it.
Ashley,
Well then, lets go for it!
Whole Living has a nice beginners guide to canning. It covers the basic guidelines for tomatoes, pickles, and jam. (The website for the National Center for Home Food Preservation is great resource too.)
And if you want to just get all your equipment in one blow, Id go for Balls waterbath canning kit.
So, a few recommendations:
- Stick to high-acid items. This includes most fruit (tomatoes included), and pickled vegetables. These are the safest things to can because the acid content keeps dangerous bacteria at bay. Canning low-acid foods like meat, potatoes, and other non-pickled vegetables is an activity best left to ninja-level homesteaders in possession of a pressure canner.
- Go big. It hardly seems worth it to steam up the kitchen for just a few jars of tomatoes. It might seem counterintuitive to buy more produce, but peak tomato season only comes once a year! At the farmers market you can usually find at least one stand selling less-than perfect tomatoes, peaches, etc., for a discount. (The produce still tastes great but it might be on the verge of overripe, or be a little dinged up perfect for canning!)
- Make it a party. Invite friends to share in the fun, the work, and the expense. Go in together on 20 pounds of tomatoes and youll all have a nice supply squirreled away in your pantry for the winter.
- Use recipes specifically intended for canning.This is not the place to improvise. Here are some to get you started:
Canned Tomatoes
Phat Beets
Pickled Okra
Sweet-and-Spicy Bread-and-Butter Pickles
Raspberry Jam
Peach-Rosemary Jam
In the meantime, you can also make quick pickles with some of your vegetables. They wont keep as long as if you can them, but theres no boiling water bath involved, and you can enjoy near-instant gratification.
Pickled Vegetables
Let us know how it goes!
Canning Salsa - YouTube 9:21 Watch Later Error Canning Salsa:Shutup! I'm gonna teach you something! by ... 9:46 Watch Later Error Becky's Homestead: Canning for Beginners by ... Amazon.com: The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home: Easy ... ... turn overwhelming bounty into neatly canned ... and brine the abundance from your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture ... 5.0 out of 5 stars The Beginners Guide to ... Hands-On Canning Workshop For Beginners in Rochester, NY - Jul 28 ... Hands-On Canning Workshop For Beginners in Rochester, NY at ... ve always wanted to learn safe canning methods.- If you're in a CSA! ... will teach you how to can tomatoes in ... Venetucci Farm - Colorado Springs, CO - Local Business Facebook ... own cheese from fresh goat's milk. Get more info here: http://ow.ly/cMuNn...I mean, unless you don't LIKE baby goats. In which case, there is just nothing I can teach you. Amazon.com: The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home: Easy ... ... and clear, step-by-step instructions show even absolute beginners the way ... dry, can, root cellar, and brine the abundance from your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture ... Chef Tess Bakeresse: Home Canning Safety. A Little 101 for Beginners Home Canning Safety. A Little 101 for Beginners ... Open-kettle canning, microwave canning or oven ... whole wheat bread coaching (3) whole wheat flour (1) CSA - Definition by AcronymFinder Certified Senior Advisor (Society of Certified Senior Advisors) ... CSA: Coaching Science Abstracts **** CSA: Center for ... CSA: Canned Subassembly *** CSA: Celebrity Speakers GmbH Beginner's guide to Home Canning - modern housewife on HubPages Canning food is fun, frugal and very satisfying, but it ... if you don't have anyone to teach you, you CAN teach ... Good information for beginners. I too have just written ... Clarksburg Sports Association Football - (Clarksburg, MD ... Please Visit Our NEW Web Site for All the Latest Football News! CSAsports.org. CSA Football Coaching Opportunities Interested coaches please contact CSA Football Community Supported Agriculture - LocalHarvest Community Supported Agriculture. Thinking about signing up for a CSA but want to learn more about the idea before you commit? Read on. Over the last 20 years ...
No comments:
Post a Comment