Canning Dos and Don'ts

There has been a growing interest in recent years in food preservation methods beyond the refrigerator and freezer that is.

“Certainly, you can dry food.”

Make Sure You Follow The Directions

Creating delectables such as dried fruit snacks or beef jerky, according to North Dakota State University Extension's Julie Garden-Robinson. But for today, the focus is on home canning and art still practiced by some. But as a reminder.

“Anytime you're preserving food, put on your lab coat because you are a scientist,” noted Garden-Robinson. “You can put on your artist beret if you want and be as creative as you want when you're cooking food. But when you are canning food, you indeed are a scientist and you need to follow the latest recommendations.”

From both a food safety and taste perspective. So, take a popular food item and popular food for canning item pickles.

“You always want to use vinegar with a 5% acidity level and it will say that right on the container vinegar,” Garden-Robinson said.

She added some less expensive vinegars list a 4% acidity content. And although still to be determined, it's food safe status as a canning ingredient at this point.

“For the best safety, go ahead and use the 5% acidity level vinegar.”

Some home canners preserve tomatoes, especially those grown in their gardens. A tip both associated with food safety and taste from Garden-Robinson.

“Because of their acidity, which can vary. You do need to add citric acid or bottled lemon juice or lime juice if you plan to put it in jars and store it on your shelf,” Garden-Robinson said. “We as collective consumers don't like as acidic of foods as maybe our predecessors did through plant breeding. Tomatoes are a little sweeter perhaps than earlier varieties.”

Jams and jellies remain a popular canning item, but canners keep in.

“We do recommend some time in a boiling water bath canner.”

Then there's this important canning tip to remember.

“People like to make recipes their own, fine for cooking, but when you are canning, you're a scientist and there are some substitutions that are okay, but not a lot of substitutions,” Garden-Robinson stressed.

An example comes from a product more canners are creating and preserving in recent years; salsa.

“If you like a hotter salsa, you can change the type of pepper, but you can't alter the other ingredients,” said Garden-Robinson. “You can't add extra peppers, but you could make it hotter by choosing more jalapeno instead of bell peppers.”

Additional home canning tips, advice, and recipes are available through resources such as Cooperative Extension offices and websites:

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