Some “Old Fashioned” Fun: Canning
Traditionally, canning was a means of preserving the bounty of the land at its full flavour and nutritional content. Today, with modern techniques such as flash freezing, dehydration and with the addition of chemical preservatives, home canning has declined and is sadly looked down upon as “old fashioned”.
The smell and sight of large pots of bubbling crab apple, chokecherry, blueberry and raspberry jams has become a regular and normal addition to my family’s autumn traditions. Local cultivated and wild plants can be used to create scrumptious and rather impressively beautiful condiments, spreads or pickles that last for months if properly canned.
Canning is a great weekend family project or can be a fun independent undergoing. Jams and jellies are a rewarding and tasty undertaking. First the fruit must be selected. The only limit here seems to be your imagination. In the past my family has made chokecherry, raspberry, peach, blueberry, crab apple, high bush cranberry and Concord grape. There is something wholesome and satisfying about turning the freshly pitted fruit into a piping hot syrupy liquid and adding only sugar and pectin. If this seems simple, yes, yes it is!
Besides sweet toast spreads, whole fruits like cherries, pears, peaches, citrus and tomatoes can be preserved in thick syrups and can be spiced for added flavour. Pickles are popular, common and very rewarding to make. Many good recipes for dill, gherkin or spiced cucumber pickles can be found on the Internet or in canning books. You can pickle many different vegetables including peppers and cauliflower. Chutneys are also delicious and add a spicy and sometimes tangy flavour to anything you put them on. The canning process generally includes the following steps:
- Boil water
- Placing full, sealed jars in the boiling water until they are sterilized
- Carefully taking them out of the water bath and allowing them to cool
- As they cool the vapours in the jar will condense, creating a vacuum seal
- Sometimes for jams and jellies the following process is used:
- Boil water
- Place clean empty jars and tops into boiling water
- Remove from water and add hot jam or jelly
- Place top seal onto jar and finger-tighten the rim
- As they cool the vapours in the jar will condense, creating a vacuum seal
For best results follow the directions of the recipe or consult a book on canning.
The process of canning need not be expensive or time-consuming. Old mason jars can be recycled from year to year. Over time a collection of antique and timeworn jars of all shapes and sizes can be gathered and saved from being lost to the land fill. Plus, they add a quaint timeless look to the refrigerator or cupboard.
Sure we’ve had some mess-ups and some recipes will not be made again, but cooking is like an adventure so failures are just a bump in the road, and something that you can look back on and laugh at! And what’s life without a little humor?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Brendan
