Preserving foods at home

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By Pamela Lincoln Cass County Extension Agent Family and Consumer Sciences
 
Preserve foods at home? Yes you can, but do it safely. 
 
An abundance of home grown fruits and vegetables often triggers the desire to can foods at home. While this can be a fun and rewarding way to keep foods long after the season ends, care must be taken to ensure that foods canned at home are safe to eat. 
 
Following research-based methods and using tested recipes are just things to consider when canning foods at home. Not all recipes for home canning have been tested for safety. Sources of tested recipes include the National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/), USDA, manufacturers of home canning equipment and supplies, and your local county Extension office. Recipes from cookbooks, outdated Extension publications and the Internet should not be used. 
 
Using the right equipment, when canning, is also important. Some foods can be preserved using a water bath canner but others must be processed in a pressure canner. If the right canning method is not used, then the finished product could make people very sick. Also, make sure that the equipment you have is in good working order. Experts advise that pressure canners should be checked to make sure they are in good working order and the dial gauges be tested annually to make sure they are accurate. I can test your gauge if you have one that was made by Presto, Magic Seal (sold at Montgomery Ward) and Maid of Honor (sold at Sears), just call my office at 903-756-5391 to set up an appointment. 
 
There are many other aspects to canning that one needs to consider, including jar size, headspace, and recommended processing (canning) times. All of these can influence the safety of the final product. The last thing that we want to do is tell someone that the food they have just spent hours canning has to be thrown away or redone. However if you did not use a tested recipe, if unsealed jars were not identified within 24 hours after canning, or if jars were not processed properly (i.e. using a water bath canner instead of a pressure canner) we may have no other choice. Nobody likes to throw food away but nobody wants to get sick from eating unsafe food.
 
For more information about food preservation call the Extension office.
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