Last night, I took a class through the Virginia Cooperative Extension on how to preserve fruits and veges by canning. You know ~ putting yummy things in glass jars and doing it right so no one dies of botulism. The 2-hour class was only $5. You really can't beat that, right?! I'm going to try my hand at this at some point. I think I'm going to stick to the hot-water bath method because the other method calls for using a pressure canner. If you've never seen one, a pressure canner is a giant pot that has a lid that clamps down and fills with so much steam pressure that there are emergency valves so the thing doesn't blow up and burn you to death with steam. It's awesome but scary as hell.
Why would anyone use a pressure canner, you ask? Yes, I asked that same question. Apparently, any low-acid foods that aren't canned at a high enough temperature can kill you with botulism. So, if you want to jar some green beans or corn or meat, for example, you might kill yourself or someone else if you don't use the steam pressure method. It's safe to "water-bath can" high-acid foods like pickled anything, tomatoes, fruits, jams... Stuff like that.
Apparently, yellow squash doesn't like to be jarred and you should just freeze it. It's low maintenance. I learned that last night too. Another reason to like yellow squash ~ it says "Hey, don't go to any trouble... Just freeze me, baby." Okay!
On the other hand, I could just go to one of the dozens of farmers markets in the area and just buy jarred yummy food items from them but I'm trying to be all independent and creative and stuff. We'll see if it leaves me dead or not. Between the roaming bears and rabid coyotes and botulism I'm shocked that I've lasted down here so long. ;-)
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| www.freshpreserving.com |
Last night, I took a class through the Virginia Cooperative Extension on how to preserve fruits and veges by canning. You know ~ putting yummy things in glass jars and doing it right so no one dies of botulism. The 2-hour class was only $5. You really can't beat that, right?! I'm going to try my hand at this at some point. I think I'm going to stick to the hot-water bath method because the other method calls for using a pressure canner. If you've never seen one, a pressure canner is a giant pot that has a lid that clamps down and fills with so much steam pressure that there are emergency valves so the thing doesn't blow up and burn you to death with steam. It's awesome but scary as hell.
Why would anyone use a pressure canner, you ask? Yes, I asked that same question. Apparently, any low-acid foods that aren't canned at a high enough temperature can kill you with botulism. So, if you want to jar some green beans or corn or meat, for example, you might kill yourself or someone else if you don't use the steam pressure method. It's safe to "water-bath can" high-acid foods like pickled anything, tomatoes, fruits, jams... Stuff like that.
Apparently, yellow squash doesn't like to be jarred and you should just freeze it. It's low maintenance. I learned that last night too. Another reason to like yellow squash ~ it says "Hey, don't go to any trouble... Just freeze me, baby." Okay!
On the other hand, I could just go to one of the dozens of farmers markets in the area and just buy jarred yummy food items from them but I'm trying to be all independent and creative and stuff. We'll see if it leaves me dead or not. Between the roaming bears and rabid coyotes and botulism I'm shocked that I've lasted down here so long. ;-)
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