consciouseating SAVORING THE SUN


Three Ways to Preserve Summer’s Goodness by Judith Fertig


“B


eing a locavore is fabulous if you live somewhere like California,” says Audra


Wolfe, a co-founder of Canvolution and an expert food preservationist. “But if you live in the Northeast, unless you learn food preservation, you could be eating local turnips and kale all winter,” she notes with a chuckle. The mounting desire to eat locally


grown food, know what’s in our food and reduce our carbon footprint, as well as shrinking household budgets, are contributing to what The New York Times recently cited as a renaissance in home food preservation. “In a time of high food prices, job losses and food safety scares, home canning is boom- ing,” agrees June Taylor, a Berkeley, California, food preservationist. Accord- ing to Jarden Home Brands, makers of Kerr and Ball brands of glass canning jars, sales of canning equipment were up 30 percent in 2009. The simplest methods for “putting


by” food are freezing, refrigerator can- ning or multi-step water bath canning. Pressure canning, dehydrating and fermenting require special equipment (pressure cookers, dehydrators and large crocks), as well as more advanced knowledge. For most of us, a large pot and some pint-size glass canning jars


“The jars are like


characters, with story lines that I remember.” ~ Eugenia Bone, author of


Well-Preserved: Recipes and


Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods


with lids and metal sealing rings com- prise the basic equipment we need to get started.


Freezing


Freezing can be as easy as rinsing berries in very cold water, pat- ting them dry, and then placing them on a bak- ing sheet in the freezer until frozen solid. Such quick-frozen berries can then be placed in


freezer storage containers and will keep for up to six months. Some foods, like vegetables,


need to be blanched first—plunged into boiling water for a minute or two, then shocked in an ice water bath— then allowed to cool before being


placed in freezer storage containers. Cooked sauces, salsas and chutneys can simply cool before being frozen and will also taste best when eaten within six months.


Refrigerator Canning


Because most veg- etables have low acid content, which can invite bacteria growth, canning them also in- volves pickling—add- ing a vinegary brine to increase the acid level. Refrigerator-pickled


cucumbers, Swiss chard stems, green tomatoes, beets and green beans will keep for up to six months if kept cov- ered in pickling brine in the refrigerator.


Hot Water Bath Canning


Traditional hot water bath canning creates a vacuum within the jar that works to preserve foods. Basically, the food is packed into clean, hot jars that are filled almost up to the top (the amount of


headspace between the food and the


30


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