The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home - Janet Chadwick [24]
If you are canning more than one batch of food, prepare the second batch while the first is processing. While the last batch is processing, clean your work area.
When processing time is up, turn off the heat, carefully remove the cover from the canner, and wait 5 minutes to help ensure proper sealing and avoid boil-overs from the jars. Using long-handled tongs or jar lifters, carefully remove jars from the canner. Place the jars several inches apart on a towel away from drafts.
If the screw bands are loose, do not tighten them.
remove jars to heavy towel
check seal
Cool the jars for 24 hours. After the cooling period is completed, remove the screw bands and check the seals. Wipe the sealed jars with a clean, damp cloth. Then label clearly with the product and date.
Store the jars in a cool, dark, dry place where they will not freeze.
If you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet, you will need to increase the processing time as indicated below:
CHAPTER 4
Preserving Vegetables
THERE IS A BEST WAY TO PRESERVE each vegetable; there is a fastest way as well — and sometimes the best way is the fastest way, but not always. The best way means that the vegetable will taste closest to fresh when you cook it for the table.
Suppose your beans are ready to harvest. Turn to the page on beans in this chapter. Decide which preservation method to use. Does it look like you will have enough time to get the job done? Fine. Then read the harvest tips for beans, and go into the garden and pick the beans. What if you don’t have enough time to process the beans? Those beans are going to get too mature out in the garden. You don’t want to wait to pick them.
IN CHAPTER 2, I shared some of the different shortcuts I have used in my kitchen — such as storing fresh vegetables overnight in garbage cans filled with ice or tray-freezing unblanched beans to be used later in relishes. Check the index or skim through chapter 2 to find shortcuts that will work for you.
Before you start freezing, drying, or canning, turn back to chapter 3 for a quick review of the basic techniques. Assembling all your equipment, setting up for a productive work flow, and ensuring the safety of your methods will help to save you time in the long run.
With the basic techniques fresh in your mind, follow the step-by-step instructions I have provided for each vegetable.
Ready to harvest? Let’s start with asparagus.
ASPARAGUS
ASPARAGUS SHOULD BE PICKED when it is 6 to 8 inches high and thicker than a pencil. During harvesting, all shoots should be cut. Leaving the smaller shoots to grow will shorten the harvest season, which can continue for 6 to 10 weeks.
Freezing in Boilable Bags
Best and quickest method
Begin heating water for blanching. To prepare the asparagus, wash by scrubbing gently (asparagus is delicate) with a vegetable brush to remove any sand. Cut off tough ends or snap at the brittle point. Cut into pieces or sort spears. Pack in boilable bags. Add butter and seasonings, if desired. Press out air. Seal bags.
Blanch bags, four at a time, in boiling water for 4 to 8 minutes, depending on size.
Cool. Pat bags dry. Freeze.
cooking tip To cook vegetables frozen in boilable bags in the microwave, place the bag on a microwave-safe plate or bowl. Cut a ½-inch slit in the top of the bag. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) for 4 to 6 minutes. Quarter-turn the dish halfway through the cooking, if necessary. Leave the vegetables in the bag for an additional 4 to 5 minutes, then serve.
Freezing the Standard Way
Begin heating water for blanching in a steamer. Scrub gently with a vegetable brush to remove any sand. Cut off tough ends or snap at the brittle point. Cut into pieces or sort spears.
Steam-blanch, 1 pound at a time for 3 to 6 minutes, depending on size.
Cool in ice water. Drain. Pack. Press out air. Seal. Freeze.
BEANS: GREEN
THE BEST BEANS FOR PRESERVING are those that are slightly immature. Green beans should be long and slender and have tiny seeds. Harvest beans late in the day. The foliage