THE ABCs OF CANNING

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REFERENCES:

Complete Guide to Home Canning, Preserving and Freezing (Dover Publications Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, New York 10014).

Kerr Home Canning Book (Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation, Consumer Products Divisions, P.O. Box 76961, Los Angeles, California 90076).

Safe Directions for Home Canning Fruits and Tomatoes (UC Farm and Garden Publications 1992, University of California, ANR Publications, 6701 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, California 94608-1239).

Still apprehensive about the canning? Start out with the easiest of the easy!

The hot jar lid is placed on the clean jar rim, and the ring (which must be clean and not rusted through) should be screwed down firmly by hand. Don't over-do the tightening, as it may break the jar. The sealing is done in the canner, not by hand. Still apprehensive about home-canning? How about starting off with the easiest of the easy — the hot water bath and some fruit and tomatoes. Then move on to some easy pressure canned vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, rutabagas, and tomato sauces. After a successful run with those "easy" friends, try a few jars of corn, spaghetti sauce with meat, pizza sauce, and chili. What makes these "less easy"? Not much. The processing time may be longer, or they may have a bit of oil, grease, or debris that tends to get on the rim which causes the seal to fail.

The more fussy products to can have a bad name, but undeservedly do. Meat, fish, poultry, and baked beans only need a little extra care. Just be sure there's not much fat when your canning them, and watch the cleanliness of your jar rims before sealing. Then, it's just a matter of keeping the pressure even during the processing.

I have canned all the "hard" to can products and have had few failures. In a typical year, I can at least two deer, most of a steer or elk, fifty or so chickens, smoked salmon, trout and many mixed bean jars — chili, baked beans, frijoles, etc. I live simply (with no electricity) and must can all my meat. Even if I didn't have to, I would — the food is so much better (no freezer burn!) and the cost is nil. Canning on a wood range eliminates any power cost, and I've never paid more than a dollar a dozen for jars (found at rummage sales, auctions, and flea markets, to name just a few places). As you can and store, those jars have a wonderful way of building up in the pantry. Six or eight jars doesn't seem like much, but six times six — eight times eight — pretty soon, the pantry fills. We keep a huge stock of canned goods to safeguard against hard times. And it's lucky we do. This past winter, a neighbor was laid off from his job with no warning. His family shared our bounty, and we were thrilled to give it. This year, his wife wants to begin canning. A "lost" art is being revived.

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