Best Ways to Preserve Vegetables and Fruits

By John Vivian
Published on August 1, 1999
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ILLUSTRATION: MEGHAN WIDMAN
While many recommend freezing corn, canning it cream-style also allows you to enjoy all of the veggie's goodness.

This chart is not intended as a substitute for a USDA-data-based manual that gives proven recipes and step-by-step details. But for quick reference, following are MOTHER’S own preferred ways of preserving vegetables and fruits for the winter.

All canning is done in a pressure canner, omitting need to acidify sub-acid tomatoes and bland fruits for hot-water canning. Heat and processing times are extra conservative for safety’s sake. Change them only if you have an approved, proven recipe. Prefreeze blanching times are USDA standard for one pound of food.

APPLES

Cold cellar store whole, cut in rings and dry, or pressure can, as applesauce.

ASPARAGUS

Freeze what you don’t eat fresh. Cut spears in 1-inch sections. Steam-blanch 4 minutes. Ice-chill 5 minutes. Bag in a single layer and flesh-freeze.

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