It’s harvest Time…That Means it’s Canning Time….

Be sure to tune in all week for recipes and tips for canning and preserving you harvests

courtesy Lake Tahoe Markets

Canned fruit is a pantry classic.  Home canning fruit can help save you money and gain control over what’s in your food, while preserving the taste of summer for your family’s year-round enjoyment.

There are two ways to safely prepare the fruit to be canned: raw pack and hot pack. While raw packing (which means washing, slicing and packing the fruit without pre-heating it) is faster and a bit less work, it can result in more buoyant fruit pieces that will float to the surface of the canning liquid. This is known as ‘fruit float’. The result is that some of the top layer of fruit pieces will stick above the liquid and turn brown. It does not spoil the fruit, it’s just an unappetizing look. I prefer using the hot pack method, as it produces a better quality canned fruit (my opinion) and ‘the float’ is less likely to occur.

Select fresh, recently harvested, ripe but firm fruit that is free of blemishes, bruises, or diseases. Preserve the fruit’s natural color and flavor by limiting exposure to air, packing hot into jars, observing the recommended headspace, processing quickly, and storing correctly. To prevent discoloration of apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, white cherries, and grapes that have been peeled, sliced, pitted, or stemmed, dip them in a solution of ascorbic acid and water. Or, one part lemon juice to four parts water can be used as a holding solution to prevent browning.  Both ascorbic acid and citric acid, available in several forms, are sold in supermarkets and drug stores. Ascorbic acid mixtures are more effective than citric acid mixtures. Follow manufacturer’s instructions when using the commercial mixtures.

Sugar and syrups help fruits retain flavor, color, and shape, but do not prevent spoilage. Sweetness is determined by the amount of sugar used: less sugar yields a lighter syrup with fewer calories. Sweeter syrups should be used with tart fruits. A 10% syrup is closest to the natural sugar content of fruit. Honey or light corn syrup can be substituted for up to half of the sugar in a syrup, if desired. Make enough syrup to fill the jars in one canner load.

Fruits can also be canned without sugar. Plain boiling water, unsweetened apple juice, pineapple juice, white grape juice, or a combination of these can be substituted for sugar syrups. For best results, it is recommended that sugar substitutes be used at serving time only, not in canning.

The Canning chart…we can’t blow it up clearly. If you would like a copy please contact us. or Visit From our Kitchen To Your Kitchen on FaceBook

 

Photos and content courtesy Lake Tahoe Markets

Until Next Time Folks…

Happy Gardening…

Aaron Aveiro
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