Contents
Types of Food Preservation
Canning and Preserving Tools
Canning and Preserving Ingredients
How to Prepare Jars for Processing
How to Heat-Process Jars
How to Can Food
How to Make Sugar Preserves
How to Pickle
Canning Recipes
Sugar Preserve Recipes
Pickle Recipes
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Canning and Preserving Ingredients
More than anything else, successful canning, pickling, and sugar preserving depends on using proper ingredients.
Fresh Produce
Even though preserved foods don’t taste like their fresh counterparts, using the freshest food you can find is of the utmost importance. If you preserve inferior food that’s past its prime, you’ll get disappointing results.
Buy in Season
Even though most fruits and vegetables are readily available at supermarkets year-round, they’re both cheaper and higher quality if you buy them during local peak season.
Supermarkets vs. Farmers’ Markets
Your supermarket may have a wider variety of produce than your local farmers’ market, but many of these supermarket items are less suitable for canning, pickling, and sugar preserving. Most of the produce sold at supermarkets is shipped from hundreds or thousands of miles away and is bred specifically for durability and shelf life, not flavor. Fruits and vegetables destined for supermarkets are also often coated in wax to prevent mold growth during shipping. This layer of wax, though edible, prevents brine, syrups, or sugars from penetrating the skin and must be thoroughly peeled or scrubbed off prior to any preserving activities.
The vast majority of produce sold at farmers’ markets, on the other hand, isn’t coated in wax because it travels much shorter distances. Whenever possible, purchase food for preserving at these markets or through a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. The website www.localharvest.org is a good resource for locating farmers’ markets and CSAs in your area.
Salt
Salt both preserves canned and pickled food while also adding flavor and crispness to the final product. Only certain kinds of salt are appropriate for preserving food, so always use the type of salt indicated by your recipe.
- Canning salt (pickling salt): This salt is pure sodium chloride that doesn’t contain the additives found in conventional, iodized table salt. It is preferred for canning and pickling because it won’t alter the color of your food or make your brine cloudy as iodized salt will.
- Kosher salt: Kosher salt is another pure form of salt that’s suitable for preserving. It’s usually manufactured with coarser grains than other forms of salt, so more salt by volume is required when measuring. If a recipe calls for pickling salt but you have only kosher salt, substitute 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of kosher salt for every 1 cup of pickling salt the recipe stipulates.
Sweeteners
In canned and pickled foods, sweeteners contribute flavor and help fruits and vegetables retain their color. In sugar preserves, sweeteners not only sweeten but also act as a natural preservative and thickening agent.
When canning and pickling, you’ll want to consider the subtle differences in flavor when selecting a sweetener. When making sugar preserves, you’ll also have to factor in each type’s thickening capability as well as the pectin levels of your chosen fruits (for more information, see How to Make Sugar Preserves). As a beginner, you should always use the sweetener indicated in your recipe.
- Granulated sugar: The most common sweetener used in canning, pickling, and preserving, granulated sugar dissolves easily in syrups and brines and helps prevent natural colors from leaching out of fruits and vegetables. Most sugar preserve recipes call for granulated sugar, because it forms a sturdier gel than other types of sweeteners when combined with fruits.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar is white granulated sugar that’s been coated with molasses. It comes in light and dark varieties, which differ only in the amount of molasses added. Either type adds a richer and slightly spiced sweetness to any canning syrup or pickle recipe and darkens the final product noticeably. When substituting for granulated sugar, use brown sugar in equal parts, but pack it firmly in the measuring cups. Brown sugar is moister than granulated sugar and won’t thicken sugar preserves as much. Substituting it for granulated sugar in recipes requires some experimentation to achieve the proper consistency.
- Honey: A natural sweetener with no additives, honey comes in many flavors and has double the sweetening power of sugar, so it can lend your food a distinctly different sweetness, even in small quantities. Because granulated sugar has the unique ability of helping fruits retain their natural colors in canning syrups and pickling brines, it’s not advisable to replace any more than half the sugar indicated in a given canning or pickling recipe with honey. Substituting honey for sugar in preserve recipes is more complicated because honey lacks the same thickening capabilities as sugar—it requires a lot of experimentation, and is recommended for experienced cooks only. As a general rule, though, in recipes that do not require the addition of store-bought pectin, you can replace up to half the sugar with honey. In recipes that do call for pectin, you can replace between 3/4 and all the sugar with honey—but keep in mind that too much honey can mask the fruit’s natural flavor. Also, anytime you replace sugar with honey, the mixture will produce more foam, which you’ll need to skim off with a slotted spoon.
- Corn syrup: You can use corn syrup to replace up to 1/4 of the granulated sugar in any canning recipe to create a product thicker and richer in color than those made strictly with sugar. In sugar preserve recipes, small quantities of corn syrup can keep the granulated sugar from crystallizing and producing a grainy texture.
- Fructose: Fructose is a simple sugar that doesn’t raise blood sugar levels as high as conventional sugar (sucrose) does, so it’s sometimes used in granulated form by people with diabetes and hypoglycemia. Some studies, though, have linked fructose to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, and other health problems, and experts continue to debate its long-term dietary impact. If you’re diabetic or hypoglycemic, consult your doctor before incorporating fructose into your diet. If you decide to substitute granulated fructose for conventional sugar in canning, pickling, or preserve recipes, use 1/3 less sugar than the recipe indicates.
- Artificial sweeteners: You can also use saccharin and sucralose in canning and pickling, but only in naturally thick sugar preserve recipes, such as fruit butters. This is because artificial sweeteners, unlike granulated sugar, don’t interact with pectin to form a thick gel.
Spices and Herbs
As with fruits and vegetables, the freshness of any spices and herbs you use is critical to the quality of your canned, pickled, or preserved foods.
Spices
Buy spices in small quantities, as they lose their potency rapidly. Store them tightly sealed in a cool, dark place. Most canning and pickling recipes call for whole spices, whereas chutney, relish, and sugar preserve recipes generally use ground spices. Be sure to use only the type indicated in your recipe. Many pickle recipes call for pickling spice, which is a blend of spices that you can either buy or make yourself.
Herbs
Fresh and dried herbs are used frequently in canning, pickling, and preserve recipes. Keep fresh herbs refrigerated and use them as quickly as possible before they wilt. Keep dried herbs tightly sealed in a cool, dark place and use them within 8–12 months. Dried herbs impart stronger flavors than fresh herbs and should be used sparingly.
Vinegar
Vinegar is the primary preserving agent in acidified pickles. It’s made when bacteria convert fermented liquids—such as wine, cider, beer, or other forms of alcohol—into a solution of water and acetic acid. The liquid from which a vinegar is made greatly influences the flavor of the final product. When making acidified pickles, use only store-bought vinegars with 4–6% acidity (the acidity should be listed on the label)—homemade vinegars aren’t recommended. Types of vinegars used for pickling include:
- White vinegar: The most common vinegar variety used in acidified pickles, distilled white vinegar is made from grain alcohol, has 5% acidity, and is the cheapest form of vinegar available. Some people find it to be too harsh and astringent-tasting and prefer to combine or replace it with milder vinegars.
- Cider vinegar: Equally as acidic as white vinegar but with a mellower, earthy, and fruity flavor, cider vinegar is a popular substitute in sweeter pickle recipes, such as bread-and-butter pickles.
- Wine vinegar: Vinegars made from wines have subtler, more delicate flavors than white vinegar and generally have a slightly lower acid content—between 4% and 5%. The flavors of wine vinegars vary widely from brand to brand, so try different varieties to find one you like.
- Other vinegars: Balsamic and malt vinegars have high acidity (about 6%) and can be used for pickling, but they should be use sparingly due to their strong flavors. Sherry vinegar has an intense, sweet, and nutty flavor and an acidity of 7%. Rice wine vinegar, though sweet, is much milder, with an acidity of 4–5%.
Water
Subtle differences in the mineral content of the water you use can affect your preserved foods noticeably. Water that’s high in iron or sulfur, for example, will darken your food, whereas the presence of magnesium carbonate or calcium can cause vegetables to shrivel slightly and become tough. Consider purifying your water in a carbon filter or purchasing distilled water if these issues are important to you.
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