Stretch Your Food Dollar: Canning and Preserving
Hey everyone – this is the fourteenth installment of our food budgeting series;. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. They’ve really been driving the direction of the posts. This week I want to talk about canning and preserving, based on an excellent suggestion from Jane a few weeks ago.
Whether your growing your own food or you’re shopping the food sales and hitting the farmer’s market to get great deals on produce, right now we’re smack dab in the middle of the Fall harvest. What an exciting time to think about canning and preserving in your very own kitchen! The art of making pickles and jams is throw back to an almost bygone era. Your grandmothers (and probably some of your mothers) may have done their own canning, and you might have helped them. But how many of us actually take the time to make our own applesauce these days? The thought of putting things into little mason jars might seem daunting, but it’s actually easier than you think. It’s a great weekend activity that the whole family can participate in. And it’s also fun to invite a few friends over to enjoy a bottle of wine and make jam together. As an extra bonus, homemade preserves make excellent (and cheap) holiday gifts. And who doesn’t love a two-fer?
One of my favorite things to do in the Fall is make homemade applesauce. There are so many different apple varieties available in the Fall. And if you’re looking for a cheap date, apple picking is something that would definitely stand out as a fun and unique date. Yesterday Ina Garten shared a quick applesauce recipe on The Barefoot Contessa. You’ll need 3 pounds of apples and an oven. If you don’t already have Mason jars and a large lobster pot, you can preserve the applesauce by freezing it in airtight containers. It’s a great accompaniment to pork chops or lamb, but it’s a tasty treat all on its own.
To make preserves in jars, you will need clean, sterilized jars, fresh lids, and clean, sterilized rings. You can reuse jars and rings, but you’ll need to purchase new lids each time you bottle things because the rubber seal is what keeps the food safe from bacteria. Sterilize your jars and rings by boiling them in a big lobster pot before you fill them. For a full explanation of the canning and bottling process, check out the USDA’s guidelines. There are many recipes available for making jams and jellies. I have found the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook to be really helpful (and it’s just a fabulous, basic cookbook anyway . . . well worth having in your kitchen).
Remember my lament about okra? We were still getting it in our CSA basket as of last week, if you can believe it. It has been challenging to find new ways to prepare this fiber-rich veggie. So last week I decided that I should just pickle the rest of the okra and take a long break from it. Who knows? Maybe in January I’ll have a craving. There’s an easy recipe on Martha Stewart’s website for pickled okra that I used. I’ll let you know how it tasted when I’m actually in the mood to eat it.
I hope that you’ll try making your own preserves this season. It’s fun and economical. Plus it’s a great way to stretch your food dollar by getting great deals and then enjoying your bargains during the off season.
Next week I’ll be talking about root vegetables and giving you some delicious recipes for beets, turnips, and all the other amazing vegetables that are just coming into season. I just hope your appetite can wait that long!
Photo credit: stock.xchng.
Pickled okra? I don’t know Serena, but that might be sitting on your shelf for quite some time. Maybe in five years from now I’ll ask you how it tasted. Chances are, you’ll say you’ve never tried the stuff and forget that you have a shelf full of it at home. LOL.
Excellent article and idea. I was thinking about this just recently, or rather thinking how I had no idea how to do this and if there should ever be a fall-out I think I might need this information. But aside from my own apocolyptic fears it seems like it would be fun to do with the kids!
Thanks!
My mom used to can EVERYTHING from our garden. We’d have canned tomatoes, green beans, okra, you name it. If it grew, it got canned. I hated it. There was so much cooking and I was required to help.
Now? I miss my mom’s green beans the most.
Thanks, Serena…glad you took my suggestion! Canning is really easy and budget-wise. My mother canned everything from applesauce to zuchini! There was a sense of accomplishment to canning…all those nice shiny jars full of lovely food for the winter. She made spiced crabapples, bread & butter pickles, and even pickled watermelon rind! I’ll admit my personal experience is limited, but I have done preserves (VERY easy).
mmmmmm . . . we have lots of apples left over from last weekend’s debate tournament at ISU. I think I’ll make some applesauce so they don’t go bad 🙂 What a great idea.
The art of preserving food seems to be a thing of the past – that is for sure. Spagetti sauce, pizza sauce, ketchep, and tomato soup work great in large quantities and you can’t beat the taste with anything you buy at the store. The other benefit is no MSG. That shows up in so many products on the store shelf it is frightening.
Thanks for another great post.
Tiffany – yes, you want to be ready for the zombie uprising. But honestly, in the event of a zombie attack, candy bars are going to be your best bet. Gotta keep on the move!
Kevin – I think you might be right about the pickled okra. But it’s nice to know that when the apocalypse comes (a la zombies or a crashing world economy), I’ll have some veggies on the shelf.
Bil – there’s a bar in Long Beach that serves $2 Bloody Mary’s with pickled green beans instead of celery stalks. Yummy!
What are you canning next?
Hey Serena! Again, a very useful article. Now if I could only find the time!
Canning? That sounds like a lot of work!
Although I did see this woman on Oprah who cans her own blueberries as conserves and saves a bundle on Christmas presents. Great for her, but if I were one of her friends, I’d be like “Blueberry jelly? Again? Gee, what an effin’ surprise.”
Good Article Serena…
Now for those of you who want to take up canning there are lots of good books available from the USDA or reprinted by Dover Publications…and if you want to do Jams and Jellies Dover has reprinted May Byrons “Jams and Jellies” a British book over 100 years old an originally titled “May Byrons Jam Book”.
The Marmalades especially turn out great but you need to invest in two main pieces of equipment…a large Preserving Pan and a Pressure Canner…though the Pressure Canner can be Optional for high sugar preserves if you don’t intend to store for long periods.
Again these are two things that you should treat as INVESTMENTS and spend the money on as good ones are truly expensive.
A Solid Copper Preserving Pan can be had from Mauviel of France through http://www.metrokitchen.com out of Atlanta…they at least have Free Shipping.
The BEST Pressure Canner is made by the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry http://www.wafco.com. go to the Consumer Products Category…they are called “All American Pressure Canners”…they have been made since 1930 in a range of sizes. The BEST part about them is they do NOT have any sort of Rubber Seal to go bad and need replacing like all the rest…they are machined to tolerances tight enough for a functional Metal-to-Metal seal.
I’ve had both a Preserving Pan and two different size Canners…a “standard” size that holds 7qt/10pt jars the model 915 and a very small now discontinued model the 907 that only holds 4pt jars.
All three have lasted for almost 20 years now.
I may make Kumquat Marmalade this year…depends on how the fruit is and if I can get over to Dade City to pick some up.
~ Roland
Roland, thanks for the excellent advice about purchasing equipment. One way to save money on bottles is to look at the thrift shops, especially Deseret Industries. Mormons love to can and bottle things. So DI is a good place to look for used accouterments.
After you can things, where do you store them? In the freezer or in your cabinet?
My mother still cans all the time- everything from veggies to jam. It is a great way to save money and it makes it easy for me to snag free home-cooked food when I go home for a visit!
Great article, Serena!
Jessie – good question. Some jams you can just store in the freezer without going through the process of getting a canning pot, bottles, seals, etc. But after something has been sealed in a jar, you can keep it in your pantry.
I LOVE pickled okra!! (grew up in the south) I’ve never made them, though. Can’t wait to hear how yours turn out, Serena. The pickling breaks down the mucilage in the okra, so they aren’t slimey anymore.
I’ve always wanted to try canning applesauce. You may have finally inspired me to go on and DO it! I’m going to go look at the BHG cookbook you recommend.
Nice article, Serena. Thanks!
Serena, way to bring back the memories. Strawberry jam, peaches, pears, applesauce, all the veggies in the world. The days of old sitting in grandma and grandpa’s back yard cutting, peeling, slicing all those fruits and veggies. You’ve inspired me to try some of my own! Funny how as someone else said, as a kid, I was less than pleased with anything from the jar….and now, it would be a treat!
Serena, your article has inspired me. I think I’ll have to dig out my mason jars! I look forward to next weeks article so that I can find out what to do with these beets that came in my produce bag this week.
I’ve never canned anything, but it does sound like some fun. To save money and eat more naturally, I’ve been buying pinto beans and rice in bulk (like 20 pound bags)- A 10 dollar bag of rice has lasted me 6 months and still kicking. I cook my re-friend beans from scratch. I had to get used to soaking the beans the night before- I would go to make dinner and remember, ‘right… I should have soaked them yesterday to make them today… oh well’ but once I got in the habit I make a giant container of beans and rice to last the week. Beans and rice also make for good survival food- they last a long time… then you can cook them as long as you have gas.
I can’t wait until I have a bigger kitchen and more time… I’d be a cooking fool. =)
MMM I love pickled okra. This year I’ll be canning for the first time from my garden!
Excellent article. And preserves are especially ideal, since many berries are coming into season.