Canning Bacon

I had no clue bacon could be canned! However, I found the process several places online and decided to try it. It would be nice to have bacon available in an extended power outage instead of it spoiling in the freezer from no power!

Bacon (raw or partially cooked) can be canned by laying the strips on parchment paper, covering them with a second piece of paper, rolling it tightly and packing it into a jar.  If the bacon is longer than the jar you’re using, you can cut the strips in half to make them shorter, or fold the whole thing over before you roll it.

I used raw bacon and natural unbleached parchment paper, so you can't actually see the bacon through the paper in the photo above. Sorry I didn't take any photos of the process, but there are photos in the links below. Those 3 jars above contain about half a pound in each jar, my trial run. The next batch will be strips cut in half, to fit in wide-mouth pint jars.

Here are some links to check out. The first link below, and the maple syrup link, both have good photos of the process, and I like that they use food grade parchment paper, not brown paper bags others used that may contain chemicals.

Canning Bacon Links
http://texascookin.blogspot.com/2012/08/putting-up-canned-bacon.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/gay127.html
http://www.rural-revolution.com/2011/01/canning-bacon.html
http://akhomesteaders.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=foodcache&action=display&thread=289

Maple Syrup or Tabasco flavored Bacon

RuralSpin read and tried the various ways online to can bacon, finding fault with most of them. She details what she didn't like, and then she experimented to come up with her own hybrid version. She says, "You can consider other flavorings for your bacon besides just maple syrup or Tabasco sauce, including brown sugar, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried basil, cinnamon, or a mixture. For dried herbs and spices, just sprinkle them liberally over your bacon before rolling." 

One of the best lunches away from home that I've had in years was Shrimp and Cheese Grits. The generous garnish over the whole dish included hickory-smoked bacon laced with maple syrup. I think I could make that bacon with RuralSpin's technique, so I'm trying her method next!

Stocking the Pantry

I've kept a somewhat decently stocked pantry for many years, at first because I grew up in hurricane country, and now because I live miles from any grocery stores. Actually, I live more than 2 hours from stores that carry anything more than minimal fare. So I have come to rely on my 2 freezers for any abundance from my garden, and for grass-fed meats in quantity when available and less expensive.

However, relying on freezers is always iffy. A friend just 200 miles away lost the contents of a huge chest freezer during an 8 day power outage due to a fierce summer storm. I've been fortunate that the only extended power outage I've had here happened in a freezing winter, and I lost nothing from the freezers. But I can't count on always being that lucky. If an extended power outage happened in warm weather, I'm not sure I could make a wood fire (and keep it going for days) to cook everything in my freezers before the contents spoiled. Sure couldn't use the electric stove to cook during a power outage!

To remedy reliance on my freezers, I'm going through them and beginning to can some of the meats I have stored in them. My mother always canned beef, pork and chicken, although they froze the trout they raised because it tasted more like fresh-caught when thawed and broiled later on.

Here's a little bit of the pork shoulder I canned. The liquid is from the pork itself. The venison I canned 2 days ago was already on the pantry shelves before I thought to take any photos.

Lard and Tallow, hot and just out of the canner

Lard and Tallow, after cooling. Jar on the far right is chicken schmaltz, don't know why it didn't solidify.

I'm also rendering and canning all the pork and beef fat, salt pork, bacon, and sausage patties. Rendered pork lard and beef tallow don't really need to be canned if you store it in a cool, dark place, but the heat of this summer has shown me I need to do something else. It keeps better anyway if canned, to keep out the oxygen that causes it to turn rancid.

Canned salt pork chunks. The 2 jars on the left are trotters.

More canned salt pork. The small jars have cured and smoked salt pork with some herbs added. They will be great in a mess of greens or beans.

I already have a small pantry of home canned fruits and veggies, chicken stock, jellies and such, but not much in the way of protein, so the canned meats will be a bonus insurance policy. I know beans are a decent source of protein, but my body doesn't digest then very well, so I look to meat and eggs for protein. I've canned a few soups and stews with bits of chicken or beef, but not a lot. As a treat, I always can any bits of meat left on the bones as pet food when I make stock.

I'll have a separate post on canning bacon. YUM!

Blackberries are abundant!

A few berries ready to freeze, and a quarter on the tray for size

My Triple Crown thornless blackberries are fruiting in abundance this year! I expect to get several gallons off my short row. One of the things I will be making is Blackberry Savory, used like cranberry sauce but less sweet than the canned cranberry sauce.

Blackberry Savory

(From Sensational Preserves by Hilarie Walden)

Serve with chicken, turkey, duck or any white meat

Makes about 4 cups

1 Tbs. whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. allspice berries

4 pounds blackberries

2/3 cup Spiced Vinegar (recipe below)

4-1/2 cups sugar, warmed (see below)

Tie spices in a cheesecloth bag and put in a large non-reactive pan with the blackberries and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently 30 minutes.

Strain mixture through a non-metallic sleeve, like a jelly bag, and return to the pan. Discard contents of the bag. Over low heat, stir in the warmed sugar until it has dissolved, then continue to simmer, stirring as necessary until well thickened.

Ladle savory jelly into warm, clean, dry jars. Cover and seal per normal jelly canning directions. Store in a cool, dark, dry place at least 3 weeks before eating.

Spiced Vinegar

Use for pickling, salad dressings and mayonnaise

Makes about 5 cups (I cut the recipe in half)

1 Tbs. Allspice Berries

1 tsp. Whole Cloves

2 Cinnamon Sticks

1 Tbs. Whole Black Peppercorns

2 blades of Mace

2 Bay Leaves, torn

4 dried red chilies

5 cups red or white wine vinegar

Put all ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour into clean, dry bottles, distributing the flavorings evenly. Cover with acid-proof lids and seal.

This vinegar can be used after only one day, but it is better to leave it for 1-2 weeks before using. Store in a cool, dry place. If the vinegar is kept for some time, check the flavor. If it becomes too strong you might want to strain out the flavorings.

Warmed Sugar

Sugar will dissolve more quickly if warmed. Put the required amount of sugar in an ovenproof bowl and place in a pre-heated oven at the lowest setting for about 20 minutes until the sugar is warmed but not hot.,

Can Americans Cook?

Photo from thebittenword.com

Can Americans Cook? I see this question, in various forms, all over the internet... and actually I'm not sure what it really means, "cook". I must say I've eaten some very fine fare all over this country... and an abundance of dreck. My own plunge into real foods over the last year, and more recently into charcuterie, has shown me that I have far more to learn about cooking than I thought.

My 23 year old niece, who lives in this household, does what she calls "cooking" for herself and her mother. However, what she really does is heat food. As Michael Ruhlman says, "Heating isn't cooking. Heating heats. Cooking transforms!"

I grew up with the impression that French food/cooking was hifalutin' (haute bourgeois cuisine)... a concept absorbed growing up in the era of Swanson TV dinners and TV food marketing. In 1943 (when I was 3), there was a recipe for Apple Crisp Pronto, a concoction of packaged sliced white bread, margarine, honey and apples meant to help Rosie the Riveter get dinner on the table.

Now as I am starting to learn to make various charcuterie products, I have also been researching how to prepare them for the table. Let me tell you, it is an eye opener to see some of the thoughts about foods and cooking that have been lurking deep inside my head for many years!

So far I have cooked four of the five different kinds of sausages I made recently. Two were wonderful, and those were where I followed the recipe pretty closely. Two others have trashed after trying some in a meal, even though a bite was cooked and eaten as a trial patty before stuffing any of them. Those two were just not very flavorful, and I now believe it's partly because I cut down on the seasonings, thinking the amounts were overkill. That stems from my lack of experience in making sausage and knowing how flavors change over time, whether frozen or even refrigerated a day or two before cooking.

What the French (along with Spanish and Italian) countrysides provided was delicious food made from readily available, less expensive (or sometimes throw-away) items. It's not the expensive items that transform food (although truffles and caviar may, if you can afford them!). No, it's something else that transforms, and I'm searching for it... simple food prepared and presented with care and passion, and the elusive alchemy that fuels memorable meals.

Can you honestly tell me what the meat tastes like when you eat a BBQ sandwich (or even what kind of meat it is)? There's a current lawsuit against Taco Bell for false advertising, because their "seasoned beef" is less than 35% meat as required by the USDA. I bet those products are so covered in seasonings and/or sauces that no customer even notices there's almost no beef in them!

Photo from Naotakem's Photostream

What makes food taste delicious can be as simple as seasoning with spices and herbs, or marinating, and using delicate sauces... the attention to food preparation. (Of course, starting with quality food helps!) It takes Time, something many of us are unwilling or unable to expend on the task. We might miss Oprah! or NCSI... (someone should invent a font for sarcasm). It is just a mind-set about time, that's all. (The average American spends something like 15 minutes a day in the kitchen, and 3 hours in front of the TV.)

Time to prepare healthy, tasty food doesn't have to mean hours of drudgery in the kitchen. For example, the brined pork roast I wrote about recently took 10 minutes of my time to prepare the brine. The next day it took 15 minutes to brown the roast, turn on the oven, slice the onions and carrots and add some wine before covering it with foil. Then a few minutes to carve and serve later when it was cooked. That very small roast fed me for 5-6 meals, and took no more than half an hour of my actual time, spread over 2 days.

To be honest, some foods do take time to prepare, and I always have a learning curve where the preparation is even longer when it's a new food. I'm about to buy my first duck, which is expensive in this country.

There are many French recipes using duck. I realize now it's because they had them in their farmyards like we once had chickens, so they were cheap meat. A duck can provide many meals, and one use was putting the legs into a confit where they were covered with duck fat  in a crock, and stored in a cool place for several months. The famous cassoulet is nothing more than a slow cooked bean stew, with some sausage and duck or pork confit.

The bottom line was that to survive, those generations had to learn to preserve foods... all kinds of foods. In America during the last few years, home food preservation has increased dramatically, centered around home canning and dehydration. Probably many of us now have jars of homemade tomato sauce, jellies, jams and pickles on our pantry shelves, whereas 15 years ago it might have been unthinkable.

Charcuterie is simply a means of preservation, which was vitally important to the farmers and poorer classes of the populations in earlier times. (A confit like I mentioned above, is considered charcuterie.) Much charcuterie we know evolved in France and Italy because the climate was more moderate for curing things like olives, cheese, ham and salume. The charcuterie that evolved in say, Hungary or Poland, was quite different; they often smoked meats due to a colder climate, shorter seasons, and where the drying conditions were less favorable than in France, Spain or Italy. Regional charcuterie exists all over the world, in every culture because every culture needed to preserve foods.

In my opinion, the real key to the value of food preservation (besides economy, and the availability of food during possible disruption of electric and food transportation services) is how much we enjoy eating it later. (Make it tasty!)

I cannot tell you how many jars of some home-canned vegetable I have made and later thrown out because the taste was insipid and the texture just plain lousy. I'm getting better with learning how to adjust what happens to seasonings and textures during processing, but what's really important is that I have gained confidence in my home food preservation ability via canning and dehydrating to not poison myself... and now I'm ready to expand into meats other than home-canned.

That learned confidence about food safety makes me less afraid of killing myself (and friends) by preserving some meats. However, I cannot imagine a pantry full of jerky or pemmican, which are so easy to preserve. Sure, they qualify as preserved meats... but who wants a steady diet of jerky and pemmican?

So along with learning to make charcuterie, I want to look closer at French, Spanish and Italian countryside cooking for taste, and get over my learned bias. No, I will not be studying the foods of just those countries, but I'm starting there because there is so much written about them. I doubt I will ever be considered a cook, but hopefully I can learn to turn cheap cuts of meat into something tasty rather than merely edible.

I adore Julia Child, the towering Empress of the Kitchen, but truthfully have never attempted more than one or two of her recipes... and that was many years ago. However, I am told her book The Way to Cook teaches one to think about cooking, and that's something I really need to do!

Canning Pasteurizing Temperatures for pickles

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that last year I made a lot of lacto-fermented pickled vegetables. I did so because lacto-fermentation increases the nutritional content, and the veggies remain fairly crisp compared to vinegar-brined and water-bath-canned pickles.

Recently I came across this note on pasteurizing pickles from the Extension Service at the Univ. of Maine, which may interest some of you as a means of crisper pickles.

Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment

The following treatment results in a better product texture but must be carefully managed to avoid possible spoilage. CAUTION: Use this treatment only when recipe indicates. Place jars in a canner filled halfway with warm (120 to 140°F) water, Add hot water to a level 1 inch above jars. Heat the water to 180 to 185°F. Maintain this temperature for 30 minutes. Use a candy or jelly thermometer to check the water temperature, It must be at least 180°F during the entire 30 minutes. Temperatures higher than 185°F may cause unnecessary softening of pickles.

There are a few recipes on that page suitable for this method.

Fiona's Belgian Pears, with Options

There are blogs all over the internet highly touting Fiona's Belgian Pears, and since I had a glut of pears, I decided to make some. Surely, they couldn't be as good as the raves, but good nonetheless. And I had LOTS of pears.

Original Belgian Pears Recipe

The first batch I made with small pears a neighbor gave me, and followed the recipe exactly. I posted about them here. Then, because they really were wonderful, but a bit too sweet and short of pear taste, I made a batch with the larger, sweeter pears, using just half a cup of sugar. They were sweet enough that I probably could have left out the sugar altogether. It was a small trial batch and made just one quart, with a dish of them left over for my dessert. They did not look nearly as caramelized as the ones from the original recipe but the taste was similar, just not overly sweet.

Feeling adventuresome, I got a bottle of plum wine and made another small batch, using 6 ounces of plum wine, 2 ounces of champagne vinegar, and again, no sugar. I was hoping the pears would take on a pretty pink color from the wine, but they did not. They were sweet, and had a subtle taste that must have been from the wine.

Next up, pears using red wine to poach... and twice wine as much as in the plum wine batch. With all the batches, none have had enough liquid to cover all the pears sufficiently in the jars. I also added almost a cup of sugar, 3 ounces of champagne vinegar, and 2 small cinnamon sticks.

I started turned them half an hour into the process so they would get evenly colored and cooked. 

Somehow I didn't take a photo of the finished pears in the pan before I canned them, but here's a few on a plate. YUM!

So, here's a line-up of jars of the various Belgian Pears. Left to right: Original Recipe, Minimum sugar recipe, plum wine recipe, and finally red wine recipe.

Close-up of the pears in red wine on the right, my favorite of the bunch. YUM!

Pears, Pears and More Pears

A few days ago, I was offered pears... if I wanted some. Is the Pope Catholic? Of course I wanted some! All I had to do was go and pick them, and the friend who offered would be there to lend a hand and her long-handled fruit-picker with a wire basket on the end. Whooeee!

What pears you see on the tailgate above are just some of what we picked; there were more already taken to the root cellar before taking that photo, plus a few I dropped off to a neighbor on the way home. Then, I went out of town for several days immediately after pear-pickin'... and now that I'm home, it's time to do something with my pears. I have several recipes to try, and if I need more pears, the tree is still loaded.

Above is the beginning of a recipe for Belgian Pears, using small pears from my neighbor rather than the ones I picked above. If the recipe turns out good, I'll make another batch with the better pears. 

The pears are cooked at a very slow simmer in a light syrup of sugar and white wine vinegar for 3 hours covered, and then 3 more hours uncovered. It is supposed to produce pears caramelized with a real of depth of pear flavor. I found the recipe here. They could be canned in a water bath immediately after cooking, don't know if I'll do that or not since there are so few. Depends on how they taste; might not be enough left to can!

Update: 
Duh, I forgot to take a photo of the pears in the pan when they were done, before I put them in canning jars. Sorry. But, here's 2 of the jars I canned:

When Mike gave me the small pears I used in the Belgian Pear recipe, he mentioned that he didn't think they had much flavor this year. I didn't pay much attention to his comment because he dips tobacco and I think that affects taste buds, nor did I taste the pears. Well, I should have listened, or at least tasted a raw pear even though they were almost as hard as rocks! The Belgian Pears turned out unbelievably good, as the reviews said... but I doubted... However, there was not a strongly pronounced pear taste so I'm going to make another batch using the good pears.

Secrets to Tomato Sauce(s)

Photo courtesy KReese

Like many folks, I grow and can tomatoes in many forms. I make some into salsas, some into flavored sauces for spaghetti, pizza, etc... and some for all kinds of tomato relish, even green tomato 'mincemeat'.

Over time, I have found roasted tomatoes make the best sauces, whether fire-roasted, or oven-roasted; fire-roasted is best but not most convenient. I started oven-roasting tomatoes several years ago with a recipe posted in the Recipe Forum over on Dave's Garden. The first time I made after moving here, a neighbor's son stopped by... and insisted on a taste. He said it was the best-smelling, best-tasting tomato sauce he ever had... and now his mother makes it this way too.

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

4 pounds (+/-) tomatoes, stem and quarter

1 large onion, red or yellow, coarsely chopped (or 2-3 small)

2 Jalapeño peppers, seeded (leave seeds in one for extra heat)

16 cloves garlic

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dry oregano (or a bunch fresh oregano and basil)

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Use a 9 x 13 baking pan. Oil the bottom and sides of the pan, add other ingredients and drizzle remaining oil on top. Roast for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until juices are getting thick and tomatoes are just beginning to char. Let cool, and run through a food mill to remove seeds and skins. Season with salt and pepper. Freeze in portions, or process in a pressure canner following USDA guidelines. (To be safe, I only pressure-can tomatoes with some lemon juice in each jar.)

Photo courtesy KReese

Roasted Tomato Sauce Adaptations

Several pounds tomatoes, stem and quarter

3-4 large onions, quartered

2-3 bell peppers, quartered

several cloves garlic

extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Use directions from recipe above. Add any herbs to taste. After straining, you can add a can of tomato paste if you want it thicker, or some red wine to thin it. I've even added mushrooms! You may want to add a bit of sugar if your tomatoes are very acidic-tasting. Freeze, or pressure-can.

Now if you really want to make a jazzy fire-roasted salsa, gather:

Lots of tomatoes

Some Bell peppers

Some Hot peppers

Onions

Celery

Garlic

A few Carrots

Fresh herbs, your choice

Salt and pepper to taste

Soak some wood chips overnight. Build a hot fire on the grill (not with charcoal briquettes, they have additives that will taint the taste). Slice the carrots lengthwise into quarters, core the peppers, halve or quarter the onions... leave everything else whole. Add the wood chips to the hot coals to make smoke... and place everything on the grill to smoke/char for a few minutes. (You may need to do it in batches if you are making any quantity.)

As ingredients are roasted, place in a large soup pot on the stove. (Tomatoes will skin easily after being on the grill.) Cook over medium heat until the flavors mellow and the sauce has thickened. Run through a food mill if you don't like chunky salsa. Freeze in smaller portions, or use a pressure canner. The smoke/char flavor adds a dimension to salsa not found on grocery store shelves. YUM!

BPA in Canning Jar Lids, and Safe Alternatives

BPA is a chemical compound used in manufacturing polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. It is used in baby bottles, water bottles, medical and dental devices, lenses, food storage containers, household electronics, compact discs, DVDs and countless other everyday items. Epoxy resins containing FDA/USDA approved BPA are used to coat the inside of many food and beverage cans, as well as some aluminum water bottles.

BPA is an endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen. It also disrupts thryoid hormone function. (In tests, the estrogenic effect dispupts Pancreatic β-cell function and induces insulin resistance.) To date, more than 200 studies have found evidence that exposure to BPA, even at extremely low levels, is linked to numerous diseases and health problems because it can interfere with the body's hormonal system. It's dangerous for adults, but it's even more dangerous for infants and children because they're still developing and growing. Due to this clear and compelling evidence, regulatory agencies in the United States are taking action to lower consumer exposure to BPA.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to coat the inexpensive metal lids for canning jars, and that's worrisome to me. (It would be of even more concern if I had a young family and children to eat what I can.) The alternatives have been Weck Canning Jars or "Fido" Jars, but I have invested a small fortune in mason jars and cannot afford to replace them. Now I have found lids that contains NO BPA... TATTLER Reusable Plastic Canning Lids.

The lids are manufactured using a plastic compound that is safe for direct contact with food products. They utilize an FDA and USDA approved, food grade product known as Polyoxymethylene Copolymer (POM) or Acetal Copolymer. This formulation does not contain any Bisphenol A (BPA).

You use your own rings and jars, and the Tattler lids work in any accepted method of use, pressure cooker, water bath, etc. They come with a rubber ring which is also re-usable, so long as it is not damaged (cut or stretched). The price is slightly higher than the Ball canning lids (about 59¢ each unless you buy in bulk, vs 50¢), BUT they are reuseable, which regular lids are not.

Tattler has an online store, or you can buy these lids from Lehman's.

The only thing I noticed in their instructions is an allowance for slightly more headspace. I think I'll experiment, since the lids are reuseable.

Homemade Pectin from Apples

Ready to cook

It's always nice to know we can make our own pectin for jams and jellies if necessary, and there are several advantages: cost, convenience and no potentially dangerous chemical preservatives. See my post here for more details on commercial pectins.

The best pectin is made from citrus peels and seeds, but many of us don't live where citrus grows. If we had to buy the citrus fruit to make pectin, it would get very expensive. However, the next best thing is apple pectin, and apples aren't expensive. You may even have an old apple or crab-apple tree nearby, providing free apples.

The most important thing about making apple pectin is to use UNRIPENED apples. (The amount of pectin goes down as fruits ripen.) If you are making something with peeled and cored ripe apples, you can save those skins and seeds for pectin; most of the pectin is the seeds and skins, but it's better if you have green (as in not ripe, not as in green in color) apples, which contain more pectin. I picked a small bucket full from an abandoned tree on the roadside to make this apple pectin.

To cook the pectin:

Wash and stem the apples. Do NOT remove the core, but do cut out any bad spots. Add to a large pot and pour on just enough water to almost cover or float the apples. I brought my crockpot into my office so I could work, and not have to watch a pot on the stove. My crockpot doesn't hold much, so I had to do mine in 3 batches; I quartered the apples so they would fit easier in the crockpot but if I had used crab-apples I probably would have just halved them. 

Cook down until the skins and solids are really mush, stirring occasionally to prevent burning or sticking. I started mine on high in the crockpot, and after maybe an hour, turned it to low for 2 or so hours more. Strain the pulp through some cheesecloth or butter muslin. Let it drip, overnight if necessary; don't force it, or you will have cloudy pectin which will make your jelly cloudy.

How much pectin to use in a jelly or jam recipe depends on the strength of the pectin you just made. Once the pectin is strained and cooled, you can easily test the strength. Pour some rubbing alcohol in a small container, and drop in a teaspoon of the cooled liquid pectin. If it coagulates into a jelly-like mass that can be pulled out intact with a fork, it is strong enough to jell perfectly. If none can be picked up with a fork, you need to cook it down more. If it just some of it can be picked up by the fork, it will still jell, but loosely. Pectin strength depends on how juicy your apples were, how ripe, and how much water you added.

The test mix of rubbing alcohol and pectin is POISONOUS... do not add it back to the pot, or leave it where a child might drink it!!

After all mine was strained and tested (poor jell), I put it back in the crockpot and cooked it down by maybe 1/4, and tested again. (My photo of the jelled blob was too out-of-focus to use. I have mentioned before I'm not a photographer!)

Pour the hot liquid pectin in sterile canning jars, add lids and rings, and place in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water bath and allow to cool. (You could also put it in small plastic containers and freeze.)  Remove rings and wash the jars in warm soapy water. I never store home canned foods with the rings on them. It's easier to see a failed seal if the rings have been removed before storing. The canned pectin will keep for several months on a cool, dark shelf in the pantry.

It's really rosy colored, but not in the photo. Sorry.

To use the apple pectin:

When using homemade pectin, you can't just follow the proportions of fruit and sugar found on the chart in a Sure-Jell package; you have to understand something about what makes pectin jell. Basically, there are two factors: the amount of sugar, and the amount of pectin. Too little of either one, and you end up with syrup. It is possible to compensate for less sugar with more pectin, or the other way around... but you can't stray from the recommended ratios very much.

It is much easier to calculate how much homemade pectin to use if you will test the fruit or juice you have cooked for jam or jelly. (See here for a list of high, medium and low pectin fruits which will give you an idea of pectin that may be in your fruit.) It's just like testing your homemade pectin before you canned it. Put 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol in a small container and add 1 teaspoon of the cooked fruit/juice. If it makes a jelled blob, your fruit is high in natural pectin.

If it doesn't make a blob, add 1 tablespoon homemade pectin per cup of your cooked fruit/juice, and test again, and if necessary, do it yet again until you get a jelled blob the consistency you want in your jam or jelly. Remember, the container with the rubbing alcohol is POISON, so do not add it back to the cooking jelly; dispose of it promptly and properly to avoid a hazard.

If the juice contains enough pectin, you will add from 3/4 - 1 cup sugar PER cup of juice. (Don't forget to figure in the amount of homemade pectin you added.) If the pectin tested slightly less than firm, use 2/3 - 3/4 cup sugar per cup of juice. (Too much sugar coupled with low pectin will make syrup.) You also need to add a bit of acid, like the juice from one lemon to help the jam/jelly set.

When you think that your fruit-pectin mixture is about right, mix in sugar with the cooked fruit. Stir constantly over high heat, especially with jam, to keep it from burning on the bottom of the pan. After the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil, let it boil for about a minute. If you don't leave it in a rolling boil for a full minute, it may not set. (It needs to reach a temp. of 220ºF to set at sea level...  that is the jell stage; adjust temp.higher if you are in the mountains; use a candy thermometer if you are unsure.) It will foam... and you can skim the foam before pouring into hot jars. I always add about a teaspoon of butter just as it begins to boil; it eliminates almost all the foam and doesn't affect the jelly.

Note: Some recipes suggest equal amounts of homemade pectin to the juice if the juice is low-pectin. I'd just test and keep adding pectin until I got it really close...

If you are unsure if you have enough pectin, cook your recipe longer, and test for jell with a dab on a frozen saucer, just as you do with natural high-pectin fruits without added pectin. (Testing and adjusting the pectin content before adding sugar seems easier to me.)

Pectin in Jam and Jelly

Peach Melba Jam

It's summer fruit season again, and many of us are busy making jams and jellies.

I switched to Pomona's Universal Pectin about 10 years ago, and I love it. A box of their pectin is more expensive than a box of Sure-Jell, but you can get at least 3 runs of jam or jelly, versus just one with Sure-Jell. Another big plus is that you can reduce or even eliminate the sugar in a recipe and it will still jell, making it great for diabetics.

An often overlooked issue is that most commercial pectins (other than Pomona's) contain preservatives including potassium benzoate or sodium benzoate. Preservatives are what are known as biocides, and I don't want biocides in my foods. Many jam and jelly recipes call for ascorbic acid (Vitamin C, or some lemon juice) to prevent fruit from browning, and when it's mixed with the sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate in the pectin, it may form benzene, an aromatic hydrocarbon known to be a carcinogen.

How else Pomona's is different: the box contains 2 bags, one of pectin, and another thin packet of powdered calcium which you mix with a measured amount of water per the directions. The calcium water will keep for weeks refrigerated, and the pectin package can be re-sealed with tape after you measure out the amount needed for a recipe.

I swear I think Pomona's Pectin could jell water, and one of these days I am going to try it, just to see!

But, what happens when there is no pectin to purchase? Some fruits contain enough pectin to jell just with the correct amount of sugar, but for that you need no-added-pectin recipes, not the recipes on a pectin box. There are some great cookbooks dedicated to recipes for preserves, and the internet has many recipes as well.

Most fruits contain pectin, some more than others. The pectin content in all fruit is generally higher when fruit is just barely ripe, and it diminishes as the fruit matures from fully ripe to overripe. The process of ripening involves the breakdown of pectins, which softens the fruit as it ripens.

Here's a handy list of fruits by pectin content.

High pectin content fruits:
As long as the fruit is not overripe, these have enough natural pectin to jell with only added sugar.
Citrus skins (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons, limes, etc. - the pectin is high in the skin but low in the fruit), tart cooking apples, crab apples, lemons, wild grapes (Eastern Concord variety), cranberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, sour Apples, Blackberries, Currants, Gooseberries, Loganberries, most Plums (not the Italian kind), and Quince

Medium pectin fruits
These are low in natural acid or pectin and may need the addition of either acid or pectin.
Ripe Apples, very ripe Blackberries, sour Cherries, Chokecherries, Elderberries, Grapefruit, bottled Grape Juice, (Eastern Concord), Grapes (California), Loquats, Oranges, rhubarb

Low pectin fruitsThese always need added acid or pectin, and may need both.
Apricots, Blueberries, Sweet cherries, sour cherries, Figs, grapefruit, grape juice, grapes (other than wild and Concord types), melons, and oranges, Pears, Plums (Italian), Raspberries, Strawberries

Very Low pectin fruits
These always need added acid and pectin.
Nectarines, peaches, elderberries, grapes (Western Concord variety), guava, and pomegranates.

My grandmother always made her own pectin, and I'll cover how to do that in another post. Look for it soon!

Pickled Garlic Scapes

I didn't plant garlic last fall to harvest this summer, first time in years I haven't grown garlic. I need a new bed with better drainage, although most years the bed I have is adequate. Last year I lost about half my garlic, shallots and leeks to a wet year and poor drainage.

I seldom used all my scapes when I grew garlic, and many went to waste. This recipe for Pickled Garlic Scapes came in a newsletter from Southern Seed Exposure and it sounds delish. They adapted a recipe for dilly beans found in Sandor Katz's book Wild Fermentation. These are not naturally fermented like Katz would do (which would be healthier and full of lactic acid) but made like today's vinegar canned pickles.

Pickled Garlic Scapes
Ingredients:
Garlic scapes. Trim by snapping off the tough flower end and breaking into lengths that will fit into quart jars with at least half an inch of head space. We get 1 or 2 pieces per scape.

Salt
Whole dried chili peppers
Celery seed
Dried dill
White vinegar (champagne/white wine vinegar is less harsh and smoother than distilled vinegar)
Water

1. Thoroughly clean as many glass quart canning jars as you think you'll be filling - make your best guess.

2. Place in each jar: 1 tsp. salt, 1 whole dried pepper, 1 Tbsp. dill, and a small pinch of celery seed. Then pack each jar as tightly as you can with the trimmed garlic scapes standing on end.

3. For each jar, measure 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water. Bring the vinegar-water mixture to a boil, then pour it into the jars over the scapes, up to one half inch from the top of the jar, being sure all scapes are covered. Top off all jars, leave about a quarter of an inch of headspace; make more brine if necessary.

4. Close the jars with new lids, then place them in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes to heat process. Once the jars are cool, make sure the seals are good by checking that the button at the center of the lid doesn't pop.

"While you can let the flavors meld for a few weeks, we think these are pretty tasty after just a few days. You can skip the last step and keep the jars in the refrigerator and they'll stay good for several weeks. But if you do this step, you can store them for years without refrigeration."

They sound yummy enough that I will make some next year when I grow garlic again, but I will do a natural fermentation.

Making Ghee and Canning Butter

There are many posts all over the internet on 'canning butter' for long term storage. The use of the word 'canning' is not appropriate in all these posts because it isn't really canning. The true process of canning involves placing the jarred items in a high heat environment like a water bath or a pressure canner for a period of time to kill any bacteria spores, with the jars sealing as they cool.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation is the best source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation. The Center was established with funding from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA) to address food safety concerns for those who practice and teach home food preservation and processing methods.

The Center answered the questions about the safety of those directions for 'canning butter' here. They state: "In conclusion, with no testing having been conducted to validate these methods, we would NOT recommend or endorse them as a safe home-canning process, let alone for storing butter at room temperature for an extended period."

What I understand from those posted directions on canning butter is that that those methods have not fully eliminated all the water in the butter, which is about 18% or more in purchased butter (isn't it fun to pay $3-$4 a pound for that much incorporated water?) ... nor have they strained out all the milk solids (proteins, sugars and salts) which make up about 2% of packaged butter.

Ghee, on the other hand, is a much safer choice for canning and storing, although the government safe canning recommendations do not cover ghee at all. Unlike butter, ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation, and remains moisture-free. 

Ghee, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the Sanscrit word for clarified butter. Clarified butter has had everything removed but the golden-yellow butterfat. Ghee still contains all the fat-soluble vitamins like A and D but has had the lactose and casein removed. It has a higher smoke-point than butter because it no longer contains the protein and milk sugars, and I love using ghee to sauté because it has such a clean taste. Ghee can be used in any recipe that calls for butter, except it doesn't make good pie crusts (real lard is better than butter anyway), and cookies have a slightly oily texture.

The color, texture and taste of ghee depends on the source of the milk from which the butter was made, and the cooking temps to clarify it. Traditionally unsalted butter is used for ghee, and I recommend using organic butter from grass-fed cows so the nutritional content is higher, plus you are assured there are no herbicides, pesticides or antibiotics in the butter. Commercial unsalted butter is more delicate and has a shorter shelf life than salted butter, so manufacturers have to use fresher cream... which results in a better tasting butter.

Making ghee

One pound of butter will yield about one pint. I prefer to use half-pint jars (I generally cook just for myself) so I have a smaller amount opened when using it, although I have never had any become rancid like table butter sometimes does.

Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan, and slowly increase heat to medium as the butter begins to melt. When the water begins to cook off, the liquid will begin to foam. Reduce the heat again to the lowest setting, and stir occasionally. It may take 20-30 minutes or more to reduce the butter to a clear top layer and a layer of sediment on the bottom, depending on temperature. Too much heat and you will scorch the butter. When there is no longer any fizzle or foam when stirred, you can assume all the water has evaporated. This step is critical because any remaining moisture may reduce the storage time by attracting bacteria. If you cook it a bit longer, the bits in the bottom turn a darker brown and the ghee will take on a nutty flavor, preferred in some baking recipes. Overcooking will result in a bitter taste.

Put 2-3 layers of fine cheesecloth or butter muslin over a sieve or metal strainer and strain the contents of the saucepan into a warmed or heatproof container. I use a warmed 4-cup pyrex measuring cup to make pouring into canning jars easier.  Depending on the fineness of the cloth, you may need to strain it twice to remove all the solids (caramelized sugars and proteins). I save the solids and add to pet food for extra protein.

The liquid will be very hot, so handle carefully!

Unless I am going to use this ghee right away, I put it back into a clean saucepan and re-heat on low. Meanwhile I have sterilized canning jars simmering in hot water, and lids simmering in a small pot of water. Remove a hot jar from the water with a jar lifter, be sure there is no water inside the jar, and carefully fill with hot ghee to within 1" of the top. Use a funnel to keep hot ghee off the rim; if you do get some on the rim it won't seal. Use a paper towel dampened with vinegar or lemon juice to clean the rim. Place the lid on top and screw the ring down tightly.

At this point, you could place the filled jars in a water bath canner and process for 10 minutes (or more, depending on elevation), as a safety factor. Be sure the jars are covered by at least 2" of water before boiling. 

I do not water bath ghee, as the pure fat (if I have cooked all the solids and water out) is a type that keeps well without oxidizing, just as rendered lard or tallow will keep in a cool, dry place. The lids will seal as the ghee cools. Ghee, once opened, will keep for months refrigerated. I live in a relatively cool climate and keep some butter in a butter bowl in a cupboard in the kitchen in all but the hottest weather. I also keep opened ghee the same way, in a tightly closed jar on the shelf. Use your own judgment on canning and storing.

I make it a practice to wash all thoroughly cooled jars of anything I have canned before storing. Remove the rings, and wash in hot soapy water. Label the jars with contents and date, before storing. I never store any canned foods with the rings still on. That's because if any seal has broken in storage, it becomes clearly evident.

Earlier this year I bought some pastured butter on sale, and froze it. My experience is that frozen butter does not keep as well, or as long, as it does once converted to ghee. The ghee I have made is stored in a dry, cool pantry room, along with lard and tallow, on a bottom shelf.

2010 Tomato Blight Alert

Some of my internet gardening friends in Ohio are reporting blight on their tomatoes. 

Meanwhile, greenhouse tomato plants in St. Mary's County in Maryland have been destroyed after found to be infected the fungus Phytophthora infestans. Some in nearby Charles County have been destroyed as well. Plants were found to have active sporulation on May 13 despite two fungicide applications.

Univ. of Md. extension plant pathologist Kate Everts reported that the grower who had the original outbreak did keep some high tunnel tomato production.

Last year I had fewer than a dozen decent tomatoes off the more than 25 plants I had growing, and I am NOT looking for a repeat. I'm almost out of all the tomato products I canned summer before last when I had a bonus crop, and buying factory canned organic tomatoes is an expensive alternative.

If you are growing tomatoes, be alert for infestation. I understand a copper spray may be effective for organic gardeners but I haven't looked into the particulars. Your county extension agent should have some recommendations.

Pickled Oven-Roasted Beets with Onions

I actually used a full glass dish of beets for this recipe, but I took a few out for the photo so you could see the shallots and rosemary.

Trim beet tops to 1-2 inches, and the scrub beets well. Do not cut the roots; leaving short lengths of beet stems and roots attached keeps the beets from bleeding while roasting.

Pre-heat oven to 425ºF. Put 2 tablespoons or so of oilve oil in a glass baking dish. Add the beets in one layer and thoroughly coat the beets, adding more olive oil if necessary. Peel 2-4 garlic cloves (optional) and 3-4 shallots and add to the glass dish. Cut a sprig or two of fresh rosemary to add, then cover dish tightly with aluminum foil.

Place the baking dish in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes, or until a knife pierces the beets easily. The time will depend on size of the beets.

When beets are tender, remove dish from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. Then trim the tops and roots, and slip the skins. Discard the rosemary, shallots and garlic. If the beets are very small, you may want to pickle them whole, or quarter them. Mine were too large for that, so I sliced them about 1/4" thick; and with the larger beets, I also halved the slices.

While the beets are cooling, place a non-reactive pot on the stove. (Here, my quantities are tailored to how many beets I am roasting.) I used 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1-1/4 cups sugar, and 3/4 cup of water. Slice 2-3 large onions very thin, and set aside.

Before heating the vinegar sauce, I added a heaping tablespoon of my homemade pickling spices (recipe follows in a separate post), a teaspoon of mixed peppercorns (black, white, Schezuan, and pink), plus a heaping teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Heat the vinegar mixture enough for the sugar to dissolve, and taste it. Now is the time to adjust vinegar, sugar and salt if necessary. When the mixture is almost to a boil, dump in the onions and stir to wilt them. Then add the beets and bring it all just barely to a boil.

Fill hot, sterilized jars with the beets and onions, and top off with the liquid and spices from the pot. If it looks like there's not enough liquid, distribute what you have evenly amongst the jars and quickly heat more vinegar/water to finish filling the jars.

Wipe rim of jar to clean, add hot clean lids and rings, tighten and set aside on a towel to cool. Some folks like to put these in a water bath for 10-15 minutes, although the acid in the vinegar will keep the contents from spoiling as long as the lids seal. I find additional cooking makes the beets mushy.

If any jars have not sealed when cooled, just refrigerate them. Mine never last long enough to worry about spoiling! Some options for pickling beets are to add a thin slice or two of orange to each jar, and/or a small piece of cinnamon stick. If you choose to add cinnamon and/or orange, you might want to omit the garlic from the roasting pan.

By the way, roasted beets cooked as above and served warm (not pickled) make a very pretty and tasty side dish!

You can use a commercial pickling spice mix, but I have all the spices on hand anyway, so I mix my own.

My Pickling Spice Mix
These are approx. amounts only (I seldom measure exactly)

1 Tbs. yellow mustard seed
1 Tbs. whole allspice
1 Tbs. whole cloves
1 Tbs. whole mace, or crumbled mace blades
1 Tbs. whole coriander
1 small dried red pepper, crumbled
2-4 bay leaves, crumbled (how many depends on their size)
2 short pieces cinnamon stick, chopped or broken (not ground)
1 Tbs. juniper berries
1 Tbs. whole black peppercorns

Sometimes I add a tsp. dried ginger, just depends on my mood, and what I have on hand. Mix well and store in an airtight jar in a cool place (like the rest of your herbs and spices).