"HomeCanning" news and stories

Home canning is experiencing a resurgence like never before. The rising cost of food, coupled with a growing desire to eat more locally/sustainably (as well as fears over the BPA lining in many commercially canned foods) has driving lots of folks towards bushels of tomatoes, pressure canners and Ball jars by the gross.

However, canning can be a tricky thing if you didn't grow up processing pounds of peaches at your grandmother's elbow. Happily, for those of you who want to learn how to can enough dilly beans to get your family through the winter, you're in luck. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a free, self-study course in home canning that will give you the full scoop on general canning, as well as more nuanced skills that will allow you to can everything from homemade soup to your sugar-free applesauce that your kids love.

[via Farm to Philly]

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I have a theory that the summer, more than any other season, brings out the homesteader in many of us. There's this primal tug to gather up all the summer fruits and vegetables and put them "up" for winter. Personally, I've made canned cherries, plum jam and peach butter so far this year, and I'm hoping to make some blackberry jam as well before the season is out. I've also got a bag of kirbies in the fridge right now that are waiting to become a batch of pickles. I was planning on stirring up an asian-inspired brine, but having seen these rosemary garlic spears that Kelly made, I'm now thinking that I should follow her lead and go with those flavors. I'm certain that no matter what I do, they're sure to be delicious.

Thanks Kelly, for adding your pic to the Slashfood pool.

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My mom has always been a jam maker. Back when I was little and my family lived in Los Angeles, we had several plum trees in the yard. Every year (that they produced fruit, they occasionally took a season off), she would cook up multiple batches of jam. Of course, that jam rarely jammed, mostly because she couldn't bring herself to use the amount of sugar necessary to activate the pectin.

The years passed and we found ourselves living in Oregon, land of wild blackberries and cheap, pick-your-own blueberries. My mom kept trying, came to terms with the necessary sugar and turned out jar after jar of gorgeous, richly colored jam. There were a couple of years there where she even made enough to sell at a local craft fair.

These days, everyone is making jam, putting my mom on the cutting edge of this particular trend. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, home canning (and home canning hobbies turned artisanal businesses) are back. I, for one, can speak to the satisfaction of having canning projects succeed. I made some apple butter last fall that I canned as holiday gifts and hearing the distinctive binging sound as the jars sealed was most delightful.

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