Ensuring High-Quality Canned Foods (Part 1 Of

* Exported from MasterCook *

ENSURING HIGH-QUALITY CANNED FOODS (PART 1 OF

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Canning Information

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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***** NONE *****

Begin with good-quality fresh foods suitable for
canning. Quality varies among varieties of fruits and
vegetables. Many county Extension offices can
recommend varieties best suited for canning. Examine
food carefully for freshness and wholesomeness.
Discard diseased and moldy food. Trim small diseased
lesions or spots from food.

Can fruits and vegetables picked from your garden or
purchased from nearby producers when the products are
at their peak of quality-within 6 to 12 hours after
harvest for most vegetables. For best quality,
apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, and plums should
be ripened 1 or more days between harvest and canning.
If you must delay the canning of other fresh produce,
keep it in a shady, cool place.

Fresh home-slaughtered red meats and poultry should be
chilled and canned without delay. Do not can meat from
sickly or diseased animals. Ice fish and seafoods
after harvest, eviscerate immediately and can them
within 2 days.

Maintaining Color and Flavor in Canned Food

To maintain good natural color and flavor in stored
canned food, you must:

* Remove oxygen from food tissues and jars,
* Quickly destroy the food enzymes,
* Obtain high jar vacuums and airtight jar seals.

Follow these guidelines to ensure that your canned
foods retain optimum colors and flavors during
processing and storage:

* Use only high-quality foods which are at the proper
maturity and are free of diseases and bruises.

* Use the hot-pack method, especially with acid foods
to be processed in boiling water

* Don't unnecessarily expose prepared foods to air.
Can them as soon as possible.

* While preparing a canner load of jars, keep peeled,
halved, quartered, sliced, or diced apples, apricots,
nectarines, peaches, and pears in a solution of 3
grams (3,000 milligrams) ascorbic acid to 1 gallon of
cold water. This procedure is also useful in
maintaining the natural color of mushrooms and
potatoes, and for preventing stem-end discoloration in
cherries and grapes. You can get ascorbic acid in
several forms:

** Pure powdered form--seasonally available among
canners' supplies
in supermarkets. One level teaspoon of pure powder
weighs about 3
grams. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon of water as a
treatment solution.

** Vitamin C tablets--economical and available
year-round in many
stores. Buy 500-milligram tablets; crush and
dissolve six tablets per
gallon of water as a treatment solution.

** Commercially prepared mixes of ascorbic and citric
acid--seasonally available among canners' supplies
in
supermarkets. Sometimes citric acid powder is sold
in
supermarkets, but it is less effective in
controlling
discoloration. If you choose to use these
products, follow the
manufacturer's directions.

* Fill hot foods into jars and adjust headspace as
specified in recipes.

* Tighten screw bands securely, but if you are
especially strong, not as tightly as possible.

* Process and cool jars.

* Store the jars in a relatively cool, dark place,
preferably between
50 degrees and 70 degrees F.

* Can no more food than you will use within a year.

ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿ * USDA Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539
(rev. 1994) * Meal-Master format courtesy of Karen
Mintzias



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