MOUNT VERNON — When LuAnn Duncan, OSU-Knox County Extension Educator, checks pressure canner gauges on Friday at her office at 1025 Harcourt Road, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., she knows what she’s doing. Duncan grew up helping her mother with that summer chore of food preservation, and has been doing her own canning for more than 20 years.
This summer, as gasoline and food prices skyrocket, people are looking for ways to hang on to more of their money. One way is to preserve fresh food — by canning, freezing or drying — so nature’s bounty can be enjoyed in the depths of winter, and without having to drive to the store to buy it.
Canned food is preserved in glass jars with sealed lids; the airtight seal is achieved by processing the jars in either a hot water bath or a pressure canner. It’s essential that the jars remain sealed, as otherwise food is compromised and made dangerous by the growth of bacteria in contact with air.
Many people are afraid of pressure canners because they hear stories of explosions. But the truth is, pressure canners are faster than a boiling hot water bath — Duncan likens them to using a microwave instead of a stove — and perfectly safe ... as long as cooks pay attention and don’t get distracted and walk away from them.
Each year, Duncan hosts a free pressure canner check for the public.
“The reason to have the gauge checked is that you can do all that work only to find out if the gauge is not accurate, there is a chance that the temperature is not high enough to maintain food quality safely,” she said. “If it’s too hot, you can overprocess, which doesn’t affect food safety but does affect food quality.”
Mushy, unattractive green beans and beets are nearly as good a reason to take precautions as ruining an entire batch of good food because it’s unsafe to eat.
“Through each step of the canning process there are precautions to take to make sure the food will remain safe,” said Duncan. “People are afraid of pressure canners but it’s the not understanding how they work [that makes them afraid.] The biggest problem is people walking away from them and not paying attention. The heat mounts, the pressure mounts and there could be an explosion. But the canner has all kinds of signs of danger. Once you get to know your canner and have used it a few times, it all becomes second nature.”
Ellen Cooper of Mount Vernon also grew up helping her mother preserve food, using a pressure canner and other means.
“They can be dangerous,” she said of pressure canners, “but you just need to watch the gauge and be aware of what the pressure is, then it’s safe. You can can at 15 pounds of pressure. And mine also goes to five pounds above that; then it goes into the danger zone.”
Her two children help her preserve food and she said they enjoy it as much as she enjoys passing the tradition along.
One of Cooper’s favorite tasks is processing apples, which she does in a steamer-juicer.
“I’ll quarter the apples, add sugar and steam out the juice so I can bottle it. I pressure-can the juice, too. Then I run the pulp in the blender, add cinnamon and that’s my applesauce,” she said.
“I like to can,” said Cooper, who also dries fruit leather, freezes berries and makes salsa, spaghetti sauce and strawberry freezer jam. “I wish to see more people do it. You get done and there are all these clean jars and you know that you did that. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
Ruth Douglas of Fredericktown agreed. She’s been canning 15 years and she and her family work together to “put up” all kinds of foods that they grow in two gardens. She cans an Italian base sauce with tomatoes, onion, basil and parsley and a vegetable soup base of tomato, celery and carrots. The family makes apple butter outdoors in a big copper kettle. Douglas freezes carrots, cans salsa and whole tomatoes, makes juices, pickles beets and stores the canned goods in an underground fruit cellar off the basement. The Douglases store homegrown potatoes and onions in the barn for use over the winter; they also do their own butchering.
With five children still at home, plus grandchildren, Douglas said the family saves money by growing and preserving food. She also likes not having to drive to the grocery store on icy winter roads. But the best reason to go to all that work is the assurance of quality food.
“We know what’s in it,” she said. “It tastes so much better. And it’s so satisfying to see all those jars. I like having a fully stocked pantry.”
Both Douglas and Cooper said they will take their pressure canners to Duncan on Friday for the annual inspection.
