Food PRESERVATION Q&A

Stretch your dollar by learning how to preserve your harvest.

- STEPHANIE THUROW

For nearly a decade, I've been teaching people how to preserve food. Though I teach all methods of food preservation, I'm most passionate about water bath canning and fermentation.

Over the years, I tend to receive the same questions from students and hear similar stories. I've learned that beginners feel debilitated by the amount of information there is out there, and they don’t know where to start (so they don’t). At nearly every class someone tells me they haven’t tried preserving in fear of doing it improperly and “poisoning the family.” Many of my students take my class because they have memories of their great-grandparents or grandparents preserving big batches of kraut or pickles in huge crocks in the cellar. Sadly, those skills were never passed down, and now they want to learn how to do it themselves.

Learning how to preserve food stretches your dollar. Sure, there are some upfront costs, but you can use the supplies again and again. Preserving your own food retains more nutrition than what you buy in premade food from the grocery store. Plus, you have more control over the ingredients when you make it yourself. Having the skills of food preservation in your back pocket equates to less food waste. This is especially important if you're a vegetable gardener and aren't quite sure how to store loads of your harvest before it spoils.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in cooking from scratch, bread-making, gardening and food preservation. While teaching these skills, I tend to get asked the same questions over and over. I've compiled a list of my most frequently asked food preservation questions and have included the answers in hopes of putting you at ease in case you have similar questions.

WATER BATH & PRESSURE CANNING

QUESTION: What is the best preserve to begin with for someone new to water bath canning?