By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia

To make sure your home-canned and frozen vegetables and fruits
are safe and appetizing, follow the guidelines provided by
University of Georgia food specialists in the latest edition of
“So Easy to Preserve.”

The fifth edition of the popular book is hot off the presses,
says Elizabeth Andress, a UGA Cooperative Extension food safety
specialist and editor of the publication.

The book contains more than 175 tested recipes with step-by-step
instructions and in-depth information for both the new and
experienced food preserver.

Andress said experienced canners need the manual’s information
just as much or more than new canners.

Grandma said what?

“We’re trying to spread the word that home food preservers should
not be using historical cookbooks,” she said. “The Internet now
contains full-text versions of the cookbooks our grandmothers and
great-grandmothers used, like the 1918 Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
This doesn’t mean all the advice these books contain is
considered safe by today’s scientific knowledge and standards.”

It may be safe to use your ancestor’s 80-year-old cake or
casserole recipe, she said. But that’s definitely not the case
when it comes to pickling and canning recipes and instructions.

Along with home chefs sharing their canning advice over the
Internet, she said, this is creating food safety concerns in
canning, freezing and drying foods.

“The methods detailed in the new manual continue our tradition of
teaching USDA-recommended practices for food safety as well as
high-quality finished products,” Andress said. “We want to be
sure home canners are serving their families the safest and the
freshest food possible.”

The new edition includes information on new procedures not
featured in past editions, including many more recommended
techniques for home-canned salsas.

“So Easy to Preserve” has these chapters:

Preserving Foods: Different
methods of food preservation, how they work, related costs and
the amounts of foods needed.

Canning: The basics of canning,
which method is safe, what equipment is needed and steps to
follow to ensure a safe product.

Pickled Products: Ingredients and
equipment needed for successful pickling, recipes for cucumber
and other vegetable and fruit pickles and many relishes.

Jellied Fruit Products: Jellies,
jams, preserves, marmalades, conserves, butters, syrups, uncooked
jams and jellies and products without added sugar.

Freezing: How freezing affects
food, which foods don’t freeze well, what to do when your freezer
breaks down and how to freeze more than 150 foods.

Drying: How to safely dry foods
using an electric food dehydrator, how to prevent fruits from
darkening.

“Each chapter includes a list of most frequently asked
questions,” Andress said. “There’s also a table of problems,
causes and ways to prevent the problem from happening again.”

The UGA book costs $18, including standard shipping in the United
States. Order 12 or more copies at a reduced rate of $15 each
when shipped to a single address.

DVD, too

If audio-visual media is more to your liking, the “So Easy to
Preserve” collection includes a DVD series.

The video series consists of eight shows, each 20 to 35 minutes
long. Features include home canning of tomatoes, vegetables and
fruits; freezing fruits and vegetables; drying fruits and
vegetables; pickling; making jams and jellies; and a show devoted
to the canned specialties of hot chile salsa, mango chutney and
spicy jicama relish.

Experts show basic techniques throughout the videos and explain
reasons for modern guidelines.

“The DVD series also contains a separate collection of 13
important illustrated concepts and procedures to review when
canning,” said Andress. She also directs the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s National Center
for Home Food Preservation.

Each DVD series costs $39.95, including shipping in the U.S.
Order 25 or more copies at $35 per copy when shipped to a single
address.

Ordering information for the book or the DVD set can be found at
www.soeasytopreserve.com.

(Sharon Omahen is a news editor with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)