food in jars
October 6, 2011 at 1:07 pm | Posted in books and mags, chatty, cooking is crafty too, I love to make things... | 10 CommentsI was very lucky to take Marisa McClellan’s Food in Jars class while she was here in Portland this week. I registered the day I saw her post about it, and I’m so glad I did! We made a truly amazing batch of pear-vanilla jam – the recipe is on her blog, with what sounds like a few little tweaks for this version. It was really fun and the jam is so good. I’ve had some every day since Tuesday, though I’m trying to make that little half-pint jar stretch as far as it can…
After two nice summers and falls of preserving everything I could resulting in a constantly full freezer (two actually!), I wanted to learn real hot-water bath canning and master the art of shelf-stable food. But I felt very hesitant to teach myself – picturing the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving open on the counter, with a huge pot of water boiling on the stove and two little kids running around and a timer ticking away while I tried for a perfect seal on my jars and a completely food-safe result solo sounded… stressful. But hanging out with Michelle and Katie (yay for PMQG!), and a dozen other nice canners in a big, bright commercial kitchen while Marisa answered all our questions on USDA regulations, ingredient substitutions, acidification levels, separation in jams, jar seals, and BPA-free options (gee, guess who was asking about that??) was really fun!
We started out with Bartlett pears from the farmers market. We chopped them up (no need to peel them) and measured out 10 cups per batch.
Then Marisa showed us how to combine the sugar with the chopped pears
and the jam mixture simmered on the stove (in a gorgeous 14-quart enameled Le Creuset pot that probably cost more than my sewing machine – !!!) with two vanilla beans until it was super beautiful. Marisa uses liquid pectin, and I had only ever used powdered in my recipes, so that was interesting to check out, too.
I got to fill some of the jars – that’s my favorite part of canning. Kind of like the happy top-stitching feeling of a cool sewing project (if that makes any sense). Yay!
Then we took a short break to try some of the jam with sliced baguette! OMG, it’s awesome.
Processed the jars (half-pint wide-mouth BTW) for 10 minutes and then we each got to take one home!
KitchenCru even surprised us all with a very deluxe dinner, left from an event earlier in the evening. Perfect timing at 9 pm after being around delicious pears and vanilla all night!
Here are all the notes I took – jam on the left, general questions and tips on the right. I’m so glad I got to learn so much about canning from Marisa. I love to read craft books and try things myself, but food safety is not somewhere I want to bend the rules or misinterpret the directions.
I wrote my canning class notes right into the next pages of my family cookbook! I’m so happy to have them right with my favorite recipes.
Speaking of cookbooks, Marisa has one coming out next May! I can’t wait for that. Hopefully she’ll come back out to Portland for another event. In the meantime, I went to Fred Meyer and Powell’s on Hawthorne and bought a 22-quart canning pot and a canning kit for when we pick apples next weekend – no more grabbing jars with regular tongs! (FM has all their canning stuff marked down 30% right now if you need anything too…)
I wanted to share some more photos and talk about other things but I think I will wait til tomorrow. It’s nice to stick to just one thing for once, I am usually trying to cram writing up a week’s worth of stuff into one nap… so I will be back soon to talk sewing + craftivism!
10 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
This class sounds like it was so much fun! I would love to learn about how to do real canning like this — I’ve only ever done freezer jam! But I too am afraid to try it by myself at home, and I don’t even have children running around. A class sounds like the perfect thing! I know you’ve done a lot of preserving before this class. Any suggestions on where to start before diving into all these giant pots of boiling water? Pickles, maybe? You’re a rock star!
Comment by Amy— October 6, 2011 #
Amy – I felt the same way! Love making freezer jam, but didn’t want to burn myself or worse trying to figure out how the #$%& you do food-safe hot-water bath canning at home, from a book. I definitely think a class is the way to go when you are ready (a woman in my class also took one at the community college here for $10 and said it was great). I haven’t made pickles but I think there are refrigerator ones, right?? I love freezing tomato sauces, and soup and beans too. It has made me more confident to put up food, even “just” freezing it.
The other really helpful things in class were getting some reference points on how to fill the jars (1/4-1/2″ from the top), how much acid some foods need to have added for food safety, and watching someone knowledgeable process the jars. Keep me posted on what you try next, I know you will make some awesome stuff!!
Comment by Susan— October 6, 2011 #
That sounds like an amazing class, Susan– I am envious! I enjoy her blog so much and have learned a lot from it. She needs to come to the Other Portland now (that would not be nearly so far to drive).
And the pear-vanilla combo is delicious– I made a no-pectin version of that.
Anne-Marie
Comment by greenishmonkeys— October 6, 2011 #
this looks like so much fun! I made some freezer jam the other night with figs from Lynn’s yard and pears from a neighbor (with BPA free jars and lids!). So good! But I have been scared to try “real” canning. Hmm..
Comment by Nicole Vasbinder— October 6, 2011 #
Looks like you all had a BLAST! I just finished canning the last of my pears last night. I made pear butter, and am now wishing I had more of them so I could try that vanilla pear jam recipe, looks fantastic!
Comment by Brittany Scott— October 7, 2011 #
Yummy! What a fun class to attend and what a delicious looking end result
Comment by Mellisa ~ ChinookJewelry— October 8, 2011 #
This looks fantastic! I’m a canning virgin and have been dreaming of making some jams/jellies with pretty labels. I too wish this class was closer to the other Portland! I will need to try and find a class like this in my area. I’m curious as to what freezer jam is…is that just making the jam and keeping it in the freezer instead of actually putting it through the canning process?
Comment by Kate— October 18, 2011 #
[...] love Marisa McClellan’s blog Food In Jars (and was so lucky to take her pear-vanilla jam class last fall – especially since we have pears on our tree for the first time this [...]
Pingback by chive (+ sage) blossom vinegar « West Coast Crafty— May 22, 2012 #
[...] am a big fan of Marisa McClellan’s Food in Jars blog, and was lucky to take her pear-vanilla jam class here in Portland last year. She’s coming back this week to teach a strawberry-lemon jam class again, plus she’s [...]
Pingback by food in jars – the cookbook « West Coast Crafty— June 14, 2012 #
Generally I don’t learn article on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, quite great article.
Comment by 21 st century auto insurance— July 7, 2012 #