Vinton - The Put em Up! Preserving Answer Book

For all the eaters who ask questions and demand answers

I would like to thank my husband, Drew, and my kids, Ava and Thayer, for their constant support, lack of fussiness when I travel for weeks on end, and general buena onda. How lucky I am.

Thanks Mom, Granny Toni, and Gran for my formative eating years. I owe each of you for my obsession with all things edible.

I would like to thank Lisa Ekus and The Lisa Ekus Group for their kind attention and dedication to the movement.

I greatly appreciate Storey Publishing for signing this hat trick of three books. It has been a fabulous project and I appreciate everyone who contributed to the success of the series particularly my wonderful, even-keeled, calm, and inspiring editor, Margaret Sutherland, and the tireless, supportive, ever-smiling publicist, Alee Moncy. What a team!

Id like to give a shout out to my kitchen sistahs (and bros) who share the passion for delicious, homemade food and dedicate themselves to teaching others how to feed themselves.

And thank you readers, eaters, canners, and cooks everywhere for your support of local farmers and real, good food. Now get in there and cook up something tasty!

Is there any home cooking activity that churns up more anxiety than food preservation? Roasting your first Thanksgiving Day bird, perhaps. I understand that the turkey hotline rings off the hook on that day. Since Put em Up! first came out, in 2010, my phone and e-mail have been getting their share of jingles as well. Eaters all across the country have reached out with their preserving questions, concerns, and triumphs. The Q & A sessions in my classes have been terrifically robust. There is so much to know about this craft, and it has been a challenge and a pleasure to work through the answers to all of the questions that have been posed along the way.

This book is by no means an exhaustive overview of all food preservation processes. It does, however, aim to answer the most frequently asked questions about putting up your own produce. Consider it a hit list of the problems and solutions that many home preservers face when drying, freezing, fermenting, infusing, and canning their food.

I am very grateful to the eaters who have trusted me to help them clear their kitchen hurdles. I hope, in some small way, that I have encouraged more people to return to the kitchen to cook up, preserve, and enjoy not only great-tasting food but also lasting memories of lovely times and delicious things shared with friends and family. After all, while there is a great deal of technical information involved in these processes, the goal isnt to perform a science experiment. Its to create your next great meal.

I hope you find the answers here to all of your preserving questions. But if you dont, give me a shout. The hotlines always open.

If you were to ask me the hardest thing about preserving your own food, I would have to say its simply getting started. For many home cooks, taking their first turn at preservation can be intimidating. Learning to use unfamiliar tools and mastering the techniques seems too high a hurdle to clear. Even the most experienced home preservers can find themselves procrastinating before jumping into the seasons first canning session as they tick through a mental list of equipment and ingredients they need to gather.

But preserving your own food doesnt have to be difficult or frustrating. Getting Started gives you all the tips, tricks, and information you need to slip right into the preserving pool. Whether you are looking to dip a toe in and test the waters perhaps by simply drying a bit of fruit or freezing a batch of berries or you are ready to jump head first into putting up your summer garden, this section gives you all the fundamental knowledge you need to get on your way.

Walk through the aisles of any grocery store and you are sure to find shelves so heavily stocked, it seems easy to argue against preserving your own food. We can get anything at any time these days. But its important not to mistake quantity for quality. The best food still comes out of your kitchen, from your hands. You can make food that tastes better, that is better, than anything you can find in the store. It is easier than you think, and safer than youve heard. And youre sure to come across recipes that allow you to create things that are more fantastically flavorful than anything money could buy.

Q: Whats to love about preserving your own food?

A: Oh, let me count the ways! For me, its all about connection. Preserving my own food keeps me connected to my local farms during the fallow season. It just plain feels good to see food from the people I know and trust lined up on my shelves. It also connects me to my past as I resurrect the tastes and techniques that have been passed down through generations of my family and other preservers like me. And preserving food connects me to my friends and family. Sometimes we are all working together in the kitchen to put food up, and that feels great. I am also able to bring jars of my tasty preserved foods to friends when I visit or send them care packages across the miles. Its a way to feed some of the people I wish I could have around my table more often. Maybe thats a little sentimental, but foods pretty deep that way for me. Here are a few reasons I would recommend that you give it a whirl:

• Delicious. Homemade food always tastes best. There isnt an assembly line out there that can compete with a good turn in a home kitchen.
• No preservatives. You control what goes in the jar.
• Preserves local agriculture. Canning is just another way to buy and eat local.
• Uses up surplus. Waste not, want not.
• Fun. Spending time with good food and maybe even some friends and family to help out what could be better?

Q: Can you really preserve your own food if you have a modern (read: busy) schedule?

A: No doubt about it, preserving food takes time. But it doesnt always have to be a lot of time. There are projects that can be accomplished in a jiffy. While you might not always have the chunk of time you want to put up a years worth of tomatoes, there are other preserving methods at your fingertips that can help you keep your pantry stocked. Here are a few quick preserving ideas for when you have more produce than time:

• Freeze it. Frozen fruits, such as berries, can be added directly to recipes without defrosting. You can also save up your berries and turn them into sweet spreads and more, later in the season.
• Dry it. Ten minutes is all it takes to run a piece of thick string through the stems of a couple pounds of chile peppers. Let them dry, and you will have spice all year long.
• Chill it. Vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, radishes, and zucchini make terrific refrigerator pickles. Submerge them under your favorite brine and they will keep in the fridge for at least 3 weeks.