Thursday, July 29, 2010

Canning 101

Posted by Wendy / 4 comments » / Recipes


After reading several of Michael Pollan’s books and watching Food Inc. I became very concerned about whether I was eating real food or some genetically altered version of food. I know I won’t be able to change my eating habits overnight but I thought canning was a great way to get back to basics. Using fresh fruit from local farmers is an important part of my canning process.

I headed to Johnson’s Corner Farm to pick up some blueberries and peaches. They had an abundance of fresh blueberries from Whalen Farms and peaches from the Johnson’s Farm. Score! My first batch was a blueberry butter recipe from the lovely Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars.

While it may look great in the photo the actual batch of butter came out more like a jam than a butter. This recipe calls for the blueberries to cook on low in a slow cooker. Newer slow cookers “low” setting is unfortunately sometimes too hot for certain recipes. Within an hour the blueberries were bubbling. I tilted the lid. Still bubbling. Took off the lid. Still bubbling. I turned it to warm. Still bubbling. Needless to say I was not able to cook the blueberries as long as I needed to get the butter consistency. A taste test revealed that the flavors had not melded together. Sigh. I’m chalking this up to a learning experience and moving on.

See the peaches in the background? I intend to can some peach jam. Fingers crossed this batch turns out!

Posted by Wendy on July 29, 2010
4 Comments »
 

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4 Responses to “Canning 101”

  1. 1

    Marisa — July 29, 2010 @ 9:50 AM

    I’m really sorry to hear that your blueberry butter didn’t work out as you had hoped. I would recommend waiting a couple of weeks and then opening a jar to try it again. Sometimes, a bit of time hanging out in the jar helps preserves mellow and blend.

    • Wendy replied: — July 29th, 2010 @ 10:28 AM

      Marisa thanks for the tip. I’ll definitely hold onto them and open another jar in a couple of weeks. Your peach jam is next on my list:)

  2. 2

    Angel Roork — July 31, 2010 @ 3:38 PM

    Yum, blueberry butter sounds awesome! Sorry it did not work out as you had hoped. Marisa may be right. I remember my mom making us waiting a long time (at least it seemed like forever as a child) before we were aloud to open the jars. Also, you may want to check out local goodwill, thrift shops or yard sales and pick up an old slow cooker. FYI: If I was in Jersey right now, I would so stop by an steal a jar. :)

  3. 3

    Apple Butter | La Phemme Phoodie — September 4, 2010 @ 11:55 AM

    [...] first attempt was a Blueberry Butter recipe from Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars. My slow cooker starting scorching the blueberries way [...]

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