- Author: William Loyko Jr.
When I took my first home food preservation workshop, I was surprised at the simplicity of home canning. Most regularly used recipes are easy to follow, have only a few ingredients and all follow the same processing steps. I was hooked as they say. If you ask my wife, she will tell you that I am at my quietest when I am preserving. Since my first workshop, our household has not purchased jelly or jam from a store. Why buy a commercial product when you can make one at home, especially if you have the time?
As a group, we have made many jellies from commercial juice. In my first class, we made a red wine jelly. At home I made red wine jelly using a friend's wine he had made. It had great taste as wine and the taste of the fruit was evident in my jelly.
Our friends, the Master Gardeners of San Joaquin County, were having an Open Garden Day event (pre-Covid). It's a great event highlighting the demo gardens at the San Joaquin Ag Center, classes on gardening practices, tool sharpening, and much more. We Master Food Preservers were invited to set up a booth outside and show what we could do. So, we took on the task of making jars of jelly using commercial fruit juice. Most recipes call for a quantity of juice, and most often home preservers make their own juice from the freshest picked fruit they can find.
We did not have the time to make the juice and then make the jelly at this open garden event and therefore decided to use the purest 100% fruit juice we could find. We found a 32 ounce, organic, 100% fruit juice for around $8.00. Perfect for our task at hand.
We chose to do a low sugar with added pectin recipe for our jelly. The approved recipes can be found on the enclosed information flyer that comes with your pectin. If you are using a bulk pectin, there is also information about quantities of pectin to use on the container. Ball preserving has a page for calculating the amount of pectin to use in your recipe.
For the next four hours we made two batches of jelly from commercial juice. If you use the 100% no added sugar type, it saves you the time and mess of making your own juice from fruit. Although juice made from same day picked fruit is the best!
It's easy to see how much healthier your homemade low sugar jelly can be. No need to read store labels for high fructose corn syrup, or sugar, or cane sugar or any type of sweetener. No need to search the store shelves for the best jelly on sale. How long would 4 jars of jelly last in your home?
Now let's look at the economics, which is what I started to do… Let's not count the cost of the jar, because the jar and ring can be reused (you do need new lids) and factoring the depreciating cost of a jar over multiple uses, not necessary.
Depending on the brand of juice changes your cost. But let's use my $8.00 32-ounce bottle. The recipe calls for 4 ½ cups of sugar, that equals $1.31. The low sugar pectin from your local supermarket might be $5.00 ish. Add it all up to a total of $14.31 divided by 4 gives you a per jar cost of $3.58. That's much less than the $4.50 to $5.50 you might pay at the store.
Economically you can save money by preserving you own jams and jellies and think of the family fun you can have in the process.
Our Master Food Preserver group is having a workshop on March 19, 2022 on the topic of making jelly from commercial juice. The workshop will be via Zoom starting at 10 a.m. Please tune in to our Facebook page for information about registering for this free workshop.
Here are a few additional link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation about jams and jellies:
Making jams and jellies: Jellied product ingredients
Making jams and jellies with added pectin
See you on March 19!
- Author: William Loyko Jr.
Fermentation
When I went through my Master Food Preserver volunteer training in 2015, seems longer than that, there is a section on fermentation that was hidden in the Chapter 6 titled Preparation and Canning of Pickled Foods. Our training manual is a collaboration of the UCCE and the Washington State University. Here is a link to their website with lots of information you might find useful: https://extension.wsu.edu/clark/healthwellness/foodpreservation/
Our lecture was very informative about types of pickled and fermented foods, quality of ingredients, equipment needed, preparing fermented pickles and preparing sauerkraut. Our lab was focused on sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is a staple in Germany and German dishes. I never ever had sauerkraut so it was not part of my personal foods of choice.
I'm still not a fan of sauerkraut, but from a preservation process its amazing how simple it is to make this item. In fact, I would encourage you, if you have children or grandchildren, to make a batch. Cabbage and salt. Find a recipe, but paraphrasing its chopped cabbage and salt. When combined, the salt draws out the water from the cabbage and creates a liquid that will be used as a brine. Its this drawing out of water from the cabbage that is just one of the magic moments in fermentation. This may even encourage your children and grandchildren to try something they have made.
Back in 2015 our fermentation recipes were limited to sauerkraut and pickles. From a pickle perspective the flavor of the pickle can be dependent on the processing method used. Fermented pickles do require more time and effort than quick-pack pickles, but the flavor is very different. Sometimes quick is not the most flavorful. Visit the National Center For Home Food Preservation for some fermented pickle recipes.
Today, through research-based recipes, there are many different products that can be made through fermentation. (Please note that beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages are not included in home food preservation. They have their own sets of rules and yield their own flavors.) Our training and workshops now, along with fermented pickles and sauerkraut, include yogurt, kefirs and kombachu.
The Master Food Preservers of San Joaquin County have a workshop this month (February) about fermentation methods. Our members will present how to make sauerkraut and yogurt. Yes, you can make your own tasty yogurt and save money in the process. Our free workshop is scheduled (via Zoom) for February 19 at 10:00 a.m. See our Facebook page for registration information.
Lastly, check out our website for the latest recorded workshop and a great selection of recipes.
See you on the Zoom!
photo credit: A Coalcracker in the Kitchen
- Author: LeAnne Calderon
Fermentation…..What is it and can it be beneficial to my health?
LeAnne Calderon, UC Master Food Preserver, San Joaquin County
Kombucha, Kefir, Sauerkraut and other fermented foods are becoming more popular in the natural food markets. What are these products and how are they made? Fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. Eastern Europeans would put up as many as 300 heads of cabbage for their clan. The cabbage would be salted and allowed to ferment for use over the winter. Kombucha has been brewed for thousands of years as well. Many Americans have just become familiar with the beverage in the last few years as it has become available in local supermarkets. Kefir is another fermented product that has been around for centuries.
Fermentation is the process where microorganisms are encouraged to grow in foods producing desirable changes in flavor, texture and appearance. The two most common types of fermentation used for food consumption are (1) ethanol, used in kombucha and sourdough bread and (2) lactic acid, used to flavor and preserve fruits and vegetables.
Kombucha is the conversion of tea and sugar by a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). The scoby feeds on the sugar and releases probiotic bacteria. The kombucha becomes carbonated after the fermentation. Sauerkraut and pickles are fermented in a brine solution of water and salt. Lactic acid is produced by bacteria during fermentation of the natural sugars. (see this article from Colorado State University: https://fsi.colostate.edu/kombucha/)
There are many claims for the health benefits of fermented foods. Currently, there are many studies being performed to prove these claims…they boost your immune system, fight the flu, have antioxidant properties, probiotics, etc. One current article found that research has found fermented foods to have a higher bioactive molecule content and found improved antioxidant activity in fermented milks, cereals, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. Anti-hypertensive peptides were detected in fermented milk and cereals. The article concluded that the occurrence of healthy components and the activity thereof make fermented foods worthy of recommendation of regular consumption and inclusion in worldwide dietary guidelines. They go on to state that more research needs to be done in clinical trials to measure the effects in the different groups of the population. (1) This article is just one of many that are beginning to look at the benefits of fermented foods.
While the scientists are hard at work researching fermented foods, there are plenty of safe, tested recipes you can try at home to get started on your own fermentation journey. The health claims can only be speculated at the current time until more research is done, but we can still enjoy these tasty foods and enjoy eating fresh foods that we have prepared ourselves. Some links below for kombucha and sauerkraut can get you started. These tested recipes will assure the safety of your finished products.
Whether fermentation is something your family has been doing for generations or it is new to you, there are safe recipes for you to try to get started. In addition, washing your hands, sanitizing the food preparation area and using proper food preservation methods all are part of producing safe food products. Your local Master Food Preservers can answer your questions if you are unsure of any part of the food preservation process. Some good sources are the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, National Center for Home Food Preservation or your local UC Master Food Preservers. To get you started, linked below is a recipe for Sauerkraut and Kombucha.
Happy fermenting and be on the lookout for further research on the health claims of these delicious fermented foods!
Sauerkraut recipe https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/sauerkraut.html
Kombucha recipe https://foodsmartcolorado.colostate.edu/recipes/preservation/understanding-and-making-kombucha/
Health-Promoting Components in Fermented Foods: An Up-to-Date Systematic Review
Francesca Melini, Valentina Melini, Francesca Luziatelli, Anna Grazia Ficca, Maurizio Ruzzi
Nutrients. 2019 May; 11(5): 1189. Published online 2019 May 27. doi: 10.3390/nu11051189
PMCID: PMC6567126
Photo: Colorado State University
- Author: William Loyko Jr.
For the majority of folks, lemons make a great refreshment in the hot summer months. Children from all across America open up lemonade stands in hope of making enough money to buy some great item. In my youth, the goal was to sell enough lemonade to take me and my brothers and sisters to the movies, or to buy our own candy from the Helm's bakery truck.
When I first started preserving fruits and vegetables, one of the first gems I made was lemon curd. I was not impressed because I thought anything with curd in the name was food I didn't particularly favor (cottage cheese ring a bell with anybody?). But, I was surprised to say the least. Lemon curd is not only a wonderful treat on fresh baked scones, it's also easy to make. The recipe can be found at the end of this blog. 
Our Master Food Preserver group here in San Joaquin County is conducting a workshop on Saturday, January 18th on two great citrus recipes. You can register for them at this link. I have also re-posted an article from our February 2021 workshop on citrus. I'm sure you will find several ways you can preserve your lemons and oranges.
And now for Lemon Curd:
Lemon Curd
Yield: about 3 cups
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2/3 cup lemon juice (bottled or fresh)
5 eggs
1 cup sugar (*add 1 additional Tablespoon if using Meyer lemon juice)
½ cup melted butter
- In a blender, blend the first four ingredients until smooth.
- With blender motor running at lowest setting, gradually add melted butter, pouring in a steady stream.
- Transfer the mixture to a small, heavy, non-reactive (i.e. stainless steel) saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until mixture thickens. Make sure temperature reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from heat and ladle into hot jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace.
- Cover with cap and ring, cool in refrigerator, then freeze.
Bon apetite!
- Author: William Loyko Jr.
- Contributor: Jim and Sue Farr
What do you do with all those Lemons? Try Salt Preserved Lemons!
What to do with all of those lemons? It's that time of the year when lemon trees are loaded with juicy, yellow fruit. If you have one of those trees (or a neighbor or a friend has), then you know it can be a challenge to use those lemons before they go bad. One of the oldest and simplest ways to preserve some of those lemons for future use is making traditional salt preserved lemons. 
The San Joaquin Master Food Preservers are having a webinar workshop on Saturday February 20th. One of the recipes being presented is salt preserved lemons. See the San Joaquin Master Food Preserver Website for a link to register:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/NSJMFP/?newsletteritem=88317
Making Preserved lemons is easy but you need to know what to do with them when they are ready to eat. Don't make the mistake of taking out a section from the jar and popping it into your mouth. You will most likely spit it out and remember that extremely salty and sour experience for the rest of your life.
The only part that goes into recipes is the pickled rind. First, pull or scrape off any seeds and all of the pulp from the rind, then thoroughly rinse the rind in cold running water. Now it is ready to be used in a variety of recipes. It will add some saltiness but the bitterness will be gone, the tartness decreased and the lemon essence made more intense.
We found many recipes on the Internet that use preserved lemon. You will find links to those articles below but we would like to give you a few ideas to get you inspired:
- Add to grain salads
- Spice up roasted vegetables
- Mix into lentils
- Season poultry and fish recipes
- Use in soups and stews
- Add a unique zing to condiments and give dressings a kick
- Use in beverages and cocktails to “raise the bar”
- “lemonize” jams and desserts to make a special treat.
Link to more ideas and recipes: https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-to-do-with-preserved-lemon-1327922
Salt preserved lemons is a simple and inexpensive way to preserve some of those excess lemons and provide you with a unique ingredient to spice up beverages and meals.
Look in the blog after the Saturday Workshop for the full recipes that will be demonstrated in the workshop.
2022 MFP Training Dates.2
