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UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra

Preserve It! Series!

Formerly the UC Master Food Preserver of El Dorado County's Preserve It Poster series, this is a collection of answers to frequently asked canning, preservation, and food safety questions.

If you don't find your answer here, reach out to your local Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers.

In El Dorado County, California, the best way to do that is with the Ask a Master Food Preserver link.

Ask a Master Food Preserver

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Handle Raw Eggs Safely

May 6, 2026

Proper handling and preparation of eggs are important for safety. Eggs are a wonderful, nutritious food that come so conveniently packaged in their own individual shells. But raw eggs can harbor Salmonella – both on the shell itself and inside the egg, too. Egg shells can be contaminated from…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Keep Your Pies Food Safe

May 6, 2026

Storage guidelines for homemade and commercial pies. Whether you’re cranking out all the pies for the winter holidays (and are then faced with the question of where to keep them all), or you are making a single beautiful pie to bring to a hot summer gathering, keep your pies food safe with these…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Make Homemade Play Dough Safely

May 12, 2026

Use a food-safe recipe to make this inexpensive, fun, creative play dough. Playing with play dough is a fun and creative activity for kids to engage in and making your own play dough at home has plenty of benefits: It can be cheaper, it can be softer and smoother, and you can even get the kids involved…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Make Safe, Personalized Salsa Recipes for Canning

April 30, 2026

Safe ingredient swaps for home-canned salsa Salsa contains a combination of high- or borderline high-acid ingredients (such as tomatoes or fruit) and low-acid ingredients (such as peppers, onions, or other vegetables). Acid in the form of vinegar or bottled lemon juice is added to ensure the appropriate…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Prepare Jars for Canning

May 7, 2026

Preparing canning jars is an important step in the process. One of the very first steps in the canning process is preparing your equipment, including canning jars. Here’s how to go about prepping your jars for canning.Inspect. Whether used or fresh out of a new box, inspect jars to make sure…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Safely Can Previously Frozen Tomatoes

April 30, 2026

Canning previously frozen tomatoes is not safe in all situations When your vines are producing tomatoes like crazy (or the farmers markets have end-of-season bargains that are simply too good to pass up), keeping up with canning them before the fruits become overripe or spoil can be a challenge…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Size Canning Jars Up or Down

May 7, 2026

Adjustments to recipe canning jar sizes is possible, within guidelines Is it possible to make changes to recommended canning jar sizes when canning your favorite recipes? In the case of canning with smaller jars, the answer is yes, you may safely size down and use a smaller jar. However, larger jar…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Test a Pressure Canner Dial Gauge at Home

May 6, 2026

Canning Basics: Use a weighted gauge to test a dial gauge's accuracy. Pressure canner dial gauges* should be tested annually for accuracy to ensure that food is not under-processed (and thus potentially unsafe) or over-processed (resulting in lower quality food). Many Cooperative Extension services will…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Use Honey When Canning Fruit

May 6, 2026

It's easy to replace a portion of sugar with honey. Whether you want to use less refined sugar, don’t have quite the amount of sugar called for in a recipe, or just would like to add the flavor of honey in your preserved fruit products, it’s very easy to substitute a portion of the sugar for honey…

UC Master Food Preservers of Central Sierra: Article

Preserve it! Series: How to Wash Your Produce

April 30, 2026

Quick tips for handling fresh fruits and vegetables All fruits and vegetables should be washed prior to consuming, even if the skins or rinds won’t be eaten. Washing produce helps to remove dirt and bacteria not only from surfaces, but also prevents bacteria from being carried into the food when cut…