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ENLARGE
Susan Busler
Home-preserved foods make wonderful gifts. If you’re the gift giver, make sure that your products are safe to eat. Improperly prepared and processed foods could be hazardous to your health if unsafe preparation and processing methods are used.
When purchasing home processed foods at bazaars and other holiday sales, it is wise to ask questions about how the food was prepared and what method of processing was used. Flavored oils, home canned salsa and other canned foods need to be prepared and processed according to researched, approved methods.
If you’re giving food as gifts, be sure to include a complete label that includes ingredients, accurate processing methods and a care label for what to do with the food so it won’t spoil. A recipe or idea for using the product is also a helpful hint.
For safe food, you can’t go wrong with dried fruits and jams or jellies. Dried fruit should be pliable, like leather, without pockets of moisture that promote growth of microorganisms. Package fruit in a freezer bag or a plastic freezer container, and instruct the recipient to freeze it for long-term safety and freshness.
If you didn’t dry fruits during the summer, there’s still time to make dried fruit leather. Make a purée of commercial or home-canned fruit, and then dry it in an oven or dehydrator. Contact your local county Extension office for instructions or look for publication FS 232, “Making Dried Fruit Leather,” under “publications” on the food preservation Web site http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/food-preservation. You can also dry canned fruit such as sliced pineapple, apricots and peaches. Just drain the fruit, cut it into one-quarter-inch slices and dry. No pretreatment is needed.
Previously frozen berries can be thawed and made into jam or jelly. Follow the pectin package instructions. For low-sugar jams and jellies, be sure to buy pectin that is designed for a low-sugar product. If you reduce sugar with the regular pectin you will probably end up with a runny product. But don’t forget that “runny product” is really a lovely fruit syrup in disguise. Fill sterilized half-pint or pint canning jars with hot jam or jelly leaving a quarter of an inch of head space, adjust lids, and process for five minutes (10 minutes above 1,000 feet) in a boiling water canner to seal and to prevent mold growth.
Consider putting home-preserved foods in a gift basket. A loaf of fruit bread, a jar of jelly, a roll of fruit leather, a special mug and tea bags would be welcomed.
Don’t seal breads — such as banana nut, zucchini, or pumpkin — in canning jars, cautions Carolyn Raab, Oregon State University Extension foods and nutrition specialist. Although “canned” products like this are available in gift shops, there isn’t a safe method for making them at home. Baking jars of batter in the oven and then sealing with lids may not kill bacteria that could make you sick. If you’re given a homemade product like this, it’s safer not to eat it.
When purchasing home processed foods at bazaars and other holiday sales, it is wise to ask questions about how the food was prepared and what method of processing was used. Flavored oils, home canned salsa and other canned foods need to be prepared and processed according to researched, approved methods.
If you’re giving food as gifts, be sure to include a complete label that includes ingredients, accurate processing methods and a care label for what to do with the food so it won’t spoil. A recipe or idea for using the product is also a helpful hint.
For safe food, you can’t go wrong with dried fruits and jams or jellies. Dried fruit should be pliable, like leather, without pockets of moisture that promote growth of microorganisms. Package fruit in a freezer bag or a plastic freezer container, and instruct the recipient to freeze it for long-term safety and freshness.
If you didn’t dry fruits during the summer, there’s still time to make dried fruit leather. Make a purée of commercial or home-canned fruit, and then dry it in an oven or dehydrator. Contact your local county Extension office for instructions or look for publication FS 232, “Making Dried Fruit Leather,” under “publications” on the food preservation Web site http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/food-preservation. You can also dry canned fruit such as sliced pineapple, apricots and peaches. Just drain the fruit, cut it into one-quarter-inch slices and dry. No pretreatment is needed.
Previously frozen berries can be thawed and made into jam or jelly. Follow the pectin package instructions. For low-sugar jams and jellies, be sure to buy pectin that is designed for a low-sugar product. If you reduce sugar with the regular pectin you will probably end up with a runny product. But don’t forget that “runny product” is really a lovely fruit syrup in disguise. Fill sterilized half-pint or pint canning jars with hot jam or jelly leaving a quarter of an inch of head space, adjust lids, and process for five minutes (10 minutes above 1,000 feet) in a boiling water canner to seal and to prevent mold growth.
Consider putting home-preserved foods in a gift basket. A loaf of fruit bread, a jar of jelly, a roll of fruit leather, a special mug and tea bags would be welcomed.
Don’t seal breads — such as banana nut, zucchini, or pumpkin — in canning jars, cautions Carolyn Raab, Oregon State University Extension foods and nutrition specialist. Although “canned” products like this are available in gift shops, there isn’t a safe method for making them at home. Baking jars of batter in the oven and then sealing with lids may not kill bacteria that could make you sick. If you’re given a homemade product like this, it’s safer not to eat it.
Susan Busler is the Family Community Development Extension agent for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. She can be reached by e-mail at susan.busler@oregonstate.edu or phone at 541-672-4461.
