Photo by Michael Tedesco
Ready to try your hand at home canning? Janie Burney, a professor in UT’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in Knoxville, offers a few ideas on how to begin – including what not to do.
“We don’t recommend going to the internet and just picking a recipe to follow,” Burney says.
The Extension uses tested processes, and Burney recommends the National Center for Home Food Preservation website: nchfp.uga.edu.
Extension agents in family and consumer sciences also offer canning demonstrations and workshops across Tennessee. Classes include jams and jellies, pickling, fermentation, salsas, canning high-acid foods such as fruit and canning low-acid foods such as veggies and meat. Extension agents can also check dial-gauge pressure canners for accuracy at no cost to consumers.
The UT Institute of Agriculture even offers a program called Canning College, a series of classes where you can learn the process of canning using both a water-bath canner and a pressure canner. A fee is charged to cover the expense of jars and foods. To learn more, contact your local county Extension office. Get started at extension.tennessee.edu.
I am in Summer County. Do you know where I can take canning classes and do they certified you?