Home Canning Enjoying Resurgence

Ruby de Luna
09/08/2008

It starts with a bag of plums from the neighbor's tree. You eat a few, maybe bake with them, and share some with coworkers. But you're still left with a lot of plums. So what do you do? In Seattle, more people are trying their hands at canning. It's a way to expand the summer's bounty, and as KUOW's Ruby de Luna reports, a way to stretch their food budget.

MORE THAN TWO DOZEN PEOPLE, MOSTLY WOMEN, ARE CRAMMED INTO THE KITCHEN AT THE WEST SEATTLE SENIOR CENTER. THEY'RE WATCHING INSTRUCTOR JENNIFER ADLER POUR PUREED PLUMS INTO A POT. THE CONCOCTION WILL BE SIMMERED DOWN TO A SAUCE BEFORE IT'S READY FOR CANNING. MANY IN THE AUDIENCE ARE LEARNING ABOUT FOOD PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES FOR THE FIRST TIME. INSTRUCTOR ADLER ASSURES THEM THAT PEOPLE CANNED FOOD LONG BEFORE REFRIGERATORS WERE INVENTED.

ADLER: "Remember that your mother, your grandmother, your grandmother's grandmother, I mean if you go back in history, canning is nothing new. People have been doing it long before we got into super food safety and food science and had to be just so."

LARGE SCALE FOOD PROCESSING MADE HOME PRESERVATION NEARLY OBSOLETE. THESE DAYS, WHAT USED TO BE OLD SCHOOL IS NOW COOL, UP THERE WITH OTHER D–I–Y PROJECTS LIKE KNITTING AND SEWING. IT'S ATTRACTING YOUNG PARENTS LIKE CHESSA HICKOX. SHE SEES CANNING AS A WAY FOR HER FAMILY TO EAT HEALTHFULLY AND SAVE MONEY.

HICKOX: "I'm really committed to buying organic and locally as much as possible and that could be expensive if you buy out of season. So trying to take advantage of things when they're ripe and ready and getting the best dollar for them when that's happening, and then preserving that price basically for a whole year instead of paying extra money to ship it across the world to get it here."

AROUND THE COUNTRY, CANNING IS ENJOYING A RESURGENCE. THE MAKER OF BALL PRODUCTS SAYS SALES OF CANNING JARS AND SUPPLIES ARE UP 30% THIS YEAR. AND DEMAND FOR CLASSES IS UP, TOO. NUTRITIONIST JENNIFER ADLER SAYS SHE'S BEEN GETTING MORE CALLS THIS YEAR TO TEACH PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES.

ADLER: "And just even hearing the way people talk about it, it used to have this stigma that it was the Home Ec, mom at home, it had a negative connotation it seemed like and now it's like in vogue and now you're seeing it in magazines, too."

ADLER SAYS THE SLUGGISH ECONOMY COUPLED WITH THE GROWING LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT HAVE HELPED CANNING'S POPULARITY.

ADLER: "Now I'm going to get the water back up on high again."

HEATING THINGS TO THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE IS KEY TO SAFE, SUCCESSFUL CANNING. AFTER POURING PLUM SAUCE INTO THE JARS, ADLER SCREWS ON THE LIDS AND PUTS THE JARS IN A BIG POT OF BOILING WATER. SHE LETS THEM SIMMER FOR A FULL 10 MINUTES BEFORE THEY'RE PULLED OUT AND LEFT TO COOL. SUZANNE GREIVE GREW UP IN A CANNING FAMILY AND CONTINUES THE TRADITION TO THIS DAY. SHE ADMITS IT CAN BE TIME CONSUMING. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT, AND A WILLING FRIEND, THE PROCESS CAN GO PRETTY FAST. AND THE RESULTS CAN BE PLEASING.

GREIVE: "I like the look of it. I think it's pretty. You look on the shelf and you see everything you put up, you almost don't want to eat it, because you're so proud of it!"

THE BEST REWARD, SAYS GREIVE IS OPENING A JAR AND SAVORING SUMMER IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER. I'M RUBY DE LUNA, KUOW NEWS.

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