Home Canning Basics: Advantages of Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades
Written on August 12, 2009 – 7:02 pm | by admin
While canning and preserving seasonal and specialty foods at home was once common, the increased availability and decreased price of commercially available products contributed to its decline. But as Americans became more dependent on processed, prepared products, producers raised prices and lowered quality. Economic recession has raised the popularity of preserving foods in one’s own kitchen once again.
As more cooks dabble in the hobby they find the advantages include more than balancing the budget with greater ease. Learning to prepare certain foods in a shelf stable way gives cooks the freedom to experiment with ingredients and recipes that might be inconvenient for one meal, but are a great asset when prepared in larger quantities. A specialty jelly or marmalade can be a versatile addition to many meals, but can’t be homemade in tiny amounts.
Fruit spreads are among the easiest home canning projects and can be produced at some of the greatest savings. The hot water bath canning process necessary requires very little equipment, none of which is expensive. Homemade jams, using even the least expensive ingredients, can be of higher quality than their most expensive commercially produced counterparts. And properly canned, they last for up to 18 months and can be stored almost anywhere. Not only is it thrifty and handy to have these homemade gourmet spreads in the pantry at home, but they make excellent, thoughtful gifts for others.