Canning Fruits Safely Welcome to our series of Wisline programs on home food preservation. Today we will talk about the basics of canning fruits safely. Ripe, juicy cherries, peaches, pears and other fruits are some of the most delicious foods available. Canning fruits can bring a colorful touch of summer to family meals all year round. Fruit can be safely and healthily canned in either a sweet syrup, or in water or fruit juice. Fruit canned in syrup holds its shape, color and flavor, even after canning. Canning fruit in water or fruit juice helps reduce the sugar content of the canned fruit. Thanks to everyone for joining us today. Let’s get started.

Resources for Today Canning Fruits Safely (B0430) www.foodsafety.wisc.edu How Do I…..Can Fruits and Fruit Products (NCHFP) www.uga.edu/nchfp/ Many of the points in today’s discussion come from our UWEX publication: B0403 Canning Fruits Safely. Available online: www.foodsafety.wisc.edu/ Other resources are available through the National Center for Home Food Preservation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html How Do I…. Can Fruits and Fruit Products

Preparation Boiling water canner (usually) Jars: pints, quarts, half-gallons (fruit juice only!) 2-piece lids Fruit

Harvest Fresh Fruit Select fresh, firm and undamaged fruit Hasten ripening of under-ripe fruits by storing in a paper bag with an apple Over-ripe fruit may float on canning Calls are coming in related to canning of pears, peaches and berries. Properly canning peaches, pears, plums and other fruits yields a high quality product - superior in quality to the same fruits when frozen. But other fruits, especially soft berries, look and taste better if you freeze them. Regardless, canning fruits can be an easy and enjoyable way to preserve some of summer’s goodness. Select fresh, firm, undamaged fruits that are ripe enough to eat. These fruits will have the best flavor for canning. Fruits that are under-ripe will ripen more quickly if they are placed in a paper bag with an apple and stored on the kitchen counter for a day or two. Check the fruit each day and remove ripened fruit- process ripened fruit, or store it in the refrigerator. Apples and other climacteric fruits give off a special ripening hormone known as ethylene. Ethylene is a gas which speeds ripening in certain fruits such as apples, apricots, bananas, peaches, pears, plums and tomatoes. This treatment won’t, however, work with fruits which do not ripen in response to ethylene: strawberries, oranges and other fruits. Do not can over-ripe, moldy or badly damaged fruit, an unsafe product may result.

Preparing Fruit Wash fruit before processing Use anti-oxidants to prevent browning of light-colored fruit: ascorbic acid (Vit C) 1500 mg/quart lemon juice or citric acid will work, but not as well (3 Tbl/qt) Wash all fruits before processing even those that you will peel. Use clean running water. Produce wash solutions, such as FIT, are not necessary. Anti-oxidants can be used to prevent browning: Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) 1500 mg /quart of water as a dip solution or added to syrup for syrup packs OR add 500 mg per quart of fruit puree. Ascorbic acid also is sold as a mixture, with sugar, that is sprinkled on fruit to prevent browning, i.e. FruitFresh. Lemon juice or citric acid can also be used as a pre-treatment, but it won’t work as effectively as ascorbic acid. Use 3 Tbl. Bottled lemon juice per quart of water as a dip. Do not soak fruit, especially berries, for more than 1-2 minutes.

Sweetening Fruit Sugar syrups help preserve color and flavor Juice syrups can also be used Canning in water – a poor option Artificial sweeteners can be acceptable Some fruits will benefit from canning with sugar, either a sugar syrup or fruit juice. Sugar helps canned fruit hold its shape, color and flavor. Fruit can be packed raw, with a hot syrup poured over the raw fruit in jars; or fruit can be cooked in syrup and then hot-packed into jars. The bulletin Canning Fruits Safely gives recipes for traditional sugar syrups (p. 7; as well as juice syrups p.9). Juice syrups, unsweetened fruit juice which may be diluted with water, if desired, are acceptable for canning many fruits. Recipes for juice syrups in our publication were taken from an excellent resource, Canning and Preserving without Sugar by Norma Rae. This resource is recommended if you do a lot of canning and wish to avoid excess added sugar. But remember, there IS sugar in fruit juice, so fruit canned in juice is not sugar free. Fruit can also be canned in water, omitting the sugar entirely. Since sugar is not used to prevent spoilage, processing times are the same for sweetened and unsweetened fruits. Fruit canned in water, however, will lack flavor and be of poor quality. Artificial sweeteners are not generally recommended for canning, however, two artificial sweeteners- saccharin and sucralose (Splenda) - can be used. Saccharin may become bitter on extended heating, but sucralose appears to be a high quality artificial sweetener for many thermal applications. Follow the manufacturer’s directions in using Splenda for home canning. Also remember, that many of the calories in a sugar syrup can be ‘left behind’ if you drain canned fruit before serving.

Packing Fruit into Jars RAW pack: Fruit tightly packed into clean, hot jars Cover with boiling hot syrup to achieve proper headspace HOT pack: Fruit heated in syrup or juice, then packed loosely into clean, hot jars Add cooking liquid to achieve proper headspace Fruit can be raw- or hot-packed into jars. Raw fruit should be tightly packed into clean, hot jars. Shrinkage will occur on heating. Cover with boiling hot syrup, juice or water. Fruits can also be heated in syrup, juice or water for packing. Juicy fruits may be preheated without added liquid and packed in the juice that cooks out. Pack hot fruit loosely into clean, hot jars, leaving the recommended headspace. Syrup or other liquid should completely cover fruit; otherwise fruit at the top of the jar will tend to darken on storage. Anti-oxidants such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or citric acid can be added (1/4 teaspoon per quart) to prevent darkening.

Boiling Water or Pressure Processing Apple Slices Pressure canning: Heat sliced, prepared apples in syrup, juice or water. Boil for 5 minutes. Hot pack into clean, hot jars and cover with boiling cooking liquid, leaving ½ inch headspace. Process pints or quarts: 10 min at 6 psi (dial) 10 min at 10 psi (weight) Boiling water: Heat sliced, prepared apples in syrup, juice or water. Boil for 5 min. Pack hot apple slices into clean, hot jars and cover with boiling cooking liquid, leaving ½ inch headspace. Process pints or quarts: 25 minutes Most often canned fruit is processed in a water bath canner, but there is the option of pressure processing some items. For instance, sliced apples, apricots, applesauce, cherries, peaches, pears, plums and rhubarb can all be successfully canned in a pressure canner. See p.13 of the Wisconsin bulletin. (Always hot pack) Water bath canning is most common, but some people prefer using a pressure canner. A pressure canner may over-process some fruits, but would certainly be acceptable for products such as apple sauce. Please note the difference in water temperature for a boiling water canner: Hot water (140 F) for raw-packed fruit Very hot water (170 F) for hot-packed fruit

Canning Fruit Syrups Select 6-1/2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit. Sort and wash; crush. Heat to boiling and simmer until soft – 5-10 minutes. Strain. Combine juice with sugar and boil, simmer 1 minute, adding fresh fruit, if desired. Fill clean, hot half-pint or pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Process 15 minutes. Yum! Fruit syrups are a popular item made from fruit. Think of the smiles on your family’s face when you offer pancakes with homemade blackberry or strawberry syrup in the middle of winter! Fruit syrups can be easily prepared and canned. A recipe can be found on page 24 of the Canning Fruits bulletin. Select 6-1/2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit. Sort and wash; crush. Heat to boiling and simmer until soft – 5-10 minutes. Strain hot fruit through a colander or jelly bag until cool enough to handle. Combine the juice with sugar and boil, simmer 1 minute, adding fresh fruit, if desired. Fill clean, hot half-pint or pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Process 15 minutes.

Canning Fruit Pie Filling Select ripe, juicy fresh fruit; or unsweetened frozen fruit Use Clearjel for a successful product Clearjel is a modified food starch Use bottled lemon juice to ensure a quality product Many cooks will find making a pie quick and easy from home-canned pie filling. One quart jar will nicely fill an 8- or 9-inch pie. While some recipes will call for cornstarch or flour, these thickeners will not hold up to the heat of processing; so use Clearjel for a successful product. Most starches will thicken on heating, but after the starch granules have swelled, further heating will cause the starch matrix to breakdown and the gel formation will be lost. Clearjel is a specially modified starch that will hold up on extended heating. Added lemon juice will help ensure gel formation and maintain safety. Pie fillings use starch to gel, not pectin. So you CAN try using artificial sweeteners in place of sugar. Be aware, however, that the consistency of the final product may change. You may wish to try a small batch first. Alternately, you may wish to freeze the apple slices, peaches, pears, etc and then prepare the pie filling as needed, using artificial sweetener to taste.

Fruit Butters Try apple, peach, or pear butter for a tasty treat Pumpkin butters should not be canned at home A crock-pot or roaster can be an easy way to prepare fruit butters for canning Recipes for Apple Butter, Peach Butter (Spiced Peach Butter) and Pear Butter can be found in Making Jams, Jellies and Fruit Preserves (p. 54-55). These can be safely canned for a tasty treat. Pumpkin butters should not, however, be home-canned. Pumpkin is a low-acid food and can not be canned as a fruit butter, even with added sugar and acid.

Common Questions Omitting sugar – using artificial sweeteners Using cornstarch in pie fillings Signs of spoilage Floating fruit Artificial sweeteners can be safely used in canning fruits and fruit pie fillings, but it should not be used in fruit syrup, because an overly thin product will result. Cornstarch, flour, tapioca and other starches will not successfully withstand the heat of canning. They will break down and form a cloudy sediment on the bottom of jar; use Clearjel which is designed for home canning. Has anyone else had trouble with pie filling oozing out of jars that are removed from the canner? Having been faced with this challenge numerous times, I have come to the conclusion that this is may be the result of lots of air bubbles in the product and the difference in temperature between canner (bubbling away) and a cooling rack. (like popcorn) Doing a good job of removing air bubbles and removing the jars slowly from the canner will help. Otherwise, freeze this product! Common signs of spoilage in canned fruits include bubbling in the jars and a marked discoloration. The heat used in water bath canning is really a mild pasteurization treatment designed to destroy yeast and mold and some minor bacterial species. We expect that the acid in the fruit will really keep the product safe. Because of the light heat treatment, canned fruits are not sterile (free of microorganisms) and you can expect spoilage if you don’t follow the recipe precisely. Floating fruit is a common problem. Hot-packing fruit and using a light- to medium-syrup will help. Fruit tends to float if it is lighter than the syrup in which it is packed.

Question time?? Let me take a minute to ask is there are any questions that you have at this point.