More Interest Being Shown In Canning

Canning is making a comeback.

Chalk it up to Martha Stewart, or to the increasing number of boomers discovering the pleasures of gardening. Then again, there are also the folks getting ready for the worst kind of food shortages Y2K could cause.

Whatever the motivation, Karen Snyder finds that her canning classes offered through Spokane Community College’s continuing education program are filling up quicker than ever before.

“Years ago, I originally set it up as one class, but it was so successful that I now have 10 sessions,” said Snyder, 40, who also has a full-time job.

She discovered the joys of preserving fruits and vegetables out of necessity, not novelty.

“We were typical newlyweds, didn’t have a lot of money starting out,” Snyder said. At one point, she even canned her son’s baby food.

In the 20 years she’s been making jams and jellies and salsas, very little has changed as far as canning methods are concerned.

Low-acid foods such as green beans still need to be processed under pressure to eliminate potentially dangerous bacteria.

“Some people think of canning like reaching down into a snake hole,” Snyder said. “I try to help ease those fears.”

For beginners and veterans alike, she recommends going by the book. There are many cookbooks and magazine articles designed to demystify the process.

“Ball (maker of all sorts of canning equipment) puts out a great guide,” she said.

She’s learned a few new tricks over the years: food processors, strainers and apple peelers are great time-savers; zucchini makes better relish than cucumbers; pickled green beans and salsas are the gifts her friends and family rave the most about.

“I have lots of friends who will say that reminds them of their mother or their grandmother, and that they would love to try it, but they don’t have the time,” she said.

Not true.

Snyder will squeeze some canning chores into her free evenings, prepping everything the first night and finishing it up the next.

“Once you get the routine down, you can get quite a bit done in a short amount of time,” she said.

Best bet for novices: Start small and stick with the recipe.

“A lot of people get discouraged because they try to do too much,” she said.

Ball also offers a toll-free hotline for canning information at (800) 240-3340. To order Ball’s “Blue Book” guide ($5.95 including shipping) or other canning publications, call (800) 392-2575. For information on Snyder’s canning classes, call the Institute for Extended Learning at (509) 533-3770.