In Canning Week 2010 day 3, I share a bit about canning vegetables. View a lesson on pectin and recipe for peach jam from earlier in the week. Tomorrow I'll discuss pickles. The massive harvests are starting, and they aren't limited to sweet fruits. Something has to be done with mountains of tomatoes, corn, green beans, and more.

Canning is one useful option to preserve the harvest. Vegetables are a bit more tricky to can than fruits because they often contain less acid, so one has to rely on recipes.

Low acid vegetables must be canned in a pressure canning system. As I'm a bit afraid of my pressure cooker and I don't like the texture of most canned vegetables, I don't have experience pressure canning. There are recipes on Fresh Preserving to can fresh low acid vegetables including green beans, carrots, corn, and onions.

Tomatoes, high in acid, are commonly canned in a water bath. You can can them whole or in pieces. I prefer to can much of our harvest this way because it is most adaptable.

If you follow a recipe to maintain the correct acidity, you can also make and can pasta sauce, pizza sauce, barbecue sauce, ketchup, salsa or paste. We usually make a large batch of spaghetti sauce and several smaller batches of other tomato products throughout the late summer. I wrote about some of these options for the tomato tonnage last year.

I will be making a basic tomato sauce and canning it next Wednesday, August 11, from 6:30 - 8:30 at the North Market Dispatch Kitchen. For $12.99 ($8.99 for Slow Food Columbus members), participants will go home with a jar of sauce and confidence to preserve their own at home. Buy a ticket today and join me!

Basic Water Bath Canning Method

Use for tomato pieces, whole, or tomato-only sauce.

1. Blanche tomatoes by dipping whole tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute and then immediately transferring to an ice water bath.

2. Remove skins from tomatoes. (Skip the blanching and removing skins if you don't mind them.)

3. Chop into desired pieces or use a food mill to make sauce.

4. Pack into sterilized jars.

5. Fill jars to exactly 1/2 inch of the top of the jar.

6. Use a thin knife or chopstick to gently release any air bubbles. Add a bit of extra tomato juice to top off the jar if necessary.

7. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice per pint to adjust acidity and preserve color.

8. Top with sterilized lids and rings.

9. Place in boiling water bath for 40 minutes for pints, 45 minutes for quarts.

10. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool thoroughly before storing in a cool dark place.

Canning week continues today with a recipe for fruit jam. Yesterday I discussed pectin. Tomorrow, we'll delve into vegetable canning. Peaches are in season in Ohio and many other places across the country. Farmers markets and CSA baskets are overflowing with these fuzz covered wonders. The sweet juiciness of a peach is hard to resist raw, but if you can save enough to make peach jam, you will thank me in midwinter when Ohio fruits are long gone.

I use Pomona's Universal Pectin in fruit jams, purchased locally from the Clintonville Community Market. Made from citrus peels, the all-natural universal pectin requires no sugar. It will work with sugar, honey, or substitutes like Splenda. It is activated by calcium water, which is an extra step, but totally worth it for the superior results I notice.

I love that Pomona's gives me the flexibility to use the sweetener I wish in the quantity that tastes best to me. I often make large batches with Pomona's, something for bidden by other pectins. Each package makes 3 or 4 batches of jam, making it more cost effective than other brands too.

I recommend following a recipe exactly for the first few jams before experimenting. When you are comfortable with the process, you can begin to add spices and aromatics (cinnamon, clove, and ginger are fantastic with peaches), adjust sugar, and even adjust pectin to get the set you desire. Each box of Pomona's and other dry pectin include a recipe sheet. Food In Jars and Fresh Preserving (Ball jar sponsored) are two trustworthy websites with recipes.

The following recipe is the one I used this weekend at a jam canning class. You can substitute plums, sweet cherries, apricots, mangos, figs, or pear for the peaches. Higher acid fruits (berries, sour cherry, pineapple and kiwi) require less pectin and little to no lemon juice.

Peach Jam from Pomona's Universal Pectin

Recipe for 5 pints

4 cups peaches (12-15 ripe fruit) 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice 1/2—1 cup honey or 3/4–2 cups sugar 3 teaspoons Pomona's Universal Pectin powder 4 teaspoons calcium water (included in Pomona's pectin)

1. Sterilize jars and lids in boiling water. Let stand.

2. Blanch peaches to remove skin.

3. Pit, chop and mash fruit, measuring out 4 cups.

4. Add calcium water into large pan with mashed fruit and lime/lemon juice, stir well.

5. Mix pectin powder with measured sweetener in a separate bowl. Stir very well.

6. Bring fruit to a boil.

7. Add sweetener/pectin mixture and stir vigorously.

8. Return mixture to a full boiling boil and then remove from heat.

9. Fill jars to 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe rims clean and screw on 2 piece lid.

10. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover plus 1 inch. Boil 10 minutes.

11. Remove from water and let cool for 4—24 hours.

12. Store in a cool dry place. Eat within three weeks of opening.

What's your favorite jam recipe? Link them up!

You might think this is a post sponsored by Pomona's. It's not; I shell out my own money for their pectin and use it because I do believe it is superior to more commonly found brands.