Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Risser
Farmers can always find
something to do. Even if it
rains or snows, they have
machinery to repair and
other jobs to complete. And
there is the always-present
paperwork which nowadays
means computer work for
many farmers or their wives.
Therefore, it is not easy to
get away for a vacation. Who
will milk the cows, tend the
chickens, and keep the oper
ation going? Sometimes a
“day” vacation is the answer.
Recently, I had the oppor
tunity to visit a local muse
um. I was amazed at the size
of “The Conestoga Area His
torical Society” buildings. I
expected an old schoolhouse
filled with local artifacts. In
stead, we saw a large exhibit
of Conestoga Indian arti
facts.
We also saw a number of
small houses that had been
moved from their original lo
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cations to the village of Con
estoga. These buildings were
mid-18th and 19th century
buildings that depicted rural
life in Lancaster County.
Items displayed ranged in
size from a Conestoga wagon
to tiny arrowheads that were
found in the local area.
Did you know that there
are 18 museums in Lancaster
County? They cover more
than 300 years of our history.
In going over the long list,
I’ve discovered that there are
still four sites that I have not
visited. Some have been visit
ed many times while a few
hold little interest for me.
Maybe someday I’ll get to
see more museums if I ever
catch up with work here at
home. Believe it or not, we
still have not processed all of
our own peaches and apples
even though we’ve done our
best to share them with oth
ers.
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ish
Well Preserved
The Well Preserved news col
umn is prepared by Lancaster
County Cooperative Extension.
It includes food preservation in
formation and questions received
in the office.
Some reasons for reducing
sugar in canning are a flavor
preference for less sweetness, re
duced calories, and special die
tary restrictions. While sugar
helps fruits keep their bright
color and firm texture, it is not
necessary to prevent fruit from
spoiling. Proper food handling
and adequate processing in a
boiling water bath canner will
allow you to successfully preserve
fruits with little or no added
sugar.
What can be used in place of
sugar to can fruits?
Frozen or bottled unsweetened
juices can be used in place of
sugar syrup. Reconstituted frozen
apple juice concentrate works
well with peaches, pears, apri
cots, plums, and red or white
sweet cherries. It can be diluted
with extra water to cut the apple
flavor and reduce calories fur
ther. For example, use five cans
of water to reconstitute the juice
instead of the usual three. Frozen
pineapple juice works especially
well with pears or peaches. Fro
zen pineapple juice gives a fresh
er flavor than the canned juice.
Reduced Sugar
Food Preservation
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 15, 2001-B5
Diluted sweetened white grape
juice works well with pears,
peaches, or apricots while red
grape juice complements plums
and red cherries. Diabetics need
to consider the fruit juice used in
canning this way as a fruit serv
ing.
Is honey suitable for can
ning?
Honey is a liquid concentrated
sweetener and should be avoided
by diabetics and others needing
to reduce calories. It has more
calories per tablespoon and does
taste sweeter than an equal
amount of sugar. A mild flavored
variety of honey can be used in
canning syrups.
Can artificial sweeteners be
used in canning?
Do not add artificial sweeten
ers to canning syrups. The heat
of processing may cause sweeten
ers to lose sweetening power or
cause an unpleasant after taste or
flavor change. Aspartame is de
stroyed by long cooking. Artifi
cial sweeteners should be added
to canned or frozen fruit just be
fore serving.
What is the sweetener fruc
tose?
Fructose is a sweet tasting
sugar found in fruit, juices, and
honey. It tastes twice as sweet as
sugar so that less can be used,
but it still must be considered a
sugar by diabetics.
Is it safe to can fruits such as
apples and pears in water?
Use only the hot pack method
when canning fruit without
sugar. That is, cook the fruit in
water until hot throughout before
packing the hot fruit into hot
jars. Add boiling water to cover
and seal. Process in the boiling
water bath according to USDA
timetables.
What is a light sugar syrup?
A light sugar syrup uses a
lower proportion of sugar to
water than a medium or heavy
syrup? Penn State’s Let’s Pre
serve publication gives these
sugar concentrations for canning
syrups: Very light syrup uses VA
cups sugar to WA cups water;
light syrup uses 2'A cups sugar to
9 cups water; and medium syrup
uses VA cups sugar to B'A cups
water. You can experiment with
lighter syrups to determine the
reduced level of sweetness you
fmd acceptable.
Can artificial sweeteners be
used in jams and jellies?
A few specially designed reci
pes are available for jams and jel
lies using artificial sweeteners.
Do not use artificial sweeteners
or reduce the amount of sugar in
a traditional jelly reci
pe because the product
will not gel properly.
There are commercial
pectin products avail
able specially designed
for lower amounts of
sugar. Some fruit
spreads have no added
sugar but are concen
trated fruit mixtures
that taste sweet be
cause of the concentra
tion of the natural sug
ars. Natural sugars
have the same caloric
content of sucrose or
table sugar.
Are artificial
sweeteners safe?
Food additives in
cluding artificial
sweeteners must be ap
proved for safety by
the Food and Drug
Administration or be
grandfathered in on
the GRAS list (Gener
ally Recognized as
Safe) as is saccharin.
Most people can use
saccharin, aspartame,
and acesulfame-K
safely in moderation. A
very small group of
people with the rare
hereditary disease phe
nylketonuria need to
avoid aspartame. Ste
via, a product derived
from a South Ameri
can shrub, cannot be
sold as a sweetener be
cause its safety has
been questioned by
published studies.
FDA considers stevia
an unapproved food
additive.
More information
about canning with
less sugar and some
recipes are available by
calling you local exten
sion office and asking
for the publication,
Let’s Preserve: Re
duced Sugar Food
Preservation.
If you have food
preservation questions,
a home economist is
available to answer
questions on Wednes
day, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., call
(717) 394-6851 or write
Penn State Coopera
tive Extension, Lancas
ter County, 1383 Arca
dia Road, Room. 1,
Lancaster, PA, 17601.