Well-Preserved
The Well Preserved news col
umn is prepared by Lancaster
County Cooperative Extension.
It includes food preservation
information and questions.
Processing Times
Have you ever wondered why
it takes so much longer to process
tomatoes than to process
peaches?
The amount and method of
heat processing used in canning
mainly depends on the pH of the
food. (pH is a measure of acidity
with lower numbers indicating
higher acidity). Cranberries, lem
ons, jams, jellies, conserves, apple
and grape juice, and some pick
led products are very high in acid
and have pH values around 3.0.
When these foods are fairly
disease-free, handled in a sani
tary manner, and put in the jars
boiling hot; they can be processed
as little as five minutes in a boil
ing water canner. This is ade
quate to kill air-borne microor
ganisms that are in the
headspace of the jar. When the
processing time is less than 10
minutes, it is necessary to steril
ize the jars for 10 minutes in boil
ing water before adding the hot
food.
Most berries, apples, apricots,
grapes, nectarines, peaches,
pears, pineapples, rhubarb, and
some pickled foods have pH val
ues of 3.4 to 4.0. They require
more heat to destroy their spoil
age microorganisms and must be
processed from 10 to 35 minutes.
Tomatoes and figs are border
line acidic with pH values of 4.0
to 4.6 after being acidified with
lemon juice or citric acid. The
lower acidity of tomatoes and figs
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Enter your favorite recipes in The Ephrata Review’s Holiday Recipe Contest.
You could win cash or prizes... and enjoy a cook-off party to sample final
ists’ creations together!
Enter in the following categories:
ENTREES • APPETIZERS * BREADS
DESSERTS • SALADS • SOUPS • VEGETABLES
Entry Deadline Is Friday ; Oct. 17 • Early Entries Am Encouraged!
Four (4) Finalists will be selected in each of the 7 categories. These final
ists will be asked to prepare their entries and bring them to the Ephrata
Public Library. The final judging will be an actual tasting by Home
Economists.
THE GRAND COOKOFF
Saturday. Nov. Ist at the EPHRATA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Winners will be announced in the HOLIDAY RECIPE CONTEST SECTION in
The Ephrata Review on NOV. 12, 2003.
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTER!
1 All entries must be received by Fri, October 17 by 5p m Mail to The Ephrata
Review Holiday Recipe Contest, 1 E Mam St. Ephrata, PA 17522 -or drop your
entry all at our office before spm
2 All entries must be submitted either tvned or neatly handwritten on an
8 5" »11" inch srteet ol oaner.
3 Participant can only enter In TWO categories
4 All entries must include the following. CATEGORY ENTERED. NAME,
ADDRESS and PHONE
5 All entries become property ol The Ephrata Review and may be published in
the "Holiday Recipe Contest" Tabloid
allows the growth of some mildly
heat-resistant, spore forming bac
teria which requires a minimum
internal food temperature of
200 F during processing of the
filled jars. This will take from 45
to 85 minutes of processing time
in boiling water.
Vegetables, meats, and seafood
are low-acid foods with pH val
ues above 4.6. This acidity level is
too low to prevent the growth of
very heat-resistant spore-forming
bacteria commonly found on
these foods. Under more favor
able conditions the spores can
grow and produce harmful tox
ins. Therefore, these foods must
be processed in a pressure canner
at temperatures in excess of 240 F
to be safe. Processing these foods
at lower temperatures requires
much longer times to destroy
spores therefore making it unsafe
to process in a boiling water bath.
Another factor influencing
processing time is the style and
density of the food being canned.
Thin juice heats more quickly
than thick juice. Juice heats more
quickly than fruit pieces or
sauces. Whole or halved toma
toes heat more quickly when
packed in water than in thick
juice or without liquid. Cubes of
pumpkin in water heat more rap
idly than does a strained product.
In fact, pumpkin sauce is so
dense that it is not safe to can it
even in a pressure canner because
the internal temperature does not
reach a safe level for killing bac
terial spores. Cream-style corn
requires more processing time
than whole-kernel com that is
packed in water. Many soups are
combinations of food pieces and
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broth. Heating is slower when
food pieces are larger or there are
more pieces in the jar. Adding
starch to the broth also slows the
heating. Never add flour, corn
starch, or other starch-based
thickeners to products to be
canned unless it is a USDA
tested recipe. Soups and stews
can be thickened before they are
served.
Other factors also increase pro
cessing time. Raw packed food
requires more time than hot
packed food. Quarts take longer
than pints. Steam under pressure
raises the temperature above the
boiling point of water. Thus, a
pressure canner takes less time to
destory bacteria. Food processed
at higher altitudes requires addi
tional time because water boils at
a lower temperature at higher al
titudes. Because there are so
many variables affecting process
ing time, it is important for can
ning safety that tested recipes be
used.
Besides killing spoilage organ
isms, proper processing is neces
sary for a good vacuum seal. Air
inside the headspace expands
during processing; as the air cools
a vacuum seal is formed prevent
ing spoilage organisms from en
tering the jar during storage.
If you have food preservation
questions, a Home Economist is
available to answer questions on
Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Call (717) 394-6851 or write Penn
State Cooperative Extension,
Lancaster County, 1383 Ar-
cadia Rd., Rm.l, Lancaster,
PA, 17601.
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 27, 2003-B7
Taste Of Honey
September is National Honey
Month and before you take a bite
from your crisp apple or tangy
pear you need to take a moment
and thank the little honey bee for
all his hard work in pollinating
all the fruit trees and the bulk of
our nation’s agricultural crops.
The tiny little insects keep us
in constant supply of sweet-tast
ing honey for consumption, thus
providing us with nature’s origi
nal sweetener.
Did you know that Americans
consume nearly 1.5 pounds of
honey anually mixing it into
sweet and savory recipes. Proba
bly not.
If you are looking for some
thing different to try without all
the sugar please consider these
good honey and dairy recipes.
HONEY AND
FRUIT SPREAD
'A cup butter
!A cup dried fruit (apricots, rai
sins, dates, etc.)
‘A cup honey
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
'A teaspoon grated orange peel
Combine all ingredients. Mix
well. Spread on English muffins,
waffles, toast or hot biscuits. This
is a new and exciting taste to add
to your breakfast. Makes about Vi
cup.
Ashley Bird
Centre Co. Dairy Princess
GRANOLA BARS
24 ounces marshmallows
'A cup margarine
Melt marshmallows and mar
garine, then add:
Vi cup vegetable oil
'/’ cup honey
Vi cup peanut butter
In a large bowl mix together:
Nil does not make any health claims This is
strictly personal testimonies of product users
Firmer • Trimmer • Leaner
All Natural Dietary Supplement
VA cup crispy rice cereal
5 cups toasted oatmeal
VA cup raisins
1 cup M&M’s or chocolate
chips
1 cup crushed graham crackers
1 cup crushed peanuts
1 cup coconut
Add marshmallow mixture
and press into two 9x 13-inch
pans.
Vera Newswanger
Morgantown
HONEY HAM LOAF
2 pounds ground ham
1 pound freshly ground pork
3 slices bread
/i cup milk
2 eggs
'A teaspoon cloves
'A cup brown sugar
'A cup honey
2 teaspoons vinegar
Combine and mix ground
meats in a bowl. Soak bread in
milk and add to meat with re
maining 2 ingredients. Mix thor
oughly. Mold into loaf and place
in shallow roasting pan. Before
baking, pour mixture of 'A cup of
brown sugar, 'A cup of honey,
and 2 teaspoons of vinegar over
top of loaf. Bake at 350 degrees
for 2 hours.
Pa. Honey Queen
HONEY PEANUT BUTTER
TREATS
1 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup of chunky peanut butter
Use a large heavy saucepan.
Stirring constantly, bring the
honey and the brown sugar to a
boil. Remove from heat and add
cereal and peanut but
ter. Press into
13x9x2-inch pan, cool.
Cut into 2-inch squares.
Makes 32 squares.
Pa. Honey Queen
Toll Free
-888-
788-5572
To Order
Call or
Write
Kristen Miller
Kristen Miller