Not Everything Sold Out There is Safe - Become a Canning Extern
Ernest Miller
Sorry for the lack of recent emails, but I've been quite busy with the
Farmer's Kitchen. Don't forget to drop by on Sunday for
breakfast/lunch - we're having a pumpkin waffle special, as well as
"Green Eggs and Jam" - scrambled eggs topped with a walnut pesto and
served with potatoes, toast and artisinal jam (made by yours truly, of
course).
I'm also in the process of moving from Whittier to Montebello. My new
home is beautiful, relatively small, but a classic of Southern
California in the 1930s. I'm setting the house up so that it will be
a great place to hold classes on food preservation and gardening
(though building a new garden will take me some time - which I don't
currently have much of). So, look forward to me hosting some private
food preservation and gardening classes in the new year.
In any case, a couple of weekends ago I attended Artisinal LA to see
some of the wonderful local products available in Southern California.
I was very happy to see my friend, fellow Master Gardener and cook
extraordinaire Rachel Narins there with some perishable pickles
(they're not actually canned, but refrigerated), which just so happens
to be the name of her company: Perishable Pickles: A Pop-Up Pickle
Shop. Great crunch and flavor! I bought a jar of her delicious bacon
jam - savory and sweet - with bacon! What could be wrong with that?
One of our biggest canning restaurateurs was there, Akasha Richmond,
of her eponymous restaurant Akasha. She is doing some fantastic
stuff! There were also a number of other preserved foods vendors
there, including those doing charcuterie (the artisinal butchers Lindy
& Grundy are awaited with great anticipation), bacon, mustards, and a
variety of jams. Some really good stuff out there.
However, while many of vendors are properly preserving food, there
were a couple who weren't really following proper safety guidelines.
For example, one of the vendors (none that I've specifically mentioned
above) was selling jams and jellies that were canned using the open
kettle method. In this method, you put hot product into hot jars,
place lids on top and, as the product cools, a "seal" is created.
This is not a recommended method because the jars don't get hot enough
for long enough to be certain that all the molds, yeasts and bacteria
are killed. In order to ensure safety, proper water bath or pressure
canning times must be followed.
The other major issue I saw was one vendor selling "canned" baked
goods. Basically, they were making pies and crumbles in jars and
baking them in the oven. Sure, they look cute, but you run a real
risk of botulism. The reason is that a jar is an anaerobic environment
(which botulism loves) and baked goods generally are not acidic enough
to prevent the growth of botulism (botulism can't grow in an acidic
environment, such as in most fruit jams and vinegar pickles). Baking
doesn't reach the proper temperatures to kill botulism spores. In
canning we use pressure canners (temp 240 degrees) to kill botulism in
non-acidic environments. Bake a cake to an internal temperature of 240
degrees and I guarantee you won't like the results. Don't take my word
for it, check with the National Center for Home Food Preservation:
www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_can_breads.pdf
I asked the vendor what they were doing to ensure that botulism
couldn't survive in their "canned" baked goods. They had never heard
the question before. Great. They do recommend eating their
unrefrigerated product within seven days, but seven days is long
enough for botulism to reach dangerous levels. Furthermore,
recommending that you eat something within seven days is not quite the
same as selling a "canned" product that is actually safe. Many people
assume that canned goods last on the shelve a bit longer than seven
days. How easy would it be to forget about a canned baked good and
eat it a couple of weeks later rather than tossing it out uneaten?
Baking things in jars looks cool. If you want to do it, go ahead.
Although you should be aware that the major jar manufacturers do not
recommend baking with their jars, as they are not designed for baking
- that is why we have Pyrex. In any case, don't put a lid on the jars
afterwards so that they appear "canned". It simply isn't safe.
In better news, the Farmer's Kitchen is seeking food preservation
externs to join us in the heart of Hollywood.
If you have a real passion for cooking local, sustainable food, and
developing the Los Angeles foodshed through the use of traditional
food preservation techiques such as canning, pickling, fermenting and
drying, this is the opportunity for you.
This is an entry level culinary externship that requires basic
culinary skills or related cooking experience and good communication
skills; current students or recent graduates of culinary program are
preferred, but formal culinary training is not required. Externs will
be trained in preparing and properly preserving various food items
under the supervision of a Master Food Preserver, and will learn to
observe and enforce strict requirements with regard to food safety.
Candidates must enjoy working with food, be organized, responsible,
punctual and have great attention to detail.
This is an excellent opportunity to learn traditional food
preservation techniques in a professional kitchen. Job training and
education are a focus of the Farmer's Kitchen and virtually all the
cooking is done from scratch. You will get hands on experience not
available anywhere else.
Flexible part-time and full-time scheduling is available. However,
most scheduling is in the afternoons.
Please email letter of interest and resume (PDF or Word document
formats preferred) to ernest @ see-la.org
That's it for this week - looking forward to getting some resumes!
If you have any questions about canning, pressure canning,
fermentation, dehydration, freezing, pickling,
curing, smoking or brewing, feel free to email me at
ernest.mil...@gmail.com.
Be sure to check out the blog, which is updated several times a week
(usually): http://preservenation.blogspot.com/
And/or join the Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=280846286958
Thanks,
Ernie