Yes, You Can
- Posted by: Peter Smith
- on September 24, 2009 at 11:15 am
The can-volution takes canning out of the factory and puts putting-up food back on the table.
Canned foods were born in the early 1800s when a confectioner named Nicholas Appert invented a method for preserving food in airtight containers for the French army. From there, canned foods went on to become a safe, reliable staple of the workingman’s lunch and a source of pride for frugal homemakers. Canned food also became a symbol of modern industrialized society—as if the food itself were produced mechanically. Cans of green beans, Campbell’s soup, or fruit medley represent the promise (easy-to-use, pre-cooked food all year-round!) and the perils (bland, salty, overcooked food all year-round!) of modern culture.
While having canned beans available year-round—and, indeed, the can itself—is the result of a huge industrial effort (as James Parker recently wrote in a spirited defense of canned foods), a cottage industry of do-it-yourself community canners has cropped up again. Sales of canning supplies are reportedly up 30 percent this year, fed in part by an interest in local foods, awareness about contaminated processed foods, and a slumping economy. DIY home canning has also drawn inspiration from a generation of designers and tinkerers dedicated to customizing off-the-shelf products—computers, bicycles, food—that were once thought of as sterile, efficient exemplars of industrial product design.
Although producing canned food yourself may not be as cheap as buying the mass-produced version, it allows you to save your own seasonal foods, customize recipes, and enjoy your tomatoes with the knowledge that they weren’t picked by an enslaved Immokalee worker.
One enthusiastic cheerleader of canning’s new wave has been Kim O’Donnel, a Seattle writer who launched Canning Across America this summer. “I got inspired by Yes We Can in the Bay Area and I kept thinking about Hands Across America, where people would simultaneously hold events around this idea of putting up food,” O’Donnel says. “I threw an idea out on Twitter. I have not seen anything like the response I got in a long time and it was because of twenty-first century technology. We’re using social media to talk about a way of preserving food that dates back to Napoleonic era.”
Back in 1810, Appert thought that driving the air out of containers prevented spoilage, although canning actually works by combining that sealing action with heat. The heat sterilizes the contents. But beware: it also tends to turn softer vegetables, like beans, to pulp.
Because modern home canning is a relatively easy process, it doesn’t require any prerequisites in the kitchen. At its simplest, canning requires only glass jars, lids, and a lot of boiling water. Usually, the jars and the food are heated. Then, acid or sugar is added. The food is put in jars which are boiled in hot water. As they cool, they make a “pop” and seal shut. The most accessible recipes, even from the culinary innovators like David Chang of Momofuku, tend to be for similar fare: high-acid foods, like vinegary pickles, or tomatoes.
For the first timers, it’s really important to follow a recipe. Putting Food By is a canner’s best friend. Neophytes might also want to follow someone who’s done it before. Which is part of the impetus behind community canning projects: learning from others. Yes, We Can’s Anya Fernald said it best when she wrote, “Like everything that’s hot, sticky, exhausting, and a little risky, [canning is] way more fun with friends.”
As much as I enjoy canning pickled beets, whole tomatoes, or crabapple jelly myself, there’s always something new to learn. “It’s a way to get people together for two or three hours,” O’Donnel says. “Not only sharing the work load, but catching up and getting to know each other. Those things have been highly underrated. Canning is one way back.”
Top Photo by Peter Smith. Bottom Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
DISCUSSION: 5 Comments
Very good article and topical at that. Topical because one reason why many Americans are struggling with their weight and related health issues is away from home eating due to lack of simple kitchen knowledge – food preparation, canning, etc…Unfortunately, food manufactures use unhealthy ingredients like high
fructose corn syrup, sucrose, partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats)
and other additives that can only be avoided by taking control. Learning how to make simple recipes such as jellies and jams, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc., using quality and healthy ingredients is paramount to taking control, not only in the kitchen, but in your overall health management as well. The Naked Truth!Dr. Sardone
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Anonymous
on October 7, 2009 at 6:33 am <!–
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Very
good article and topical at that. Topical because one reason why many
Americans are struggling with their weight and related health issues is
away from home eating due to lack of simple kitchen knowledge – food
preparation, canning, etc…Unfortunately, food manufactures use
unhealthy ingredients like high
fructose corn syrup, sucrose, partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats)
and other additives that can only be avoided by taking control.
Learning how to make simple recipes such as jellies and jams, ketchup,
mustard, mayonnaise, etc., using quality and healthy ingredients is
paramount to taking control, not only in the kitchen, but in your
overall health management as well. The Naked Truth!Dr. Sardone
Very good article and i agree canning of food is a good thing to know howdo for any family thats trying to make thier food dollar buy more. I am aretired farmer from the area that you describe in your article when youstate “enslaved immokalee workers”, altho i do not live in that area anymore.
Your use of the above term for these workers are “False” and has noplace in the true facts about these workers. A good rule of thumb foranyone is, to know the true facts about a subject that is beign used tomake false statements about another. Learn about the farming thatgoes on in this area and about the people before making these workers”enslaved immokalee workers”.Searobin
I haven’t had the time to can for years. I was just thinking that I should put my canning supplies back into the universe so someone else could use them. . . But now, I think I will be hanging on to them and i will be giving canning another chance! I always love the homemade goodness of the canned products that I do myself so much more than what is offered in stores. Things just taste fresher, firmer, more flavorful than store-bought. Then maybe I can be a better consumer, not using those plastic-lined cans that are out there now.
I’m inclined to agree with Searobin, your facts are skewed, I spent a major portion of my life in The Immokalee / Labelle area, while I can’t say that some form of “Slavery” doe not exist there as in anything or any where it may.. Do many of the local farmers use illegals, yes they do, just as the restaurants, landscapers and construction businesses here in Atlanta where I now live do. I have relatives in Immokalee at this moment that may or may not employ illegals but they don’t seek them out and enslave them. As I said theres no way I can say you lied as much as I believe it, But I will say if it has occurred it wasn’t an everyday thing it’s just not commonplace, I feel sure that many business people in Immokalee and in Atlanta and every other city in the US take advantage if the illegals it’s too easy to do it for me to believe that it never happens. You slanted your story to say it’s commonplace for the farmers and business people to abuse the illegal immigrants and thats simply a lie, I spent more than 45 years in that area, if the illegals are as stupid as you imply they would have never been able to get across the border and negotiate their way to Immokalee 2000 miles away. It’s true that most are uneducated but being uneducated doesn’t make you stupid. my experience with the latinos leaves me think that they’re bright and very industrious far from the impression you attempted to give. Yes WE have a problem with illegals, my belief is that it’s the US government fault They can close the border anytime the choose. CLOSE IT, DO IT NOW!!! I’ll only add that if I were a poor Mexican livung in Mexico, I’d come here anyway I could, to make a better life for my family.I blame our government, not the poor hard working Mexican worker for this problem,