"Canning" and "complicated" don't need to go together. You do want to make sure of a few techniques to avoid contaminated food and wasted ingredients, but - believe us - it isn't as hard as you think it is. Set aside a project day and call a friend and have a good time. But first, scope us out for some amazing enhancements for your everyday canning recipes.You can use any canning recipe that calls for vinegar and substitute a flavour-infused Dark Balsamic Vinegar or White Balsamic and you'll wonder why you ever waited, and why you don't can more, or everything... Some of our newest balsamics are a perfect example of this.
The new Gochujang White Balsamic had our staff floored with its balanced sweet, fermented taste and blast of heat (think spicy asparagus spears). The Passion Fruit Jalapeno White Balsamic is both sweet and tart, with a true jalapeno flavour profile. It's hard to put into words, but very easy to put into recipes. Pickled mango and carrot spears, for example, would be stunning with this.
Here's a brief example of some canning recipes we've collected that use our amazing flavours:
And here are a few upgrades for you to try that will make canning easier and more rewarding. Anything to get better results and better flavour, faster!
1. Jars that will process for 10 minutes or more do not require sterilization - so save time and skip it! Recipes for jams or jellies that call for 5 minutes of processing time can usually be increased to 10 minutes so that you can skip sterilization (according to the National Centre for Home Food Preservation).
2. No time to pick local fruits this season? Frozen fruits make excellent jams and preserves. Go ahead and try it, and chances are - no one will know. :)
3. Chopsticks make great bubbling tools. Before you screw on lids, pop any pesky air bubbles with clean chopsticks. Fun and practical!
4. No specialty canning pot? No problem! Use a stockpot with a cooling rack on the bottom to prevent glass jars from too much direct heat. Nothing should stop you from a great result.
5. Properly canned foods can actually last longer than a year on the shelf. Many 'best before' guidelines are tough to apply to canned goods. The technique itself means the food is in a vacuum, an absence of air, so it will not age. Food retains its nutritional value well beyond a year, or two - or more! But the key is to make sure it was still sealed when you go to open it, use good judgment and always look and smell before eating (according to the experts on the Today show).
