“I need you to stay out of the kitchen for a while. I am pressure canning green beans,” my mom would say.

I’d be stationed at the picnic table on the patio, trimming and slicing green beans. After the beans were cut in uniform lengths, I brought the beans to the front door for further rinsing and processing in the house. I stayed outside.

Every year, I’d hear the story about my neighbor’s pressure canner blowing up and blasting pinto beans all over the walls and ceiling. That’s how I developed a healthy respect for food preservation.

As I cut bucket upon bucket of beans that I had helped pick, I vowed I would 1) never have a garden and 2) never preserve foods.

Fast forward to today — I am now an avid gardener and food preserver who has eaten those words many times. Growing and preserving food is rewarding on several levels, including self-sufficiency, nutrition, flavor and enjoying the fruits of your labor all year.

I spent years in college learning the science, and I now share information about food safety and nutrition — a twist I didn’t see in my future.

When I was a kid, the internet did not exist. We relied on the Extension county office to disseminate research-tested information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Today, information is everywhere; unfortunately, not all of it is safe.

Many people share their grandma’s or great-grandma’s recipes for canned goods and may be unaware that many of the recommendations included in those canning guides have not stood the test of time. While Grandma’s bread, soups and cookies are timeless treasures, food preservation is a science that evolves with research and innovations.

You can be an artist in your kitchen when cooking. Be as creative as you’d like while remembering the food safety rules, such as cooking to safe temperatures and cooling foods promptly.

When you preserve food, you are a scientist. When you put foods in jars and seal them, their safety relies on the acidity of the food and the processing time and temperature.

Just as we’ve moved beyond driving Model T cars (except in parades), we now have access to modern tools like electric water bath canners and electric pressure canners. These innovations can make preserving safer and more convenient. Traditional stovetop canners still work well — just be sure you’re using quality equipment and following up-to-date guidelines.

As our gardens come to fruition, consider these tips and resources, whether you are tasting the food or preserving it.

• Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to tomatoes when canning. See “Canning and Freezing Tomatoes and Making Salsa” from NDSU Extension for details.
• Use up-to-date canning guidance. Old cookbooks are not the best source. Visit NDSU Extension’s website at ag.ndsu.edu/food and go to “Food Preservation.” Check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s free resources or the Extension resources in your state.
• Test your dial gauge pressure canners annually. Many local Extension offices offer this service.
• Use a pressure canner when canning vegetables, meats and many mixtures of foods.
• Always use new lids on jars. Prepare them according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Boiling lids is usually not recommended. Screw bands and jars can be reused numerous times as long as they are in good shape.
• When pickling, use vinegar with a 5% acidity level. Learn more from NDSU Extension’s “Food Preservation: Making Pickled Products” to make a wide range of pickled vegetables, from green beans to relish.
• Don’t alter canning recipes unless the substitution is considered safe. You can swap one type of pepper for another to adjust the heat in the salsa, but the total amount of peppers should remain the same. See “Play It Safe! Safe Changes and Substitutions to Tested Canning Recipes,” which was developed by experts in the North Central region of the U.S.
• Processing jellies and jams in a boiling water bath canner.

Making jam is a fun way to gather experience with food preservation. This recipe is from NDSU Extension’s “Food Preservation: Jellies, Jams and Spreads.” You can safely use rhubarb throughout the summer, but the stems tend to get tough as the season progresses, so choose the thinner stalks.

This is a tasty topping for toast or ice cream.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam with Pectin

1 cup red-stalked rhubarb, cooked (about 1 pound rhubarb plus ¼ cup water)
2 ½ cups (about 1 ½ quart boxes) strawberries, cooked
6 ½ cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Wash rhubarb and slice thin or chop; do not peel. Add water, cover and simmer until rhubarb is tender (about 1 minute). Sort and wash fully ripe strawberries; remove stems and caps. Crush berries.

To make jam: Measure prepared rhubarb and strawberries into a kettle. Add sugar and stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, quickly bring to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin. Skim. Fill hot jam immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust the lids and process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes if your altitude is 0 to 1,000 feet or 10 minutes if your altitude is 1,001 to 6,000 feet.

This makes about 7 or 8 half-pint jars.

(Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., is a North Dakota State University Extension food and nutrition specialist and professor in the Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences.)

NDSU Agriculture Communication – July 24, 2025

Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, 701-231-7187, julie.garden-robinson@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu