Cooperative Extension: Food & Health

— By Kathy Savoie, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Increased interest in home food preservation, the popularity of home canning salsa, and the emergence of food blogs as easily accessible sources for recipes have created concerns about the safety of home canning recipes on food blogs. How safe are the salsa recipes found on […]

— By Kathy Savoie, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension As we prepare for the summer preserving season by gathering ingredients, please remember the importance of always checking that the acidity level of vinegar is 5%. The acid from vinegar helps to ensure the safety of your home canned products. The National Center for Home […]

— By Kathy Savoie, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Make the most of the upcoming bounty of green beans from your garden or local farm by preserving dilly beans! Dilly beans are typically pickled green beans, but you can also use any other variety of bush/pole beans like yellow or purple beans. The […]

— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Dome lids play an important role in home canning. They, along with a screw band, protect your food from spoilage by creating a vacuum seal that forms during the canning process. So it’s important to prepare and apply dome lids and screw bands […]

— By Kathy Savoie, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension With any luck, the late May frosts haven’t damaged the upcoming, highly anticipated strawberry season in Maine. I live in a town that has an amazing pick-your-own (PYO) strawberry field, and you know it’s open by the volume of cars driving through our small […]

— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Freezing is the unsung workhorse of summertime preserving. Freezing fruits and vegetables can take less time than canning and results in a product that is closer to fresh than a canned product. A few tips will help make sure your frozen foods are top-quality […]

— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Green beans and cucumbers are starting to appear in Maine gardens and at farmers markets, which means it’s time to kick off pickling season. Our tips will help you create high-quality and delicious pickled vegetables of all kinds, from classics like dill pickles and […]