Corn Basics
Getting Ready to Preserve Corn Select only tender, freshly-gathered corn in the milk stage. Husk and trim the ears, remove silks, and wash. Canning Corn Wash ears and blanch 3 minutes in boiling...
Category: Food
Food Safety after a Tornado
Be Prepared If you live in an area where loss of electricity from seasonal storms is a problem, you can plan ahead to be prepared for the worst. Keep your freezer as full as possible by freezing...
Dill Pickles & Sauerkraut
How Does Fermentation Preserve? Brined pickles or fermented pickles go through a curing process in a brine (salt and water) solution for one or more weeks. Curing changes the color, flavor and...
Fruit Syrups & Honeys
Fruit Syrups Juices from fresh or frozen blueberries, cherries, grapes, raspberries (black or red) and strawberries are easily made into toppings for use on ice cream, pancakes and pastries. Fruit...
Pickled Foods
Pickled Dilled Beans Ingredients: 4 pounds fresh, tender green or yellow beans (5- to 6-inches long) 8 to 16 heads fresh dill 8 cloves garlic (optional) ½ cup canning or pickling salt 4 cups white...
Chestnuts
When growing chestnuts at home, it is important to distinguish between the “real” chestnut trees (Castanea species) and those trees producing horsechestnuts and buckeyes (Aesculus...
Vibrio vulnificus
The organism Vibrio vulnificus causes wound infections, gastroenteritis or a serious syndrome known as “primary septicema.” V. vulnificus infections are either transmitted to humans...
Food Service Operation Inspections
In South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is the regulatory agency with the authority to inspect food service operations. The ultimate goal of a food establishment...
Scombroid Poisoning
Scombroid poisoning usually is not a severe or long-term illness, and prevention is not difficult, yet occurrence continues throughout the world. The principal threat is from fresh fish, but the...
Ciguatera
What is Ciguatera? Ciguatera is a unique type of food poisoning caused by the consumption of marine species that harbor natural toxins originating in certain tropical waters. These species and...
Preserving Tomatoes
Canning Tomatoes Quality: Select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruits for canning. Quantity: An average of 21 pounds of whole or halved tomatoes (22 pounds of crushed tomatoes),...
Preserving Tomato Sauces & Ketchup
Canning Tomatoes & Tomato Products Tomatoes and tomato products have traditionally been canned in a boiling water bath (212 °F). However, recent research shows that for some products, pressure...