How to choose the right products for canning: it will be tasty and safe

The taste and quality of canned food largely depends on the products you use to make it. Therefore, you need to choose them very carefully.

In this case, the FoodOboz editorial team has prepared some tips that will help you choose and prepare food for canning.

What you need to pay attention to right away

You should choose only high-quality products for canning. If it is vegetables or fruits, they should not be overripe, broken or rotten. Therefore, they need to be carefully sorted before processing.

This should be done taking into account the following indicators:

1. Product quality.

You need to pay very careful attention to this, because even one damaged fruit can completely spoil the entire preservation.

2. Size.

For all fruits to cook equally, their size should be the same. This is the only way to make the preservation really tasty.

Shelf life after harvest:

The summer heat is not favorable for long-term storage of food, so it quickly begins to deteriorate. Therefore, it is worth preparing preserves immediately after harvesting. Berries are the most sensitive to high temperatures. Once picked, they should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.

If the fruit is very dirty, soak it in water before cooking. Then you can remove the residue with a soft brush.

Features of choosing meat for canning

When choosing meat for canning, you need to understand exactly what its origin is. The product must be fresh and pass sanitary control.

Fresh chilled or thawed meat is best. Steamed meat or meat from old animals is not suitable. Wash the products well in cold running water. Then, separate the meat from bones, fat, blood vessels and cartilage. Cut the finished meat into equal pieces for uniform and equal heat treatment of the entire portion.

How to prepare mushrooms for canning

For this product, the safest way to preserve it is to use an autoclave. But before you cook mushrooms, you need to free them from all kinds of dirt and debris. To do this, cover the mushrooms with cold water for just 5 minutes.

When cleaning mushrooms, you should first separate the stems from the caps. Cut off the lower part of the stems and remove any remaining dirt from the sides. Carefully clean the caps with a knife to remove any remaining dirt.

After that, you need to discard mushrooms damaged by worms, as well as mushrooms that look questionable.

To avoid unappetizing mushrooms, they should be boiled in hot salted water, or simply placed in cold salted water.

When slicing mushrooms, you need to be careful and take away any spoiled pieces that you find. This makes the mushrooms ready for cooking.