The Canning Kitchen: Amy Bronee's 101 recipes for homemade jam
All you need is a pot, a mixing bowl, some spoons and something to turn into jam
—Victoria-based blogger and cooking instructor Amy Bronee has just published her first book, and it aims to draw more people into the joys of home cooking and preserving.
"When you can for the first time, and you year the ping of those lids sealing on the kitchen counter, it's so rewarding," Bronee told CBC Radio's North by Northwest host Sheryl MacKay.
Over the last five years, Bronee has chronicled her kitchen adventures, especially with jam, on her blog Family Feedbag.
Her first recipe book is the product of nearly ten months of weekends spent experimenting in a sweltering and steamy kitchen.
"We ended up having to put a dehumidifier in the kitchen because of all the simmering away there!"
What you'll need to get started
Most people won't need anything as extreme as a dehumidifier, Bronee joked.
The necessary equipment is likely already sitting in your kitchen, she said: a large pot for mixing, wooden spoons and measuring spoons.
Beginners will also need a speckled enamel canner specifically for boiling water-bath canning, which typically retails for $20 to $25 at most hardware stores, she said.
Optional equipment includes a canning funnel and a jar lifter, with rubberized grabbers to lift jars in and out of boiling water safely.
Pectin, yes or no?
"There's this trend now that it's almost you get bragging rights if you make a jam without adding any pectin," said Bronee, who admits she doesn't understand why.
"Pectin is widely misunderstood. It's not a preservative. It's not an animal product; that's gelatin."
Pectin is a natural byproduct of juice production, and is made when remaining fruit pulp is dehydrated and ground into powder, she said.
One of the benefits of using pectin is that it reduces boiling time to just one minute while increasing jam yield, Bronee said.
When it's too hot to jam
"Don't knock yourself out trying to can everything while it's in season," Bronee said.
"Strawberries freeze beautifully. Weigh them out, hull them, put them in freezer bags, ... pop it in the freezer, and you can make that jam in the fall, in the winter, whenever you like."
To hear the full interview with Amy Bronee, listen to the audio: The Canning Kitchen.