July Mastery Challenge Round-up: Hot Pack Preserving

A post shared by Genevieve Boehme (@genaboehme) on Jul 25, 2017 at 12:41pm PDT

We closed the books on July a few days ago and so it’s time finish up another skill in our Mastery Challenge. This month, we focused on hot pack preserving and more than 130 of you reported in that you’d tried preserving something using this method.

Starring ingredients included apricots, apriums, artichokes, beets, black currants, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, carrots, cherries (both sweet and tart), corn, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, figs, gooseberries, green beans, jalapeños, kohlrabi, mangos, mushrooms, onions, peaches, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, shishito peppers, sour cherries, strawberries, watermelon rind, wineberries, and zucchini.

People made all sorts of products, including chutneys, fruit packed in syrup, jams, pickles, salsas, and tomato products.

According to the survey, a lot of you made more than one batch, which is always delightful. I’m happy that so many of you were inspired to dig in more deeply.

As far as satisfaction with skill goes, the results made me giggle. Most of you felt pretty friendly towards hot packed at the start of the month.

But, at the end of the month, those of you who participated were all in. Such happy, positive reactions!

A post shared by Andrea (@andreaeatworld) on Jul 31, 2017 at 1:24pm PDT

Jams, Chutneys, and Mostardas

• Peach Lime Jam – Jarla
• Cantaloupe Jam – Southern with a Twist
• Peach Mostarda – Tesla Anomaly
• Spicy Tomato Jam – Love & Wild Honey
• Blueberry Basil Jam – My Savory Spoon
• Peach Brandy Sauce – Tiffany Mitchell-Brewer
• Peach Raspberry Jam – Heidi Graham
• Sour Cherry Jam – tastycraft
• Black and Blueberry Jam – Southern Fried Yankee
• Mango Chutney – Southern Fried Yankee
• Boysen Plum Jam – Will Graves

Pickles, Relish, and Salsa

• Pickled Watermelon Rind – Putting up with Erin
• Bread and Butter Pickles – She’s Almost Always Hungry
• Corn Relish and Pickle Relish – Prospect the Pantry
• Roasted Tomatillo Salsa – East of Eden Cooking
• Tomato Rhubarb Ketchup – Gena Boehme
• Peach Habanero Hot Sauce – Andrea
• Tomatillo Salsa – Southern Fried Yankee
• Curried Zucchini Pickles – Britt Mammenga
• Jalapeno Dijon Mustard – Kim Lewandowski
• Pickled Fairytale Eggplant – Jenn Spinosi
• Classic Hotdog Relish – Laurie Kane
• Bread and Butter Pickles – Will Graves
• Roasted Salsa Verde – Candice
• Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce – Will Graves
• Sweet Cherry BBQ Sauce – Kim Lewandowski

A post shared by Kim Lewandowski (@ilemonyzest757) on Jul 22, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

Tomatoes and Whole Fruit/Veg Preserves

• Vanilla Bean Infused Peach Slices – Not Starving Yet
• Pressure Canned Green Beans – Casula Mellita
• Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste – Cooking with Mary and Friends
• Spiced Cherry Preserves – Stephanie Beauchamp
• Preserved Artichokes – The Pit Stop BBQ
• Sweet Cherries in Vanilla Honey Syrup – Seed to Pantry
• Hot Pack Cherries – Grace Lee
• Sour Cherries and Apricots – Ava George Stewart
• Zucchini in Pineapple Juice – LeAnne

And finally, a few comments from the submission form:

Lisa from Aurora, Ontario said, “Interesting to see how the hot pack played out in practice, not just theory. Peaches are a lot more work than I thought they’d be!” So true! Peaches are a beast, but so worth the work!

Ann from Vashon, Washington said, “My time was limited and produce was lagging – but the Walla Walla sweets were in so I tried the onion relish. Definitely worth while! So glad I’m learning more about hot pack. Hope to do some tomatoes soon as they are now arriving in our local markets.” Onion relish is delicious!

Tesla from Memphis, Tennessee said, “I had already done a lot of hot pack preserving, but until this month I had no idea that’s what I was doing – or the reasons why you’d use a hot pack with a particular fruit or to get a particular result. This month was an example of how the Mastery Challenges are educational for me, even when I’m not making something new!” So glad it was useful!

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