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Home Food Preservation and Safety

Let's Preserve

Also available in Spanish, our "Let's Preserve" fact sheets provide detailed methods for processing fruits, vegetables and meats. Penn State Extension offers the latest research to ensure safe, quality products. Learn the details of how to can, freeze, and dry food, plus learn tips for success and troubleshooting.

Articles

Let's Preserve: Quick Process Pickles

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn detailed canning methods for making quick-process pickles, selecting and preparing cucumbers, safe canning methods, and tested recipes for dill, sweet, bread‑and‑butter, and relishes.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Apples

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

A quick-reference guide on how to properly preserve apples, including tips on preparation, freezing, canning, and more.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Meat and Poultry

By Catherine Nettles Cutter, Ph.D., Martin Bucknavage

Meat and poultry can be preserved for longer-term storage through canning, drying, or freezing. Learn the preservation techniques that provide the opportunity to safely consume these products well beyond the time they were harvested.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Snap Beans

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn the proper techniques for canning and freezing snap beans.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Root Vegetables - Beets, Carrots, Turnips, and Rutabagas

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Root vegetables must be processed in a pressure canner. They cannot be safely canned in a boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canner.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Jelly, Jam, Spreads

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

Learn the procedures and find recipes for canning jellies, jams, and spreads.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Fruit Pie Fillings

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

The following fruit fillings are excellent and safe products. Each canned quart makes one 8- to 9-inch pie.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Tomatoes

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Find detailed information on various topics related to preserving tomatoes, including selecting tomatoes for canning, recommended varieties for making juice, acidification, making salsa, and more.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Drying Herbs

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds of herbs can all be dried.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Strawberries

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn the proper techniques for freezing or canning fresh strawberries. For best quality, strawberries should be preserved on the day they are harvested.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Squash and Pumpkins

By Stacy Reed, MS, Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn the proper techniques for canning, drying and freezing squash and pumpkin.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Peppers

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Provides detailed information on types of peppers, freezing procedures, and how to properly process them in a canner.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Soup

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Detailed information on how to properly prepare soup, along with in-depth instructions on canning and freezing procedures.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Pears

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn the proper procedures for freezing or canning pears and the recommended varieties of pears for preservation.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Freezing Vegetables

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

A quick-reference guide on how to properly freeze, pack, and prepare various types of vegetables, including asparagus, cabbage, carrots, and more.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Sweet Corn

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Learn the proper techniques for freezing or canning fresh corn. Most sweet corn varieties work well for preservation.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Freeze-Drying

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Nicole McGeehan, MPH, CHES

This article explains the freeze-drying process and how it can extend the shelf life of food.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Fermentation - Sauerkraut and Pickles

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Details how to safely can and preserve sauerkraut and fermented pickles.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Freezing Fruits

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

This article explains how to freeze foods successfully and provides details on freezing specific fruits.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Cherries

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

Freezing and canning methods for sweet or sour cherries are explained. Select freshly harvested cherries with deep, uniform color and ideal maturity for eating fresh. Don't delay preserving them, with or without seeds.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Blueberries

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

Freezing and canning methods are covered, along with preparation techniques for successful preservation. Select berries that are plump, firm, and have a light-blue to blue-black color.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Peaches, Apricots, Nectarines

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

Find the best varieties of fruit to choose when canning or freezing, plus learn the proper techniques for successful preservation.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Drying Fruits and Vegetables (Dehydration)

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

Learn the best practices and find recipes for drying fruits and vegetables. Dried foods are tasty, nutritious, lightweight, and easy to store and use.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Basics of Home Canning

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D., Martha Zepp

Canning can be a fun and economical way to make fresh foods available year-round. Here you will learn procedures that have been scientifically tested to ensure safe and high-quality canned products and optimized for prolonged storage.
Articles

Let's Preserve: Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

By Andy Hirneisen, MA, Martha Zepp, Luke LaBorde, Ph.D.

For canning potatoes, select the "waxy" or "boiling" kinds. Most red-skin potatoes are suitable, and many white or gold round new potatoes with thin skins work well, too.