Comments on: In Praise of Bruised Fruit

By: Dianne

Dianne — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:23:41 +0000

Fantastic post — very well said. I particularly like the idea of rescuing the rest of the fruit and allowing it to fulfill its delicious destiny. Wonderful!

Meanwhile, canning is one of the most frugal acts I know. There is a reason your grandmother and great-grandmother put up food. And it wasn’t because it was trendy!

By: Fran's Mom

Fran's Mom — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:22:50 +0000

Gone are the days when I could spend a few hours in my mother-in-law’s raspberry patch on a hot day in July, reaching into the center and down low in the shady spots to pick the jewels of summer — quarts of them! For free! My husband always secured a couple of quarts for pie (with chocolate cookie crust and whipped cream), but my bliss was making jam. The color! The fragrance! The anticipation of incredible flavor!
Making jam had nothing to do with saving money — it was capturing the essence of hot, sunny day to savor (on popovers) on cold winter mornings, especially Christmas. Now, I have to buy my berries if I can find them, far afield from the city — and they don’t taste as good as my mother-in-law’s used to — but I’m still hooked on making jam.

By: Julie Parr

Julie Parr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Another point about bruised fruit: being willing to buy it helps the conditions of migrant farmworkers.

By: Hanna S

Hanna S — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:57:05 +0000

Hmmm…I’ve never added up the cost of canning. I suppose I’m lucky to live in a small town where old ladies either give me jars or sell them very cheap because they just don’t can anymore. And while fruit can be a bit expensive, it’s also often free when a co-worker has too many pears or there’s a wild orchard at the end of the lane.

That said, maybe I’m not just lucky, there’s lot of reasons why I don’t live in the city anymore.

By: Libby

Libby — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:27:11 +0000

Hello. I agree that canning doesn’t have to be a luxury.

A question, though, about bruised fruit. With peaches like those in the picture above, how deep do you pare them when cutting them up to make jam? When do you consider something a lost cause? Sometimes I wonder if I throw away too much when I’m cutting up imperfect fruit.

By: michelle

michelle — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:51:51 +0000

I love Leigh’s cost analysis!!! It is great. I figure my jars are even cheaper. I can subtract out other costs such as movies, six flags, etc because my kids are excited to stay home and have a “cooking class with mom”. It cuts down on the McDonald’s requests because it is more fun to eat what we cooked. And I won’t be investing in a big scrapbook hobby because every time we open a jar, we are reliving the experience! I consider it a moment in time that is an investment in my kids’ futures- hopefully they will grow up to can and cook and pass it on to their kids! And we even swap jars with a friend who cans so we can taste new things. I have to admit that even “store bought” can be a learning experience- we buy our quince jam (my 6yo’s favorite???) at the local ethic market where the owner’s wife and mother-in-law make the jam..I wouldn’t know a quince if it hit me in the face, but we know about quinces, different cheeses, pastries and herbs from talking to this family!

By: Tim M

Tim M — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:45:44 +0000

Also, I’d like to make a request. Blueberries are in season right now, so do you have any good recipes for canning them?

By: Tim M

Tim M — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:39:57 +0000

The article also seems to have some major errors. The person seems to be basing the price of a jar on the price of all the materials together for an entire batch. Unless she’s been buying a new All-Clad stockpot for each batch of jam, there’s no way those prices are realistic on the “per-jar” basis. In my experience, making simple jams with fresh fruit and pantry staples, it costs about $5-10 with jars per batch, making each pint of jam come out around $.80. I could get fancier and use booze and more expensive flavorings, but even then I can’t imagine going over $20, which is a fair price for a project that makes enough of a condiment for a whole year.

Also, the materials can be quite cheap if you talk to your friends about it. Many people having canning stuff from their parents and would be glad to give it away. I just got something like 40 Mason jars, canning tongs, and a canning kettle from a neighbor who was cleaning out her attic. Considering I’ll only need a 30 cent lid whenever I want to use one of the jars, canning is definitely the cheapest hobby I’ve had in a while. In fact, I think it’s cheaper than regular cooking as it specializes in seasonal vegetables and fruit with generally modest ingredients.

By: Debby

Debby — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:54:26 +0000

Hurray for finding you! I just taught myself how to make homemade jam– water bath technique. It was so easy, I couldn’t believe it. I’m hooked! My next step is learning how to make pickles.
I am your newest eager student! In fact, I’m giving away a canning kit for my first giveaway on my food blog.
Debby

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:02:05 +0000

I was very heartened to see a reasonable alternate point of view to the Salon article, which I really disagreed with on many levels. With all due respect to its author, I think many things are expensive either the first time or when you’re “dabbling” (not meant in a snooty way, just that it did seem that way a little). The weekend before that article came out I had made 40 jars of pickles and calculated their cost to be slightly under $2 per jar, and that was including the cost of the jars! So to me it’s a lot about frugality, but also about sourcing your produce opportunistically, either through the bruised or late fruit methods. Also last Saturday I got a 15 lb box of beautiful, organic, but just a hair over-ripe Rainier cherries – $20, and I got 11 pints of canned cherries out of it. So I feel it definitely can be frugal, but most importantly fun!