Looking for criteria for preparing home canned foods for competition?
Do you cogitate your canning is awful and perfect ? Why not let a jurist adjudicate .
enter your canned food for thought display can aid you learn so much more about safe canning for you and your class . You ’re believably already canning your own garden and heart product for your own store and function .
Why not have a little fun and recruit into the carnival ? You might just win first prize if you travel along the 10 criteria for preparing dwelling house put up food for contest .
In this post , you ’ll find :
For the first steps of the entering process, read my county fair exhibitor guide here
Color of Product Inside the Jar
Your canned product should take care undimmed and cleared in the jar . blench or cooking the intersection beforehand can help with this .
And your recipe should tell you if you necessitate to blanch beforehand or not . Pay attention to instructions to achieve a vivid sunny ware that will win first dirty money .
That direction , you ’ll be able to see what ’s in it in the future . And you ’ll be capable to know what to mark your shock afterward on .
Properly labeled container
This necessitate reading the instructions in your entry book before you enter into the fair or show . Different shows at different levels call for different labeling for sure products .
For model , some label require your name , canned product name , date canned and EL . While other appearance I ’ve exhibited only postulate the recipe card along with the shock ( no label on the jar required ) . Pay close-fitting attention to your first appearance book . It will order you what your labels need to look like .
Also , you need to ensure you interpret whether to include a recipe or not . passing important .
Sometimes straight product ( such as beets or fleeceable beans ) do not require recipes included . sundry recipes , such as salsa may require a recipe . Although , I let in recipes for EVERYTHING . Just to be certain .
The justice will look at your jar and need to be able to acknowledge what ’s in it . This helps them to understand the uniformity of the product .
Uniformity/Texture of the product
The product in your jar should be nice and smooth . If you have canned a whole intersection , be trusted the bit are the same size .
Also , watch out for crystalling such as in your jams and jellies . You should n’t exhibit a Cartesian product that it crystalled … It needs to be bland .
Condition of Jars/Lid and band Free of Rust
Ugh – this can be a hard one if you ’re using hive away shock .
You see , most shows around here allow you to display products force out within the meter between last class ’s show engagement . This entail that your jarful can be educate and stored for almost a twelvemonth before you march them again .
And sometimes those jar chapeau and bands can become rusted . One uncomplicated trick is to take the bands off for entrepot . Another trick is to grease one’s palms new circle for the carnival to switch out .
If it ’s a palpebra , though , it ’s a different story . You just should n’t exhibit a jar with rust fungus on the lid . take a different shock if you may get by to embark into the fair .
You ’ll find out that display is everything when it total to the criterion for preparing home put up food for competition . Presentation outside of the jar and inside .
Enough Liquid in the jars
Siphoning is a canner ’s speculative enemy . Siphoning is when liquid is released during the saving cognitive process . I find it most predominant with pressing canning after jars are heated or cool down too quickly .
You need to pay aid to head space in rules of order to win first pillage . It ’s one of the largest rating measure the justice will follow . And it will make or separate your chance of getting that higher placing in stratum .
I commemorate my first twelvemonth exhibiting . On my comment sheets , over and over again , were the Book : “ Too little head outer space . ” Since then , I wo n’t exhibit any jars that are manifestly under the drumhead distance necessity . Keep reading for more info about proper head space as an important standard for preparing home sack foods for competition .
Undesirables (floaters)
This is one of the reasons I include recipes with every canned ware I enter . By search at my recipe , the judge can canvass it and the jolt to determine if what he / she see at bottom is a floater or say to be in there .
For instance : Bread & Butter Pickles . Our formula calls for peppercorn . Well , if the judge hear little dark balls floating around in the shock , the judge will desire to bang what that sum is . So , the recipe helps make that finding .
Good Pack
A practiced pack means how full you fill up the jar with your product . You require your merchandise to move freely . You also want to be capable to fit your air house of cards spatula in without wrecking your intersection .
I ’ve study this with green bean . I need to pack my green beans tight in the jars . This is n’t a safe idea since I had no elbow room to correspond my spatula in without stabbing green attic .
However , when I under filled some jolt of green edible bean , the bean floated to the top leave outer space at the bottom . This is n’t right either .
So , you want a felicitous medium between the two extreme point . You ’ll receive it if you keep use and keep displace . Practice makes utter .
Correct Head Space
Here ’s more about head space . The most important evaluation mensuration you need to be cognisant of as far as criterion for prepare home canned foods for rival . If you want to win first prize , you call for to pay attention to lead blank space .
In fact , I ’ve gain second plunder numerous times when my head space was off just a tad act , according the home can intellectual nourishment judging score sheet .
So , follow the educational activity on your recipe exactly . It tells you what the head infinite should be for both the clique and the liquid .
Use your head distance spatula tool to measure .
Pieces plump and unblemished
For veggies and fruit , you should exhibit jolt with idealistic and desired piece , free from blemishes .
So , when you ’re cutting up or lose it your pieces , keep this in mind . You also require them to be very consistent and the same sizing in the jolt .
No foam or air bubbles
Jams , jelly and sirup often gather froth at the top . Before you fulfill jars , attempt to skim the top as much as you may . Foam is undesirable and can keep you from the chance to acquire first swag .
One put-on I ’ve get a line other canners do when it comes to foam is to use a small amount of butter . plain , the butter will expose up the froth . You ’ll still need to skim off some off , but this take a crap it gentle to do so .
The other thing you do n’t postulate is air house of cards . Look for air travel bubble even at the bottom of the jar around the edge . slew your spatula dick around the edge of the jar to relieve air bubbles .
Just knowing and exercise all of these tips will help you to become a good home canner . It will also assist you to reach first lieu .
How to Win First Price in Canning Classes at Fair Contests
The above criteria was prevail from the household send away food competition judge sheet from our state fair after expose canning there . I won the first shoes in the salsa class at the state fair .
So , I ’m here to tell you today that if you ascertain out for all of the above criterion for preparing home canned foods for contest , you ’ll sure do very well exhibiting your canning jars .
You ’ll need some formula cards to write your formula out onto . Also , if you need recording label for your jars .
The next affair to do when you prepare to get in into the fair is to check that your jars are clean . The judge should be capable to see distinctly inside the jar . I use baby wet wipes to strip all my show jounce successfully .
Finally , introduction is important to remember . Lids and jars should mate in the stain name either Balls or Kerrs . So if you have your product in a Ball Jar , you should have a Ball lid on it .
Also , one footling perquisite that might get you brownie points is to position the lid to where the word Ball is even with the word Ball on the jounce . Just a little nit - picky thing I do for supererogatory decimal point . It ’s not really a top touchstone for preparing home canned foods for competition … but remember that presentation is everything .
Now that you have your utter jar quick for show , how do you expose them to win first prize ?
How do I Enter Into the Fair?
I linked to my County Fair Exhibitor guide up above . It ’s really pretty well-heeled to enter into the fair if your local funfair has open classes for displace .
But here it is again if you missed it .
This is a question not enough mass are necessitate these days . Every show I advert , I notice entrance number are shake off off – Especially in the expanse of food for thought conservation .
Yet , there thousands of people in put up chemical group on Facebook . What is stop you from enter ? Why should you even get to with it ?
Why You Should Bother Entering Canning
I get this question a caboodle . “ Why should I even trouble oneself to enter into the bazaar ? ”
There are a few reasons why I think you should inconvenience oneself to enter your canning at the fair :
Yes , all of these are great reasons to pick out your good jar to enroll into the carnival . It ’s also really fun to show off your canning after it receives the ribbon .
Read here for more info about how County Fairs are Important to Rural Communities
Have Fun and Enjoy the Process!
have fun and love yourself even if you do n’t advance first prize is important . Canning is an awesome skill to learn . Canning your own food help you to become more ego - reliant for the future .
When you introduce into the fair , you are practicing to be the best canner you could be and to can quality and dependable product for you and your family . Whether you come through first prize or not , your bighearted pillage is the stock quite a little of give the axe goods you have . The exhibition part is just for playfulness .
Having a wonderfully deep supplying of reinvigorated canned goodness for your home can help you preserve your harvest home and render tasty and healthy meals for your category . This is the top prize .
