Learn to safely preserve at home
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Interested in safely preserving food for you and your family but don’t have time for traditional classes? It is time to think about gifting yourself or a loved one with an online, hybrid course, Preserve @ Home.
Oregon State University Extension Service invites you to enroll in Preserve @ Home, a national award-winning, online food safety and preservation course to teach individuals how to safely preserve a variety of food products.
Participants learn how to produce high quality, preserved foods and the science behind food preservation and food safety. Individuals with full-time jobs or live in remote areas may be very interested in this course because it is self-paced. There are weekly topic releases and a hands-on lab offered in several regions in Oregon at the end of the series on a Saturday.
The registration deadline is Monday, January 13, 2020. The first class of the 6-week course opens on-line on Thursday, January 16, 2020. Each lesson includes online text (that can be downloaded and printed), online forum to facilitate participant discussion, and a real-time weekly chat session to interact with classmates and instructors. The weekly online chat session for the first lesson will be on Thursday, January 23, 2020 from 1:00 to 1:45 PM.
Topics to be covered include: Foodborne Illness – causes and prevention, Spoilage and Canning Basics, Canning High Acid Foods, Canning Specialty High Acid Foods – pickles, salsa, jams, jellies, etc., Canning Low Acid Foods, and Freezing and Drying. Supplemental materials this year will include materials on planting varieties for food preservation and one on cold storage and root cellaring.
Glenda Hyde, Oregon State University Extension educator will provide a hands-on lab experience for Central Oregon participants at the Oregon State University Extension office in Redmond. Students will practice pressure canning, water-bath canning and dehydrating. The optional hands-on lab will be held on Saturday, February 29, 2020, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Cost of the course is $55 plus the cost of required supplemental materials. Many of the supplemental materials are available free, online. Class size is limited. This course is offered cooperatively with the University of Idaho Extension Service and eXtension, a national resource for online courses offered by Extension professionals. Register on-line by January 13, 2020 at https://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/preserve-home-oregon
Preserve @ Home won the 1st Place Award for Food Safety Education from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2016. For more information, or contact Glenda Hyde at glenda.hyde@oregonstate.edu or call 541-548-6088.
