Senior Chef
Kids Cooking Lessons
16-18 years old
Lesson 8

Today for Kids Cooking Lessons we will learn about preserving food.

Learning to Preserve Food

Do you know how to dry or can fruits or vegetables? Especially if it is summertime, it is a great skill to pass on to your teenager.

They may not be doing this on their own in the near future but someday they will be more apt to try when they have their own home. Discuss the reason for preserving food.

Here is a canning recipe to try or use one of your own. Jam is an easy recipe to try also.

Dill Pickles
8 pounds of 3-4 inch cucumbers
4 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup canning salt
16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
8 sprigs fresh dill weed
8 heads fresh dill weed
Wash cucumbers. If you want pickle slices, slice cucumbers into rounds or lengthwise for cucumber spears. Set aside.

Prepare jars by cleaning and pouring boiling water into each jar to sterilize the jars. You may also sterilize them by boiling the jars in a large canning pot for 10 minutes.

Pour hot water out of jar and add 2 cloves of garlic and a head of dill in the bottom of each empty jar.

In saucepan add water, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, pack cucumbers into jars, then top with sprig of dill. Pour hot water vinegar mixture into each jar to about 1 inch from the top. Clean the jar's rim and seal with a lid and ring. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Boiling water bath is when you fill a boiling water canner about 3/4 full of water, bring to a boil, lower in jars with tongs. When water comes to a rolling boil, put lid on pot and start timing!

For some great help learning how to can, watch this canning video:

Final Senior Chef Cooking Lesson

This is the final kids cooking lessons in the Senior Chef group. To print a cooking certificate for your Senior Chef lessons please download the PDF file here.

Please remember you can't learn to cook in 10 easy lessons. Cooking is a continuous learning process, so keep practicing, learning and creating in the kitchen.