DEPARTMENT E - FOOD PRESERVATION
Cooking 101, Cake Decorating, Recipe Collection - Premium Schedule A
Cooking 201, Cooking 301, Cooking 401
Food Preservation, General Foods -
Premium Schedule B
*Denotes that entries are eligible for State Fair, after earning that privilege at the Dakota - Thurston Fair.
The purpose of Food & Nutrition exhibits is to encourage the knowledge about healthy eating and safe cooking practices. This category has multiple projects that allow 4-H members to progress over numerous years., In addition, 4-H members will learn different types of cooking methods to improve their knowledge of cuisine. For more resources and materials in this category refer to the resource section.
Entries per Individual—One entry per exhibitor per class. The quotas, or number of exhibits allowed per department, for the Nebraska State Fair is determined by each county’s annual 4-H enrollment. County staff will be provided with department quotas following the June 15 enrollment deadline.
Scoresheets, forms, contest study materials, and additional resources can be found at https://go.unl.edu/ne4hfood-nutrition.
GENERAL Members may exhibit only in the project in which enrolled.
LABELING INFORMATION -
SUPPORTING INFORMATION: - Each exhibit must include the recipe. Recipe may be handwritten, copied or typed. . For non-food entries, please attach the entry tag to the upper right hand corner of the exhibit. Additional information including and supplemental information should be labeled with 4-H members name and county.
FOOD PRESERVATION
Department E - Section 406, 407, 408, 414
Processing Methods: Current USDA processing methods and altitude adjustments must be followed for all food preservation. Jam, preserves and marmalades, fruit, tomatoes, and pickled products must be processed in a boiling water bath. Tomatoes may be processed in a pressure canner. All non-acid vegetables and meats must be processed in a pressure canner. Improperly canned or potentially hazardous food items will be disqualified. Spoiled or unsealed containers disqualifies entry.
Jars and Lids: Do not need to be the same brand. Half pint jars may be used for jellies and preserves. The jars are not to be decorated by the exhibitor in any way. Canning jars must be used - others will be disqualified. No one-fourth pint jars allowed. Leave jar rings on for fair display, it helps protect the seal. Two-piece lids consisting of a flat metal disk and a ring should be used. No zinc lids or one-piece lids.
Current Project: Exhibits must have been preserved since the 4-H member’s previous year’s county fair, and not been exhibited at the previous State Fair. Criteria for Judging: Exhibits will be judged according to score sheets available at your local Extension office or the State Fairbook at https://4hfairbook.unl.edu/fairbookview.php/rules. Incomplete exhibits will be lowered a ribbon class. Canned food items not processed according to altitude in the county will be lowered one class ribbon. Check with your local extension office or this site https://food.unl.edu/elevation-and-food-preservation/https://food.unl.e… your county's altitude and how that affects food processing times and pounds of pressure.
Labeling: Jars should be labeled with the name of the food item, name of the 4-H member-H’er, county, and date of processing on the bottom of each jar, print labels from https://go.unl.edu/canninglabel (printable label found at this link) Exhibits containing multiple jars such as a "3 jar exhibit" should be placed in a container to keep jars together. Each bag containing dried foods should also be labeled with the name of the food item, the name of the 4-H member , county and drying date. Multiple dried food exhibits should be secured by a rubber band or "twisty" to keep exhibit containing the three self-sealing bags together.
Recipe/Supporting Information: Recipe must be included, and may be handwritten, photocopied or typed. Commercially prepared seasoning mixes are not allowed. Current USDA guidelines for food preservation methods MUST be followed. Suggested sources of recipes include:
- 4-H Food Preservation Manuals (Freezing, Drying, Boiling Water Bath Canning, Pressure Canning)
- USDA Guide to Home Canning https://nchfp.uga.edu/
- Nebraska Extension's Food Website https://food.unl.edu/food-preservation or Extension publications from other states
- Ball Blue Book (most recent publication)
All exhibits must include the 4-H Food Preservation Card attached to the project as the required supporting information https://go.unl.edu/fillablepreservationcard (card found at this link) or include following information with exhibit:
1) Name of product
2) Date preserved
3) Method of preservation (pressure canner, water bath canner or dried)
4) Type of pack (raw pack or hot pack)
5) Altitude (and altitude adjustment, if needed)
6) Processing time
7) Number of pounds of pressure (if pressure canner used)
8) Drying method and drying time (for dried food exhibits)
9) Recipe and source of recipe (if a publication, include name and date)
FOOD PRESERVATION—UNIT 1 FREEZING
Department E - Section 406
*1. Baked Item Made With Frozen Produce - Any recipe, at least 3/4 of baked product or four muffins or cookies on a paper plate or in a disposable pan.) Recipe MUST include a food item preserved by the freezing method done by the 4-H member. .Examples: peach pie, blueberry muffins, zucchini bread, etc. Supporting information must include both the recipe for the produce that was frozen as part of this project AND the baked food item.
FOOD PRESERVATION - UNIT 2 DRYING
Department E - Section 407
*1 Dried Fruits - - Exhibit three different examples of three different dried fruits. Place each dried fruit food (6-10 pieces of fruit, minimum 1/4 cup) in separate self-sealing bags. Use a rubber band or “twisty” to keep exhibit together.
*2 Fruit Leathers - Exhibit three different examples of three different fruit leathers. Place a three-four inch sample of each fruit together in separate self-sealing bags. Use a rubber band or “twisty” to keep exhibit together.
*3. Vegetable Leather - Exhibit three different examples of three different vegetable or vegetable/fruit leather combo. Place three-four inch sample of each leather together in separate self-sealing bags. Use a rubber band or “twisty” to keep the bags together.
*4. Dried Vegetables - Exhibit three different samples of dried vegetables. Place each food (1/4 cup of each vegetable) in a separate self sealing bag. Use a rubber band or “twisty” to keep the bags together.
*5. Dried Herbs - Exhibit three different samples of three different dried herbs. Place each food (1/4 cup of each herb) in a separate self -sealing bag. Use a rubber band or “twisty” to keep the bags together.*6. Baked Item Made With Dried Produce/Herbs - Any recipe at least 3/4 of baked product or four muffins or cookies on a paper plate or in a disposable pan. Recipe MUST include a dried produce/herb item made by the 4-H member. Example: Granola bar made with dried fruits, dried cranberry cookies, Italian herb bread, lemon thyme cookies. Supporting information must include both the recipe for the dried produce/herb AND the baked food item.
FOOD PRESERVATION - UNIT 3 BOILING WATER CANNING
Department E - Section 408
UNIT 3 BOILING WATER CANNING MANUAL
*1. 1 Jar Fruit Exhibit - Exhibit one jar of a canned fruit. Entry musts be processed in the boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*2. 3 Jar Exhibit - Exhibit three jars of different canned fruits. May be three different techniques for same type of product. Examples include; applesauce, canned apples, apple pie filling, etc. Entry must be processed in a boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*3. 1 Jar Tomato Exhibit - Exhibit one jar of a canned tomato product. Entry must be processed in the boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*4. 3 Jar Tomato Exhibit -Exhibit three jars of different canned tomato products (salsa, sauces without meats, juice, stewed, etc.) Entry must be processed in the boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*5. 1 Jar Pickled Exhibit - One jar of a pickled and/or fermented product. Entry must be processed in a boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*6. 3 Jar Pickled Exhibit - Exhibit three jars of different kinds of canned pickled and/or fermented products. Entry must be processed in a boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*7. 1 Jar Jellied Fruit Exhibit - One jar of a jam, jelly, fruit butter or marmalade. Entry must be processed in a boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
*8. Jar Jelled Fruit Exhibit - Exhibit three different kinds of jellied products. Entry may be made up of either pints or half pints. Entry must be processed in a boiling water bath according to current USDA recommendations.
FOOD PRESERVATION - UNIT 4 PRESSURE CANNING
Department E - Section 414
*1. Jar Vegetable or Meat Exhibit - Exhibit one jar of a canned vegetable or meat. Include only vegetables and meat canned in a pressure canner according to current USDA.
*2. 3 Jar Vegetable Exhibit - Exhibit three jars of different kinds of canned vegetables. Include only vegetables canned in a pressure canner according to current USDA recommendations.
*3. 3 Jar Meat Exhibit - Exhibit three jars of different kinds of canned meats. Include only meats canned in a pressure canner according to current USDA recommendations.
*4. Quick Dinner - Exhibit a minimum of three jars to a maximum of five jars (all the same size) plus menu. Meal should include three canned foods that can be prepared within an hour. List complete menu on a three inch x five inch file card and attach to one of the jars. Entry must be processed according to current USDA recommendations.
*5. Jar Tomato Exhibit - Exhibit one jar of a canned tomato product. Entry must be processed in a pressure canner according to current USDA recommendations.
*6. 3 Jar Tomato Exhibit - Exhibit three jars of different canned tomato products (salsa, sauces without meats, juice, stewed, etc ) Entry must be processed in a pressure canner according to current USDA recommendations.