The Joy of Cooking Podcast

Episode: Marisa McClellan of Food In Jars: A Casual Culinary Chat About Canning Safety
Air Date: December 10, 2025
Host: The Joy of Creation Production House
Co-hosts: John Becker, Megan Scott, Shannon Larson, Dirk Marshall
Main Guest: Marisa McClellan (Food In Jars)

Overview

This episode is a heartwarming and highly practical conversation about food preservation, canning safety, family culinary traditions, and breaking down what can feel intimidating about starting to can at home. The hosts—descendants and current authors of The Joy of Cooking—welcome renowned food blogger, cookbook author, and canning teacher Marisa McClellan (Food In Jars) to share her journey, canning wisdom, and to answer listener questions about trusted resources and first-time projects.

The tone is friendly, encouraging, funny, and honest about both triumphs and mishaps in the kitchen, with a particular emphasis on overcoming canning anxiety and building community around food.

Episode Highlights

Kitchen Catch-Ups and Seasonal Cooking

[00:38 – 06:53]

• Hosts recount their recent kitchen exploits: homemade ramen (with chashu from Joy), fruitcakes soaked in rum, and a batch of black eyed peas and greens overshadowed by an especially cheesy cornbread.
• Discussion of cooking “economical” dishes and the sticker shock of vegetables these days—a recurring, humorous “old man yells at cloud” moment.
• Tips shared: soaking dried fruit for cake in strong black tea for plumper texture (and delicious leftover tea).

Notable Quotes

• Megan Scott on fruitcake:

  “They just need time for all the spices to kind of dissipate and not be as strong. And then I also soak mine in booze, so that usually helps over time.” [04:24]

• John Becker on cornbread:

  “It was totally overshadowed by the cornbread you made.” [07:47]

Meet Marisa McClellan – Food In Jars

[10:03 – 17:16]

• Marisa is reintroduced as a longtime food blogger, canning authority, author of four books, and Portland native cooking for six while living behind her parents’ house.
• Shares recent kitchen projects focused on casseroles, pasta bakes, and Italian foods ahead of Thanksgiving.
• Offers chicken parm hacks: slice chicken across the grain for tenderness, combine breading steps for fewer dishes, and “oven-fry” with cooking spray to appease her “recovering almond mom.”

Notable Quotes

• Marisa on family traditions:

  “I come from a Joy of Cooking family... That was the foundational cooking volume in my house growing up.” [14:28]

• Marisa’s chicken parm tip:

  “Slice chicken across the grain... it makes a smaller piece of chicken, but it’s so much more tender... and you don’t have to like pound anything.” [12:14]

• “Teaching people to can is a big part of what I do, but the biggest part is just helping them release a fear.” [30:08]

The Food In Jars Origin Story & Blogging Revolution

[17:16 – 26:22]

• Marisa discusses her hands-on, self-taught canning education, sparked by childhood memories and an urge to not waste a surplus of blueberries.
• Details the blog’s early days, from posting about sauerkraut to giving away jars to readers and growing a vibrant canning community just as the 2008 recession sparked a wave of DIY enthusiasm.
• Recounts the time a reader tracked down her phone number demanding a faster reply:

  “They called me and... ‘Hi, is this Marisa? I left a comment on your site.’... I think that’s the most extreme.” [24:53]

Memorable Moment

• Marisa’s family color-matched a dining room to a vintage Joy of Cooking edition, and everyone got their own copy to “avoid fighting”—a snapshot of cookbook devotion. [15:10]

Why Canning Feels Scary—and How to Make It Less So

[27:36 – 34:41]

• Hosts and guest express empathy for canning anxiety—the fear of killing someone, the overwhelming advice online, and conflicting information.
• Marisa’s approach: boil a pot of water? You can can! Start with jam—it’s high acid and very safe.
• Discussion of “lab-tested” recipes, the science behind safety, and balancing vigilance and practicality.

Notable Quotes

• “If you can boil a pot of water to make pasta, you can really can.” – Marisa [28:20]
• “Jam is really going to be very safe... what makes a preserve safe or not safe is acid content.” – Marisa [28:45]

Can I Trust Online Recipes? (And What About AI?)

[31:17 – 34:48]

• Discussion about misinformation: the glut of recipes online makes it tough to find authoritative advice.
• Rise of “canning fundamentalists” wanting only lab-tested or university extension recipes, versus the practical approach of adapting trusted science-based resources.
• No publisher has a lab-testing budget; most writers and teachers build from science and tested fruit acid values.

Best Canning Starters, Family Canning Sagas, and Storage Confessions

[39:00 – 45:21]

• Marisa describes how kids have changed her canning: more practical, less ambitious, less storage space—but still hundreds (thousands!) of jars under beds and couches.
• Joy in the “jar craze” era: weddings with mason jars and jam favors.
• For new canners: blueberry jam is the perfect first project—high pectin, easy to prep. For pickles, try dilly beans (not cucumbers, which often lose crunch).

Notable Quotes

• “If you like blueberries, blueberries are a great project... If you’re not a jam person and want to start with a pickle—dilly beans! Not cucumbers.” – Marisa [45:23]

Listener Q&A: Trustworthy Canning Resources

[45:31 – 53:40]

[Caller Question at 45:31]:

What are your most trusted online or app-based canning safety resources? I want to make sure a friend new to canning does it safely.

Top Recommendations:

• foodinjars.com – Marisa’s approachable site, with smaller batch recipes and accessible tips.
• National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) – The gold standard for safety guidelines, free “online class,” and reliable, no-frills recipes. https://nchfp.uga.edu/
• Ball (less content since ownership change, still useful).
• Local Extension Services – Many universities and states have online resources.

DON’T Use:

• Unverified Facebook groups (“fun to share, not to learn”), AI-generated recipes, or random sites of unclear origin.

Red flag in videos/websites:
“If they talk about canning butter—that is a website or YouTube channel you want to stay far away from.” [50:50]
“There is no way to safely can dairy products.” – Marisa

Notable Quote

• “If you stick to the Center for Home Food Preservation, Extension Services, Ball, Food In Jars—those are really good resources and they kind of have everything you need.” – Megan [50:37]

Spotting Unsafe Canned Goods (For Coworkers or Recipients)

[55:06 – 58:47]

• Watch for:

  • Excessively large or small headspace (air at the top)
  • No date on the lid/label—how old is it?
  • Leaky, rusty, or sticky jars (especially if gifted)
  • Discoloration or crusty, dried-out product on top
  • No satisfying “hiss” (vacuum pop) when opened

• Never trust recipes based solely on “my grandma did it and she survived”; this is survivor bias.

Memorable Quotes

• “If a supposedly sealed jar opens too easily, that’s a real warning sign…and if there’s no hiss—yeah, you don’t want to eat that.” – Marisa [58:12]

Joy Scouts Recipe Challenge and Listener Hotline

[58:52 – 61:44]

• This week’s Joy Scouts Recipe: Rombauer Sour Jam Cake (p. 732 Joy of Cooking)—incorporates jam into the batter, brown butter or butterscotch icing recommended.
• Hosts read a caller question about Portland/Eugene restaurant recommendations—details to be covered next week.

Thanksgiving Table—What’s Cooking?

[62:03 – 65:48]

• The hosts share Thanksgiving menus: seafood gumbo, feta labna dip, roasted broccoli rabe, chocolate chess pie (with Vietnamese instant coffee in the whipped cream—verdict pending).
• Marisa’s traditional family feast: turkey, mashed potatoes, Jeremy Ricker’s gingery squash (in memory), and potato rolls “because that’s all the six-year-olds eat.”

Notable Quotes

• “I love instant potato flakes. They’re useful and they last forever... although I did put them in a jar because it’s me.” – Marisa [65:24]

Where to Find Marisa

• Website: foodinjars.com
• Instagram/Facebook/TikTok: @foodinjars
• Substack: The Food in Jars Family

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "If you can boil water, you can can." – Marisa [28:20]
• "Teaching people to can is...helping them release a fear." – Marisa [30:08]
• "Stick to the Center for Home Food Preservation, Extension Services, Ball, Food In Jars—those are really good resources." – Megan Scott [50:37]
• “If they talk about canning butter, that is a website or a YouTube channel you want to stay away from.” – Marisa [50:50]

Key Timestamps

• [10:03] – Marisa’s introduction and family canning traditions
• [17:16] – The origin story of Food In Jars blog and the early canning blogging era
• [27:36] – How to overcome canning anxiety and practical, safe starting points
• [31:46] – How to evaluate safety/validity of recipes and the state of information overload (and AI risks)
• [45:31] – Listener resources Q&A: best canning safety sources
• [55:06] – How to spot less-than-safe preserved foods
• [58:52] – Joy Scouts challenge: Rombauer Jam Cake

Takeaways

• Canning isn’t mysterious or dangerous if you follow reliable sources and understand basic acid and process safety.
• Food preservation is a living tradition—family stories, resourcefulness, and thrift are cherished alongside scientific rigor.
• Don’t be swayed by online canning myths, “miracle” methods, or the unfounded authority of AI.
• If in doubt, check the NCHFP or Food In Jars. When gifting or receiving home-canned goods, practice polite vigilance.

Further Resources

• National Center for Home Food Preservation: nchfp.uga.edu
• Food In Jars: foodinjars.com
• Local Extension Offices: Search “[your state] extension canning”
• Joy of Cooking: joyofcooking.substack.com

For questions or to share your Joy story, call the Joy of Cooking Hotline: 503-395-8858. Follow @thejoyofcooking on Instagram and stay tuned for next week’s Portland restaurant rundown!