Our Program

8-day Course Outline

The Hawaii Master Food Preservers program (MFP) consists of 8 full days of instruction, discussion and hands on production of safe preservation of locally grown produce, fruit, fish meats.

The only prerequisite is to have a food handlers safety certification from the Hawaii Dept. of Health, Hifoodhandlers.com or ServeSafe.

Day One:
Food Safety and Knife Skills

  • Prevention of foodborne illness
  • Covid-19 requirements
  • Sanitization, Sterilization
Showing off knife skills!

Day Two:
Jam, Jelly, & Preserves

  • Fruit quality control
  • Safe pH levels
  • Brix (Bx) levels
  • Canning processes (freezer jams, water bath)
Pineapple Jam

Day Three:
Canning Low Acid Foods

  • Identify Acid foods – pH level
    • Specific instructions on fruit exceptions
    • How and when to add acid
    • Types of acid which are food grade

Day Four:
High Pressure Canning

  • Determining canning method for food safety
  • Basic Steps for Water Bath Canning
    • Equipment required and proper sterilization
    • Detailed instructions to prevent leakage, contamination and other measures
  • Basic Steps for Pressure Canning
    • Equipment required and proper sterilization
    • What is low-acid and why Pressure canning is critical
    • How to handle pre-preparation:
       – Vegetables
       – Meat, Poultry and Game
       – Seafood
Ken Love Master Food Preservers
High Pressure Canning

Day Five:
Pickling & Fermentation

  • Quickles vs. Pickles vs. Fermentation
  • Good microbes / Bad microbes
  • Safe pH levels
  • Techniques & ingredients for pickling
  • Techniques on making fermented foods
Pickling Vegetables
Man who is happy with his pickles

Day Six:
Dehydration & Freezing

  • Methods of dehydration
  • Pretreatment of products
  • Temperature control, measuring moisture content
  • Storage and packaging of dried goods
  • Factors affecting food safety
  • Pretreatment of fruits and vegetables
  • Safety measures for thawing foods and/or refreezing
Instructor teaching about dehydration
Candied Buddhas Hand Citron

Day Seven:
Oral Examinations

  • Present a product by instructing the class on the step-by-step process from harvesting / purchasing to marketing.
  • The rationale must also be explained in each step, i.e. why are inner lids of canning jars NOT reused.
  • Must include:
    – Food Safety procedures in preparation
    – pH testing (and water level if applicable)
    – Sanitizing of equipment
    – Temperature settings, pressure settings
    – Cost calculation and analysis
    – Marketing costs and strategy
Presentation

Day Eight:
Final Examination

  • Approximately 4 hours
  • 61 questions –116 answers
  • Open book(s) permitted
  • Certificate ceremony
  • Product sampling – pot luck
HMFP Students taking final exam

Class Structure

Each class is limited to 12 students. Some of the hands on classes are individual while others are broken into groups of 3 or 4 working together to develop the groups chosen product.

Tests & Exams

All quizzes and exams are open book. The classes are designed so that participants  can achieve their certification and become Master Food Preservers.

Certification

To receive certification as a master food preserver, participants must attend all classes, complete quizzes, homework and pass the final  exam.