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Minnesota from Scratch

Thanks for stopping by! I'm Stephanie Thurow / MinnesotafromScratch and this is my website. I'm a food preservation instructor and bestselling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! Join me here for info on food preservation, recipes, organic gardening, chicken keeping, urban homesteading and so much more.

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What is a Certified Master Food Preserver and How Do You Become One?

September 21, 2018 by Stephanie 4 Comments

Certified Master Food Preserver Graduates (and instructors on the ends) – Summer 2018 ~Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

I’ve received so many messages and e-mails from people asking where they can take a class like I took in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii this past June (2018), so here are some answers. The Master Food Preserver course is offered ALL OVER the place, but unfortunately Minnesota and Wisconsin have cancelled their courses for now and that’s why I went to Hawaii. Other states around the country are also phasing it out, due to “lack of funding”. This seems like an essential course to have, especially for us Midwesterner’s, that live in a frozen tundra for a good chunk of the year. There is nothing like cracking open a jar of food preserved in the summer when it’s the dead of winter, I tell ya….

But, before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about what a Certified Master Food Preserver is. A Master Food Preserver (MFP) is someone that has completed the intensive certification course (usually offered) through the Extension Service in their county. They have received in-depth training of up-to-date USDA-approved methods of food preservation for preserving food safely and successfully at home. A MFP must also have a desire to teach others how to preserve, because a MFP is required to volunteer 40+ hours (varies per program) within their community each year and teach others how to preserve food. Each program is a bit different, varying from county to county. For example, Maine offers a course that is 10 Fridays in a row and New York offers the course in 3 days, back-to-back.

The course I took in Kona was spread out over 3 weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so I had to go to Kona for 2.5 weeks — OH, SHUCKS ;). Though the class layout and the cost of the class varies location by location, the material taught should pretty much be the same. At the end of the course, there is a long test with multiple choice, fill in the blank and essay questions (they gave us 4 hours to complete it) and as part of passing our class, we even had to present a 20-minute demo in front of our class and instructors, on which we were graded. Oh, and we had quizzes every night too and there was tons of reading and hands on kitchen time. It was A LOT OF WORK but I loved every single minute of it.

Why did I want to become a MFP? Well, because I teach people how to can and ferment pretty much every day. I write books about it and I want to learn everything I can possibly can so I can be an even better resource for YOU. Plus, the course not only teaches you about water bath canning and fermenting, but also goes into topics that I’m not as well versed in, such as dehydrating, pressure canning, freezing and charcuterie. It also has a large emphasis on food safety and proper food handling to avoid food borne illnesses (which is completely avoidable by the way!).

So, how do you become one? I’d start with a general search on google. See what comes up near you. If you need to travel a state or two, be sure to check with the director of the course to make sure you are allowed to attend before purchasing the class.

If you have any questions I didn’t answer, post in the comments and I’ll get back to you!

If you missed my blog posts about being in Hawaii, here is my summary of Week 1 and my summary of Week 2.

To be notified of future food preservation classes in the Twin Cities, please e-mail me at: minnesotafromscratch(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject line “Future Classes”.

Filed Under: Canning, Fermented Foods, FYI, Just for Fun Tagged With: can it and ferment it, canning class minnesota, canning teacher minnesota, Certified Master Food Preserver Stephanie Thurow, fermenting class minnesota, fermenting teacher minnesota, food preservation classes minnesota, how do you become a certified master food preserver, how do you become a master food preserver, learn how to preserve food minnesota, local author, local cookbook author stephanie thurow minnesota, master food preserver minnesota, master food preserver stephanie thurow, minnesota author, minnesota canning teacher, minnesota fermenting teacher, Stephanie Thurow Canning and Fermenting Instructor, stephanie thurow canning classes, stephanie thurow fermenting classes, weck small batch, what is a master food preserver

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. mitzybricker says

    September 21, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    How neat! I’m checking it out here in Virginia!

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    Reply
    • MinnesotaFromScratch says

      September 21, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      Wonderful, I hope you find a class near you!

      Reply
      • ken love says

        June 7, 2021 at 12:30 am

        Hawaii Master Food Preservers is now its own 501c3, has its own kitchen in Kona and affiliates around the state.

        Reply
        • MinnesotaFromScratch says

          June 7, 2021 at 9:48 am

          That’s awesome, Ken! They are lucky to have you.

          Reply

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Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm the best selling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! I'm a certified master food preserver, food preservation instructor, organic gardener, chicken keeper and nature lover. I specialize in creating easy to follow recipes and directions to help other homesteaders meet their goals.

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