“Rhubarb makes one pucker up just thinking about its tart taste.”

Often called “pieplant” because of its popularity for that purpose, rhubarb makes one pucker up just thinking about its tart taste. That tart taste, however, makes rhubarb a favorite for desserts, sauces, jams, and – for some connoisseurs – wine.

Many people enjoy its flavor by itself, but rhubarb meshes well with many other fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, and apples. In terms of spices, cloves and cinnamon are commonly paired with rhubarb, and ginger is a popular addition to rhubarb in some countries. As a sauce for main dishes, rhubarb makes a delicious accompaniment to meats such as poultry and venison, and fish like salmon and halibut.

According to some sources, rhubarb’s roots (no pun intended) date as far back as 2700 B.C. in China, but other experts date its first use in China more recently, around 200 B.C. Regardless of when rhubarb’s use began, over many centuries it has been cultivated for medicinal, food, and beverage purposes in many places worldwide. These places include classical Greece and Rome, Siberia, England, Afghanistan, the United States, Poland, Italy, Mongolia, and Iran, to name just a few.

Rhubarb is a plant with multiple identities: Although it grows like a vegetable, it is a member of the buckwheat family, but it is generally eaten as a fruit! Only the stalks should be used in food preparation because the leaves are high in oxalic acid, which is toxic to humans and animals.

One of the first crops that can be harvested in the spring, rhubarb’s early cuttings are best for freezing. Select rhubarb with crisp, tender, red stalks. Remove leaves and woody ends, and discard blemished and tough stalks. Wash rhubarb well under cool, running water, and

Patti Griffith, Nutrition and Food Safety Educator, University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service

Rhubarb – Real Pucker Power!

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Issue Eleven

Allow to stand until the sugar dissolves. Pack rhubarb into jars or plastic freezer boxes, and then seal, label, and freeze. For information on canning stewed rhubarb, check the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Complete Guide to Home Canning. The University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) Food and Nutrition Web page at www.uwyo.edu/cesnutrition/Food_Preservation.htm links to an on-line version of this guide as well as to other food preservation Web sites and resources. Additionally, the Ball Blue Book, available online from freshpreserving.com, includes recipes and procedures for freezing and canning various rhubarb delights. To order the Ball Blue Book, go to www.freshpreserving.com. Click on the Products link, then the Accessories link, and then click on the Purchase Ball Blue Book Guide link on the right side of the page.

Vacuum PackagingVacuum-packaging equipment for home use is available

for purchase on-line and in some local stores, ranging from under $100 to several hundred dollars. Be sure to evaluate your potential use to determine if purchasing such a unit will justify the cost.

Also, be aware of the drawbacks to home vacuum-packaging. Vacuum-packaging machines or vacuum sealers may delay deterioration of refrigerated foods, dried foods, and frozen foods. Nevertheless, according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Vacuum packaging is not a substitution for the heat processing of home-canned foods” and “not a substitution for the refrigerator or freezer storage of foods that would otherwise require it.” Furthermore, “vacuum packaging can add to the concerns

cut into one-inch lengths. “Dry pack” or “sugar pack” are the easiest methods; however, rhubarb can be frozen in a syrup pack or stewed and frozen. Methods follow:

Dry pack – Pack rhubarb into plastic freezer bags and * then seal, label, and freeze.

Sugar pack – Mix one part sugar to four parts rhubarb. *

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

Combine strawberries, rhubarb, powdered pectin, and lemon juice in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process jars 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner with increased processing time for altitude adjustments as follows: 1,001-3,000 feet, add 5 minutes; 3,001-6,000, add 10 minutes; 6,001-8,000, add 15 minutes; 8,001-10,000, add 20 minutes. Source: Ball Blue Book

Yield: About six half-pints

2 cups crushed strawberries1 pkg. powdered pectin 5 1/2 cups sugar2 cups chopped rhubarb (about 4 stalks)1/4 cup lemon juice

For more information on canning and food preservation, call a local UW CES office. Contact information is in your local phone directory and on-line at http://ces.uwyo.edu/Counties.asp

Patti Griffith is one of the UW CES nutrition and food safety educators serving northwestern Wyoming. She works out of the UW CES offices in Lander and Riverton.

Some of the information for this fact sheet came from newspaper columns by Cindy Shuster, an extension educator for The Ohio State University in Perry County, Ohio, from The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, from Oregon State University’s Food Resource at http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/r/rhubarb.html, and from Ball Blue Book, 2005.

Editor: Robert Waggener Graphic Designer: Bernadette van der Vliet

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associated with storing of these perishable foods (which are foods not stable at room temperature and requiring cold storage).” For more guidance on cautions associated with vacuum packaging at home, go to www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/vacuum_packaging.html.