Need help learning to can and preseve

[Farmfresh]

I follow a few hard fast rules with my canned goods.

1. Never try to reseal a jar that did not seal properly in the first place. I just refrigerate it and eat it soon.

2. Never eat anything from a jar that has a failed seal or shows any sign of mold, off color or an off or stale smell. When I get a jar out to use for dinner I listen for the seal to pop, then carefully inspect the food visually both at the top and through the jar and finally I take a nice long whiff. If I open green beans - it better smell like good fresh green beans.

3. I always thoroughly heat any low acid foods (those I used a pressure canner to preserve) by boiling well. I make extra sure to boil starchy foods like corn and beans or high protein foods like meats for at least 20 min.

4. I always taste it BEFORE I serve it to my family. I use myself as the guinea pig. If after following all of my rules I have a question about a food I trash it. Carefully.
I do not feed it to man or beast. Even the beasts can get sick.

5. If you have a failed jar I wrap it in a plastic bag and dispose of the whole thing in a trash bag. No since spreading bacteria around in MY kitchen. If the jar has spilled I clean up well using a strong bleach solution.

I have been canning a LONG time - about 30 years now - and we have NEVER gotten sick from anything I have home canned. I always follow the current USDA guidelines and make sure EVERYTHING is very clean and sterilized when I can.

A dented can at the store is just as easily contaminated as home canned produce (perhaps even more since we are still discovering some of the problems that may be associated with the cans they are placed in or the contaminates that can be found in them, like glass slivers). Also take a good long look at all of the recalls and people that die in the US every year due to commercially produced foods. Recent deaths for example from peanut butter.

I will take my chances growing and canning MY OWN foods. I know how much care I take and what I am feeding the people that I love.

You have got to learn someplace. The time is now. Do not get all freaked out. Just learn your lessons, follow some precautions, and actually have some fun.

You will be proud of what you can do.

 

[freemotion]

Isn't the idea of a forum to get many different opinions and experiences and then to come to your own conclusions?

dddct, you might look into pressure canning eventually. I'm the kinda person who researches a ton of info then I jump into the deep end and stay there. I decided that we are not fans of pickles and don't eat much sugar at all, just a rare treat, so water bath canning wasn't for me. I envisioned stews, chili, one-jar meals, home-raised meats, etc all in gleaming rows of jars. Ever have a freezer die on you while you were away for a week? An experience not to be forgotten! So I decided that pressure canning was the way for me to go.

I also make my own catfood, a month's supply at a time for two gigantic cats, and was always struggling to get it into our freezer, especially in the fall. Now I can make lots, way in advance, and not lose any freezer space. Don't have to thaw it every day, either.

I also remember a pressure cooker blowing up when I was a kid. Beans everywhere! So I was very scared of my canner, like I said, circled it nervously for a week or so.

Now I'm practically an old expert, having 6 months' experience now I love it. I am on the hunt for canning jars, as I only have....holy carp, just did a quick count.....38 dozen jars or so.....

Go for it.

 

[patandchickens]

Of *course* people should can things!

I think it's highly worthwhile learning enough about it first, though, to be in a position to make *informed* decisions -- knowing what is less risky than what else, what precautions to be sure to observe, etc. The Ball Blue Book is good for that, as are things from state extension agencies and so forth.

Then of course a person can do as they please, and it will be INTELLIGENTLY not blindly


Pat

 

[dddct]

you make youor own catfood? I have 3 cats and 2 dogs and would love to be able to provide for them without having to buy commercial food. Do you have a recipe that you follow/

Payday this week will see me getting more canning supplies including a pressure canner. I too think my family will get more out of chilis and stews and such. In the meanitme I am reading more of the Ball book and will probably spend lunchtime at work doing more research online. Thanks everyone: bun:bun

 

[freemotion]

you make youor own catfood? I have 3 cats and 2 dogs and would love to be able to provide for them without having to buy commercial food. Do you have a recipe that you follow/

Payday this week will see me getting more canning supplies including a pressure canner. I too think my family will get more out of chilis and stews and such. In the meanitme I am reading more of the Ball book and will probably spend lunchtime at work doing more research online. Thanks everyone:bun:bun

The details are on BYC: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=114496&p=2 at the end of page 2 of this thread. It is a big project the first time, not for the faint of heart. My husband usually helps by baking and stripping the chickens. When I do the whole thing myself, I will get closer to 35-40 pints.....hmmm.....wonder why? But how can I complain about how much he eats when he is helping so much?

If you have a ceramic-top stove, be sure to get a pressure canner that won't crack it. I have a Presto 23-quart, and will be saving up for a second one so I can do two batches at once.

How's that for "out of control?!?!?"

 

[Henrietta23]

you make youor own catfood? I have 3 cats and 2 dogs and would love to be able to provide for them without having to buy commercial food. Do you have a recipe that you follow/

Payday this week will see me getting more canning supplies including a pressure canner. I too think my family will get more out of chilis and stews and such. In the meanitme I am reading more of the Ball book and will probably spend lunchtime at work doing more research online. Thanks everyone:bun:bun

If you have a True Value hardware store down there check it out. I was at ours today and they had their usual fully stocked canning shelves. They even have half gallon jars! I should have bought more than I did but I wasn't sure what I had stored up. I have enough to make more preserves and some apple sauce tomorrow if (if??) we're snowed in all day!
Happy canning!

 

[me&thegals]

Great thread, dddct, and welcome to TEG!

Canning is an awesome way to eat your own food all year and save scads of money. It can be done safely, but you really do need to be careful.

I just got back from an awesome organic farming conference and one of the sessions was about food safety. It was focusing mainly on fresh food but applies even more to canning.

If you are really careful, sterilize all your kitchen surfaces that will come in contact with the food, have perfect food (no rotten spots) and really follow directions, it should be fine.

I've found it really helpful to read about canning to understand why each step is so important. Really, it's all about creating an environment REALLY unfriendly for organisms growing. That's what heat, acidity and airspace are all about.

So, read up all you can about it. Someone teaching you is great, too, as long as he/she can explain the point of each step. That way, once you're on your own you can be sure to be safe.

Also, as already mentioned, starting with pickled foods or fruits (including tomatoes) are a pretty safe way to begin. Save the nonpickled veggies and meats for later.

And, to lend a little more weight to what was already mentioned, people probably died in the past of many things just not identified yet. And, foods have changed. Our fruits and veggies have been bred over time for storage ability and uniformity. Our tomatoes are less acidic, something to be considered when canning them (I add a tablespoon of lemon juice per quart jar). So, meal recipes are fun to tinker with. Canning recipes, in my opinion, really should not be changed when it relates to the acidity of the final product (as in no skipping half the vinegar to make the pickles more mild tasting )

Good luck! When in doubt, throw it out!

 

[Farmfresh]

I totally agree with adding the lemon juice and NOT skipping on the sugar or vinegar in a canning recipe. Those elements are part of the preserving process. For example if you try to cut back on the sugar in a jelly recipe you need to process longer or risk spoilage.

As far as the "perfect food" to can with - I sort of agree.

Everything that you place in the jar to be canned should be in perfect shape. Do not try to can an overripe tomato or a wormy green bean. The results are gross as well as possibly unsafe. But cut off the buggy place on the green bean or trim completely away the squishy spot on the tomato (I give it a sniff to make sure I got all of the bad spot out) and your product should turn out fine. How many times have you bought a can of green beans that included bean stems?!

Just remember quality in - quality out. And the old adage "You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear". Then you won't go wrong. Besides you are going to all the extra work to get the best possible - right?

Feed those trimmings to your backyard hens or even a pig! This way there will be NO waste. All the squishy tomatoes and wormy beans can come back to the table as bacon or eggs!

 

[Farmfresh]

One more thing that I forgot. When you are cleaning your foods to can, really clean them. I look them carefully over, soak them in a deep sink of water to which Apple Cider vinegar has been added, then rinse them really well before I prepare them to can them up.

 

[dddct]

I don't know where the closest True Value is and if I can't find one near me I know there is one in Norwich near my parents. It'll be a good reason to go out there to visit and give my mom another reason to think I'm nuts....you drove all the way down here to get canning stuff. you could have saved the gas and gone to Big Y and bought can goods... lol. They just don't get it. They don't know it but I plan to give her my own canned goods for Christmas this year an assortment of things that I will do throughout the year. Am I bad??