WHAT ARE YOU CANNING TODAY?

[8710]

@Beekissed It will be interesting to see if the steam canning works for the green beans. Do you heat them up in water before you add them to the jar? and do you add salt at all?
How thick of a slice of green tomato do you use? My little brain tells me that the slice of green tomato adds a layer of acidic food to the air space and that is what is keeping the botulism at bay, but that is just me supposing.

The green tomato would not be sufficient enough to lower the acidity. Acidity needs to be 4.6 or below; it’s likely the tomato slice would have a negligible effect on the acid.

Just to add perspective, dilly beans call for two and a half cups of white vinegar for four pints of dilly beans, which would equal a little more than 1/2 cup of vinegar per jar to lower the acidity.

 

[flowerbug]

i agree that low acid canning is not something i want to do at low temperatures. i don't know anything about steam canning.

green beans? nope. pressure canned only. that is why i don't do them or any other low acid canning for oven canning. it can be done, Mom/Grandma did it for many years, but it takes so long to do it that the results aren't much that i want to eat. canned green beans and potatoes, carrots, beets, etc. all were done in the oven, but for hours at a time each batch. blech.

 

[flowerbug]

Clostridium botulinum is a bacteria which is in the soil. it is a common bacteria and the spores are found everywhere.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

especially given that this site’s intention is to provide resources about sustainable living.

Amen! I've been touting that point for years... Sigh.

 

[flowerbug]

@Beekissed It will be interesting to see if the steam canning works for the green beans. Do you heat them up in water before you add them to the jar? and do you add salt at all?
How thick of a slice of green tomato do you use? My little brain tells me that the slice of green tomato adds a layer of acidic food to the air space and that is what is keeping the botulism at bay, but that is just me supposing.

it is not acidity having anything to do with the air space. it is the acidity of the contents where any bacteria might start crowing/reproducing, but also the lack of oxygen.

when canning you are heating up the headspace air so that most of it escapes. if you have some contamination in the food where bacteria get going and consume the available oxygen in the contents then suddenly you've given any remaining botulism spores the green light for reproducing. since the toxin is odorless and flavorless you won't know it is there. if the lid is bulging then that is a sign something may be wrong, but that isn't even a 100% sure sign of trouble.

that's why this is so tricky of a problem and why pressure canning is important for low acid items.

it's also why each year you hear about people being poisoned by botulism toxins because they do something which puts food in low oxygen states and perhaps the food isn't acidic enough and it isn't kept cool or hot enough... a bit of fish in a pan with some oily sauce on it marinating, wrong temp, oops... don't do that...

if you want to look into the actual science behind this take a look at microbiology and read up about what it means to be 100% sterile v.s. other degrees of contamination - it's a very difficult thing to accomplish.

for corn, i'd freeze it or make relish. i love sweet and sour things so that's ok with me.

 

[baymule]

I know @Beekissed well enough to know that you can flog her with the Ball book of canning and it won't change her mind one bit. This is one of those things that is a "You do you and I'll do me"

For me, it's my All American pressure canner all the way. I think highly of Bee, we don't always agree and we don't have to to be friends. Not being a smart alec here, it's just the way it is.

 

[8710]

it is not acidity having anything to do with the air space. it is the acidity of the contents where any bacteria might start crowing/reproducing, but also the lack of oxygen.

when canning you are heating up the headspace air so that most of it escapes. if you have some contamination in the food where bacteria get going and consume the available oxygen in the contents then suddenly you've given any remaining botulism spores the green light for reproducing. since the toxin is odorless and flavorless you won't know it is there. if the lid is bulging then that is a sign something may be wrong, but that isn't even a 100% sure sign of trouble.

that's why this is so tricky of a problem and why pressure canning is important for low acid items.

it's also why each year you hear about people being poisoned by botulism toxins because they do something which puts food in low oxygen states and perhaps the food isn't acidic enough and it isn't kept cool or hot enough... a bit of fish in a pan with some oily sauce on it marinating, wrong temp, oops... don't do that...

if you want to look into the actual science behind this take a look at microbiology and read up about what it means to be 100% sterile v.s. other degrees of contamination - it's a very difficult thing to accomplish.

for corn, i'd freeze it or make relish. i love sweet and sour things so that's ok with me.

Pressure canning isn't any more challenging to me than water bath canning, so if it isn't a fruit/jam or salsa, everything gets pressure canned. I only do tomato products, the occasional carrot to take up extra room in the canner, and green beans. I love canned green beans. I just don't feel the risk of a food borne illness is worth it when it takes little additional effort to preserve it correctly.

I've never loved canned corn. I prefer frozen, but hate the chore of cutting it off the cob. Honestly, if I can't can it or if it isn't good for a long shelf life (cabbage, potatoes, carrots, winter squash), then I just don't have it in my diet and wait til it's in season again. I can't justify the cost of a big freezer and the energy costs behind powering it, and I'm too broke to buy a freezer anyways, haha.

 

[8710]

Exactly. Bay you know me too well! We post on the canning thread to talk about what we've canned for the season, supplies we can't find or were able to, and different methods we've tried or didn't try....but we don't post here to argue or harass one another with threats of botulism because we all don't can alike. I've been here since '08 and you can diligently search every post I've written on here and never have I asked for advice nor given any unsolicited advice on canning. I do what I do and am more than happy to let others do what they do as well.

Homesteaders are a bold breed of people, going where others don't, trying things others don't have the fortitude to try, living a life of some level of independence from the usual. If we all wanted to follow the crowd, it's likely we wouldn't be here at all.

I will assume that you were aiming that toward me. I'm sorry you felt harassed. That was certainly not my intention. Rather, I would prefer people not catch botulism, and it is a topic that I personally felt was important. You said it yourself, we come here to talk about "different methods we've tried or didn't try." That's the last I'm going to comment on this thread.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Pressure canning isn't any more challenging to me than water bath canning, so if it isn't a fruit/jam or salsa, everything gets pressure canned. I only do tomato products, the occasional carrot to take up extra room in the canner, and green beans. I love canned green beans. I just don't feel the risk of a food borne illness is worth it when it takes little additional effort to preserve it correctly.

I also don't find pressure canning any harder than HWB. Sounds like you've got plenty of experience canning! Better safe than sorry!

And folks do look for information on these forums whether it be canning info or animal info or garden info. I care about other people enough NOT to post anything that could harm someone...sigh.

For those that choose to do it "their way" because it's always worked for them I guess that is a great discussion for like minded folks to have on the front porch, lol. .

 

[BarredBuff]

Not to change the subject, but...

I canned 3 quarts and a pint of green beans, and 6 quarts of tomato juice today.

And, for the record, I used a pressure canner and water bath canner, BUT feel free to do it however you would like to....