| The links below will lead you to general canning guidance and safe canning methods from the 1994 (latest version) USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. |
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Posted on 08/09/2009 6:58:26 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
During the first World War, the U.S. government asked its citizens to contribute to the war effort by growing gardens. Americans rose to the challenge. The millions of quarts of provender produced by this astonishing effort not only fed American families, but helped feed starving people all across Europe. Humankind caring for humankind in a time of need – an example the world could heed today.
Similar food shortages have occurred throughout the centuries. When Napoleon was faced with the problem of feeding his rapidly growing military, the French government offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could figure a solution. A man named Nicolas Appert, though not completely understanding why, discovered that by putting food into a bottle or jar, sealing the jar up tight and cooking it for a few hours, the food could be preserved for consumption later. Napoleon’s army didn’t go hungry.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, flocks of free-thinkers sailed the ocean blue in search of a place where they could live free and govern their own lives. Once settled in their respective colonies, they too found daunting the challenge of having enough to eat. Through much trial and error, they discovered how to provide their daily needs and to preserve the precious leftovers for leaner times. Waste not, want not. The colonists learned how to take care of one another.
Preservation progress came at a cost, however. For example, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that anyone knew about Clostridium botulinum, the soil-borne bacterium whose lethal toxin, sometimes found in improperly canned food, claimed countless lives. Likewise, pickled provender frequently went bad when cork stoppers or pig’s bladders were used to cover the crocks and jars. Jams and jellies, sealed with brandy-soaked paper, often sprouted mold. But help was on the way – in the form of a rubber-sealed glass jar.
Tinsmith John L. Mason couldn’t possibly have known how his 1858 patent would permanently revolutionize family nutrition. His machine mass-produced threaded metal jar lids that, in combination with threaded-neck jars and rubber sealing rings, made it easy for virtually anyone to achieve a safe seal when canning. Mason’s canning jar and lid concept caught on immediately and opened the door for several improvements and modifications with familiar names like Ball, Atlas E-Z Seal and Kerr. Through time, the rubber seal has improved, as has the science behind the processing, but home canning is every bit as accessible today as it was in 1858.
You, too, can can
Before starting a canning project of your own, you should keep a few things in mind. It is best to gather only the produce you can work up in a few hours. This ensures optimum nutrition and quality. If possible, harvest early in the day.
Get your supplies out and check them over. Always use jars made especially for canning rather than old mayonnaise or pickle jars, and never use jars that are cracked or chipped around the rim. Use only the two-piece screw lids, never re-using the flat piece, as its protective ability is compromised once lifted off a jar.
Lids and jars should be sterilized before use by boiling for at least 10 minutes, leaving them in the hot water until they are needed.
The two canning methods in general use today make use of either a boiling-water bath or pressure canner for processing. The boiling-water system requires longer processing times and is suitable for foods with higher acid contents, while the pressure canner reaches higher temperatures faster and is suitable for virtually all food types. Once you have decided which fruit, vegetable or meat you want to can, be sure to educate yourself on the current recommendations for method, processing time and sterilization precautions for that produce. Your county extension office provides a wealth of information for your area, or you can go online to such sites as the USDA’s National Center for Home Preservation
www.UGA.edu/nchfp
Continues at link...
>>>I find it highly doubtful that in World War I, individual victory gardens in the US could have done much at all to feed Europe. Just common sense.<<<
The Victory Gardens both during WW I & II were not to feed Europe - they fed your own family & friends - this freed up 40%+ of commercialy grown crops to be diverted to Europe and our troops overseas instead of domestic consumption.
Don’t underestimate the absolute need for acquiring and using the skills of gardening and preserving today. Already passed by the house and if the Senate passes H.R.2749, the FDA will gear up to enforce newly passed asinine provisions. I won’t get on my soapbox here, but I will say that genetically modified, pesticide use, herbicide use become ‘best practice’ which is mandated under this bill. Our new Food Czar was a Monsanto Attorney. If you are not familiar with them, I suggest you google it and decide for yourself.
>>>My wife, after checking with the local farm extension agent, said that new, stored lids shouldn’t be used if they are over two years old. Something about the seals dry out?
Is this correct or just BS?<<<
Actually, I think it is somewhere in between. (Remember they have to be to the ‘official’ exact letter with anything they say.) The boiling water treatment before use serves to ‘rejuvenate’ them pretty much.
The seal material does not dry up and crack like it once did. I typically keep at least a year ahead of my needs (about 60-80 cases annually depending on needs)
As far as re-using - What really happens is that it takes a ‘set’ from the indentation from the jar, making the seal thinner where it contacts the jar. While not ‘officially’ condoned, I have done it for years with no more failures than from new lids.
>>>I observed this at work in a “home water conservation” scheme many years ago.<<<
Hey, but it was FUN to shower with a friend of your choice. ;^)
I wouldn’t worry about them if they are a few years old. If the rubber looks cracked, dry and is falling off the lids then I wouldn’t use them but they would have to pretty much be antiques for that to happen.
Have you ever made zucchini pickles? They are really good. Yummy on sandwiches.
I never heard of that before.
Is that a pressure canner or something new?
http://www.focuselectrics.com/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkon=subsection&linkid=119&secid=53
That’s interesting. In the Ball Blue Book, they recommend not trying to hot water bath can with steam, but my books are pretty old.
It looks like someone developed the technology to do it after all.
| The links below will lead you to general canning guidance and safe canning methods from the 1994 (latest version) USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. |
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Yes. They’re in the ‘recipe rotation’ because I have so much of the stuff. :)
Thank you! BUMP! :)
I seem to remember a real shortage of lids many years ago and we were going to out of the way places to find them. That taught us to keep at least a one year supply ahead. As far as shelf life of new lids go we have no way of knowing how long those lids sat in a warehouse before being purchased. ..
Ping to post #150 for some canning information...
I'm the soup chef and I must admit I have no fixed recipe, but here's the basics.
Prepare a bag of your favorite beans: navy, great northern, pinto, mixed-bag, whatever. About a pound soaked and boiled until ready to eat but firm. DO NOT DRAIN. Set aside.
In the main soup pot, get a bottom cover of canola oil heated and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil for flavor. When hot, toss in four or five minced cloves of garlic and let it sizzle for a few minutes, rendering the flavor, then add two or three yellow onions, the strong kind, thinly chopped.
That will sizzle away for several minutes until the water renders out, and as it does, about a half cup of finely chopped celery goes in.
When you have a slurry of oil and onion/celery at the bottom, dump in about a quart (a 22oz can or better yet four fresh cups) of diced tomatoes. This is when I add bouillon, use a quality powdered bouillon, I prefer beef bouillon to stand up to the other bold flavors. Let that mix simmer until it tastes balanced but way-too-strong. This is also when you add salt and pepper to taste. Make it too strong, because you will be adding in a large volume of vegetable matter.
When it seems well-combined add back the beans INCLUDING the water used to boil them. Here's where two to four cups of coarsely-diced zucchini would go in, as well as three or four coarsely-diced potatoes and three or four sliced carrots. A can of chana (garbanzos), frozen corn niblets, okra, whatever you like to top it off.
I hope you used a very big pot because you're getting enough soup to last a few days. Add more seasoning (bouillon, salt, pepper, etc.) to taste. The result does not have a lot of broth, it's almost a brothy stew. It's done when the potatoes and carrots are cooked through. If need be, you can add water to get the pot back in balance (the potatoes might absorb a lot of the liquid).
If you want pasta with it, use bow-ties but keep them separate and only add them in the serving bowl.
I hope this makes sense, and I hope you'll let me know if you give it a try. We just LOVE this soup/stew and eat it a lot, which is why I don't use a set recipe. Change it up and it never gets boring! Use red kidney beans one time, or chicken bouillon, or a pound of frozen ground turkey, or use all chickpeas; add in green beans or green peas or limas or whatever. The essence of minestrone as I understand it is a soup filled with whatever is on hand.
I forgot to say: leave the skin on the potatoes, a lot of the vitamins and fiber are in the skin, and in the soup, you won’t notice them except for the visual appeal.
I would check around to see if this is still a problem. The bill has been amended as follows (Of course, this is just the House bill. The Senate bill could be different, and the two resolved in conference committee, which could rewrite the bill before an up or down vote in both chambers, always an opportunity for mischief):
(1) DEFINITION OF FACILITY- Paragraph (1) of section 415(b) (21 U.S.C. 350d(b)) is amended to read as follows:
‘(1)(A) The term ‘facility’ means any factory, warehouse, or establishment (including a factory, warehouse, or establishment of an importer) that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food.
‘(B) Such term does not include farms; private residences of individuals; restaurants; other retail food establishments; nonprofit food establishments in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer; or fishing vessels (except such vessels engaged in processing as defined in section 123.3(k) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations).
>>>I seem to remember a real shortage of lids many years ago and we were going to out of the way places to find them.<<<
About 35 years ago, I remember them being in short supply - one company made high temp plastic ones with silicone seals - you could reuse them over and over. One of the jar companies (there was more than one then - now they are all owned by Jarden) bought them out and then discontinued them.
I have about a dozen 6 year old spaghetti sauce jars and one-piece lids with silicone seals that pop down when sealed - have used them every year (sometimes twice in same year) and they perform flawlessly - over and over. The technology is there, but the financing to get approval, the ability to survive the legal wrangling results in the will to produce such a product being unachievable. Reminds me that ‘Government isn’t the solution - Government is the problem!’
I know they imply farms are excluded - that is a gross misdirection -
“(d) Farms- A farm is exempt from the requirements of this Act to the extent such farm raises animals from which food is derived that is regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act.”
SEC. 419A. SAFETY STANDARDS FOR PRODUCE AND CERTAIN OTHER RAW AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
‘(a) Standards- The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish by regulation scientific and risk-based food safety standards for the growing, harvesting, processing, packing, sorting, transporting, and holding of those types of raw agricultural commodities—
‘(1) that are a fruit, vegetable, nut, or fungus; and
‘(2) for which the Secretary has determined that such standards are reasonably necessary to minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.
‘(b) Contents- The regulations under subsection (a)—
‘(1) may set forth such procedures, processes, and practices as the Secretary determines to be reasonably necessary—
‘(A) to prevent the introduction of known or reasonably foreseeable biological, chemical, and physical hazards, including hazards that occur naturally, may be unintentionally introduced, or may be intentionally introduced, including by acts of terrorism, into raw agricultural commodities that are a fruit, vegetable, nut, or fungus; and
‘(B) to provide reasonable assurances that such commodity is not adulterated under section 402;
‘(2) may include, with respect to growing, harvesting, processing, packing, sorting, transporting, and storage operations, standards for safety as the Secretary determines to be reasonably necessary;
‘(3) may include standards addressing manure use, water quality, employee hygiene, sanitation and animal control, and temperature controls, as the Secretary determines to be reasonably necessary;
‘(4) may include standards for such other elements as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out subsection (a);
‘(5) shall provide a reasonable period of time for compliance, taking into account the needs of small businesses for additional time to comply;
‘(6) may provide for coordination of education and enforcement activities;
‘(7) shall take into consideration, consistent with ensuring enforceable public health protection, the impact on small-scale and diversified farms, and on wildlife habitat, conservation practices, watershed-protection efforts, and organic production methods;
‘(8) may provide for coordination of education and training with other government agencies, universities, private entities, and others with experience working directly with farmers; and
‘(9) may provide for recognition through guidance of other existing publicly available procedures, processes, and practices that the Secretary determines to be equivalent to those established under paragraph (1).
SEC. 103. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
(a) Adulterated Food- Section 402 (21 U.S.C. 342), as amended by section 102, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(l) If it has been manufactured, processed, packed, transported, or held under conditions that do not meet the standards issued under section 419.’.
(b) Requirements- Chapter IV (21 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended by section 102(b), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 419. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
NOTE:(3) may include standards addressing manure use, water quality, employee hygiene, sanitation and animal control, and temperature controls, as the Secretary determines to be reasonably necessary;
In addition to the bill now before the Senate, we have to look at one other thing - The ‘Food Safety Czar’!
It would appear so considering the history of his latest appointment of Michael Taylor, as “Food Czar”. The former Monsanto Executive worked closely for years with the FDA, passing legislation that restricts organic farming. As an attorney for agriculture giant Monsanto, Taylor helped find legal “loopholes” for manufacturers of DDT, PCB’s, pesticides, aspartame and bovine growth hormone, all of which have been found to be harmful for human consumption. Later, he was appointed Policy Chief for the FDA where he was responsible for writing propaganda declaring the safety of bovine growth hormones. From there he went on to push policies which allowed the FDA to sue small dairy farmers.
In addition to the FDA’s Policy Chief, Taylor’s resume includes positions such as Vice President and Chief Lobbyist for Monsanto. His lobbying efforts have done much to hurt small non-commercial farmers, especially those with organic farms. To say the president’s appointing such as individual as “Food Safety Czar” is questionable, would be a gross understatement.
Standards such as the ‘Leafy Green Marketing Agreement’ standard are agricultural killers.
This stuff is CRAZY!
Waxman is a leading proponent of the LGMA.
Check out their checklist and see if you would waste the time trying to produce a crop under it. What price would you expect to pay for meeting those standards?
Checklist:
http://www.caleafygreens.ca.gov/about/documents/LGMAAuditChecklist8-07-08.pdf
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