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’ve heard that lids are not to be trusted to maintain a seal if they are over two years old, is there any truth to this?”
I’m sure the failure rate goes up with increasing age of the lids, but 2 years sounds like an arbitrary number. If you take care of the lids from getting scratched and inspect them before use, you can keep using them until the failure rate is unacceptable to you. I have some lids that are several years old. I’ve also had new lids fail on the first use.
The Steamboat Arabia sank in the Missouri River on September 5, 1856. Included in the cargo was canned food. When the steamboat was recovered (they began work in 1988) the people who made the recovery tasted some of the canned food and found it to be edible.
I can't find that particular bit of information right now to link to. But I have visited the museum a few times and heard this from the people who did the recovery and tasted the food.
http://www.visitkc.com/mediaroom/fact_sheet_detail.aspx?factSheetID=17
BTTT
Thanks Diana, (dad will enjoy reading it too)
Did my first batch of tomatoes (sauce for chili) yesterdsy. Have a BIG batch of vegetable soup that we will freeze. Great to be able to pull and put in the microwave on a cold day.
Later in the week will do more tomatoes.(water bath)
Don’t have a canner. We decided we like the taste of frozen better, so I didn’t replace the old one mother had used and gave to me...
Also have been drying a few products this year for the first time. Onions turned out great. Will plant lots more next year or in my fall garden.
Than you thank you, thank you ... this comes at a great time. Almost 10 bushel of tomatoes either ripe or will be there in the next 5 days. Why I planted 36 pepper plants for 3 .... other than its a guy thing ....
Last week we inherited my late mothers canning supplies. 500 jars, a pressure cooker that holds 10, 1 quart jars, and a hot bath pot. (terminology??)
We have a large standup freezer but it is full of ... gonna get some people PO’d here (put out) Bambi, (why do extioc dancers use a GUY’S name) Bambi’s Grand Daddy, some Elk and Canada’s best Walleye. Yeah .. I am the great white hunter on the side.
So thanks .. we appreciate any instruction we can get.
The only instruction I remember from my mother .. Get the HECK out of my kitchen when this cooker is on the flame. I think she was scared to death of that pressure cooker even though she put up enough garden goods to feed a family of 8 all winter and did it for over 65 years.
Thanks for the post. It took me back to my childhood when great grandma and grandma did tons of canning. I hated all the hard work to help them but as an adult appreciate their labors all the more.
Great article, thank you. We bought a house last year and when we ventured into the basement (ewwww) we found a wall of shelves floor to ceiling full of jarred food. I need to venture down there and haul it all up and dispose of it. I would like to keep the jars if possible though, anyone have any ideas?
Yesterday I cubed and froze 18 pounds of zucchini in 20 oz. foodsaver bags. Cyborg and I will enjoy some fabulous vegetable minestrone this winter.
As for canning, well let me just say, [cue ominous music] my tomatoes are coming, ready or not.
Perhaps the WWI Victory Gardens left more farm-raised produce to be mechanically canned and shipped overseas.
I never reuse lids that have been used to can before but those that are left in the box should be fine forever as long as they aren’t expsoed to water or extreme heat that could cause them to degrade. I also have a vaccuum sealer so I’ll keep lids that have been used for canning and use them to seal things that go into the fridge. I just keep them all separate.
A few years ago, we were having a severe flood and people were evacuating. Mr. G was getting hyper so I packed the car and got the kids and pets ready to hit the road when the water reached a certain spot in the yard. Only thing, I wasn’t leaving until my pickles were done. Mr. G was nearly out of his skin when the water hit the mark but my pickles were done at the same time so I said it was time to head for higher ground. Hey, I have my priorities!
Would one of you come to my house someday and can with me? I can read and read and read but until I try it, it will never make sense. I know I’m going to mess something up!!! :0)
Anyone have any fabulous recipes for blueberries? I froze a gallon size bag of them for use in pancakes, muffins and smoothies but am wondering what else I might do with them should I receive another batch of them. Is this hijacking a thread? I apologize if it is!
I recommend freezing the blueberries in one-quart bags.
A gallon of berries is a lot to use in one throw, but a quart of berries is just about right for a small pie, batch of muffins or breakfast-type use.
Take the pressure cooker down to your local home extension office. They will test it for free and tell you if you need to buy a new gasket or whatever. New parts can be found on line.
I froze them on a cookie sheet before packing them in the bag so I can scoop out a cup or so at a time. They’re not stuck together. I doubt they last more than a few weeks.
Oh my! I would be afraid to open them! LOL! But like you, I’d really want to keep all the jars. I’d do it outside if I were you. Who knows how long they’ve been down there. Could be a very smelly job!
I plan my garden for those things that I can't get in the off season, and I freeze them or can as appropriate.
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