CAN Dos and Don'ts Waterbath and Pressure Canning: Food Preservation, #1

By Jill b.

Don't be a killer.
In 2015, home-canned potatoes killed one and sickened a dozen. Don't let this incident scare you away from home-canning either. There are many reasons to home-can.
Perhaps you have embarked on a sustainable self-sufficient homesteading lifestyle. You may have a healthy edible garden filled with organic produce free from chemicals and dangerous additives. You may have fished, hunted or raised chickens or rabbits for meat.
Perhaps you're a survival prepper wanting to stock up on cheap, seasonal food in preparation of a zombie apocalypse or an economic collapse.
Or perhaps you've simply found a good deal on groceries and want to stock up to save money and to help with the family budget.
Unfortunately, your abundant harvest will not last long unless it is safely preserved. In addition to drying, freezing, fermenting and pickling, canning is a good way to store your food long term. The question is how do you start? Home canning is not as straightforward as some of the other preservation methods and carries the risk of botulism contamination if not processed correctly.
Unfortunately, not all canning sources or recipes, not even your "tried and true" family recipes, can be trusted. The environment, bacterial strains and even our food itself has changed over the years. Produce has become less acidic while bacterial strains have evolved. Canning techniques that were once safe may no longer be. Home canning can be economical, healthier, tasty, nutritious and fun. Lucky ones may have fond childhood memories of the best of summer's harvest being home canned. Unfortunately, some canning recipes and methods that proliferate the internet are downright dangerous. 

~ This book does not contain recipes but contains links to SAFE researched-backed canning recipes from University Extension offices as well as the USDA ~

In this book you will learn the do's and don'ts of home canning fruits, vegetables, salsas, meat, seafood and fish as recommended by the Master Food Preservers.
Discover the importance of using proper acids and salts.
Tips on how to make your canning efforts go more smoothly are also included.
Don't wait any longer! Order this book today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jill b.
• Release date: Jan 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781516306695

Jill b.

Self-Reliance -- One Step at a Time Get free e-books at http://byjillb.com Reliance on one job. Reliance on the agri-industrial food system. Are you ready to break free, take control and to rely on yourself? With a no-nonsense style,  Jill Bong draws from her own homesteading experiences and mistakes, and writes books focusing on maximizing output with minimal input to save you time and money. Jill was born and raised in a country with one of highest population densities in the world. Dreaming of chickens and fruit trees, she left the trappings of the big city and is setting up her homestead in an American town with a population of less than 300. Jill writes under the pen name Jill b. She is an author, entrepreneur, homesteader and is the co-inventor and co-founder of Chicken Armor (http://chickenarmor.com), an affordable, low maintenance chicken saddle. She has also written over a dozen books on homesteading and self-reliance. Jill has been mentioned/quoted in various publications including The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Denver Post and ABC News. She has written for various magazines including Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Molly Green, Farm Show Magazine and Backyard Poultry Magazine. She holds an Engineering degree from an Ivy League from a previous life. At its height, her previous homestead included over 100 chickens, geese and ducks, as well as cats, a dog, bees and a donkey named Elvis. She currently learning permaculture techniques to apply to her homestead in rural Oregon. Learn more by visiting her site http://byjillb.com.

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Introduction

In 2015, a person died from botulism after eating potato salad at a church potluck. The potato salad was home-canned. Twenty one others were sickened from that same salad. While cases of botulism from home-canned goods have dropped in recent times, and although death only occurs in a small percentage of people who contract botulism, the risk is present.

I am an accidental homesteader and I admit that I have never canned until recently. The idea of canning as a preservation technique intrigued me. So, I did what I normally do - I went online to learn about home canning. Some home canning recipes seemed so easy, simply pour your boiling soup or your melted butter into clean jars and seal.

With good reason, I was afraid to try canning myself. This turned out to be a good thing. When I learned that my local Extension Office was conducting Master Food Preserver canning classes, I jumped at the chance to learn from the experts. I’m glad I took those classes before I started canning because I found out that many of the canning recipes and techniques you find online, including the ones I mentioned, are not safe.

I then started becoming concerned with the proliferation of unsafe canning recipes and techniques found online, in e-books and in books, and decided to compile the list of dos and don’ts of canning as recommended by the Master Food Preservers. I hope that this compilation will help both beginning and seasoned home canners.

Don’t be that person who canned those potatoes in a waterbath. Be safe.

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●  Do use only the most recent canning recipes from The Ball Blue Book, University Extension Offices, the USDA, canning recipes from agricultural colleges (.edu websites) or the So Easy to Preserve book published by the University of Georgia. These are the institutions that I refer to as trusted sources. If you are looking for regional recipes, refer to the university from that region for canning recipes. For example, the University of New Mexico has recipes for canning green chiles while the University of Alaska has methods with which you can can with metal cans. Most universities publish safe canning recipes for free online.

●  Don’t use old canning recipes from any source (including old family recipes) even if those recipes have a history of being safe. The reason for not using older recipes is because bacterial strains have evolved, usually becoming stronger. The acidity levels are now lower in many foods, including tomatoes. Lower acid-levels can make old processes unsafe. Canning recipes from trusted sources may have been edited or removed from publication if new research shows that the earlier recipe is unsafe.

●  Don’t trust any canning recipes and techniques you find online unless they come from trusted sources.

●  Do not can butter or cheese. Neither have been research-tested by trusted sources for safety. Procedures set up by other sources may not be sufficient to destroy bacteria that can cause botulism.

●  Do not use steam bath canners to can anything but jams in jars up to