Lost my nerve re. canning

April

I have several quarts of a homemade condiment that turned out to be too spicy for us. Decided to can the rest of it and give it as gifts, so I ordered pint jars with lids.

Lost my nerve when I saw such a wide variety of messages online: just boil the jars; don't boil the jars without a rack or they'll break; sterilize your canning funnel and your ladle or else everyone will die of food poisoning; don't lift the jars without the right sort of tongs or you will die in the burn unit...

Good grief - is safe canning truly this nerve-wracking?

In the meantime, I used the clean boiled jars with plastic lids to freeze the condiment.

Anyone with experience out there who can talk sense on this issue?

1 year ago

Off Topic

18 replies

Latest reply was from Rejoiceandbe

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I thought that you meant actually putting things in cans intially and agree that is scary but as it’s bottles not tins l don’t think that you need to be too concerned.All the warnings are off putting but once you ve done it once and nobody dies you will gain confidence!Sterilizing your jars is important to avoid illness but also to stop all your lovely homemade produce going off.This can be done very simply by putting through a hot dish washer cycle ,heating them in the oven or using very hot water.As long as you use them straight away and don’t let them sit around in the open for hours collecting germs again you will be ok.Chutneys and jams are the most straight forward as the contents of the jars have also been boiled.lf you are pickling veg follow the recipe carefully to get the right amounts of vinegar and salt .Alcohol also makes a good preservative for fruit in jars.l personally wouldn’t do any preserving if meat or fish as you really do need to know what you are doing then but veg and fruit are usually pretty safe.Don’t eat anything that looks or smells gone off obviously!

1 year ago

Runcarla

Veteran

I’ve never canned, but I’ve made jam. Did what Cardiff girl describes: ran the jars and lids through the dishwasher on the hottest cycle, put the jam in the jars. Topped the jam with a layer of paraffin wax. When everything cooled down a bit, put on the lids. Jam was fine. Nobody died.

1 year ago

April

Veteran

Actually, that "just run them through the dishwasher" method was one of the ones the scariest site said was guaranteed to kill loved ones.

Clearly this is an overheated level of caution.

RC, my mother used the paraffin method for jams and I, too, am still here. CG, I totally believe you but my inner catastrophizer says, "Uh huh, and what if while gaining that confidence-building experience you kill so-and-so?"

I'm not even making jam but something much more acidic, spice-laden, and HOT. Somehow that combo feels anti-bacterial.

1 year ago

Indigoprint

Veteran

Yes April, there is a lot of contradictory information about canning. I did not grow up canning but learned about 25 years ago I only do water-bath method and I look forward to canning season. I think the best teacher is experience and that takes time. I think some of the contradictions surfaced when the canning industry was trying to encourage home canners to give it up and buy commercially available products.
I feel the best using my tried and true recipes that I have had success with. Any time I try a new recipe I make a small batch let it sit for a few weeks and try it.
If you want to look into it Ball has a couple of good resources for safe canning . There are also some newer books out there that are referred to as "small batch" recipes that are somewhat more artisan in nature.
Your meantime solution was a good plan.
I hope you try again. It can be a very satisfying kitchen experience.

1 year ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I used to do it with my mum years ago -- she used the water bath method for the jars and did mostly jams and pickles and we never got sick. My grandma did vegetables, too (we tended to freeze our veggies instead). My grandma used the same method but pressure cooked her veggies to death. SO....

My mum had learned about it both through watching her granny and mother and at school (she studied home economics). I think what Cardiff Girl says is correct.

1 year ago

LJP

Veteran

This is precisely why I don’t do things like this . The possibility of instant death is too much pressure . Pun not really intended .

1 year ago

Irina

Veteran

Yes, a water bath method. Brings memories, had to do it in 80s and 90s in Russia. Did veggie salads, pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, jams. Jams were my favorites, even made it a few times here. Actually, it is something I want to do more once I retire.

1 year ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Eh, as long as the lids don’t blow off, you’re good.

1 year ago

April

Veteran

I am lucky to have lifelong friends who turn out gallons of salsa, spaghetti sauce, pickles, "hot relish", pickled peppers, and so on in their tiny kitchen every year.

They have yet to kill anyone and can probably advise, in addition to all the wit and wisdom provided here.

1 year ago

Kathie

Veteran

I grew up washing the jars in the dishwasher (so, clean, but not further sterilized), hot water bath, and only making jams and pickles, so either the acidity or sugar, plus the hot water process (and probably both) would kill anything icky. I definitely don't trust myself to can meats or anything without the added sugar or acid.

1 year ago

MsMaven

Veteran

Back in the olden days: my mom did a lot of bottling of well, everything. Fruits, vegetables, juices. I'm sure she sterilized the bottles. I do remember helping by what?? I'll have to ask my sister. We'd go out to local fruit farms, sometimes pick the fruit ourselves. Best memory: going to the canyons to pick chokecherries. It was a production, Mom made a lot of jams and jellies as well as bottled apples and pears. I don't know how she learned to do this. Pretty sure not from her mother.

Many years later my Dad gave me the recipe for making chokecherry wine, passed down by his mother. Never tried to make it. Choke cherries are astringent, so they'd be mixed with other fruit juices.

Ages ago I did try bottling, also drying fruits etc, but I didn't have the old pioneer spirit.

1 year ago

April

Veteran

I got a complete lesson by phone from my canning expert friend. She does it the way her late mother-in-law, Peg (a night-shift nurse and mother of 6; therefore not inclined to dilly-dally in the kitchen) did it and no one has died as a result of Peg's technique.
Which is this:
Run the jars through the dishwasher and fill them while still hot.
If using a funnel and/or ladle, run those through too.
While jars are washing, bring the solid parts of the lids (i.e., not screw- on rings) to a brief simmer. This is done to activate the sticky bit on the edges that makes the vacuum seal.
Make sure your product is hot (again for the vacuum seal).
Fill your hot jars, screw on the rings and go about your business.

RIP Peg - thanks for making my kitchen life potentially a lot easier!

1 year ago

rebekahphoto

Veteran

Sounds like Peg got you on the right track! Ball and the other canning companies have good info that is super helpful and easy to follow.

Cleanliness and proper acid content is key to prevent spoilage or bacterial growth: Sugar content prevents spoilage, as does acid (lemon/vinegar) so following a recipe is important, until you have some experience. For instance, newer tomato varieties have less acid, so you would need to add more acid when canning a salsa for instance, to achieve for a safe ph.

My parents canned lots of stuff, from vegetables(low acid) and wild game in a pressure canner to jams & fruits in a water bath. I now make salsas, jams, condiments and use a 10 minute water bath canning. (I don't do the "put a lid on it and turn upside down" method, but my mom did use paraffin with jams)

Clean everything. dishwasher is great. Soak lids hot water
Pack jars with hot mix
Wipe rims, go around the inside of the jar to remove bubbles with a knife
add lids, rims, finger tight
Process 10 minutes
remove & let cool, Have fun counting the "pops!" as the lids seal

Washington State University has a great online resource of recipes & canning info! Their salsa recipes rock

https://extension.wsu.edu/food.....n-canning/

Have fun! There are lots of new books on canning, including low/no sugar added methods, more variety in complex flavors, and then the whole fermenting world.

"Canning for a New Generation" is one book I have that has lovely recipes. I've never gotten sick, or had any spoilage. & the ole "when in doubt, throw it out" works as a good reminder, I have tossed 3 year old jars, as color & textures change.

Love my fig jam with cheese! & fig jam on pizza with prosciutto....

1 year ago

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

My great-grandma and grandma (coincidentally, her nickname was Peg), used to make jam every year when I was little. They had a huge garden in upstage New York that my great-grandfather tended, and they made gooseberry, raspberry and strawberry jams.

I was allowed to watch from the safe distance of the small kitchen table while they ran back and forth between the stove with the pots of cooked fruit, and ladled it into jars, and sealed it with wax before putting a lid on. I always thought it was weird and funny when Mom would open a new jar and dig out the wax from the top of the jam. And it was soooo delicious!

I don't remember conversations about "sterilizing". They always kept a clean kitchen, and I know the jars were washed thoroughly with hot water and dish soap prior to canning. I also seem to recall the jars being put into hot (not boiling) water, upside down, to allow the hot water and steam to bathe the insides of the jars, just before filling. This was in the early-to-mid 1970s, and they didn't have a dishwasher.

1 year ago

April

Veteran

MB - my mother did the same with the paraffin cap, for blueberry jam made with her pick-your-own haul each year. (Were these legit pick-your-own events at a local farm or something more covert? Unclear since I think only my little bro ever got to go along.)

And pity whichever child had to open the next brand new jar - that wax lid dripping with blueberry would always flip out of the jar onto your "school clothes."

1 year ago

carter

Active Member

April, I know this is quite late, but I haven't been on the forum in 100 years. If you decide to try again with canning, I can help. I teach it on youtube, but I can walk you through whatever you'd like to can (or preserve in any other way)

9 months ago

April

Veteran

Thanks, carter! I did follow the Peg method to can some caponata and - ta da - no one died.

9 months ago

Rejoiceandbe

Active Member

I think that you have received lots of good advice. I have never killed anyone yet!
A couple of tips.
1.If this is something that you are going to do fairly often, a wide mouthed funnel and a can lifter ( to take the jars out of the hot water) make the job easier
2. When you go to use a new jar, check that the lid is still flat, not "popped" and there are no visible signs of bubbling in the contents. I have never had this happen to my jars, but I always check (as taught by my granny).

9 months ago

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