Just Because it Fits in a Jar…
Hey all!
I am so excited to see what’s been happening with the growth of the canning community this year. I thought the real buzz around canning and other forms of preserving had peaked last year – and I have wholly been proven wrong.
I am absolutely blown away by the amount of preserving that I am seeing, hearing, reading about and seeing evidence of. It was less than 3 years ago when people would email asking where they could buy canning jars (retail) and a better question today would be where CAN’T I buy them.
It’s awesome to see the amount of new canners giving it a go, experienced canners canning more and finding the online communities like this. I’m really excited and thrilled. It’s been exciting to see the amount of interaction people have had with each other and the resulting traffic to our site (yesterday I shared with our Facebook Group that we had more visits to the website last week than 10 of the 12 months last year).
We’ll return to some preserving posts tomorrow (there’s a lot more to come) but I wanted to take a step back for the sake of caution. I’ve recently seen some practices that are marginally to very dangerous online and wanted to provide a few guidelines/ resources and posts that may help you stay safe. Some of the well-intended examples of dangerous technique have been:
- Waterbath preserving of vegetables with no acid/ pickling.
- Waterbath preserving of meat products such as bacon jam.
- Garlic-oil infusions.
- Waterbath preserving of recipes with oil added.
- Pickling with vinegars of unknown acidity (it’s recommended that one uses 5.5% acid vinegar and many balsamics are unmarked and lower than that).
- Adding large amounts of low-acid ingredients to jams which may considerably change the acidity.
I’m not saying any of this to be hollier-than-thou or to be an ‘expert’ – I’m learning like the rest of us. I’m just hopeful that we all stay safe and share best practices and look out for each other.
Many people don’t realize that there were significant changes made to the standards of food preservation in the United States in the 1970s. Many techniques passed down from before that time are now considered dangerous and using Grandma’s recipe may – or may not – be a good idea. It’s also important to note that Grandma had different food ingredients – there are many reports that claim the ‘average’ tomato has become less acidic over the last 30 years.
Here’s a few tips that may help you on the road to safety:
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (Our article introducing this resource – if you don’t know what this is, I think it’s a must read). This resource is on my screen almost every time I can.
- Understanding High Acid vs. Low Acid Foods (from our site)
- How to buy a pressure canner (including safety advice – from our site); and the basics of how to pressure can.
- How Long do Preserves Keep? (Our site). This includes links to a lot of resources about jar storage and length of time you can keep your jars (and how to spot spoilage).
- Canning 101 (Food In Jars). A list of links to Marisa’s fundamentals – a great set of articles that can help make sure your fundamentals are in-line.
- I be Jammin’ (our site) – a refresher on the fundamentals.
- Watch out for the biggest risk – the boiling water. I gave myself 3rd degree burns last year (and was very lucky) for my first ‘real’ canning injury. I was careless and it was my fault.
- Wear shoes. I haven’t written about this but hot jam or boiling water are a bad combination with bare feet.
Feel free to add your safety tips and links below – we’d love you to share them!
Comments
Great points, Joel. A few comforting notes: I was assured when I took my safe food handling course that if the jar has developed botulism toxin, the two-part lid WILL lose its seal. (A great reason to use ONLY proper canning jars, BTW!) Also, with jam, I have been told that if it sets properly, you do have a high enough acid content to keep it safe (because you need acid to make it gel).
Awesome Sarah, some great points as well – thank you for sharing them!
Thank you for putting this out! Even experienced canners can use a refresher once in. Awhile. All very good advice, my favorite is the shoes, I am a barefoot gal and drip boiling water on my toes all the time.
I did that for a long time before learning from Chefs the importance of proper footware Cindy.
It drives me batty when I see someone on TV cooking at a deep fryer with a pair of Crocs on… 
J
Excellent reminders
Hi Joel,
Thanks for the post. I’m seeing butter included in canning recipes–one for peach-bourbon jam from a leading site and also an old family recipe for mustard pickle. In both cases it was a relatively tiny amount. Is butter on your no-fly list for preserving?
David,
By the book, it is out.
Anna Olsen (a Canadian TV-Chef) uses a small amount to reduce foam in her jams. Many do this although most Government Saftey Bodies were say it’s a no-no. I can’t endorse it other than to say do your research and make the call that works for you. I have shared in the past that my canning of tomato sauce also ‘breaks’ rules and I can’t reccomend it for others but it’s something we’ve done for a long time and I trust it. Not being a food scientist, I don’t think I could make the call on this one.
J
Yikes I’m glad I read through this since I am someone who made that peach-bourbon jam and tweeted about it. I’m eating through it quite fast, but perhaps I’ll leave out the butter for my next batch.
Thanks for the reply, Joel. And Erica thanks for tweeting about the peach-bourbon jam. That’s the recipe I used to great success.
As Joel says, do your research and do what works for you. Let’s remember that “the book” was written by the same people who wouldn’t serve a medium-rare hamburger and mandated that the thermometers “built” into turkeys pop up at a dessicated 180F.
Safety first, but flavor always.
You mentioned that water bath canning of bacon jam was (is) not safe; tell me if I can pressure can this product, and if so, is the 90 minute rule okay?
Edna,
I’m not familiar with the 90-minute rule so don’t feel like I can make a reccomendation here. The US specifies that all meat canning must be done in a pressure canner – the Canadian Government says there’s no safe way to do it at all. Of course it’s ironic that many people in Newfoundland and the north rely on salt-canning meat such as moose and use only a waterbath. I can say that the Government would say it’s not safe – from there I can’t make a specific reccomendation.
J
“Waterbath preserving of meat products such as bacon jam.”
I want a recipe for bacon jam! Okay, I realize that there likely isn’t one, but man, it would be good if someone made one up.
Oh Wolf Song – google away! There is indeed a tonne – I’ve had some (we kept in fridge) and it was awesome.
Wow. Just wow. I have so got to make this. Then hide it, because I think my family would eat it all and lick the jar clean like a Zombie licking brains out of a skull…
you had me at bacon jam
I was listening to Public Radio the other day. The subject was canning and preserving. The host knows someone that didn’t know if her canned green beans were still good to eat.
She opened the jar and stuck a toothpick in and touched it to her tongue. She was on a ventilator for days and recuperated for weeks.
Now that is REALLY scarey !
Mona,
I haven’t been able to find anything on this – the factors vary so widely and stories can become legends. It is most certainly possible and there are so many factors involved.
For example, there’s a an entire thread here about canning beans using a water bath (definately not reccomended) and many insist they’ve done it safely this way for years:
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/8437_0/cooking-and-food-preservation/green-beans-can-in-boiling-water-bath
Follow siteslike the National Center For Home Food Preservation (linked above), use tested and safe recipes and storage techniques and you’ll be just fine.
I would be most curious to hear the interview if you had any more details – even to see what we can learn from it.
Hi Joel, I’m a first time caller but a long-time listener. Thank you so much for posting these resources. I’ve just started canning this year and appreciate all the help I can get. I took a course with the very talented Dawn Nita at Good Egg in Toronto earlier this year which was very helpful, but I still take the time to review the basics before I start. Also thanks for the reminder about safety! When you are on your third or fourth batch of the day it’s easy to let the safety slide – unfortunately I now have a rather painful and unsightly burn on my stomach from boiling water that splashed up when I dropped a jar back into the water trying to remove it from the bath. Ouch!
Sorry to hear Amanda – glad you are ok and I’m thrilled you shared – I can’t emphasize enough just how nice it is to get comments and love hearing from you!
Dawn has become a friend over the years and is an amazing person to learn from. We ran into her just yesterday and it was great to see her. You really couldn’t learn from anyone better!
Hope the burn will fade – mine has gone completely and I’ve been very careful not to repeat my own stupidity (always pour water away from you
). Water is truly one of the most dangerous things we use in the process. We’ll be hosting some swaps this year in the Toronto area – hope to have you out! 
J
Great article……preserving foods by canning is a science that’s for sure. You don’t want to be experimenting when you can. Experiment with your recipes for that casserole, baked good, or dessert BUT not when you are canning.
Thank you for all of the helpful tips! Definitely important to keep these in mind. I’m also glad to hear the surge in popularity of preserving, I have only recently picked up the practice of canning in the last year, and am already hooked!
Also, I would like to invite you to partake in the 7 links challenge. I was recently invited, and thought it was a great way to share and promote other blogs. I really enjoy the content on your blog, and thought that you my want to take part as well.
Excellent post! I see so many people who use techniques like putting paraffin on top of jam or just putting lids on and inverting them without a water bath, or using old inadequate but decorate canning jars and then saying “it was good enough for Grandma…” Just because Grandma didn’t die of food poisoning doesn’t mean you should play Russian roulette with your food. Gah.
[...] Some great tips to remember when canning. There seems to be a surge in the popularity of canning these days, which is great…. however, its important to remember the basic rules of canning especially when experimenting with recipes. This article highlights these key practices. Hey all! I am so excited to see what’s been happening with the growth of the canning community this year. I thought the real buzz around canning and other forms of preserving had peaked last year – and I have wholly been proven wrong. I am absolutely blown away by the amount of preserving that I am seeing, hearing, reading about and seeing evidence of. It was less than 3 years ago when people would email asking where they could buy canning jar … Read More [...]
I am so the barefoot canner…usually in a tank top and shorts as well….so guilty there. I normally get burnt on my arms with the bubbling hot jam/jelly though.
My first pickle batch (using a mix from Mrs. Wages) I gave myself pink eye though. The husband still thinks its funny to remind me….