How to Safely Preserve Food With Home Canning

With people awakening to the importance of their local food supplies, home preservation of food, primarily with home canning, is getting popular again. Home canning helps people store more of their local foods and allows them to enjoy superior quality, especially when compared to supermarket food, which can, quite honestly, be from anywhere.

When the growing season is going gangbusters in your area, you can affordably save the bounty of gardens and farms and enjoy the food for up to a year. Instead of buying one little basket of strawberries at the roadside stand, get the whole flat and make jam. For about the same price as buying jam at a store, you will get a superior product that tastes wonderful. 

 

Convincing people of the benefits of home canning is usually not difficult, but the process of preserving food does intimidate people. They worry they won't do it right and food poison their families. But I can assure you that, as long as you follow the directions, your preserved food will be safe and delicious.

 

There are two primary methods for canning: A boiling water bath and the pressure canner. All beginners should start with the boiling water bath method. If you never work your way up to using a pressure canner, that's fine. You can put up many kinds of fruits, jams, relishes, and preserves with just the boiling water method.

 

How do I know which canning method to use?

 

The type of food you wish to preserve determines which canning method you use. Foods that are high acid can all be preserved with a boiling water bath. This is because the acidic chemical composition of the food makes it a poor environment for the bacterium Clostridium botulinum to grow. This bacterium is the source of the deadly botulism toxin. With the concern about botulism mostly absent from high acid foods, the temperatures achieved within a boiling water bath are sufficient to destroy other bacteria and mold spores that may be present.

 

High acid foods are fruits like apples, peaches, berries of all kinds, cherries, pears, apricots, plums, and so forth.

 

For foods with a low acid or nonacid chemical composition, the Clostridium botulinum bacterium and its toxins can grow and even thrive. Therefore, you must preserve such foods in the higher temperatures of a pressure canner that can destroy botulism toxins.

 

Low acid foods are fish, poultry, meat, and most vegetables like potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, peppers, cucumbers and so forth.

 

Although vegetables are low acid and must be preserved in a pressure canner, you can preserve them in a boiling water bath by pickling the food. Pickling involves using a vinegar solution that boosts the acidity of the food. This is why cucumbers and other vegetables can be pickled and canned with a boiling water bath. Pickled products are perfectly safe when processed in a boiling water bath.

 

What about canning tomatoes?

 

Tomatoes are a borderline fruit that possess some acidity but are not quite a high acid food. Tomatoes can be canned safely in a boiling water bath with a little vinegar added. I have successfully canned tomatoes in a boiling water bath, and they were fine. However, the pressure canner does a superior job with tomatoes. The vinegar step can be skipped, and the preserved tomatoes come out with better color and nutrition when processed in the pressure canner.

 

If you are interested in canning, I recommend starting with the boiling water bath. The big kettle and rack can be purchased for roughly $20 at almost any discount store or grocery. Making jam is a great beginner project. The little boxes of powdered fruit pectin available everywhere the canning jars are sold contain many recipes for jams and jellies along with canning directions.

I am a self taught home canner, and I warn you that it is an addictive hobby. The food you preserve will taste so much better than canned goods from the store. My online canning resource is Canning Local found at http://canning.falbepublishing.com

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Canning Venison - An Easy Way to Preserve the Product of Your Successful Hunt

Most people don't realize just how easy canning venison can be. Works for canning elk too. I remember checking out what would be involved with canning the wild game my guys brought home from hunting camp. I could not believe it would be as easy as the information I was finding made it out to be. Cut it up, put it in a jar and pressure can it? Surely there is more to it than that! Well there is a little bit more.... but not much.

I wish I would have started canning meat years ago. Each year I worried about having enough freezer space. When I started canning part of the meat we had, I freed up a lot of space for other things.

I don't can all of this meat. You know just how much meat is on an elk right? We save the choice cuts of meat for steaks and roasts. But the less tender cuts all go for jerky, sausage and canning, both ground and cubed.

Benefits of canning vs freezing

* Less worries about freezer space.

* Pressure canning the less tender cuts makes them more appetizing.

* Canned meat is ready to go at a moments notice. No defrosting time!

These are directions for an easy raw packed method for canning venison.

1. Slice meat into strips about 1 inch thick. Then cut into chunks the size you desire. Cubed is a convenient size.

2. Pack your chunks of meat into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space.

3. Add canning salt if desired. 2 tsp per quart as desired. You can also layer onions into your jars with your meat. Do not add liquid! Seriously. This was the hardest part for me to get. You really don't have to add add liquid. The meat will produce its own juice.

4. Wipe the rims of your jars clean. Place the warmed canning lids and screw bands on the jars.

5. Place filled jars in your preheated pressure canner. Follow pressure canning instructions.

6. For altitudes less than 1000 feet process at 10 pounds pressure. Process Quarts - 1 hour 30 minutes. Process pints - 1 hour 15 minutes. Don't forget to adjust the pressure requirements for your altitude.

That's it! So easy. But remember for safety you really MUST use a pressure canner and you MUST use proper pressure for your altitude.

A pressure canner must reach a temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit in order to stop botulism. To compensate for altitude differences, you must increase the amount of pressure used. The time does not change, only the pressure used. You'll need to add 1/2 pound pressure for each 1,000 feet above sea level.

Use canned venison or canned elk in stews, meaty soups, and even chili. You could use it to make Sloppy Joe's and killer Enchiladas. Enjoy your venison!

For more canning venison recipes check out http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-meat.html Included are directions for canning venison already browned and hot packed. Find complete http://www.simplycanning.com/pressure-canning.html instructions, tips, techniques, safety advice, canning recipes and more.

I am Sharon wife to Tim and mom of 4 sons. We are an active hunting family. Much of our meat is provided by the men of hunting age in our family. Our garden also provides produce for healthy home canned foods year round.

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