[conspire] canning

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Akkana Peck (akkana at shallowsky.com):

> I've always been intimidated by canning -- all that sterilizing of
> jars sounds like a lot of work, and what if I mess it up and don't
> sterilize enough?

tl;dr:  Either or both of high heat and the food having acid content 
(as with most fruit) is sufficient to avert the risk.


When I started doing canning, about 20 years ago, I played it safe by
canning only jams made using blackberries, plums, etc. -- thus with acid 
content inherently.  Tomatoes are in the same category, but I didn't
then have a vegetable garden.  Also, making pickles, relishes, and the
like.  Anything with vinegar or lemon juice or citric acid added is
erring on the side of food safety, for example.

I'd advise doing likewise and sticking to acid-containing foods, not
(e.g.) vegetables, meats, or broths, while learning what you're doing.
Nominally, this is said to mean pH below 4.6 -- not that I ever measured
it.

And, in point of fact, *I've* never left the realm of acid-containing
foods, so it's all been easy stuff.  If I were to branch into those
more-dangerous things, that's when I'd get a pressure canner, and would
urge that being an absolute requirement.   Only with a pressure canner
can you sterilise past the temperature where botulism cannot survive:
240 degrees F.

So, I just use (boiling-temp) water baths in large pots, instead of a
pressure canner, for my acid-containing jams and such.  Easy-peasy, no
fancy equipment required.



In the 2000s, when I started, I was so clueless that I didn't understand
how Mason jars worked, and sealed the tops of my jam jars using melted
parafin wax.  Which worked well enough, but I could have just use the
Mason jars' lids properly, if I'd understood their mode of operation.

The parafin probably wasn't as reliable a seal as Mason jar lids applied
properly, yet I didn't give anyone botulism poisoning (because of acid
contents in the jam).