| With people awakening to the importance of their | | | | spores that may be present. |
| local food supplies, home preservation of food, | | | | High acid foods are fruits like apples, peaches, |
| primarily with home canning, is getting popular | | | | berries of all kinds, cherries, pears, apricots, plums, |
| again. Home canning helps people store more of | | | | and so forth. |
| their local foods and allows them to enjoy | | | | For foods with a low acid or nonacid chemical |
| superior quality, especially when compared to | | | | composition, the Clostridium botulinum bacterium |
| supermarket food, which can, quite honestly, be | | | | and its toxins can grow and even thrive. |
| from anywhere. | | | | Therefore, you must preserve such foods in the |
| When the growing season is going gangbusters in | | | | higher temperatures of a pressure canner that |
| your area, you can affordably save the bounty of | | | | can destroy botulism toxins. |
| gardens and farms and enjoy the food for up to | | | | Low acid foods are fish, poultry, meat, and most |
| a year. Instead of buying one little basket of | | | | vegetables like potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, |
| strawberries at the roadside stand, get the whole | | | | peppers, cucumbers and so forth. |
| flat and make jam. For about the same price as | | | | Although vegetables are low acid and must be |
| buying jam at a store, you will get a superior | | | | preserved in a pressure canner, you can preserve |
| product that tastes wonderful. | | | | them in a boiling water bath by pickling the food. |
| Convincing people of the benefits of home canning | | | | Pickling involves using a vinegar solution that |
| is usually not difficult, but the process of | | | | boosts the acidity of the food. This is why |
| preserving food does intimidate people. They | | | | cucumbers and other vegetables can be pickled |
| worry they won't do it right and food poison their | | | | and canned with a boiling water bath. Pickled |
| families. But I can assure you that, as long as you | | | | products are perfectly safe when processed in a |
| follow the directions, your preserved food will be | | | | boiling water bath. |
| safe and delicious. | | | | What about canning tomatoes? |
| There are two primary methods for canning: A | | | | Tomatoes are a borderline fruit that possess |
| boiling water bath and the pressure canner. All | | | | some acidity but are not quite a high acid food. |
| beginners should start with the boiling water bath | | | | Tomatoes can be canned safely in a boiling water |
| method. If you never work your way up to using | | | | bath with a little vinegar added. I have successfully |
| a pressure canner, that's fine. You can put up | | | | canned tomatoes in a boiling water bath, and they |
| many kinds of fruits, jams, relishes, and | | | | were fine. However, the pressure canner does a |
| preserves with just the boiling water method. | | | | superior job with tomatoes. The vinegar step can |
| How do I know which canning method to use? | | | | be skipped, and the preserved tomatoes come |
| The type of food you wish to preserve | | | | out with better color and nutrition when |
| determines which canning method you use. Foods | | | | processed in the pressure canner. |
| that are high acid can all be preserved with a | | | | If you are interested in canning, I recommend |
| boiling water bath. This is because the acidic | | | | starting with the boiling water bath. The big kettle |
| chemical composition of the food makes it a poor | | | | and rack can be purchased for roughly $20 at |
| environment for the bacterium Clostridium | | | | almost any discount store or grocery. Making jam |
| botulinum to grow. This bacterium is the source of | | | | is a great beginner project. The little boxes of |
| the deadly botulism toxin. With the concern about | | | | powdered fruit pectin available everywhere the |
| botulism mostly absent from high acid foods, the | | | | canning jars are sold contain many recipes for |
| temperatures achieved within a boiling water bath | | | | jams and jellies along with canning directions. |
| are sufficient to destroy other bacteria and mold | | | | |