Violet

Glad you found it helpful.

You are welcome.

Rachel, the only way to make potato soup is to make a soup base. Then you open it and add your milk, butter, thickeners, etc.

I would suggest you buy a new Ball Blue Book. It has recipes in there for you to use for soups.

You will also need to use a pressure canner, not a water bath canner for anything other than basically fruit, jams, some salsa recipes, pickled foods. All other vegetables, meats, dried beans, etc. MUST be pressure canned. Some salsa recipes also must be pressure canned. Unless you have used a safe, tested recipe designed for water bath canner. They are on the Univ. of Georgia website. (USDA guidelines ) http://128.192.83.157/faq/FAQ_home.php

Sorry, no Cheese Whiz, no butter, etc.

They don't need to test every recipe or method out there. There are just basic scientific facts about density, ph, etc. that will provide the scientists with the information needed to determine if something is safe to can, using home canning equipment. We don't have that sort of training.

It is a lot of factors, not just ph that go into canning safely.

Foods can actually change ph level as they sit in the jars.

A lot of why we can't safely do some foods at home is just our equipment. It is the somewhere around $100 pressure canners we have, not the multimillion equipment commercial industry have. That, and then all the preservatives they put in the food. I feel that is a BIG reason we can our own food, to get away from all the chemical preservatives in our food.

Sorry, nothing that is like cornstarch, flour, masa harina, grits, etc. are safe to add. No starches.

Oh, there is a new USDA guideline coming out any time now. I keep waiting to hear it has been approved and published.

The extension educator here was going to ask that question at a conference she is attending.

I do agree, no need to pay for the information, unless you don't have a printer. It is all on the website. Same thing with the book So Easy To Preserve from Univ. of Georgia. It is basically the same information in book print. Other than some pickled egg recipes, things like that. I am not sure the book tells how to make yogurt, either. The book is handy to have, though.

They also have a DVD you can buy. Plus, there is a free online food preservation class you can take.

Cleanheart, I know the Amish have done things that are not safety tested for a long time. It only takes one time with botulism and you could be dead.... If you follow the USDA guidelines that are safety tested then you can be totally sure the food you can is safe.

There are pie filling recipes using Clear Jel that are safe to follow. It is low acid foods, like any soups, tomato products, etc. that are unsafe to thicken before canning, even with Clear Jel.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/canpie.html

On here, Darlene only allows USDA tested methods and recipes. I am thankful for her stance on this.

The reason barley and rice, etc. are not safe to add is not only the ph of them, but they are considered thickeners. They do thicken the foods.

Add them after opening, when you heat them to serve them. Pasta and instant rice are especially easy to add to soups once opened as they cook quickly.

The new All American do have both the weights and a gauge. However, if it has the old petcock, you can buy a new stem and the weight for it. I recently did that to my friends canner. All their parts are interchangeable. I contacted AA before I ordered the parts.

The only thing with getting one online is just in case someone boiled it dry and warped the bottom, then it is worthless.

The only reason folks explode them is if they just walk off and leave it on high. Nowdays they have a safety plug that will blow first. They really are safe if you follow the directions.

Same with anything in life, like driving a car. You can drive safely or drive recklessly.

I recommend one at least large enough to stack 2 layers of pints. I like the 22/23 quart sized canner. ( how much water they hold, not how many jars.)

You won't poison your family unless you can things not safe to can in the first place, like milk,cheese, butter, eggs, things with thickeners, noodles, rice, barley, bacon, oil in foods, etc.

That, or try to take a shortcut and not process for the proper length of time. If you follow the recipes and methods from either Ball Blue Book or any of the USDA/ University extension publications you will be safe.

There are quite a few of us here that have canned for years. Never any food borne illnesses. I have canned for 35 years now.

Sorry, the chicken ala king is not safe. No butter or flour or any other thickener in low acid foods. (Not even Clear Jel in low acid foods.) The newest version of the Ball Blue Book doesn't have that recipe. Nowdays even the high acid pickle recipe has been changed to use Clear Jel, not flour. That is how it can be thickened, the vinegar in it keeps it safe. However, not just any pickled food recipe is safe to thicken, only a couple of them that have been tested.

Steam canners are not recommended for use by USDA. They do not get the contents of the jars as hot as in a boiling water bath canner. The only ones promoting their use are the ones selling them and manufacturing them.

We tell everyone to turn them upside down and use them for something else besides canning.

If you will check the Ball Blue Book and any of the USDA/ university information, you will not find processing times for the steam canner. The reason is they are not deemed safe to use.

Thank you, Darlene. I truly appreciate your concern over everyones safety with food preservation. Food preserving is fun, but still needs to be done safely.

You do a GREAT job here !

Both of you have posted some really nice step by step instructions. The finished loaves of bread look wonderful !

Thanks for giving the lessons.

The soup should be canned in chunks, like regular canned winter squash, then puree after opening.

It is the adding of additional fats/butter/oil that is unsafe. Also, plain butter is not safe to can. If it were, it would need a pressure canner since the ph is very high. I contacted Elizabeth Andress about the butter. She said it was not safe.

She is the lady who wrote the USDA canning guidelines.

As for the venison, there will be some fat, but they also tell you to remove excess fat prior to canning. I know some cook the meat, then put in the fridge, remove the fat layer. Then heat to boiling point again, put in the jars and process.

It is safe to can using these guidelines :

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod01/01600849.html

The starches also include flour, tapioca, and no barley, either. Starches change the density, also the ph of a food. Flour has a very high ph level.

This is why you don't can fats/butter/oil.The fats surround particles of food, allowing botulism to even survive pressure canning. I know there are a few tested recipes that allow for adding oil to saute in, but those recipes are highly tested for safe preservation. That, and a few HIGHLY acidified marinated pickled items. Again, not all foods can be processed in that manner.

No bacon added to green beans for above reason.

Some foods protect the botulism spores differently than others.

No thickening of tomato product before canning, not salsas, not ketchup, etc. not even with Clear Jel.

Clear jel is only approved for canning pie fillings or jams. It is because they are high acid foods, not low acid or borderline acidic foods.

The canned breads and cakes are not safe even for short storage. They should never be sealed. Only made and put in the fridge for a few days or frozen. The seal will create the anerobic condition in which botulism grows.

No canning of pickled eggs. I know someone said eggs, but this include pickled eggs.

Potatoes must be peeled before canning. The peel harbors the botulism spores since they were in the dirt. No amount of scrubbing can insure it is gone. It is the stuff you can't see that can grow.

That is all I can think of to add right now.

I use Pomona's Universal Pectin because you only need about 4 tsp. per batch of jam. You can use sugar, no sugar, honey, anything you want. I use Splenda in mine.

Most of the time you order it online from Pomona's. You can buy in bulk from them or in packets. Packets can be bought at some health food type stores. One box will make approx. 20 cups of jam.

Check the packages of the Ball mixes, they may already have dehydrated veggies in them. You could pressure can salsa with less vinegar for 35 min. You still need some vinegar in it.

As for making salsa, you should not drain the tomatoes. You need the juice for the right density when canning it. If it is too thick the heat will not be able to penetrate it to safely can it.

I also make Annie's salsa. (Hey, Annie is getting married, BTW !)

I read the post about the jars on the bottom of the canner. It is also for circulation of the water all the way around the jars, that is partly why a rack is used. That and so they don't break.

It is good salsa, for sure.

Mine doesn't get any hotter as it sits. I think yours will be fine, Happy Camper.

Yes, it is boiling water bath processed for the pickled garlic.

You can use your convection oven but it will be expensive to run.

Walmart has some good basic dehydrators. The American Harvest/Nesco is usually good to start with. I suggest the 500 watt ones. Need a dehydrator with a good fan and heat source.

Otherwise it will take forever to dry and some things can mold or spoil before they dry. I have two of the American Harvest 500 watt dryers. I even bought several for gifts.

You should start with 2-3 inches of water in the bottom of a canner. My old canner book says 2 quarts, but now the recommendation is 2-3 inches of water. It should not go dry with that amount, if so, then you probably have a leak in the seal.

When you can soups, you fill the jars half full of the solids, the other half of the jar with the liquid part. That should keep it from being too thick.

Here is a link to National Center for Home food preservation on canning soups. I know you need to have dried beans fully rehydrated before you add them to soup, but I try to not overcook them. :

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_04/soups.html

Barley is considered a thickener and should not be added to soups or other canned vegetable/meat products.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/pepin/flp/docu...ablesSafely.pdf

You can also use a baby nasal bulb syringe instead of a neti pot. They only cost about a dollar. That is what my ENT doctor recommends for use. I also have a really good thing called a Nasalene. It is a large syringe type deal with a large rubber tip on it. A friend of mine that works for an ENT doctor sent it to me. I use it all the time.

I agree, I think you would wind up with a tiny bit of mushrooms in the jars if you didn't cook them first.

I love them canned as marinated mushrooms !