Canning Question

[Deb2of9]

My daughter says she does cold pack canning and that to do this she has to turn her jars upside down for 24 hours before they are ready. My SIL says she ony waits for them to pop and then she puts them away. I know nothing much about canning. Both of them insist that you are able to can anything this way, and that neither ever uses a pressure canner.

 

Okay, I not only need to learn more about canning, but will have to arm myself with information if I am going to go against experienced canners about the pressure canner but that isn't really my question.

 

Is coldpack canning the same thing as water bath canning, or is it a different thing all together. From what my daughter describes she heats her jars and lids in the oven and puts the food in, puts the lids on and turns them upside down. Doesn't sound like she uses a canner at all. What are your thoughts on this method? It is possible I missunderstood her and she still puts the jars in the canner. I know until I bought a waterbath canner, she didn't have one. We are planning on working together on gardening and canning since I am moving a half mile away from them. I really want to get my information from trusted sources, and I am not sure where she got her original information. Or if it is only safe for some foods. ( I have learnt enough on here already to know that I will get a pressure canner for meats at least.) I am sure she uses a stove for some of it because she mentioned maybe using the grill to can outside this year. I am just so confused about all of this. I have lived in town my whole life, so this is the first year I will be out in the country, but I feel it is imperitive for me to learn as much as I can from trusted sources and I know that there is enough people here that have lots of experience that I can learn from if I learn to ask questions and listen to the answers. I am here ready and willing to learn. As it is I can't wait until I move. I sign the lease Friday, but still probably won't be able to move for up to two weeks after that because of work schedules and getting help to do the move. I keep telling myself I am getting close to it now, even if I wasn't able to buy like I wanted to, it is still a house of my own in the country close to my family. That is good enough for now.

[Cat]

**shudder**

 

"Cold Pack" canning is when you are not heating the food before you can it, but then you're adding boiling water or sugar (simple) syrup before sealing. Then you seal it and water bath or pressure can it.

 

"Hot Pack" canning is when you heat up the food, usually *with* the juices or liquid, and then place it into the jars and seal it. Again, THEN you water bath or pressure can it.

 

What she is doing is called "Oven canning":

 

~~~~~

 

Oven Canning

Oven-canning is extremely hazardous. The oven canning method involves placing jars in an oven and heating. In oven canning, product temperatures never exceed the boiling point because the jars are not covered. It is, therefore, not safe to use for low-acid products (e.g. meats, most vegetables) which require temperatures higher than 212 F.

Because this process fails to destroy the spores of Clostridium botulinum, it can cause the food to become toxic during storage. Also, canning jars are not designed for intense dry heat and may explode resulting in serious cuts or burns.

 

http://www.pickyourown.org/cannersnotrecommended.htm

 

~~~~~

 

Some people apparently still do this, but it is NOT SAFE!!

 

These ladies need to call their county extension office and ask *for themselves*, and get the *RIGHT* information. I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to convince them, yourself, since they've been doing it already, and you haven't.

 

I can't imagine any grill getting anything hot enough to properly can on, so please don't go that route, either. A propane burner (like for a turkey fryer) will work. A lot of the Amish do that in the summer to keep the heat out of the house.

 

 

PLEASE, PLEASE... don't let these ladies talk you into trying it! It's not worth the risk; it's not work all that work to have food that could be deadly.

 

(Check out the step-by-step canning threads we have.)

 

We want you ALL safe and healthy!!

 

 

 

[Deb2of9]

That is actually what I thought already from what little I have already picked up on here and read for myself. I will try to point them in the right direction. That is partly why I thought that I would get a pressure canner for those things I need it for. I might even convince them to use it too. After all I have 7 grandkids and a niece and a nephew that are being fed by them using this method. Thanks for the info. I am not sure about where to find the extension office around there, but maybe I will look it up and we can call together to get answers to my ( our ) questions. I know my daughter learnt how to do it from my SIL who learnt how from her mother. Time to break the cycle and get the correct info into everyones hands.

[Necie]

Ok--the way I'm understanding it.... she's keeping the jars and lids hot in the oven. But....when she fills the jars and turns them upside down-is she putting them back in the oven to 'process' more, or is she putting them upside down on the counter til they 'ping'?

 

Either way....NEITHER way is recommended anymore.

 

We USED to do what we called 'Open Kettle' canning. This was where you filled jars (either cold pack or hot pack) and set them on the counter to seal-no processing. Jellies, relishes, pickles and tomatoes were done this way. Now they should all be water bath canned. Sometimes jellies and relishes were turned upside down to seal. Not sure the reasoning to it.

 

I may be mistaken, but I'm thinking that ANYTHING that is canned should be water bath or pressure canned. I would check the Ball Blue Book or some of the sites that Darlene or Violet have recommended in this forum and then go from there.

[Cat]

Go to Dogpile or Google, type in *your state* + county extension offices.

 

 

For example:

 

Indiana county extension offices

 

Look for "Family and Consumer Sciences"... they should be the ones with canning and gardening info.

 

(Did you know your county has great info to help you grow foods *for your area*!!??)

 

CHECK THEM OUT!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[KimMC]

No, no, no! LOL Don't can that way! My dear Granny did her jams the same way...BUT at least she put them in the fridge instead of a shelf some where. LOL

 

It's really not worth the risk canning that way. It's a lot of work to put into something that may spoil and/or make your family sick.

[HSmom]

Just because the jars seal, doesn't mean the food is safe!!!!!

 

[Violet]

Nothing has been done to actually preserve the food that way. Botulism grows in a sealed jar, in the absence of air. Sealing it up without processing and not destroying any bacteria puts you at a risk of botulism, not to mention they can come unsealed.

You MUST use a pressure canner to insure all botulism is killed in low acid foods.

They are playing roulette with their food ! So dangerous. It takes a certain time and temperature to kill bacteria for each food. Different foods require different processing times.

Even jams, jellies, and pickled foods need processing to destroy molds and fermentation.

Technically, there is nothing called "cold pack. There is raw pack and hot pack. Cold pack is an old timey term no longer used.

Please, buy them a new Ball Blue Book for about $6 to help protect them.

 

 

[Jeepers]

Originally Posted By: HSmom

Just because the jars seal, doesn't mean the food is safe!!!!!

So true! I used to say I can can swamp water but that doesn't make it safe to drink.

Deb2of9, I'm so glad you are here. Someone will guide or even walk you through the canning process safely. We are sooooo fortunate to have Darlene and Violet (and many others!) at our disposal here. I've been canning the correct way for many years but I still have questions and realize new safety information comes out from time to time. It's a learning process we all have to keep on top on.

[GinnyB]

Deb, this is off the subject, but you are fortunate to be able to move somewhere you want to go. We had our house up for sale for 5 months while we were building a house in another state. Our market here was very badly hit with all the real estate woes and we were unable to sell this house and move. Lost the other house AND our down payment. We were/are devastated.

 

Congratulations on your happy move!

 

Ginny

[Deb2of9]

Thank you,I was so happy to find the place. I wanted to buy but I was not able to get the money together to do that right now, so I am settling for renting. Since she was trying to sell it and found she couldn't, I figure in a year or two, maybe I will have enough money saved to be able to have a down payment and buy the place if I still like it after moving there. If not, that money will be there to buy a different place. Either way I will be where I want to be.

 

Violet, you make a good suggestion. I will buy us each a copy of the ball blue book or at least one for them to share and one for me to keep. Then I will have it in writing to show them the right way.

[etp777]

Cat, while I'm certainly not suggesting trying it, a grill can definitely get hot enough for canning (actually, with just a bit of help from a hair dryer, I used to heat treat O1 tool steel with charcoal on grill part of my old smoker. That's 1500+F ).

 

I've always been curious about the upside down thing myself. Nearest I can figure, you turn it upside down so the hot food contacts the lid. Then the heat will transfer to the sealing stuff on the edge of the lid, and warm it up enough to hopefully create a seal. Not exactly a reliable method, to my mind.

 

Deb, you're getting great advice from everyone in this thread, and from this board in general. Do things right, whether your daughter or SIL agrees with them. Just casually point them to extension office, here, etc as support for your methods, without being pushy. Better to quietly be confident in your methods, than to be outspoken. Don't eat anything they can with a lot of fat though.