canning - pressure vs water bath

chilehunter

chilehunter

I'm asking this cuz of some quotes I've read before throughout this forum, but this quote really made me to ask why ?

"it really puts my mind to ease knowing that it is killing ALL of the nasties that may be present."
(talking about pressure cooker)

I've only did water bath method & never had a problem.

like the title says, pressure canning vs water bath method.
 
to me, hot is hot...

past the boiling point of water, no pathogens (that you'd ever encounter at standard atmospheric pressure) can survive.

At least that's what I've been told....

...plus pressure cookers scare me.
 
Pressure canning is the only real safe way to home preserve low acid foods. High acid foods can safely be water canned and the advantage is that less cooking is done which can effect the consistancy of some products like pickles
If you decide to buy a pressure cooker, I recommend getting a good one without the loud jiggly weight on the top which will drive you crazy
 
POTAWIE said:
Pressure canning is the only real safe way to home preserve low acid foods. High acid foods can safely be water canned and the advantage is that less cooking is done which can effect the consistancy of some products like pickles
If you decide to buy a pressure cooker, I recommend getting a good one without the loud jiggly weight on the top which will drive you crazy
Click to expand...

as for low acid foods, anyone in their right mind would be adding salt/citric acid/vinegar to the food if they're canning it.
if you're saying you dont need to do this with the same kind of food if you use a pressure cooker, then I'd be leary.
I hear you about pickles, its seems like it can be a hit or miss for getting crisp pickles, thinking about buying some pickle crisp additive.
 
chilehunter said:
as for low acid foods, anyone in their right mind would be adding salt/citric acid/vinegar to the food if they're canning it.
if you're saying you dont need to do this with the same kind of food if you use a pressure cooker, then I'd be leary.
Click to expand...

I'm in my right mind and you don't need to acidify low acid foods if you are pressure canning, although once the jar is open it will likely have a short shelf life. You really don't want all your canned foods to taste like vinegar/citrus do you? Cream of vinegar soup anyone?

"Pressure canning is the only method recommended safe by the U.S.D.A., and many other organisations, for low-acid foods such as vegetables, meats and fish."
 
paulky_2000 said:
to me, hot is hot...

past the boiling point of water, no pathogens (that you'd ever encounter at standard atmospheric pressure) can survive.

At least that's what I've been told....

...plus pressure cookers scare me.
Click to expand...

quote from http://www.canning-food-recipes.com/canning.htm

"Pressure canning is the only safe method of preserving vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood. Jars of food are placed in 2 to 3 inches of water in a special pressure cooker which is heated to a temperature of at least 240° F. This temperature can only be reached using the pressure method. A microorganism called Clostridium botulinum is the main reason why pressure processing is necessary. Though the bacterial cells are killed at boiling temperatures, they can form spores that can withstand these temperatures. The spores grow well in low acid foods, in the absence of air, such as in canned low acidic foods like meats and vegetables. When the spores begin to grow, they produce the deadly botulinum toxins(poisons).

The only way to destroy these spores is by pressure cooking the food at a temperature of 240°F, or above, for a specified amount of time depending on the type of food and altitude. Foods that are low acid have a pH of more than 4.6 and because of the danger of botulism, they must be prepared in a pressure canner."
 
AlabamaJack said:
quote from http://www.canning-food-recipes.com/canning.htm

"Pressure canning is the only safe method of preserving vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood. Jars of food are placed in 2 to 3 inches of water in a special pressure cooker which is heated to a temperature of at least 240° F. This temperature can only be reached using the pressure method. A microorganism called Clostridium botulinum is the main reason why pressure processing is necessary. Though the bacterial cells are killed at boiling temperatures, they can form spores that can withstand these temperatures. The spores grow well in low acid foods, in the absence of air, such as in canned low acidic foods like meats and vegetables. When the spores begin to grow, they produce the deadly botulinum toxins(poisons).

The only way to destroy these spores is by pressure cooking the food at a temperature of 240°F, or above, for a specified amount of time depending on the type of food and altitude. Foods that are low acid have a pH of more than 4.6 and because of the danger of botulism, they must be prepared in a pressure canner."
Click to expand...

well put, but anything below a ph of 4.6 I always suggest to be refrigerated
 
POTAWIE said:
If you decide to buy a pressure cooker, I recommend getting a good one without the loud jiggly weight on the top which will drive you crazy
Click to expand...

It's not so bad, plus I read that the gauge style pressure canners need to have the gauge re-calibrated every year.

I'd like to see someone make a little hula doll looking grass skirt and maybe a tiny pair of bewbies for the weight, would be pretty epic when you reach pressure and it starts rocking back and forth.:hell:
 
I can potatoes (65 quarts so far this year) and never add vinegar, lemon juice or even salt.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that pressure canning alone will not guarantee the safety of food. You have to make sure the lid sealed. After removing the ring, press down in the center of the lid. If it doesn't pop back to its normal position, the jar is not sealed and should either be refrigerated or re-canned.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
I can potatoes (65 quarts so far this year) and never add vinegar, lemon juice or even salt.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that pressure canning alone will not guarantee the safety of food. You have to make sure the lid sealed. After removing the ring, press down in the center of the lid. If it doesn't pop back to its normal position, the jar is not sealed and should either be refrigerated or re-canned.

Mike
Click to expand...

Dang that's a lot of taters!

In a sealed mason jar the properly sealed lid does nothing when pressed. The vacuum created when cooled has sucked the lid down so it shouldn't move at all when pressed. If it does pop down when pressed the lid didn't seal.
 
SS,

My bad - that's what I meant to say. You can actually press on the lid when they first come out of the canner (recommend using something than an unprotected finger!). We use to hear all kinds of "pings" when mom was canning beans - she had two canners going at once - as the jars cooled.

I'm actually hoping to get another 14 quarts. These things can be used for just about anything except as a baked potato. Boil in soup, fry with eggs, mash, deep fry. Plus I have about 15-20 pounds of large spuds set aside for baking.

Mike
 
Nice tater crop Wiz.

Yeah, I figured it was a typo and just heard some lid pings myself on some Fatalii/Pineapple/Apricot preserves I made this evening.
 
Skydiver said:
I'd like to see someone make a little hula doll looking grass skirt and maybe a tiny pair of bewbies for the weight, would be pretty epic when you reach pressure and it starts rocking back and forth.:hell:
Click to expand...

^Want to buy This ;)
 
chilehunter-

I'd recommend following the Kerr or Ball canning guides for fruits and vegetables. Get or look up a good canning guide, don't follow the "i've done it this way for years and never had a problem" ideas posted on forums.

Peppers/chiles are considered a low acid vegetable and should be pressure cooker canned. Fruits can usually be hot water bathed especially if it's a fruit in a sugar-water syrup.


Many years ago we did about 20 quarts of homegrown green beans with a hot water bath. Stuck them in the pantry, and about 6 weeks later, they started to "explode"...not literally.... but foaming and leaking all over.... they should have been pressure cooked, not hot water bathed. If we'd eaten one of those jars, we'd have been in a whole other world of hurt!


Green beans, vegetables in general, and most modern tomatoes have "low acid" and must be pressure canned. You can add acid such as vinegar to green beans, and then you are getting into the pickled category.......

Most university extension services, who offer help for home canners, say to pressure can tomatoes, even though traditional canning methods will say to use the hot water bath method. That is because modern growers have been breeding the tomatoes to reduce the natural acid that used to be present in the the tomatoes to have "low acid" tomatoes of today. So that is why they are now saying to pressure can tomatoes when they used to not say that. Heirloom tomatoes may still have the higher acid content, but do you want to risk it?



One other note-
for home-canned vegetables, make sure the veggies are BOILED for 10 minutes before eating to "kill tall the nasties". Don't just heat the home canned veggie in the micro.




Pressure canners are not to be feared. Respected and appreciated, but not feared~~~
 
Good info in this thread, thought I would give it a bump so people could see it now that we are in canning season........ :D
 
Ball has a really good canning cookbook that has tons of recipes for everything you can imagine canning. Its Ball Blue Book of Preserving It's well worth picking up.
 
Another option for some harvested produce is blanching. I do this with corn, beans and carrots, mainly because it is so easy.

Mike
 
And then there's the USDA regs for acid foods. Ever pick up a bottle of salsa (or other products) with a plastic or lug type lid? It was more than likely a "hot pack" with a ph below 4.6 and was bottled hot and the jar inverted, otherwise the lids would blow off when you processed the products, (yes I did try to hot water process hot sauce and blew the lids off the bottles, lol). I now own and use a ph meter to check everything I "can".
 
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