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Posted: Jul/31/2008 10:52 AM PST
This is the first year I've tried canning myself. I've canned jam via the method of turning jars upside down while hot. I've pressure-canned fruits and a meat spaghetti sauce. My question is, so long as the seals hold and there is no bulge or obvious spoilage (mold, smells, an odd look), do you still boil the stuff before using? Obviously this would be impossible with jam and inconvenient with sauces. |
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Posted: Jul/31/2008 1:36 PM PST
Sorry Cassie1240 but your methods are seriously outdated and considered unsafe by today's standards. I would strongly suggest getting a current copy of the Ball Blue Book of Preserving (less than $10) and read what you need to do today for safely preserving food. On the issue of boiling the food (for 10 minutes) after opening a jar, this was the routine years ago because they did not know what was making people sick and killing some. Today technology and scientific research has shown it was the Botulism Toxin and that normal boiling did not kill the spore that creates the toxin, but the only place the spore was active was in a sealed airless jar. If the toxin was present when the jar was opened, the cooking destroyed the active toxin. The spore was still there of course, but without the airless environment it was harmless. Today we use Steam-Pressure Canners to reach a temperature of 245 deg. F for low-acid foods to kill that spore and create a steril vacuum environment so the contents were safe. High-acid foods (jam, jellies, pickles, and some tomatoes) is not a friendly environment for this spore to create a toxin, so the Boiling Water Canner is sufficient for killing off everything else (molds, yeasts, fungi, etc), and again created a proper vacuum environment and seal to keep the food safe. |
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Posted: Aug/01/2008 8:38 AM PST
Ok, but the jam is a high-acid food and boiling hot when it goes into the jar. Also, we've done this in the past successfully. Maybe we just got lucky. The pressure canning for the meat sauce is out of the Ball book, however. |
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Posted: Aug/01/2008 10:59 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by cassiel240 Ok, but the jam is a high-acid food and boiling hot when it goes into the jar. Also, we've done this in the past successfully. Maybe we just got lucky.You've just been lucky. Technology of today and scientific research has learned a lot more about bacteria, fungus, mold, yeast, etc., which was not known many years ago. They were not killed by normal cooking, but were only suppressed slightly by the sugar content of jams and jellies, and for everything else it was a much bigger issue. You may perhaps remember years ago that people got into the habit of boiling all opened jars of canned food before eating. They knew something was causing problems, but they didn't know what it was. Cooking does kill the active toxins so it was safe to eat. It just does destroy the spores. The Boiling Water Canner processing was needed to destroy the origins of the bacterias, and a Pressure Canner more specifically for the Botulism spore that is not killed by boiling. |
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Posted: Aug/01/2008 3:17 PM PST
So, I probably couldn't reprocess the jams now that it's been a couple of days since I did them, could I? |
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Posted: Aug/01/2008 4:44 PM PST
Needs to be within 24 hours according to the Blue Book. |
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