Canning question for you all!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Canning question for you all!

Posted: 5/25/2008 7:21:32 PM EDT

I have four questions I'd like to ask about canning. Now that my wife saw that I could use the pressure cooker and can are left overs from big meals she is really in to it now. What I'd like to know first is can you can guacamole? If you can do you need to do the water bath or pressure cooker? Next I'd like to know is it possible to can food that has dairy in it I assume you would need to pressure can it if it is possible. Also I'd like to know if you where to can homemade tamales would you have to add any liquid in the jars? Last my wife wants to can some Peaches and other fruit but she only want to do a few of them to see if they taste as good as the store bought canned kind. I'm guessing they taste better but I'd like to hear someones $0.02 who has had them.

Thanks for the help.

Posted: 5/26/2008 4:09:34 PM EDT

[#1]

Anyone know where I can get answers?

Posted: 5/26/2008 5:16:40 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
I have four questions I'd like to ask about canning. Now that my wife saw that I could use the pressure cooker and can are left overs from big meals she is really in to it now. What I'd like to know first is can you can guacamole? If you can do you need to do the water bath or pressure cooker? Next I'd like to know is it possible to can food that has dairy in it I assume you would need to pressure can it if it is possible. Also I'd like to know if you where to can homemade tamales would you have to add any liquid in the jars? Last my wife wants to can some Peaches and other fruit but she only want to do a few of them to see if they taste as good as the store bought canned kind. I'm guessing they taste better but I'd like to hear someones $0.02 who has had them.

Thanks for the help.

guacamole- do not know

Dairy= You can can cheese, I have

meat = pressure
low acid = pressure
acidic foods ergo tomatoes, vinegar or high sugar = water bath.

Buy a ball blue book of canning and google for proven recipes. There are exceptions to most rules except the ones that keeps you from getting sick.

Bob

Posted: 5/27/2008 4:52:14 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
What I'd like to know first is can you can guacamole?

I looked into canning avocados the last time a batch of them showed up at the discount grocery. Unfortunately, avocados (and, by extension, guacamole) aren't suitable for home canning.

They have a number of strikes against them. First, they're low acid and hence unsuitable for the water bath. Second, they are full of natural oils and oily stuff is suboptimal for home canning. Finally, they contain an enzyme that will cause them to degrade substantially as they're heated. The enzyme would be deactivated by the canning heat but would do bad things to the preparation before being deactivated.

Best to stick to freezing avocados/guacamole.

More later.

Posted: 5/27/2008 8:28:59 AM EDT

[#4]

X2 on the Ball book of canning.

A very large water pot and some basic canning holders are about all you need.

We can primarily tomatoes, pickled Beets, and regular pickles. By the next spring we are ready to reuse the Jars for more.

In my opinion, some home canned stuff is great (like tomatoes and fruit/jellies), other stuff is not so hot. I don't like home canned Salsa, too watery! Give me Pace any day.

It is really up to personal taste and some experimenting.

Good luck

Posted: 5/27/2008 4:39:18 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Next I'd like to know is it possible to can food that has dairy in it I assume you would need to pressure can it if it is possible.

Conventional wisdom has it that you should steer clear of canning dairy because the dairy fats can encapsulate and protect nasty micorbes, in particular the ones that cause botulism.

I tend to avoid canning foods that contain dairy simply because I don't think that the (relatively) long exposure to canning temps does dairy goods any favors. I've canned some soups that call for addition of cream/milk, but I can the soup base and add the dairy when I heat up the soup base.

Posted: 5/27/2008 9:35:38 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Conventional wisdom has it that you should steer clear of canning dairy because the dairy fats can encapsulate and protect nasty micorbes, in particular the ones that cause botulism.

I tend to avoid canning foods that contain dairy simply because I don't think that the (relatively) long exposure to canning temps does dairy goods any favors. I've canned some soups that call for addition of cream/milk, but I can the soup base and add the dairy when I heat up the soup base.

Does that do for anything that go for anything that has dairy? I have a recipe that has 1 cup milk and 1/2 cheese it's chicken Tetrazzini that would not be able to be canned? Or should I say it is a risk to can?

Also how much better does home canned fruit taste then they kind you buy?

Posted: 5/28/2008 2:39:46 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Does that do for anything that go for anything that has dairy? I have a recipe that has 1 cup milk and 1/2 cheese it's chicken Tetrazzini that would not be able to be canned? Or should I say it is a risk to can?

I'm VERY conservative when it comes to canning. I vary only slightly from established, tested recipes. My canned goods may sit for over a year before use and I'm unwilling to do anything that may be even remotely, theoretically unsafe.

Quoted:
Also how much better does home canned fruit taste then they kind you buy?

I think home canned fruit tastes better for a couple of reasons. First, the canner typically picks only the highest quality fruit for canning. Second, it's easy to use a lighter (i.e., less sugary) syrup than what the commercial canners use.

Happy canning.

Posted: 5/29/2008 1:20:10 AM EDT

[#8]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg1015512927929.html

Don't can with dairy products!

Posted: 6/2/2008 7:27:24 PM EDT

[#9]

Thank you for the information. I have been canning butter for a long time, and have never heard of this before. Are there any tests for Botchulism (I don't know how to spell this, sorry) in glass canned jars - would not the jar vacuum be lost with the growth of the spores?

Posted: 6/3/2008 8:26:44 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Thank you for the information. I have been canning butter for a long time, and have never heard of this before. Are there any tests for Botchulism (I don't know how to spell this, sorry) in glass canned jars - would not the jar vacuum be lost with the growth of the spores?

There aren't any tests that I'm aware of to accurately and reliably detect contamination with botulinum toxin. It's colorloss, odor less and tasteless. It's also remarkably deadly: I've heard it said that one teaspoon of the toxin is enough to kill 100,000 people. You need such a small quantity of the toxin in a jar that looking at seal integrity gives no guarantee that the food is safe.

Posted: 6/3/2008 8:43:20 AM EDT

[#11]

FERAL question for you wife and I just made some tamales now how would we go about canning these?

Posted: 6/3/2008 9:20:04 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
FERAL question for you wife and I just made some tamales now how would we go about canning these?

Sorry, bud, I'm drawing a blank on that one.

In all honesty, that's the kind of thing I'd vac pack and freeze.

Posted: 6/3/2008 1:26:25 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:
FERAL question for you wife and I just made some tamales now how would we go about canning these?

Sorry, bud, I'm drawing a blank on that one.

In all honesty, that's the kind of thing I'd vac pack and freeze.

We are going that with some of them but the others we wanted to send to my brother and his wife as a care package cause there baby is do soon and no one want to cook when your have a new baby in the house.

Posted: 6/3/2008 4:31:41 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
FERAL question for you wife and I just made some tamales now how would we go about canning these?

Sorry, bud, I'm drawing a blank on that one.

In all honesty, that's the kind of thing I'd vac pack and freeze.

We are going that with some of them but the others we wanted to send to my brother and his wife as a care package cause there baby is do soon and no one want to cook when your have a new baby in the house.

Maybe can 'em up some taco meat instead?

Posted: 6/5/2008 3:41:21 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
. I don't like home canned Salsa, too watery! Give me Pace any day.

Good luck

cook it longer (the salsa) til it gets good and thick.
My wife tries to do it too soon, personally I think she ends up with tomato sauce, me I like it THICK, like with a fork thick.
I just cook it longer.

Posted: 6/5/2008 6:40:24 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

Quoted:
. I don't like home canned Salsa, too watery! Give me Pace any day.

Good luck

cook it longer (the salsa) til it gets good and thick.
My wife tries to do it too soon, personally I think she ends up with tomato sauce, me I like it THICK, like with a fork thick.
I just cook it longer.

Add corn starch is what I do.

Posted: 6/6/2008 6:05:07 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Thank you for the information. I have been canning butter for a long time, and have never heard of this before. Are there any tests for Botchulism (I don't know how to spell this, sorry) in glass canned jars - would not the jar vacuum be lost with the growth of the spores?

There aren't any tests that I'm aware of to accurately and reliably detect contamination with botulinum toxin. It's colorloss, odor less and tasteless. It's also remarkably deadly: I've heard it said that one teaspoon of the toxin is enough to kill 100,000 people. You need such a small quantity of the toxin in a jar that looking at seal integrity gives no guarantee that the food is safe.

how does redfeather do it?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Canning question for you all!

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