Canning meals

[signseeker]

So, is there any secret to canning meals? Meals, like chili or chicken and noodles or just whatever meal your family likes?

I figure pressure canning for 90 minutes. Anything else?

[prairiemom]

The only rules for canning meals are: (1) no noodles, dairy or flour. Also, rice tends to get overcooked. (2) And processing time is the longest ingredient i.e. if you have meat in the meal, then yes, it's 90min/qts, but if you have veggies only, it's whatever veggies requires the longest cooking time.

Soups--any meat, any veggies, any spices
beans--chili, plain cooked beans, bean-based soups
meats--plain or spiced (using herbs, salt/pepper, onions and/or peppers), cooked in chunks, patties or small pieces.
Meats with veggies--such as stir fry. We like meatballs with spaghetti sauce and cabbage. Open it up, reheat it and serve over rice.

[signseeker]

Oh, this is awesome.

Alright, I'm ready for canning meals recipes!! Let me have it! :w00t:

[Earthling]

You need the Ball blue canning book. That is what everyone told me - I got it at the local USU extension service and also found it at Smith & Edwards. I think it was around $10. It is supposed to be the Bible on canning.

[signseeker]

Yeah, I've read about a dozen canning books. There's one - it doesn't have the Ball Blue Book cover, but it's by Ball (there's pictures of canned food on the cover) that I just checked out again - it's my favorite. :001_sbiggrin:

[prairiemom]

I like this website: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod01/master01.html It has information and recipes on just about every food. Just click the first letter of the food you want to can.
You can also get USDA canning booklets from your local extension office for free. I like free.

[LEVE]

Just a note of caution. Botulism in these type of meals can kill. My wife had a relative back in the early 50's that canned vegetables and wiped out a few relatives at a family reunion. So if you pressure cook, you'll still need to be careful, and reheat the meal to the boiling point/or above to make sure it's quite safe for consumption.

IMHO, it's not worth the risk.

[signseeker]

Whoa, LEVE, that's terrible. Do we know how exactly she did the canning? Or what the food was that killed the people?

Is there a way to know if your home-canned food is carrying botulism? Does is smell? Does it look funny? Do you try it on the cat first?

[arbilad]

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/components/DJ0516section1.html#ensuringsafecanedfoods

[LEVE]

Whoa, LEVE, that's terrible. Do we know how exactly she did the canning? Or what the food was that killed the people?

Is there a way to know if your home-canned food is carrying botulism? Does is smell? Does it look funny? Do you try it on the cat firsIIRC the problem was green beans cooked in a pressure cooker. My wife refuses to home can vegetables for that reason.

The FDA did come up with a test and it takes days to confirm. I don't think it's available to the general public; it is costly. Of course you'd have to test every can you open...and that gets prohibitive.

Have the guests eat the food first....:l0 (20):

[prairiemom]

Botulism is odorless and tasteless. It's on almost all food but isn't a problem until it gets a chance to grow. It only grows in moist, non-acidic, anaerobic environments--like canned food.

The process for home canning was not standardized in the 50's. Today the USDA has safe canning guidelines that, if you follow them, you have nothing to worry about. They are constantly testing the processes and updating them when they find problems. It's when people take short cuts--processing for less time than recommended, lower pressure than recommended, not having gauge checked regularly, not cleaning jars and food, reducing pressure too quickly, using outdated recipes or old instructions, etc--that you have problems. We eat 300+ jars of pressure canned food every year, that's over 3000 jars in the last 10 yrs. Not one problem in any of them.

[rhiamom]

I'm wondering if it was tomatoes that were only hot-packed that killed the people. Hot-packing tomatoes was safe enough a long time ago, but the tomato hybrids grown now, and even back in the 50s are much less acidic and require a boiling water bath. I remember my grandma still doing the hot-pack of tomatoes in the late fifties/early 60s, and my Mom always boiling them hard for 10 minutes to destroy any botulism toxin.

More recent info indicates that some of the newest tomato varieties are so non-acidic that vinegar or lemon juice must be added in order to be able to safely process them with a boiling water bath.

[BackBlast]

Just a note of caution. Botulism in these type of meals can kill. My wife had a relative back in the early 50's that canned vegetables and wiped out a few relatives at a family reunion. So if you pressure cook, you'll still need to be careful, and reheat the meal to the boiling point/or above to make sure it's quite safe for consumption.

IMHO, it's not worth the risk.

Boiling food that contains botulism that was allowed to grow doesn't help. It's the chemical left behind by the bacteria that gets you.

I think if done right it can be as safe as commercially packaged food. If you don't do it right in the first place, botulism is likely.

[ghostcat]

IIRC the problem was green beans............... :l0 (20):
Yep, Green Beans will get you every time!!!!!!!!!:001_tongue:

[rhiamom]

Boiling food that contains botulism that was allowed to grow doesn't help. It's the chemical left behind by the bacteria that gets you.


Boiling DOES destroy the toxin. It doesn't destroy the spores. If you don't believe me, Google it. Try the CDC website : http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/aip/research/bot.html It's why it has traditionally been the advice to home canners to boil all home canned food for ten minutes before serving.

Canning is a much more precise science now than it was fifty years ago, or even twenty years ago. The new processing recommendations are much more stringent and result in a much safer product.

[Aldon]

Yep, Green Beans will get you every time!!!!!!!!!:001_tongue:

And Ohkra and Brussel Sprouts have been known to induce immediate power hurling!:l0 (27):

[arbilad]

Just bless it first. That removes all possibility of food poisoning, right?
BTW, I am being sarcastic. While it is necessary to bless the food, that doesn't mean it won't poison us.

[Highlandsunrise]

Lots of people are scared away by the dangers of doing home canning wrong. It requires some learning and some carefullness to do it safely. I grew up watching my Mom, grandmother and great grandmother doing it and have eaten it my whole life and haven't seen any of the bad things happen that you hear about. For people who don't want to do the learning it is best to stay with the case lot sales. For the rest of us, it is nice to be able to season things the way we like it and eat the things we grow all year. :l0 (41): Blessing it helps too.