Show me someone who blogs about having done a bit of canning and I’ll show you someone who’s been anonymously scolded for real or imagined safety infractions. Home canners do, or should, pay attention to the latest guidelines, of course and I, myself, have reminded folks from time to time that the old ways are just that - old, as in former - for a reason. The problem is that defining “guidelines” as the word pertains to canning is nearly as futile as defining “risk”. Add to the mix variances in resources, facilities, and skill and you’ve got the makings for a world of experts, few of whom are shy about proclaiming the rightness of their own thoughts on the subject. Here are mine:
Risk is a tricky thing. Home canning has an inherent degree of risk (although we’ll do well to remember that likewise does consumption of commercially-produced foods) which has been mitigated over time with new research on food borne pathogens and corresponding technological improvements. That’s the upside. The downside is that, with every advance in safety knowledge, a whole bunch of people feel that the heretofore-regarded-as-safe activity in which they’ve engaged for years has been unjustly maligned. I confess that I feel this way about water bath canning plain tomatoes (no longer recommended, although I still do it with older varieties) and I’ve had more than one e-mail from folks who share their opinion that old mayo jars were good enough for grandma so they’re good enough now and that however many untold dollars are saved practicing this economy. Then there’s great and mighty Martha Stewart herself, who advocated for sealing jam with paraffin (admittedly for her own use only) not all that long ago, a practice now discredited.
Where does this leave us? Ultimately, I do not think that canning risk is different from any other. I do things all the live long day that are pretty darn dangerous – driving, sitting at my desk, grilling the family dinner – but the fear I might bring to these activities is tempered into mere caution with the application of knowledge and experience.
And there’s my bottom line: there’s nothing to do for risk but learning more and canning more. For those that would assume that someone is being foolhardy for one of those previously mentioned real or imagined infractions, I recommend further the understanding that no two people are going to be on the same place with regards to risk. For every person I’d love to convince to give up the mayo jars, there are two who would rather I not water bath my tomatoes. The mayo jar people have the weight of experience on their side since they’ve been at it for years and I call upon knowledge. I know the guideline and I know why it was issued, so I can react accordingly in my intent to disregard. It’s all about knowing where you are, being confident in what you know and getting on with it.
That’s the making. On the eating side, my feeling is that there’s less wiggle room. With luck, following good canning procedures will result in only good food on the shelf. That’s not always the case, though, and knowing what to look for when the time comes to open a jar is key. The jar shouldn’t be more than a few years old, for starters. Goodness knows that I find some ancient thing tucked in the waaaaay back of the cupboard more often than I’d like to admit and I’m not as good with labeling as I ought to be, so, you know, see also: cobbler’s children and shoes. Don’t eat anything that you cannot state when it was made and/or how long you’ve had it. Like the jar of mango jam I just found – I haven’t made mango jam in years and years.
Likewise, don’t eat anything for which the lid is weeping or oozing, or if there’s any strange looking unidentified stuff around the seal. Does the food look and smell as you expect? There will be some natural degradation of color, but generally the food in the jar should present as if it were put there yesterday – not a foolproof test since many nasties are odor- and colorless, but one to which attention should be paid regardless. Pass by anything that doesn’t appear to have been canned according to guidelines (er, see above for more on that point). See the jar up there? The apples were sealed without adequate liquid and, now that I think about it, I don’t know where these came from or how/when I got them. They’re outta here.
This pre-eating checklist seems cumbersome and scary, but it’s not. Experience and knowledge gets it down to as natural as when opening any other product. With the experience and knowledge comes the confidence to make and stand by your own canning decisions. Since I started canning in the first place to exert some control over my food supply that is entirely the point.
* Michel de Montaigne, French Philosopher (1533-1592). Monsieur de Montaigne also said, "He who fears will suffer, he already suffers from his fear" which also applies, don't you think?
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(2170)
-
▼
April
(161)
- Showmanship
- Menentukan warna kode html dengan Just Color Picker
- Hawaii Surprise: Civil Unions Approved.
- Gay Marriage in Church: Iceland Considers.
- Harvesting of snake skin.
- An oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico
- Jewelry Gourji
- Bye Bye Friday :-)
- Beijing debut a new VW Phaeton
- The Japanese attacked the 200-kilogram jellyfish.
- Scary Fish
- Pamela Anderson performing on Dancing with the Stars
- Lucie Jones - Takes out one of her puppies London(HQ)
- Erin Cummings - Cleavy @ Los Angeles premiere of '...
- Lea Michele leggy and cleavy in Asos Magazine scan...
- Lydia Hearst @ Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Pro...
- Charlize Theron @ Africa Outreach Project in West ...
- Audi RS5
- Smart cars
- Exhibition of stuffed animals
- Unusual handbags
- Made out of human bones
- BMW Concept Gran Coupe
- Animals and gentlemen Grand Ole Bestiary
- Dear Mr. S,
- [info ] Pendaftaran Taruna AKPOL T.A. 2010.
- Faceless
- Morning!
- Sleep Sleep
- Featured: GADIS Magazine
- Lines of Moi
- Thy Kindness Freezes
- BELAJAR PHP
- Membuat form pemesanan sederhana dengan PHP
- PADI
- Terbakar Cemburu - Padi (lirik lagu)
- Spectacled Eider
- Beautiful Artistic Pictures
- Unusual sports photos
- Photos of beautiful, fabulous sea stars
- A new electric concept from Lamborghini
- Red Bull X-Fighters 2010
- Alfa Romeo is Pininfarina
- Interesting concept Citroen Metropolis
- A Moment In A Million Years - Scorpions
- What U Give U Get Back - Scorpions
- You and I - Scorpions
- Still loving you - Scorpion lyric
- SCORPION - ALWAYS SOMEWHERE
- SCORPIONS
- The Time Of The Oath - Helloween lyric
- Walls Of Jericho - Helloween lyric
- In The Middle Of A Heartbeat - Helloween Lyric
- If I Knew - Helloween Lyric
- One Third of a Century
- A Quick Sip of Yogyakarta
- From One Point To Another
- Marriage Equality For Finland - but Not Yet.
- Transfer File lewat yahoo messenger
- Ngobrol gratis berjam- jam lewat yahoo messenger
- Cara menambahkan teman di yahoo messenger !
- John Waters, Actor and filmmaker
- Shopping In The USA
- Bones & Spangles
- Louisana State Rep Proposes a Path to Gay Adoption.
- Texas AG Opposing Gay Divorce
- Tug At The Heartstrings
- Lusting Over
- Dispatch Dispatch
- Lovely
- Gay Couples, Straight Couples: What's the Difference?
- Lahir dengan tiga tangan
- K'naan dan "Coca-Cola anthem for the 2010 FIFA Wor...
- Queer Families' Challenge for Catholic Church.
- U
- UNGU
- Liquid
- I Love To Walk Around The City
- Adoption ban overturned
- Buenos Aires Gay Marriage: Judicial Ping Pong Cont...
- Equality in Argentina
- Have a Sip, Long & Grey.
- Natural Families: Africa's Female Kings and Husbands.
- Lotsa Layers
- Vitamin C
- Victorian style Computer
- Sculptures by Kris Kuksi
- Efek dari mengucapkan terima kasih
- Lexus LS 600hL
- Tara Lynn..Thick model became the heroine of the F...
- Apes Wrestlings
- Self Gardening
- Italy and Gay Marriage.
- Happy 100
- No Noble Thing Can Be Done Without Taking Risks*
- Shrek the journal VMAN
- Mila Kunisin magazines GQ, Esquire, BlackBook
- Culinary flags
- Concept Aston Martin Gauntlet
- Photo Montages by Illustrator Mattijn Franssen
-
▼
April
(161)