A jar that seals is a jar that seals, and that's about all it tells you. In this episode, we're taking on four home canning myths that keep circulating in gardening groups, on food blogs, and in family recipe boxes: oven canning, open-kettle canning (and its cousin, flipping jars upside down), packing tomatoes and garlic in oil, and the idea that a salsa recipe can be tweaked however you like as long as it tastes right.
For each one, we'll look at what the research from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and university extension services shows, why these methods fail, and what to do instead so your harvest stays on the pantry shelf and out of the danger zone.
We'll also look at a study that checked 56 salsa canning recipes from food blogs, and what it found might make you rethink where your recipes come from. Let's dig in!
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References and Resources:
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Ensuring Safe Canned Foods: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/ensuring-safe-canned-foods/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Equipment and Methods Not Recommended: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/equipment-and-methods-not-recommended/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — General Information (includes the 1943 history on oven and open-kettle canning): https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Identifying and Handling Spoiled Canned Food: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/identifying-and-handling-spoiled-canned-food/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Tomato Acidification Directions: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/tomato-acidification-directions/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Freezing Garlic-in-Oil: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/vegetable/freezing-garlic-in-oil/
- National Center for Home Food Preservation — Burning Issue: Can I Can My Own Salsa Recipe? (PDF): https://boone.mgcafe.uky.edu/files/nchfp_burning_issue_can_i_can_my_own_salsa_recipe.pdf
- D'Sa et al. (2007), Survey of Home Canning Practices and Safety Issues in the U.S.: https://nchfp.uga.edu/papers/2007/canning_survey.html
- Nummer et al. (2004), Studies on Safe Acidification of Salsa for Home Boiling Water Canning: https://nchfp.uga.edu/papers/2004/04ift-tomatosalsaPoster_combined.html
- Nummer et al. (2011), Current Food Safety Issues of Home-Prepared Vegetables and Herbs Stored in Oil, Food Protection Trends (PDF): https://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/Jun-11-Nummer.pdf
- Savoie & Perry (2019), Adherence of Food Blog Salsa Recipes to Home Canning Guidelines, Food Protection Trends: https://www.foodprotection.org/publications/food-protection-trends/archive/2019-09-adherence-of-food-blog-salsa-recipes-to-home-canning-guidelines/
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension — The Missing Ingredient: Food Blog Salsa Recipes: https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/2023/07/20/the-missing-ingredient-adherence-of-food-blog-salsa-recipes-to-home-canning-guidelines/
- Penn State Extension — Say No to Oven Canning: https://extension.psu.edu/say-no-to-oven-canning
- Penn State Extension — Avoid Open Kettle Canning: Always Process Canned Goods: https://extension.psu.edu/avoid-open-kettle-canning-always-process-canned-goods
- Penn State Extension — Caution: Canning with Fats and Oils: https://extension.psu.edu/caution-canning-with-fats-and-oils
- Oregon State University Extension Service — Herbs and Vegetables in Oil, SP 50-701: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/sp-50-701-herbs-vegetables-oil
- Oregon State University Extension Service — Preserving Garlic: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/food/preservation/preserving-garlic
- UC Agriculture and Natural Resources — Garlic: Safe Methods to Store, Preserve, and Enjoy, Pub. 8568 (PDF): https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2020-09/335681.pdf
- Colorado State University Extension — Botulism, Fact Sheet 9.305: https://extension.colostate.edu/resource/botulism/
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