Canning safety

I have a half bushel of pears getting riper by the moment in my kitchen. I need to find some time to get them into jars. I have canning on the brain which explains this post. 

Since I do a lot of canning and write about it here, it seems like a good thing to share some safety information. Botulism, that would be the scentless and tasteless bacteria which can grow in jars that have not been correctly processed is deadly. Really, it's not something you want to mess around with. And this is one of those cases where the Internet is both bad and good. Good that it allows people access to recipes and practices that have been tested and proven safe. Bad because not everyone realizes that using these recipes is important and that anyone with a camera and social media account can share misinformation. 

First up, let's talk about Roboseal. This is a vacuum sealer that removes air from dried foods in jars and prolongs their shelf life. This is fine, but it seems that there are other voices out there saying you can use this product to actually preserve non-dried food with it. You can't. All it does remove oxygen. Removing oxygen is not what is happening in the canning process. That involves heating food in jars to kill pathogens and create an anaerobic environment . If you are using a waterbath canner, the foods must be appropriately acidic. If they aren't, then they need to be processed in a pressure canner. Some foods cannot be canned because they are too dense and the center of the jar will not be heated enough. (Think of how a thick soup never gets warm to the center during its first ride in the microwave.) Each food has different canning times and each needs a specific headspace for it to be safe. The Roboseal cannot do any of these things. Just because a lid is vacuumed to a jar does not mean the food inside it safe to store on a shelf. Canning isn't magic where the goal is to get the lid to seal on the jar, it's science, and as such has certain rules that must be followed. Oh, and just because your grandmother always did it a certain way, it doesn't make it right, but it does make her family lucky. 

And since I'm in the topic, you also cannot can milk products. You cannot do it even if the nice lady on the Internet showed you how she preserves milk in jars in her oven. Well, you can do it. You can also play Russian roulette, it amounts to the same thing. Do not can dairy products . You can also add skins and peels of fruits and vegetables to the do not can list, too. The carry to many contaminates. 

If you want to can something, check the Ball canning books, the Bernadin books and website, and state extension office websites. All will have tested recipes and safe instructions. Don't believe someone who has posted on the Internet (yes, double-check me, too) and do your research. Because neurotoxins are not something to fool around with and truly don't care if the person on the Internet said it was safe.