CAN You Do It?

There are times I stubbornly follow my own rules: like driving on unknown highways where the signs are few, satellite connection is uncertain, and the local businesses are closed and I just decide to go straight until the road ends sure that I will get somewhere eventually.

This reliance on my gut feelings can be exhausting for those around me, but as life lessons go this way of finding my own way is survivable. Not all intuitive decisions are that benign. Take the growing popularity in 'rebel canning'. That can be a person's final mistake. Why? Botulism.

Botulism is often fatal. Like killing people. Dead.

Let me explain.

Rebel Canning is a movement that willfully and personally decides to disregard USDA guidelines for the safest way to preserve foods. There are YouTube channels, TikToks, and Facebook groups, 'zines, newsletters, and books about their methods.

Hint: canning milk, cheese, and butter is a dead giveaway that you are seeing rebel canning information.

Some rebel canners choose their path due to nostalgia (gramma did it this way and she lived to be 90!), some are politically motivated (the government doesn't belong in my pantry!), some espouse 'off the grid' seat-of-the- pants self-sufficiency, others do it to express their freedom of choice and rejection of government dictating safety standards ( rebel canning instead of anti-masking views post-COVID).

I don't rebel can. I won't rebel can.

First of all: I am an oldest daughter and drive to know and follow the rules is very real. That's not to say that I follow ALL rules about EVERYTHING. No, indeed. I believe you should

Know the Rules thoroughly and then decide if and when you will break them. Calculated actions done knowingly.

I don't take risks with food safety. My decisions there have consequences far beyond my own health and can affect those that I love.

Frankly, the changes in government inspection and oversight already have me skeeved the heck out. Loosening standards on food growing, raising, processing, storage? That isn't done to benefit the consumer, it's done to benefit the businesses. I'm not going to increase the risk by breaking time and science-tested rules.

USDA Guide to Home Canning covers both water bath and pressure canning. Water bath sounds so Bugsby Berkeley delightful: setting to food afloat in a pool of coordinated swimmers, doesn't it? It's not that at all. To water bath safely food must be high-acid (think strawberries, lemons, pickles). Glass jars are sterilized, round disks are placed atop the cleaned jar rim and kept in place with a screwed-on ring, and then covered with boiling water in a covered pot for a specific amount of time. It's very economical and a basic covered pot with an inside rack is well under $50.00.

Why is that done? Both the thoroughly heat the contents to destroy any botulism and to cause a vacuum inside the jar that will cause that disk to seal tightly to the jar.

Pressure Canning is for EVERYTHING else: low acid like fish, meats, poultry, beans, mushrooms, soups, etc. A pressure canner is a specific item: YOU CANNOT pressure can in an Instant Pot-type of appliance! Pressure canners vary in size and run between $150-$350.

The most common pressure canner sits on the stove and maintains a specific pressure for a specific time, accomplishing the same cooking and sealing as water bath canning but at a higher and more consistent heat due to the pressure aspect of the thing. Both the pressure needed and the length of time it must be steadily maintained varies due to the size of the jar, the density of the food, and the atmospheric pressure in your area.

Note: There are now electric pressure canners that look like an instant-pot, but are specially meant for canning. They can process smaller batches and run $300- $500. If you want to use them make sure it is a pressure canner, not just a pressure cooker! Both styles mentioned have an example linked so you can see the difference.

Following the information in the USDA Guide to Canning ensures your food is safe. It also means that the work you've put into putting by shelf-stable food isn't wasted. This is a link that explains how these guidelines were created and answers many FAQs,

FREE! You can access the USDA Guide and learn about water bath and pressure canning through libraries, by buying it in bookstores or through bookshop.org, or by reading/downloading it for free here.

Many people happily put by pickles and tomato sauce using water bath canning and use freezers, dehydrators, or fermentation to store other things. If you'd like to learn more about pressure canning here's a good introduction to how to choose and use a stovetop pressure canner.

I hope this has demystified canning food a bit for you.

What other questions do you have? What should I have included?