Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Living Well with the Carrie Connection

Home caning is a great way to assure a good supply of high quality food throughout the year. It also allows control over what goes into the food so that it can be prepared to meet family dietary restrictions as well as likes and dislikes.

Unfortunately, if foods are not canned properly they may contain dangerous bacteria, which can cause food spoilage and may cause illness or even death if the food is eaten.

A key factor in deciding how to safely can food is the acid level of the product being canned. Most foods contain some naturally-occurring acid. Some foods contain more acids than others and are called acid or high acid foods. These acids can slow or stop the growth of harmful bacteria that grow in food.

Fruits are naturally acid foods since they contain high levels of acids. This means that, because the acid helps control any bacteria present, fruits can be canned safely by just applying enough heat to kill any yeast or molds and to assure a good seal. This kind of heating occurs in a water bath canner.

Tomatoes also are naturally acid, but their acid level varies greatly depending on such factors as variety and maturity of the fruit. For this reason it is recommended that extra acid be added when canning tomatoes to assure the acid is high enough to assure safety.

When pickles are made acid is added to low acid foods to make them acid enough to be processed in a boiling water bath. This acid may be added by using vinegar, a strong acid, as an ingredient. A second way of assuring high acid in pickles is to allow fermentation to take place. In this process selected bacteria are allowed to act on the product. One of the products of this action is acid.

Low acid foods, such as vegetables, meats and most food mixtures, do not have enough acid in them to prevent the growth of bacteria. These foods must receive a more extreme heat treatment to assure they will be safe to eat. These extreme heat treatments are obtained when foods are canned in a pressure canner.

If you have not canned in a while make sure you update your recommendations. Things change.

Come by the Extension office for new canning information. Have your dial pressure canner checked for free. Bring the lid to your canner to the Extension office and leave it. We will have it checked within one to two days.