Yesterday we talked a bit about safety and the relatively low risk of serious illness from canning when it’s done properly. We shared the statistics and reinforced why we can’t reliably determine the safety of someone else’s jars.
Tonight I wanted to emphasize two key behaviours. The two things that, if you do them, will virtually ensure your safety when canning.
When water bath canning (that’s things like jams and pickles), there are two key things to keep in mind:
- Work clean. Keep your hands, product (ingredients), jars and everything clean. Clean, clean.
- Use safe, tested recipes.
I use the US National Center for Home Food Preservation as my go-to for preservation safety. There are many books and blogs that I also trust (if I’m ever in doubt, I reconcile back to the National Center) including some of my favorites:
- Hungry Tigress
- Local Kitchen Blog
- Food in Jars
- Grow and Resist
- What Julia Ate
- Toronto Tasting Notes
- Food In Jars
- Punk Domestics
- Hitchhiking to Heaven
- Hip Girls Guide to Home Making
- Our recipe archive (ok so that’s self-indulgent but I do use it)
A disclaimer: each of the sites above belong to people I consider friends (although I don’t know them all personally). I don’t think it’s a conflict to Reccomend them though – the trust I have is based on many conversations with each of them and knowing the care they take/ shared vision of safety that each has. That’s not to say others aren’t safe; I just don’t know them as well.
What sites/books do you trust and love?