An excuse not to can
The Sunset magazine One Block Garden blog has a link to an article saying you should really think twice before you try to can your extra fruits and vegetables. The main reason is safety—the possibility of bacteria growing in the jars before you eat the food. Some of the points:
- You have to be very knowledgeable about what you're canning.
- You have to adjust cooking time for ripeness in order to be safe.
- Leaving out sugar or salt to make canned goods "healthier" can actually make them dangerous because sugar and salt are preservatives.
- You have to know about acidity and adjusting it if necessary (same reason as above).
- You can't use old recipes because some fruits and vegetables have less acidity now and some bacteria are more resistant.
Don't let it scare you off. They've been saying that for at least 25 years (that's when I bought my first pressure canner and canned tomatoes). Canning is a lot of work, but I am always glad I put the effort in when I get to use my home grown tomatoes in pasta sauce, and my homemade salsa throughout the year. I have a lot of confidence in the pressure method -- less in the old water bath process. I threw out an entire batch of apricot jam last year because it discolored in the jars after water bath processing.
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