Q: I was told it's best not to can on ceramic top stoves. Any workarounds?
A: It's true; canning is strongly discouraged on ceramic or glass top stoves. This is because these stovetops can crack at high temperatures, and are designed to never go above a certain heat level. This means the burners don't stay at a temperature that's high enough or consistent enough to kill bacteria that causes food poisoning in canned goods.
Often you'll hear that you need a flat-bottomed canner for ceramic or glass stovetops, but the truth is, this may not solve the high/consistent heat problem - especially when the heat sensor on the stove turns off the burner; even if you turn the burner right back on, you've cause a heat fluctuation that could be problematic.
Some folks use a flat bottomed stockpot with a well-fitting lid in lieu of a water bath canner. They place a wire cake rack in the bottom, so jars don't touch the bottom of the pot and break. This might work fine, but you'll have to test it on your particular stove.
To test any stove for canning ability:
1. Fill the stockpot or canner with water bring it to a full, rolling boil. If the water won't come to a full boil, the stove can't be used for canning.
2. If the water comes to a full boil, keep it there for the length of time required by the canning recipe you're using. If the stove won't keep the full boil going, the stove can't be used for canning.
Other things to watch out for:
* The pot mustn't be more than 1 inch wider than the burner.
* Be sure to carefully lift the canner/pot off the stove; never drag it, as this could damage the stovetop.
* If the stove has an automatic shut off, it's almost certainly unsuitable for canning.
Q: I've seen a lot of blogs with directions for canning butter; is this safe?
A: No. Scientific testing has found no way to home can dairy products (including butter) in a way that effectively kills off dangerous bacteria.
I once knew a lady who canned butter, anyway; she stored the finished product in a very cool, dark area of her home. She didn't have any problems with the butter keeping - until one hot summer when her air conditioning stopped working; then all her canned butter spoiled rapidly. This means the canning process was doing nothing to preserve the butter; it was the very cool location that kept the butter good for a certain length of time.
Instead of canning butter, I recommend freezing it, learning to make it from scratch (it's easy with a mixer), and/or making or buying ghee.
A: Yes, pint and half (24 oz.) jars are now being made again - and they are perfect for canning asparagus, longer beans, whole carrots, and such. You can purchase pint and a half jars from Amazon. Be sure to process pint and a half jars using the quart processing times given with the recipe.
Q: I want to can my jam in pint jars, not half-pint jars the recipe gives processing times for. For how long should I process the pint jars?
A: You're right to be concerned about how long to process jars of a different size than the recipe calls for. Failing to do so can result in food that's dangerous to eat because it hasn't been heated well enough to kill off dangerous bacteria. The fact is, it's never safe to use a larger jar than what is called for in a tested safe recipe. If you choose to, you may, however, use a smaller jar. Just keep the processing time the same as the one the recipe called for when using a larger jar.
Be sure to check out "Canning Q & A" from 2011 and 2010, too!
Share |
No comments