Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
line of acidity as well and should have lemon juice added in
the same proportion as tomatoes if they are being canned.
Everything else—vegetables, meats, seafood, and
poultry—must be canned in a steam pressure canner.
Boiling water canners are pretty much maintenance free. Just
wash them like any other pot, and you are done. Pressure
canners, on the other hand, require some minimal
maintenance. The accuracy of the dial gage on top of the
canner should be checked annually by your Cooperative
Extension Service. If it is inaccurate, send it to the
manufacturer for recalibration. When the canner is not in use,
store it with the lid turned upside down on top of the body.
Never immerse the lid or dial gage in water! Instead, clean
them with a damp cloth and mild detergent if needed. Clean
any vent holes with a pipe cleaner. The rubber seal should be
removed and cleaned with a damp cloth after each use. Some
manufacturers recommend that the gasket be given a light
coat of vegetable oil, and some don't—so be certain to follow
the manufacturer's directions. If you follow manufacturer's
directions in using your pressure canner, it won't explode, as
was sometimes the case years ago. Modern canners have a
number of built-in safety features that our grandmothers'
models lacked, and aside from deliberately defeating those
safety mechanisms, an explosion is practically impossible.
Foods to be canned are packed into hot glass jars using either
the fresh-pack or the hot-pack method. The methods are
pretty much self-explanatory from their names: Fresh-packed
foods are put into the jars fresh and then hot liquid, brine, or
syrup is added, and hot-packed foods are put into jars after
having been heated to boiling. In some cases, either method
can be used. Once packed, the jar is filled with liquid (brine,
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