botulism

[bj taylor]

I asked my question in the fruits, vegetable's section, but I want to ask it here too. I will be doing my first ever canning soon. I've got the instructions & I will follow them carefully. my fear is botulism because you can't see if you got it wrong or not. it won't be a case of a jar not sealing since it's anaerobic. it won't show off color or odor. so how do I can with confidence that I won't kill my family with a jar of tomatoes or whatever?

 

[Major_Fawcett]

I asked my question in the fruits, vegetable's section, but I want to ask it here too. I will be doing my first ever canning soon. I've got the instructions & I will follow them carefully. my fear is botulism because you can't see if you got it wrong or not. it won't be a case of a jar not sealing since it's anaerobic. it won't show off color or odor. so how do I can with confidence that I won't kill my family with a jar of tomatoes or whatever?

I am new at canning myself but I canned some of my tomatoes last year by first boiling the seal lids and rings and jars, then added some vinegar to the water packing solution before canning the jars. I do suggest canning them as you would anything. I didn't have a canner last year so I just boiled the jars of tomatoes until they were sealed tight and they are still on my shelf this year. Happy Canning!! Hope this helped.

 

[NwMtGardener]

I'm no expert by any means, but i have confidence in my canning when i FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS from the Ball canning book. These are tried and true safe methods. I would never just "boil till the jars sealed" especially with tomatoes, since they take so much longer. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!! Nuff said.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I'm no expert by any means, but i have confidence in my canning when i FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS from the Ball canning book. These are tried and true safe methods. I would never just "boil till the jars sealed" especially with tomatoes, since they take so much longer. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!! Nuff said.

We have the very same book NwMtGardener!!!! Never fails. I love my book!!! Since it has been about 2 yrs since we had our last garden, I'll be referencing it quite a bit this yea... done forgot some of what MontyJ taught me. But I'm sure it will come back to me

 

[journey11]

Following the directions carefully and not making substitutions to cooktime, temp or acidity. ((Sugar and salt can be modified somewhat as they are more to protect color and flavor.))

Select prime healthy produce and wash well.

Another important thing that many canners (even the old pros) overlook is having your dial guage canner tested yearly for accuracy. They will do it at the county ag extension or some hardware stores (usually the mom n' pops).

Although a very serious, potentially deadly illness, contracting botulism is very rare in this country, especially since the standardization of canning practices (the recipes in the Ball Blue Book have been lab tested.)

 

[bj taylor]

thanks y'all. I have several canning books & not sure I have the ball canning book. sounds like that's the one I need. these answers make me feel better. if I follow directions, things will go ok.

 

[Major_Fawcett]

thanks y'all. I have several canning books & not sure I have the ball canning book. sounds like that's the one I need. these answers make me feel better. if I follow directions, things will go ok.

I found a very educational ball canning video on YouTube to help you out. I can't post links yet but look up ball canning tomatoes, that is how I learned to can tomatoes last season and they still taste very fresh.

 

[Ridgerunner]

BJ, I may scare you with this but its meant to give you confidence. I checked with the CDC a while back. You can find their statistics online. Somewhere around 25 cases of food-born botulism are reported every year. There are 300,000,000 of us and on average only 25 a year get food born botulism. There are a couple of other types of botulism but were not worried about them.

I dont know how many people fail to follow the directions but I bet its a lot more than 25. As long as I FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS I feel real safe from botulism.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

BJ, I may scare you with this but its meant to give you confidence. I checked with the CDC a while back. You can find their statistics online. Somewhere around 25 cases of food-born botulism are reported every year. There are 300,000,000 of us and on average only 25 a year get food born botulism. There are a couple of other types of botulism but were not worried about them.

I dont know how many people fail to follow the directions but I bet its a lot more than 25. As long as I FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS I feel real safe from botulism.

My best friend cans and she trusts her canning more than the store bought can food and came up with an idea of buying can food when needed and keep it for awhile before opening because if it had botulism it would be on the news eventually, but if you were one of the first to open your can you might be on the news!

 

[bj taylor]

I just ordered my ball canning book from amazon! can't wait to get it. it needs to come soon, my tomatoes are turning