TOPIC: Food Storage
- I grew up eating green beans which were pressure-canned at home. When my mother heated them for a meal, she brought them to a boil then removed the lid and let them boil for at least a minute with the lid off. She said this was necessary to be safe. Is it necessary or was that just something passed down from before pressure canning was available?
- I have a question about my pressure canned sliced peaches. I cold-packed sliced peaches covering them with a light syrup. Following instructions I packed them with 1/2 inch headspace and poured the liquid to 1/2 inch headspace. However, the peaches floated up so that they were not covered by the liquid during processing. I did run a wooden spatula down the sides of the jars and seemed to get all air bubbles out of the jar. I processed in the pressure canner according to instructions at 10 PSI for 10 minutes. When I removed the jars the liquid was boiling and there seemed to be a lot of air bubbles around the fruit. The jars were already sealed when I took them out of the canner after waiting 10 minutes after the pressure seal dropped. The liquid is down considerably - looks to be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches and the peaches are floating. There are air bubbles and air pockets. The seal is fine. Are these peaches safe?
- I have a question regarding commercially canned tomatoes. I have read on your website that the nutritional value of vegetables may not be maintained after the expiration date. I have heard somewhere that tomatoes are an exception, and there could be a problem with the tomatoes that would not be able to be detected, and that they should just be discarded at the expiration date for safety's sake. Is this true?
- I have tried pressure canning chicken 4 times now. I've done 2 batches cooked chicken and 2 batches raw chicken. All 4 times most of the water cooked out of the jars. Is this supposed to happen and is the chicken safe for us to eat?
- I just inherited a pressure canner. It's pretty well used and I'm a little nervous about using it. I've never done pressure canning before. Is there a place where I can get it checked out for safety, and how do I learn how to use it.
- I just prepared pesto today containing basil, pine nuts, garlic, italian cheeses, and lemon juice, pretty much in that order from largest quantity to smallest. For how long could I keep this in my freezer before the oil will go rancid or the pesto will otherwise be inedible. Seems to me that I kept some a while back for 6 months, and after eating it I got sick, though this could be coincidental.
- I know that I should add lemon juice to bottled tomatoes and tomato juice, but my husband hates sour stuff. Is there an alternative that isn't sour? Is there a recipe for 'V8' that is more palatable?
- I used the approved recipe for canning apple pie filling, including leaving a 1 inch headspace. However, after taking out the jars I noticed that filling had bubbled up out of the jars during processing. The lids seem sealed, but how can I be sure they are safe? Should I have left a larger headspace than 1 inch???
- I would like to find a recipe for canning apple pie filling that is safe for my elevation. I have looked through your web sites to no avail. Please direct me.
- I've read that dry pack food storage products expire within x amount of years depending on the product. My parents purchased a LARGE quantity (over 100 cases of #10 cans) of assorted dry pack 28 years ago from Desert Supply Company; wheat, cornmeal, powdered milk, eggs, instant potatoes etc. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with throwing it all out. Can you please confirm that this is wasted product or is there anything salvagable.. and if so for how much longer would it be good? It has been stored in a dry/dark cool basement.
- Information for Canning at High Altitudes.
- Is it possible to make a freezer-jam marmalade? I want to make my own, but don't have the supplies for actual canning.
- Is it safe to bottle butter? I went to a class and they said it was "canning butter" yet we didn't process it.
- Is it save to eat weevil?
- My question regards appropriate storage of low-moisture foodstuffs in smaller quantities, i.e., grains for 1-2 person households. Can I store grain in clean canning jars and use dry ice? Would the O2 absorbers for smaller-volume containers work with glass canning jars, or would I need a flexible container to allow for the contraction as the chemical reaction proceeds? And if I use canning jars, would I need to do anything other than using fresh lids so that the sealing material around the lid perimeter would create a good seal? I would love your opinion, and if you can refer me to any studies that concern storage in smaller quantities (no 6-gal buckets, please) I would be most grateful. Thank you.
- Someone told me steam canners should not be used for canning tomatos. Is this true? On your tomato canning instructions it only refers to hot water bath or pressure canning. I've always used my steam canner and love it.
- Sometimes when I can something, the liquid level in the jars is much too low. What am I doing wrong?
- This is a food storage question. I have called Iams and Purina re cat food storage. They could not tell me how long I could store their dry food product in an oxygen free envirenment. I would like to store the food in 6 gallon buckets to which an oxygen absorber has been added. I have several members in my ward who are interested in this answer. Do you have any experience with this?
- We canned some tomato product (pizza sauce) using a combination of roma tomatoes and regular tomatoes. Some of the tomatoes had blossom rot, which I cut off. We did not do anything to increase acidity and canned them in a steam canner. Now, I'm reading things online about botulism and canning and low acidity and I'm freaked out. Should I discard my sause? If any botulism toxin exists, will boiling the sause for 10 minutes before use be sufficient to salvage it?
- We have smoked several meats in a back yard smoker. Some are cooked through(poultry,fish), some are not(pork tenderloin). All have developed a nice smoked ring that penetrates the outer layer of the meat. How long is this meat safe to eat? Does smoking preserve it, or do I need to freeze the remaider for use later?
- What can I store water in?
- What protein content should my stored wheat have?
- When and where do I go to have my pressure canner checked? How often should it be checked?
- When canning dry beans is it necessary to rehydrate by soaking them before you can them?
- Where should I put my food storage?
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