USDA Publishes Guides for Canning
The United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) publishes a guide
for home canning. I found it on the
Internet and am going to reproduce
portions of it over the next few weeks.
If you would like to order the entire
guide, it is publication number: SF06
and the price is $20.00. Call
352-392-1764, to request information
and place orders. For Master Card and
Visa orders, call 1-300-226-1764.
Why Can?
Canning can be a safe and economical
way to preserve quality food at home.
Disregarding the value of your labor,
canning home grown food may save
you half the cost of buying
commercially canned food.Canning
favorite and special products to be
enjoyed by family and friends is a fulfilling
experience and a source of pride for many
people.
Many vegetables begin losing
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some of their
vitamins when harvested. Nearly half the
vitamins may be lost within a few days unless
the fresh produce is cooled or preserved.
Within 1 to 2 weeks, even refrigerated produce
lose half or more of some of its vitamins. The
heating process during canning destroys from
one-third to one-half of vitamins A and C,
thiamin and riboflavin. Once canned
additional losses of these sensitive vitamins are
from 5 to 20 percent each year. The amounts of
other vitamins, however, are only slightly
lower in canned compared with fresh food. If
vegetables are handled property and canned
promptly after harvest they can be more
nutritious than fresh produce sold in local
stores.
How Canning
Preserves Foods
The advantages of home canning are lost when
you start with poor quality fresh foods; when
jars fail to seal properly, when food spoils; and
when flavors, texture, color and nutrients
deteriorate using prolonged storage.
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The high percentage of water in most fresh
foods makes them very perishable. They
spoil or lose their quality for several
reasons: growth of undesirable
microorganisms- bacteria, molds, and
yeasts, activity of food enzymes, reactions
with oxygen and moisture loss.
Microorganisms live and multiply quickly
on the surfaces of fresh food and on the
inside of bruised, insect-damaged, and
diseased food. Oxygen and enzymes are
present throughout fresh food tissues.
Proper canning practices include:
carefully selecting and washing fresh food,
peeling some fresh foods, hot packing
many foods, adding acids (lemon juice or
vinegar) to some foods, using acceptable
jars and self-sealing lids, processing jars in
a boiling-water or pressure canner for the
correct period of time.
Collectively, these practices remove
oxygen; destroy enzymes; prevent the
growth of undesirable bacteria, yeasts, and
molds: and help form a high vacuum in
jars. Good vacuums form tight seals which
keep liquid in and air and microorganisms
out.
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