I am starting to gain interest in learning how to can but have a big fear of getting someone ill. Does anyone have a book which is easy to read? Bonus points if it’s an enjoyable read as well.
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The Ball Blue Book is the best for recipes and how to can different things. How entertaining not so sure. But it will keep you from getting sick. My wife has used it for years. Here is the paperback version at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Blue-Boo...s=books&sr=1-1Last edited by mountainsmoker; August 4, 2019, 04:25 PM. -
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mountainsmoker you wrote "This is a hard to understand document and does not take into account 15lb pressures. I would not use if my life depended on it. We can tomatoes at 15lbs." in a comment about the website in the above post.
I'm sorry you found the website hard to understand, but based on your comments I can see not only do you not understand it, but you don't seem to understand canning or even the Bell Blue Book. I went to the library today and took a picture of what the Bell Blue Book says about canning tomatoes.
Notice that it says to process 40-45 minutes in a boiling-water canner. It says nothing about 15 pounds pressure. This is because a boiling-water canner is different that a pressure canner and does not use pressure. This is because tomatoes are high acid and don't need pressure canning. However, green beans are low acid and do require pressure canning. So let's see what the Bell Blue Book says about that.
Now I apologise for cutting off part of it, but what it says is to process 20-25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure canner. Not 15, but 10, which you imply is taking your life into your hands. So what gives? Why doesn't the Bell Blue Book say 15?
This is because processing times and pressures vary due to elevation. If you go to the front of the Bell Blue Book you'll find this chart:
Now you'll notice that there is a weighted gauge and a dial gauge. This is because there are two types of pressure canners, unless you have an All-American like I do that has both. The weighted gauge uses 10 at sea level to 1000', 15 for everything above. Dial gauges start at 11 and go up to 15 only when you are above 8,000 feet. So those green bean instructions have to be adjusted according to this chart, which hopefully the user noted and remembered to do and not just blindly follow the directions.
The NCHFP has both boiling-water canning and pressure canning for tomatoes. Let's see what they say.
For boiling-water canning they say 40-45 minutes, the exact same as the Bell Blue Book. Now go to that altitude adjustment chart of the Bell Blue Book, it says to add 5 minutes for 1000-3000', 10 minutes for 3000-6000', 15 minutes for 6000-8000', and 20 minutes for 8,000-11,000'. Now look at the chart from the NCHFP, same exact times as the Bell Blue Book, except it recommends only a 15 minute addition for above 6,000'. So the big difference is that with the Bell Blue Book you get a process time or pressure and you have to remember to refer to the adjustment chart and do the math. With the NCHFP you get a chart and the times are adjusted for you, just find your elevation. Hopefully not too hard to understand once it gets explained to you.
Pow7der canning is safe, as long as you follow reliable directions and not just what somebody in a forum spouts off. Another site about canning can be found at http://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm Lots of pictures and step by step directions, maybe a little more entertaining read. My advice is to always refer back to the NCHFP site, or even the Bell Blue Book, just don't forget to adjust times and pressure. Also, start with boiling-water canning, aka 'water bath'. Lower start up costs and gets you comfortable before stepping into pressure canning.Last edited by ComfortablyNumb; August 5, 2019, 09:49 PM.Comment
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My objection is it stops at above 1000' and does not take into account the higher altitudes into account. Where BBB says use 15lbs above 1000' your chart uses 10lbs. What does the bottom line mean 1, 15, not recommended.Comment
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It most certainly does take into account higher altitude. I'm assuming you are referring to using a weighted gauge pressure canner. I can't believe I have to explain this, but I'll give it a go. I'll try isolating the table and making it real big.Originally posted by mountainsmoker View Post
Notice at the top it says "Recommended process time for water-packed Whole or Halved Tomatoes in a weighted-gauge pressure canner." Now look directly below it, in half the box it says "Canner Pressure (PSI) at ALTITUDES" Below that it shows pack, jar size, time and 0-1000' and Above 1,000'. So if you are packing hot or raw, in pints or quarts, and are below 1000' you can process for 15 minutes at 5 pounds , 10 minutes at 10 pounds, or 1 minute at 15 pounds. If you are above 1000' you can do 15 minutes at 10 pounds, 10 minutes at 15 pounds, and a 1 minute process is not recommended.
But here is the interesting part, the Bell Blue Book only recommends (unless I missed something, and I did try looking) boiling-water canning at much longer process times for tomatoes. So why are you even pressure canning tomatoes, and where do you get your instructions?
I hate to say this, but three times now you have emphatically stated things that are not true. the first being the NCHFP does not take into consideration 15 pounds pressure, and the second that it does not take higher altitudes into account, and yet there in the table above I've shown both. The third is Bell Blue Book recommending pressure canning at 15 pounds for tomatoes. I only found boiling-water canning for tomatoes. Unless it is in another edition, there have been several.
I can't speak for others, but I strongly question your credibility. It's one thing to ask for understanding, quite another to make bold statements.Comment
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Well you use what you want to and we will use what we prefer and our mothers used. Both sources appear accurate and promote safe canning.Last edited by mountainsmoker; August 6, 2019, 12:49 PM. -
klflowers I can only hope so!
mountainsmoker Are you now saying the NCHFP website is accurate and promotes safe canning?
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