Canning Just Got Easier

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...9c8c8e-442a-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html

Did you guys see this? Ball has changed some of the rules.

 

Just emailed that to my wife. She's the canning specialist at our house, thank you!

 

Wow....Always been paranoid about canning but maybe now...

 

I started canning in '08. I always sterilized the jars just like it said in the book. I got a pressure canner in '09 so I could start doing meat. I followed the same procedure that I did for BWB. One day I asked myself; Why am I sterilizing in 212* water? When the jars go into the pressure canner, the temp goes up to 240*. Seemed like a waste of time to me so I quit doing it. I paid close attention for a couple years and decided it was working fine. With that information I thought, If I'm processing something in a BWB at 212* for 20-30 minutes, what is being accomplished with boiling the jars for 10 minutes before they go in for another 30. I would never try to tell anyone it isn't needed because folks can be set in their ways but it's been working for me for 4 years and hey, I'm still here to talk about it.

 

I have never sterilized the jars before pressure cooking as like UncleJoe said the pressure temps are a lot higher than just boiling water. I would run the jars through the dishwasher and take them out and fill them as I need them. The only time I sterilize jars is if I am going to be making jam or pickles and I do the sterilizing in the oven. Nice to know that we don't have to warm up the lids beforehand. One less pot on the stove to juggle around the elements.

 

The benefit of boiling jars is you can weed out the ones that break during processing - and you have to have the boiling bath ready when you've packed the jars anyways.
I just hold the lids in the boiling bath with a pair of tongs for a minute and they get soft without issue - no need for a second pan.

If you want pickles that are crisp you need to cold pack them in hot jars with hot brine.
Another tip - don't throw away your old lids, wash the jar & used lid recap the clean jar and it keeps the dust out until next season - just write on the lids so you don't reuse them

 

I wash my jars in the dishwasher, then, once dry, put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 mins or so......im guessing it sterilizes just as good as boiling. Let them cool before putting pickles in them or ya might crack the jars!
As for the lids, I boil em, and place them on the jars hot and wet......seems to work well.
I do NOT boil after the canning.

 

I've never tried sterilizing in the oven, most of my canning is in the heat of summer and I try to keep that heat outside on the propane turkey burner

 

I've never heated the libs but I do boil the jars for a couple minutes. Not dead yet.