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Home-canned food.......

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by kyredneck, Apr 27, 2015.

  1. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    ....was at Lancaster potluck in botulism outbreak

    "...The more than 20 foods include home-canned items, which are often implicated in outbreaks such as this. Beets, vegetable soup and two samples of pears appear to be home-canned. The list, provided by the Ohio Department of Health, also includes potluck staples, including pasta salad, macaroni and cheese and coleslaw.

    Investigators are trying to get to the bottom of the outbreak that killed a woman and has sickened 27 others after the potluck at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church....."

    This is such a tragedy and don't be surprised if it is confirmed that the source is from something home canned someone brought.

    I've been to a thousand (probably thousands) of [not only] Church potlucks in my life and home canned/preserved items have made up a large portion of the food. There's almost always home canned green beans, which I myself grow and pressure can and feed to others often. I do it by the book, either by the Ball Blue Book or NCHFP specs, but you never know who is NOT following these proven safe practices and bringing to the feed.

    "Foodborne botulism has more frequently been from home-canned foods with low acid content, such as carrot juice, asparagus, green beans, beets, and corn."
    http://www.pickyourown.org/botulism.htm
     
    #1 kyredneck, Apr 27, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2015
  2. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    I remember when I first met my wife her grandmother was still canning green beans from the garden outside over an open fire in a galvanized wash tub, an all day event, been doing it that way all her life, and many other mountain folk had been doing it the very same way also.

    The botulism bacteria are soil borne and green beans, particularly bush beans, are susceptible to carry the spores due to being exposed to the soil. A water bath can never reach the 240F temp needed to kill the spores, it requires a pressure canner to do that.

    I'm convinced that the primary reason that so many got away with water bath canning green beans for so long is that any botulism toxin that might be present is completely destroyed with five minutes of boiling/cooking after the jars are opened.
     
  3. JohnDeereFan

    JohnDeereFan Well-Known Member
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    Not long after my sister first married her husband, she and my mother and grandmother spent all day one day canning vegetables, soups, jellies, preserves, etc.

    A few months later, while my sister was out of town, my brother in law had a burst of energy and decided to clean the basement. He threw everything away.

    My sister comes home, goes down stairs for a jar of something and says, can't find it and asks him what happened. He says, "That stuff was months old. It wasn't any good anymore".

    He was from the city so he'd never seen anybody can food before.

    It's a funny story in our family now, thirty years later, but at the time, my sister was...shall we say, less than amused.

    Fortunately, he knows better now.
     
  4. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Yes, properly canned food is 'safe' for decades, but food quality/palatability does diminish with time, some faster than others.

    Recently there was an unopened can of lard discovered from 1948 post war Germany. Food analysis revealed it was still perfectly safe for consumption but the texture of it rendered it 'unpalatable'.
     
  5. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    ...which reminds me I've some serious tossing to do from my cellar before the upcoming canning season...
     
  6. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    My mom did a lot of canning back in the 30's, some times green beans but mostly peaches {out of SC or Ga} and apples {from Va.}. Green beans she pickled or dried; both are a real treat in my opinion. Mom dried green beans until she got too old! They have a unique flavor! She also pickled beets. Lot of folks canned meat but mom never did.
     
  7. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Home-Canned Potatoes Served at Potluck Probably Caused Botulism Outbreak

    "Ohio public health officials announced Monday that potato salad containing home-canned potatoes was the likely cause of a recent botulism outbreak following a potluck luncheon at the Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in Lancaster, OH. They said that their conclusion was based on lab tests and interviews with those who attended the potluck on April 19....."

    Which would stand to reason as there would have been no need to heat the potatoes to boiling for 5 minutes (which would have destroyed the toxin) prior to combining with other ingredients for the salad.
     
    #7 kyredneck, Apr 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 28, 2015
  8. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Do you know whether she used a pressure canner?

    'Shucky' beans do have a unique flavor and if prepared correctly are quite good, especially if they're of the tender 'Appalachian' bean varieties such as 'Greasy Grits' or cut-shorts. I intend to dry some this season, but we do prefer canned green beans even above fresh.

    Love those pickled 'dilly beans' (actually I don't add dill), cukes, relish, cabbage (kraut), etc..

    Do you know whether she used vinegar or was it straight up fermenting (salt pickling)? These are ferment pickled (no vinegar):

    [​IMG]
     
    #8 kyredneck, Apr 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 28, 2015
  9. Jkdbuck76

    Jkdbuck76 Well-Known Member
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    Why use canned potatoes to make potato salad?

    Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk
     
  10. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Where do you find out how to do it right? I haven't done so out of that exact concern. I have a daughter with a couple allergies that mean we can't use most anything that isn't raw and fresh, so we can be sure of ingredients and reduce cross contamination risks.
    Where do you learn this stuff without a gramma?!
    And when I say we make everything fresh, I mean it. Ketchup, BBQ sauce, mustard, grinding our own spices, etc.. My next venture is buttermilk to make sour cream with, cheeses, etc.. Can you can stuff like ketchup and cheese sauce?
    I've never used a pressure cooker. Why can't you just boil stuff? I'm afraid of pressure cookers.
     
  11. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Convenience, the potatoes have to be cooked anyway, canned potatoes are already cooked.
     
  12. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, 37th Edition - Book

    NCHFP specs - online

    Smart girl. It's imperative this be done right.

    Wow, sorry about to hear about her allergies but it sounds like it keeps you all 'eating right'.

    It really does help immensely to actually see this stuff done before doing it yourself. Our County Extension Offices in KY periodically have classes on pressure canning.

    But, YOUTUBE is awesome for visual hands on instructions for things like operating a pressure canner.

    Cool. Have you gotten Sally Fallons book 'Nourishing Traditions'? You should read the reviews, I've learned so much from that book.

    Absolutely; there are many such very good recipes to be found in the Blue Book alone.

    I make her (Sally Fallon's) ketchup which keeps for months because it's fermented. It's ALIVE and good and good for you! She's not hip on canned food, and for good reason, canning kills it. Period. Preservation by canning is 100% sterilization through heat. Live food is much to be preferred for health and nutrition.

    There are many lacto fermented foods and condiments that you can prepare that will remain fresh and alive and nutritious in the fridge for months.

    You should have respect for it, but after you learn the basic science and skill to it you'll be OK.

    You can boil (water bath) some stuff, foods that have a sufficiently low pH (high acid) like tomatoes, some fruits, and pickled food. Foods with higher pH require a higher temperature than boiling water at atmospheric pressure can provide, thus the need for a pressure cooker to properly can all meats and vegetables.
     
    #12 kyredneck, May 6, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2015
  13. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Thank you! I've been reading the NCH specs site like crazy. What a blessing to have all that great information for free! I will continue making good use of it.
    I haven't even heard of Sally Fallin's book. So many books of that nature promote doing things to boost your immunity, but with two of us having lupus, our doctor actually wants us to take meds to shut it down. So I cook with nourishment in mind, ie vitamins and minerals, and a lack of chemicals and additives, rather than anything targeted towards boosting immunity, or killing yeast, or cleansing, etc..
    My interest in canning is to use it when I am unable to cook and to have more variety available during certain times of the year. Plus it just seems cool. LOL
    BTW, the sour cream is delicious. :-D Who knew it was so simple to make?!
     
  14. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    I began incorporating lacto fermented foods and beverages into my diet some 5 years ago and have benefitted immensely from it. Although I used to try ferment everything, now it's mostly beet kvass, deli cukes, kimchi & kraut, whole garlic, and various relishes when the garden is on. I at least have a shot of kvass with every meal (it's also a fantastic thirst quencher). Check out Katz's site:

    http://www.wildfermentation.com/

    I like his method, he salts to taste instead of premeasuring. But I like Sally's method of using whey with certain foods.

    Yes, do as the doctor says, you're fortunate there's medicine for it. The worst kind (untreatable) of Lupus runs in my wife's family, her grandmother and three aunts all passed away within 6 months of being diagnosed.

    [add]

    Check this out:

    3 Reasons to Choose Lacto-Fermentation Over Canning

    Also:

    The Courage to Ferment

    "...U.S. Department of Agriculture research service microbiologist Fred Breidt says properly fermented vegetables are actually safer than raw vegetables, which might have been exposed to pathogens like E. coli on the farm.

    With fermented products there is no safety concern. I can flat-out say that. The reason is the lactic acid bacteria that carry out the fermentation are the world’s best killers of other bacteria,” says Breidt, who works at a lab at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where scientists have been studying fermented and other pickled foods since the 1930s.

    Breidt adds that fermented vegetables, for which there are no documented cases of food-borne illness, are safer for novices to make than canned vegetables. Pressurized canning creates an anaerobic environment that increases the risk of deadly botulism, particularly with low-acid foods...."
     
    #14 kyredneck, May 9, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 9, 2015
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