question about pressure canning.......

[Firemenlovechicks]

Hey all,

I have canned alot of stuff over the last few years, but it's mostly been stuff like pickles, relishes, fruit preserves, jellies, etc..... This year due to health concerns and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, we are canning EVERYTHING from the garden, which is about twice the size of previous years.

Here's my question:

I have always followed the recipe's from Ball's Blue Book, and Ball's Complete Guide to Home Preserving, but I really want to add some salt pork or maybe some ham when I can my turnip greens this weekend. I will be processing them in pint jars. Ball says to process for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Do I need to increase the processing time if I add the salt pork? Is it safe to do this? I don't figure it's a problem, but I am a paranoid freak when it comes to home-canning. I make sure everything is done EXACTLY as it's called for so as not to develop a new relationship with the porcelain throne......... As far as quality, would I be better off to just follow the Ball Guide and add any meat and seasonings when I cook them?

Thanks for the help!

Jeff

 

[Cackling Hen]

bump

 

[jossanne]

Well, when canning combination foods like that, you're supposed to process for the time that you'd process the longest ingredient if it was canned by itself. So how long would you have to process pork?

There are only freezer instructions for cured pork in my Ball Blue Book, but I'd process it for approximately the same amount of time as beef, I think.

I can beans with a little salt pork or bacon grease in them, and I process at 15 pounds for 90 minutes, same as I'd process them if they didn't have the salt pork in them. We've never had a problem.

 

[jossanne]

I found this information in a recipe for canning baked beans here.

"Because salt pork or bacon has been cured, it presents far less contamination risk than raw meat and may be safely processed in a pressure canner."

 

[Firemenlovechicks]

Thank You!

I think I will try some both ways so that if there happens to be a problem, I don't lose it all. Thanks for the info!

Jeff