What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

I sliced two large steaks out of them for DHs hamburgers tonight. That's a 9 inch plate! SOOOO MEATY!

mmm...they look delicious! We grew one variety of beefsteak, but none were really so large. Tasty, but not large.

 

[Acre4Me]

My Pole Beans are just starting to dry out, for the early blooms. There are many many young and tiny pods developing! This should not have been picked yet, but it was sitting in the dirt (still on the vine) and we are getting rain all day today, so I picked it as it was turning yellow. It is called Good Mother Stallard, and is meant to be used as a dry bean in soups. It has a very creamy texture when cooked.

 

[WthrLady]

As I understand it, botulism toxin gets produced by the anaerobic C. botulinum microbe. So, the anaerobic environment of sealed jars is great for the microbe! The toxin produced by the microbe is the problem and can kill when ingested. In order to deactivate the toxin, you can boil the contents for approx 10 minutes or more to denature the toxin, such as when you decide to get that jar of canned green beans off the shelf for dinner. If my memory serves, the C.Botulinum can produce spores. Spores are resistant to heat, but will be killed under pressure (pressure canning done properly). Like many things, microbe growth can likely be controlled by acid levels too. That is why some things (low acid) need to be pressure canned, or acidity levels need to be adjusted (adding citric acid, for example) to higher sugar content/low acid items - like many tomatoes available today. The above is just from memory, FWIW.



Because, jams are so high sugar content, and can support primarily yeast and molds (not bad bacteria). Yeast and molds need air. Wax seals off the air! No air - no Y or M.


I know nothing about this - cant comment!

and it's not just the new kind of tomatoes. Even some of the heirloom varieties when not grown in optimal conditions can be too low in acid content. I figure 'why not play it safe'? (woman at a church near my mom's in ohio gave half a church picnic full of people botulism from canning new potatoes the way she's always done it. One person died.

 

[Acre4Me]

and it's not just the new kind of tomatoes. Even some of the heirloom varieties when not grown in optimal conditions can be too low in acid content. I figure 'why not play it safe'? (woman at a church near my mom's in ohio gave half a church picnic full of people botulism from canning new potatoes the way she's always done it. One person died.

Yikes!! That’s terrible!

 

[IamRainey]

Oh! That beefsteak just looks soooooo good!

So do those gorgeous beans. Will you save some for planting next year?

Listen, folks, I'm not advocating the old ways. Not by a long shot! What I'm doing is comparing what my great aunt did to modern USDA approved methods and trying to reason it through. ...and making choices for myself.

Terrible for someone to get food poisoning. It's painful! And to think someone died of it -- HORRIBLE. But the plain fact is, people have been eating canned foods since Napleon's time. It was one of his huge battle advantages that he could carry with him enough food to keep his army well fed and at their fighting best hundreds of miles from where they originally supplied. And they did it without the same caveats and methods we employ. Just trying to understand all of that in context.

Do, do, DO follow the methods you feel confident about! I'm just an anonymous voice out here in the ether. No one should do anything because I said so or because that's how I do it!

PS New potatoes would have, what?, about 0% acid?

 

[WthrLady]

And they and the artic explorers sealed the cans with lead. A whole other problem!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I am concerned about the dishwasher canning method. Has the cook taken the temp inside his dishwasher? We know so much more than we used to about food safety. The acid level of this tomato or that, the temperature at which botulinum is killed, etc.

Just because it worked for our grandmothers doesn’t mean it’s safe! Why not? Because the imperfect method can be used hundreds or thousands of times without killing anybody. But the 1,001st time, some botulism got in there and there goes the church picnic.

Please read up on modern methods, and take them seriously. Could really be life or death!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Living in Juneau all the fresh salmon and halibut I learned the dishwasher better for other things Salmon in it wrapped in foil spices and lemon run through one wash cycle cooked to perfection no drying needed

 

[karenerwin]

I have a friend that is going to trade me tomatoes from their garden for one of my extra roosters!! Now I'll be able to can at least a little bit of tomatoes!!

 

[pennyJo1960]

We had a huge green salad took all we had bought or in garden made fried zucchini day before