Canning 101.....Do I Need A Recipe?

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     Not every canning recipe you find out there in blogland is necessarily safe.  A safe recipe for water bath canning is all about the pH of the total amount of ingredients in the recipe.  Water bath canning is only safe if all the ingredients together comprise a pH of 4.6 or lower.  If the pH is 4.6 or higher, you need to use a pressure canner.  If your ingredients are acid enough (low pH) they will not support the growth of Clostridium botulinum that causes Botulism.

     So how do you know what the pH of your recipe is?  The best way to be safe is to use a tested recipe.  All the recipes in the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving and the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving have been tested by their kitchen.  They know what the pH is. I’m sure there are more tested recipes out there — probably from your extension offices, but, there aren’t all that many.  Why?  It’s expensive testing. (It’s my understanding we are talking something way beyond dipping in a piece of litmus paper.)

     Now, there’s lots of canning book recipes out there, but the recipes are not tested.  In general, those recipes will probably be fine.  If someone is writing a book about canning, hopefully they know what they are talking about.  But here’s where I have a real hard time when I’m blog reading — someones grandma’s recipe that they’ve “added” to.  First of all, grandma’s recipe could very well not be safe to start with, and then adding more ingredients (especially vegetables) could be making it all the more alkaline.

      Here’s an example.  Say you start with a tested salsa recipe (or your grandma’s recipe).  This is a recipe with plenty of vinegar in it and is just under that 4.6 pH…..but, it’s safe to water bath can.  Your taste for hot peppers however makes you add in another cup of peppers, and you saw on someones blog that a great way to use up some of your zucchini is in salsa, so you add another cup of zucchini.  All of a sudden, you have a recipe over 4.6 pH that is not safe to water bath can.

Here’s some pH values:

pH 3.0 – 4.0   ……apples, berries, cherries, lemons, oranges, peaches,  pears (Asian pears are
                            the exception), and pickles

pH 4.0 – 5.0   ……tomatoes with added acid (tomatoes are tricky, they will have their own post)

pH 5.0 – 6.0   ……carrots, beans, onions, peppers, potatoes, squash, and most meats

pH 6.0 – 7.0   ……corn, mushrooms, peas, and chicken

 



The Ball Blue Book is updated every little bit. Mine is from 2009….time to maybe get a new one this year.



I use both books a lot. ….and I haven’t even touched everything you can can. Oh the possibilities!

Check out the rest of the Canning 101 series:

Canning 101…..Here’s the Rest of the Tools
Canning 101 — Tools Of The Trade
Canning 101…..Who Cares About Headspace
Canning 101 — Why 2-Piece Lids?

…..jean

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