Putting Food By - Janet Greene [74]
Spinach
See Greens.
Squash—Chayote, Summer, Zucchini
Pressure Canning only. Use Hot pack. Use jars or plain cans.
Wash, trim ends, but do not peel. Cut in ½-inch slices; halve or quarter the slices to make the pieces uniform.
HOT PACK ONLY
Cover with boiling water, bring to a boil. Drain, saving the hot cooking liquid for processing.
In jars. Pack hot squash loosely, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Top with cooking water with ½ inch headroom; add optional salt. Pressure-process pints for 30 minutes, quarts for 40 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
In plain cans. Pack hot squash loosely, leaving ¼ inch of headroom; add optional salt, and top with cooking water. Exhaust; Pressure-processing No. 303 cans for 30 minutes and No. 401 cans for 35 minutes. Remove cans; cool quickly.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Squash, Winter
See Pumpkin.
Tomatoes
See Chapter 8.
Turnips, White
See Rutabagas.
10
Canning Meats
Beef, pork, lamb, and chicken are the most popular meats for canning. Domestic rabbits and small-game animals are canned like poultry. Choose only good meat for canning, and handle it quickly and with total cleanliness, because bacteria grow at a frightening rate in meats and poultry if given half a chance. Any meat picks up bacteria, so don’t keep it waiting at room temperature until you can handle it. If you have a large amount to do, temporarily store the part you’re not working on in the refrigerator or a meat cooler (32–38 F/Zero−3C). Can first thing tomorrow what you could not can today.
Process all canned animals and birds only in a Pressure Canner at 10 or 15 pounds (240 F/116 C or 250 F/121 C) to destroy bacteria—including the spores of C. botulinum. The 15 psig processing is specially recommended to offset the effects of high altitude. By all means see the rules of thumb in the Canning at High Altitude section in Chapter 3.
Equipment and Its Care
A Pressure Canner is essential. And you’ll need a pencil-shaped glass food thermometer or other accurate thermometer for exhausting jars as well as cans.
Containers may be jars—we recommend the modern straight-sided ones, because they’re easier to get the meat out of—or plain cans (meat sometimes makes the coating flake off the interiors of enameled cans: harmless, but unattractive).
Use good-size sharp knives, including a 3- to 4-inch boning knife.
Wooden cutting boards and surfaces can be very handsome and they are easier on knives than harder surfaces are, but PFB uses a heavy-duty skidproof acrylic panel whose side supports of metal can be extended to straddle a sink. Easy to work on, much easier to keep reasonably free of the sort of bacteria that are likely to be harbored in the pores of wood.
If you plan to do large quantities of meat, you should have a high-sided roasting pan and a very big kettle (as large as your Boiling–Water Bath kettle).
All tools and utensils must be scrubbed in hot soapy water and rinsed well with fresh boiling water before each use.
To control bacteria, cutting boards and wooden working surfaces must be scrubbed hard in hot soapy water both before and after you handle meat on them, and must be disinfected with a solution of ¼ cup chlorine bleach to 4 cups of lukewarm water; leave it on for several minutes, then rinse off with fresh water. Or leave on the surface for 15 minutes a solution of 2 tablespoons chlorine bleach in 4 cups of water; rinse with boiling water.
Signs of Spoilage
• Broken seal.
• Bulging cans.
• Seepage around the seal.
• Mold, even a speck, in the contents or around the seal or on the underside of the lid.
• Gassiness (small bubbles) in the contents.
• Spurting liquid, pressure from inside the container as it is opened.
• Cloudy or yeasty liquid.
• Unnatural or unpleasant odor.
The fats in meat, plus its high protein content, make it more susceptible to spoilage than vegetables are. Take this warning to heart:
Before tasting home-canned