Canning without proper equipment

[arelyn]

I'm in a country with no access to jars, rings, lids etc. I was told by a lady here that I can just use a sterilized jam jar and process it in my sketchy Asian pressure cooker (no directions, no gauges, no brand name). All the canning websites I'm reading say this is akin to suicide. Does anyone here have experience canning with what you can find? Any ideas on how I preserve fruit for the upcoming season when we won't have much to chose from?

[knitlove]

I know my grandmothers both did it that way on occasion.

I would be very careful on the jars I picked, make sure that there is a clear way to tell if they are sealed and carfuly inspect every thing as I opened it. I think it is probably a bit more risky but I don't think you will kill yourself.

I try to follow all of the USDA guidelines but I think that they are way over board, it seams like every couple of years they say you can't can stuff at home that you can buy caned and that they said was fine before.

Do you know any one there who cans? See if you can do it with them first seance it is a new 'method' for you.

[IslandHome]

We've done quite a bit of canning without any equipment - though mainly jams, chutneys and sauces - and have had very few failures. We boil the jars for 20 minutes or so, and make sure everything is still hot when the lids are sealed. You do have to be careful which jars you use - anything with plastic in the lid won't work. We also turn the jars upside down as they cool, and make sure they are quite full. As long as the lid is popped inwards it means they're sealed properly.

The worse we've had as far as 'failures' is finding some mildew on a lid when opening it after 6 months or so. And we just wiped it off and still ate the contents - and it was fine.

[SweetCaroline]

i would sterilize the jars, pour hot fruit into jars and seal them with wax, refridgerate.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

The mom I nanny for is from India and I have watched her can by boiling the jars/lids, filling them with hot food stuffs (she only cans ghee, so Im not sure how to do it for other stuff.) The jam lids will pop in when they are properly sealed.

I dunno...it does make me nervous, but doesn't the food LOOK bad if its gone bad?

[Johns_Gal]

There is no way I would risk canning without the right equipment. Can you order rings and lids online and have them shipped to you? The ball recipes are all on their site if you wish to skip the book. They have reusable lids now (Tattler lids) and I would try those in yoru situation.

Sure, botulism is rare, but it happens. You cannot see it or smell it, or even taste it. Sure, my grandparents canned everything in a water bath and lived. They won the roulette wheel.

Yes, I can, and I am obviously very careful with it.

I would freeze and dehydrate; you can use your oven or even a table oudoors in the sun with a screen and a few heavy rocks. You can make freezer jams as well.

---------- Post added at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 PM ----------

Originally Posted by WaitPatientlyOnTheLord

The mom I nanny for is from India and I have watched her can by boiling the jars/lids, filling them with hot food stuffs (she only cans ghee, so Im not sure how to do it for other stuff.) The jam lids will pop in when they are properly sealed.

I dunno...it does make me nervous, but doesn't the food LOOK bad if its gone bad?

Nope, not always. Obviously you don't eat anything that seems off, and if a jar doesn't seal you treat it as any opened food (eat it now or freeze the contents).

I am slightly horrified at the idea of unprocessed, canned dairy. More than slightly.

The whole thing is that a sealed jar DOES NOT MEAN botulism cannot be present.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

Originally Posted by Johns_Gal

I am slightly horrified at the idea of unprocessed, canned dairy. More than slightly.

Wouldn't boiling it (after it has been purchased pasteurized from the store) qualify as "processed"? I dunno, shes always done it and so has everyone she knew in India. I think that as people living in "first world countries" where we have ready access to everything we need tend to think thats the ONLY way to do things.

I do definitely believe there are safety issues to it. The OTHER mom I nanny for had a neighbor die of botulism from their own canned food. So it definitely happens. Personally, its not a risk that *I* would take. But I recognize I am saying that as a spoiled American who has either always had access to proper equipment or else been able to buy as much canned goods from the store as I could desire. I recognize this is not the norm in every culture.

I would exhaust all my other options before trying this, personally.

I guess I had read that the cans explode or leak generally if there is a problem such as bacteria in the food. I would believe that its not always visible or smellable/tasteable otherwise my friends neighbor would not have died.

[knitlove]

Originally Posted by arelyn

I'm in a country with no access to jars, rings, lids etc. I was told by a lady here that I can just use a sterilized jam jar and process it in my sketchy Asian pressure cooker (no directions, no gauges, no brand name). All the canning websites I'm reading say this is akin to suicide. Does anyone here have experience canning with what you can find? Any ideas on how I preserve fruit for the upcoming season when we won't have much to chose from?

bold mine
she isn't planning on not prsssing it, she is asking about reuseing jars and processing in a presser cooker. She also seams to only be asking about fruit and not low aside food or meat.

[Johns_Gal]

Originally Posted by knitlove

bold mine
she isn't planning on not prsssing it, she is asking about reuseing jars and processing in a presser cooker. She also seams to only be asking about fruit and not low aside food or meat.

Yes. And no proper lids. Which I would not do with *any* food. I'd make freezer jam and freeze whatever slices and whole berries I wanted. It not worth risking.

I would, here, water bath them (no need to pressurize high acid foods) with no fear, but without rings and lids? Nope. That's my concern. You certainly can pressure jan fruit, but you don't need to. IME< the fruit tends to get a smidge mushy and odd when pressurized; I did whole blueberries like that a few years ago and the result was inedible unless further processed into pie filling. :/