[Beekissed]

Well, you know us Americans....always flying in the face of "official-dom".      Pressure canners pretty much heat up the insides of anything hot enough to make it safe if you can it long enough and under enough PSI. 

[sunshineband]

Eh?  Americans can up thick soups all the time.     I've got several jars of "thick" soup base sitting on my shelf right now.  We'll can up most anything, given the chance.   

Well, that's interesting Beekissed. I thought official advice in the States was no canning thick (dense) soups because of the possibility that the stuff at the centre of the jars won't get sufficiently hot to guarantee safety.

I suppose it depends how long you keep it in the waterbath for (or at what pressure if you are pressure canning) Always worth taking advice from folk who have been successful imho 

[jambop]

You know it is very odd that people have been using the boiling water method here for over a hundred years and I have never heard anybody actually not regard this method as normal and uncomplicatedly safe... not knocking the AFDA but they take a normal everyday method to another level. I am willing to bet that any incidents of people making themselves sick is down to their lack of good preparation and knowledge of what the are doing. Of course the AFAD supply that knowledge but in doing so have to safeguard themselves and that of course make the actual process potentially hazardous because if they don't make that clear they leave themselves open to litigation.
 But  I have to say there are a lot of foods I just don't conserve because the product at the end is not really that appealing to me , think carrots, beans, peas and the like they come out over cooked and mushy. But soups, tomatoes, veg stews and the like are really worth doing.

[Snoop]

Yes, Jambop, it's all very strange. I have read absolutely masses on canning in the last few weeks. According to one source, the reason we can't buy pressure canners in Europe is because they're not approved for use by the EU on the grounds that it's impossible to absolutely guarantee the pressure inside and hence the preserved food may be unsafe to eat.

[Beekissed]

It's impossible to guarantee ANY method...there are no guarantees in this life against growing ill and dying, nor are there guarantees that any method of food preservation will not fail at any given time under any given circumstance.   We were just discussing this on another forum about someone finding bulging lids and mold growing on applesauce at her local grocery store. 

Jambob, that's one reason we can corn in the BWB method...in a pressure canner it turns to tasteless mush and loses its color.  Been using that method on sweet corn for almost 40 yrs now on~literally~thousands of jars and never had a spoiled jar or anyone get sick. 

I think it's the government's way to discourage folks from doing their own food production and preservation, as they throw the scare tactics out more and more about the dangers of eating your own chickens and other farm animals, the dangers of feeding them kitchen scraps   , the dangers of this or that, etc. to a populace that is ruled by fear of death.  So much so that they throw practical sense out the window, just in case it no longer can keep them from death. 

I agree...a normal, functioning adult using good hygiene and common sense while canning and, then later opening those jars of food, should be just fine. 

[jambop]

Beekissed
I don't think the AFDA are actually trying to discourage people more they are covering their own collective backsides because they are giving out information on the safe method... if someone was to use their method and then get ill there would be the inevitable law suit. So they make it sound dodgy and possible life threatening and I suppose you are right newcomers are discourage to a degree.

[New shoot]

I've read quite a bit on the AFDA site.  They cover commercial food production as well as home preservation, so there is a lot of detailed information on the risks involved in preserving food, the bugs that pose a risk and the ways of ensuring safe processing.

It is similar to official sites from UK organisations involved in food safety.  It covers every eventuality and contains a wealth of information.  There have been incidences of botulism in commercially produced preserved goods both here and in the US that are documented on these sites, plus reports on incidences on botulism in home canned goods.  I don't know the circumstances, so can't make a judgement on whether hygiene or lack of knowledge was the cause.  Maybe it was just bad luck that a food stuff was already contaminated, looked fine, smelled fine, but made people ill.

Knowledge is power in my book, so having read the official sites and quite a bit on homesteading and food preservation sites, I can then make my own mind up.

It is the same with rules about chickens here in the UK.  The official rules say feed nothing that came out of your own kitchen.  This came about after poor farming practises here, where a farmer was feeding food waste to pigs, led to a massive outbreak of foot and mouth.  Again, I can see the sense in the advice, but I can also use common sense when looking after my own little flock.

If you are someone who is freaked out by the chance home preserved foods may be dangerous and have no confidence that you can do this safely, it probably is best you continue to buy your food.  If you have the intelligence and common sense to take on board all the information and move forward from there, all power to your waterbath (or pressure canner)