[NorthEastJoy]

Hi all...

I'm thinking about trying canning, which is popular in the USA, but doesn't seem so in the UK. I'm wondering why and if you've tried canning can you compare it with bottling for me please? For example; is canning easier/cheaper/better than bottling - what are the pros and cons? I imagine that canning is far superior, because you can store all manner of foods in them and cooked produce, including meat; plus if it lasts as long as shop-bought cannned goods it will keep for years, but I don't know if any of that is true for home canning and I can't find much info about it based in the UK, so I hope you will be able to enlighten me with your experience. Thank you very much.
 

[joyfull]

canning equipment is not easy to get hold off over here so most import it from the states - then you have to include shipping costs, import duty and vat (plus handling charges if the royal mail deal with it). I have also read that you have to be careful with botulism. Besides who needs a can when you have freezers or jars and bottles which look so pretty on the shelf 

[BigPaddy]

I thought that canning was basically preserving things by sealing in an airtight container (a bottle or jar for example) and then boiling container and all to kill nasties.

BP

[joyfull]

in none acidic food you have to maintain a certain pressure for a certain length of time to kill the botulism off.

[Val H]

To confuse matters further, what we refer to as bottling, is known as canning in the USA. Bottling is very safe as long as it is done properly. Take a look at this article http://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment_foods/bottling-canning/index.php

[Trillium]

Val's right - what we call canning is not at all put into tins, but rather bottles, and called bottling in the UK.

Yes, we can 'can' all sorts of things but cooking times must be adjusted to what is being bottled. Meat, processed in jars in an open top pot, requires about 3 hours. The end product is less than palatable but for people who don't have freezers or fridges, this is the next best thing. Done in a special pressure canner, it needs shorter time, perhaps an hour and a bit. And only proper mason/kilner jars must be used, no store cheapy substitutes like pickle jars, etc. otherwise you have a big mess of broken glass.

The longer processing time ensures the various bacteria are killed. But so is a lot of the nutrient value.

I pressure can all my tomatoes because I'm very sensitive to bacteria in non-pressure treated tom products, same with frozen toms. 35 minutes for a quart/litre is fine. For all my fruits I stove top can them, and freeze all my veg (other than onions which stink up the whole freezer).