Water Bath

July 30, 2023

Between the heat and the birds, I have been losing tomatoes fast.  I have brought several loads inside the house but there are too many to fit in the refrigerator and they have been slowly deteriorating on the kitchen cabinet.  Yesterday I decided I needed to do something.  I had previously purchased what I thought I needed to can pasta sauce.  I prepared the sauce according to the recipe, including 12 pounds of tomatoes.  I placed the new canning jars in the dishwasher to clean them before I began the process.  We purchased a low energy dishwasher when we moved back to the house and while it saves energy, it seems to take a long time to complete its cycle.  By the time the wash cycle was done it was too late to start the canning process.  I was also a little apprehensive as I had never done any canning before.  I decided rather than buy a pressure cooker like my mom had (that I may never use again) I would use the water bath method to preserve the sauce.  Waiting one more day would let me review the process and be sure I was not pressed for time.   

When I went online, I found home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to create a vacuum seal and kill the organisms that would create spoilage.  Although ceramic and glass containers had been used for storage for thousands of years, the technique of canning by applying heat for preservation was only invented in the first decade of the 1800’s.  Prior to the 1800’s food storage containers were used for non-perishable foods, or with preservatives such as salt, sugar, vinegar, or alcohol.  There are two primary ways to can foods.  Pressure canning is the only safe home canning method for meats and low-acid foods and requires a pressure canner.  A pressure canner is like a pressure cooker but heavier.  A small amount of water is placed in the canner, and it is turned to steam (normally 212F or 100C), but under pressure it is raised to 240F (116C).  Water bath canning is only appropriate for high-acid foods, such as jam, jelly, most fruit, pickles, and tomato products with acid added.  This method uses a pot large enough to hold and submerge the glass canning jars.  Food is placed in glass canning jars and placed in the pot with enough hot water added to cover the jars.  Water is brought to a boil (212F or 100C) and held there for at least 10 minutes.  Different foods require a different length of time under boil and larger jars require longer times.

After purchasing what I thought I needed to complete my water bath canning last week I realized I needed a magnetic wand to retrieve the lids from the boiling water to keep them sterile.  When I tried to find a wand at my local market it said there were kits available that included the wand, jar puller, and a wide mouth funnel to pour the sauce into the jar without spilling.  I could only find the wand in store as part of a set, but I only needed the wand.  The set was also less than the single wand.  Now I am torn between returning the two items I already purchased and buying the set or buying the wand online and waiting on 3-day delivery (and at a greatly reduced).  Bundling and online purchase appear to be two of the lasting effects of the pandemic. 

Thoughts:  Growing up my mom canned a variety of fruits and vegetables for use during the winter.  While I never participated in the process, I do remember seeing the rows of jars safely stored in the basement cellar.  Safety measures must be taken when preforming any home canning, including a water bath.  Ingestion of toxin in food produced by Clostridium botulinum can cause death and it is critical that consumers who can at home obtain proper and current information from a reliable source (i.e., not me).  Still, this is a proven way to store and keep summer produce for longer periods of time and a way to avoid wasting food.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.