Canning question

[pepper]

Usually when I am canning stuff I just wash the jars and put them in the over around 225 while prepping whatever I am making instead of boiling them. (I boil bath them after they are filled and lids are on). Some people say this is a bad idea and the bottles should be boiled, others say baking them in the oven does the same thing killing any bacteria. Water boils around 210f so I don't see how there could be a difference since 225f in the oven is hotter but I want to make a BIG batch of cowboy candy (candied jalapeno peppers), enough to last me for a year until next harvest so I want to do it right. When I make pickles and stuff it doesn't matter because they never last, I eat them too fast lol.

Has anyone done the oven method and had the preserves go bad? And curious if you boil or use the oven?

 

[Meadowlark]

Cowboy candy...mmm. Always intended to make this myself but just haven't seemed to get around to it. We use lots of jalapenos fresh and in nachos and canned in vinegar but just haven't made the candy. Maybe this year.

I like to boil the jars...seems to be most sterile way.

 

[pepper]

Cowboy candy...mmm. Always intended to make this myself but just haven't seemed to get around to it. We use lots of jalapenos fresh and in nachos and canned in vinegar but just haven't made the candy. Maybe this year.

I like to boil the jars...seems to be most sterile way.

I usually make salsa, shotgun shells, pepper pigs, rice, pickled pepper poppers and stuff like that with the jalapenos but the candy looks so good I have to try it. I think I'll take the advice for this one and boil to sterilize since I am making it to last a long time. I still don't get the science behind it but I can't argue with experience and more people then not say boiling is the best way.

I would say 90% of my hot pepper recipes I've learned come from folks in Texas. You folks know good food!

 

[Ruderunner]

Air is less dense than water and in theory may not actually get the glass up to a high enough temperature.

That said, I've never boiled or baked my containers or lids. Wash them in a little bleach water and let them dry.

While I have had some things not seal,I've not had anything spoil.

I've even used, GASP, thickeners.

 

[pepper]

Air is less dense than water and in theory may not actually get the glass up to a high enough temperature.

That said, I've never boiled or baked my containers or lids. Wash them in a little bleach water and let them dry.

While I have had some things not seal,I've not had anything spoil.

I've even used, GASP, thickeners.

I still don't get it, it's like saying a pound of bricks is heavier then a pound of feathers lol. I don't see how glass could be colder then the air around it even though it might take time to reach the same temperature... but I don't know for sure. One of these days when I'm bored I'll try it and take the temp with my infrared thermometer.

 

[YumYum]

I've never boiled or baked my jars. I wash them out very well before canning and try to keep them as sanitary as I can. I've never had a canned item spoil. I've canned green beans, cabbage, tomato juice, blackberries, jalepenos, apple butter. I've never made any preserves or jam or jellies. Even though my grandparents canned a ton of things when I was little, I was too little to care and I learned by the Ball blue book to canning later in life.

 

[pepper]

I've never boiled or baked my jars. I wash them out very well before canning and try to keep them as sanitary as I can. I've never had a canned item spoil. I've canned green beans, cabbage, tomato juice, blackberries, jalepenos, apple butter. I've never made any preserves or jam or jellies. Even though my grandparents canned a ton of things when I was little, I was too little to care and I learned by the Ball blue book to canning later in life.

No doubt it's probably fine. But I find it easier to bake them, they are in the oven out of the way off the counter, nice and hot so when I am ready to fill them I'm not pouring boiling hot liquid into room temperature glass jars.. I'd be too paranoid it would explode lol. Doing it in boiling water is a pain I find, for many reasons like the room it takes up on the stove top. But baking them I don't find to be any extra work, they are baking while I'm getting everything ready to put in the jars.

 

[Ruderunner]

I think a lot of the old warnings were probably good practice way back when soap was an oddity and city water was a creek. Not to mention that tempered glass was scarce and unreliable.

Time has moved on, mankind is no longer hunting and gathering or trying to catch fish with a spear (though for some reason we're still catching fish)

 

[pepper]

I think a lot of the old warnings were probably good practice way back when soap was an oddity and city water was a creek. Not to mention that tempered glass was scarce and unreliable.

Time has moved on, mankind is no longer hunting and gathering or trying to catch fish with a spear (though for some reason we're still catching fish)

I can't really agree with that since soap doesn't kill bacteria. But as long as the stuff is properly boiled with enough vinegar added it's unlikely bacteria would survive unless it's not properly sealed and air can get in, that means so can bacteria. And even though mason jars are tempered they can still break from sudden temp changes, not everytime but once would be enough for me to be mad if it happened to me. There is a lot of YouTube videos that demonstrate that but rather then searching for them I'll just show what Google says:

Even though mason jars have a relatively high temperature that they can withstand, they have low thermal shock resistance which means quick changes in temperature can cause them to crack or break. If you heat them too quickly, they can shatter.Sep 2, 2022

As far as hunting, it's still very popular. Since you are in USA I'll show the USA stats on hunting:

Overall, hunting in the United States generates $25 billion dollars in retail sales and more than $17 billion dollars in salaries and wages each year, while creating sales tax, and state and federal income tax revenues for government agencies and public services of all kinds.


Fishing is just epic fun and gardening is basically a method of gathering.

 

[Ruderunner]

Don't be so literal. By soap I meant any cleaning agent. Heck in Elizabethan times, bathing was considered unhealthy.

I send jars of goods home with friends. It's not unusual to get jars back much later clanking around in a bag. I've only had a few break in the processing process and I bet they had hairline cracks from careless travel.

I have no problem with hunting and gardening. But if I want to eat fish and drink beer, I'll go to the bar on Friday night.

 

[pepper]

Don't be so literal. By soap I meant any cleaning agent. Heck in Elizabethan times, bathing was considered unhealthy.

I send jars of goods home with friends. It's not unusual to get jars back much later clanking around in a bag. I've only had a few break in the processing process and I bet they had hairline cracks from careless travel.

I have no problem with hunting and gardening. But if I want to eat fish and drink beer, I'll go to the bar on Friday night.

I wasn't being literal, I was just saying soap doesn't kill bacteria, heat does though. It's why chicken needs to be cooked to at least 165 to avoid salmonella poisoning for example. Washing it in soap does nothing.. makes it taste horrible probably.

Even the company that makes mason jars says not to put hot liquid in them if they are not heated up lol. I made cowboy candy, it's made with 6 cups melted sugar and 1 cup vinegar. Last thing I want is a jar breaking and 6 cups of melted sugar splashing on me, it would be like napalm lol.

Bars and pubs are dead and going out of business. Tailgate parties are the way to go now for food and beer.

 

[Ruderunner]

There's a difference in clearing bacteria from a hard non porous surface and killing it in meat.

You're not kidding about molten sugar, BTDT.

Over the years I've probably canned several hundred jars and only lost a dozen. I'm ok with that failure rate.

 

[pepper]

There's a difference in clearing bacteria from a hard non porous surface and killing it in meat.

You're not kidding about molten sugar, BTDT.

Over the years I've probably canned several hundred jars and only lost a dozen. I'm ok with that failure rate.

I really don't see what the big deal of heating the jars is? It's not like it's a massive amount of work, if anything it's less work because you don't have to clean up the mess if one does break. And they are in the oven off the counter out of the way. It's literally just placing them in the oven rather then placing them on the counter lol. Even boiling them isn't any work placing them in a giant pot of water but it's a pain because of the space it takes up on the stovetop when you also have to boil the ingredients and the big pot of water only fits so many large jars at a time.

To each their own, but when 95% of people who do canning say you should heat them and a couple say don't bother, I'm going to always listen to science and the majority of people lol.

 

[Ruderunner]

Ah yes, the science.

 

[MiTmite9]

Usually when I am canning stuff I just wash the jars and put them in the over around 225 while prepping whatever I am making instead of boiling them. (I boil bath them after they are filled and lids are on). Some people say this is a bad idea and the bottles should be boiled, others say baking them in the oven does the same thing killing any bacteria. Water boils around 210f so I don't see how there could be a difference since 225f in the oven is hotter but I want to make a BIG batch of cowboy candy (candied jalapeno peppers), enough to last me for a year until next harvest so I want to do it right. When I make pickles and stuff it doesn't matter because they never last, I eat them too fast lol.

Has anyone done the oven method and had the preserves go bad? And curious if you boil or use the oven?

I only ever can pickle relish, piccalilli and jam. Never even occurred to me to use the oven to sterilize jars. I found this online and think you may find it an interesting read. I sure did. Boiling the jars and lids in water is best, I think: https://nwedible.com/sterilizing-warm-canning-jars-in-the-oven/