Getting Over Fears Of Canning With Logic & Knowledge

So, let’s talk about canning! It’s certainly one of the most valuable preservation practices we use, essentially rendering food safe and shelf stable for very long periods of time.

But, we know that there’s a lot of folks out there with serious fears about canning. And perhaps that fear has kept you from ever trying it. You’ve probably heard the warnings and perhaps even some story about “someone who knew someone that knew someone” who died of botulism from canning!

Modern canning is incredibly safe. Sure, there are some rules to follow with canning, but these practices are designed to keep you and your food safe 100% of the time. While botulism is a terrible thing that can happen, it’s both incredibly rare to see from canning and is always linked to people using unsafe techniques, untested recipes or ignoring very obvious warning signs that their food had spoiled. Let’s look at the numbers!

There was a botulism surveillance study conducted from 1996 to 2014, a period of 18 entire years. In those 18 years, there were only 43 reported cases of botulism related to home canning in the US. In every case, the home canner was “winging it” or blatantly disregarding safe canning practices. Botulism is only a result of blatant disregard of food safety and best practices. Keep in mind that during that same time, many millions of home canned food jars were put up and consumed in that time! Statistically speaking, you’re more likely to contract it from eating out at restaurants or having it introduced via a wound.

Or, maybe you saw the crazy pictures of a pressure canner that exploded and literally cratered someone’s stove. Modern day canners simply cannot do that! Sure, there was a day where canners “could” explode, but that was way back in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Any modern canner that was bought in the last 30 years has multiple safety systems, designed to prevent that from ever happening again. Not to mention, whoever that picture came from was blatantly disregarding canning safety by leaving their pressure canner unattended.

Not just that, but spoiled food will appear, smell and look bad. While yes, you technically “are” the safety mechanism in canning, if you have any bit of common sense, you’ll be just fine.
We know that it’s difficult to overcome fear and it’s especially tough when canning might be something that you really want to try out. Perhaps knowing the data can help! The best way of overcoming that fear, though, will be to practice it one of these days.

The very best book on canning to learn from is Ball’s Blue Book, it’s practically the canning bible and will teach you all those “rules” that need to be followed. (Definitely pick up a modern copy, not a historical copy, at least until you’re well versed in canning.) We recommend starting with simple water bath canning as it’s really easy and doesn’t even involve the “pressure” part of the pressure canner. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, then maybe try out pressure canning! Pressure canning is really not as scary as you might think, especially after you see it operate a few times.

And, in case you’re wondering what we put up here, it’s a 100% grown in Alaska roasted corn salsa! We’ve really enjoyed using our somewhat “meager” corn crop in this way, since it allows us to enjoy it for some time. We’re really looking forward to digging into our jars over the winter!