Title: Rules for Safe Food Canning
Categories: Info Canning
Yield: 1 Servings

DO'S AND DON'TS

Food cleanliness and safety are important for every kitchen job. Cleanliness and safety are even more important in food preservation, where microorganisms have the time, and the right conditions, to grow and do their dirty work. For clean and safe to eat foods, always follow canning recipe directions exactly, use the containers and equipment called for, and keep in mind the following.

DO 1. Work in a clean kitchen, with clean floors, counter tops, cabinets, and range, and clean equipment. 2. Keep utensils scrupulously clean. That means scrubbing, washing, and rinsing the knives and cutting board between each type of cutting or chopping task. 3. Work with clean food. Wash, scrub, and rinse vegetables in several changes of water, lifting food out of the water to drain and not letting water drain off over food. 4. Work with clean dish cloths and towels, clean hands, and clean clothes. 5. Wash your hands each time you touch something other than food, such as your hair, your face, the phone, a child, or a pet. 6. Set out and wash all equipment and assemble ingredients before you start to follow recipe directions so there will be no delays, no chance for food to spoil. 7. Remember to protect your hands when working with hot foods and jars. Use hot pads, tongs, and jar lifters. 8. Be extra cautious with large pots or kettles of boiling water or food. Don't move them, but keep them on the range and work there. 9. Avoid any sudden changes in temperature when working with hot jars of hot food. Putting a hot jar on a cool counter or in a cold draft could break it. 10. Always read and precisely follow the manufacturer's directions for all equipment. 11. if you have any doubts about the safety of home canned foods, boil them for 15 to 20 minutes before tasting or serving.

DON'T 1. Don't use your hands when a kitchen tool will do the job. Keep fingers out of food, it at all possible. 2. Don't try shortcuts or substitutions or timesaving gimmicks. There's only one right way to prepare food for preserving, and all the techniques and recipes are based on it. Follow the recipes exactly. 3. Don't cook or prepare food for preserving when you are sick. 4. Don't prepare food if you have sores on your hands, unless you wear rubber gloves. 5. Don't use home canned foods without checking carefully for signs of spoilage. Discard the content of any jar showing these signs.

Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by Dorothy Flatman 1995

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