Quarantine suggestions for the up coming flu
-Flu spreads in waves of 3-5 months w/ 3 months in between (THIS MAY CHANGE WITH THE NEW SUPER FLU)
-Self-quarantine for 90-120 days / wave
-Govt effort to supply food and water at 10% at best
-Outside dirty, inside clean; Boy in the Bubble concept
-Shelter w/ good seal
-Clear brush and undergrowth 100 feet parameter around the house
-Heat pump forced air cooling/heat to filter out virus/microbes
-Water reservoir covered, pool, tubs and barrels, then disinfected
-Any source of standing water or body of water is a contaminate. Remove birdbaths, old tires and/or fill puddles. Virus lives in water for days, influenza lives on hands 5 min.
-Neither bird feeders nor outside chickens
-Food supply, 1year/person
-Vacuum w/ bags that filter for allergens
-No eating from outside gardens, only preserved food
-Indoor sprouts, fluorescent lights for indoor growing plants vegetables
-Bleach for water disinfectant (10 drops/gallon) and medicinal wound care (½ sterile water ½ bleach)
-Hand cleaners soap and alcohol based
-Running water for washing hands, not standing water
-Face masks N-95 and goggles for outside
-No individual contact less than 8 feet (NO hand shakes etc) social distancing
-Animals inside space and same consideration
-Dogs and cats immunizations kept up (any stray dog will be shot)
-Water repellent clothing w/ hood when outside (large garbage bags)
-Toilet bowl cleaner tablets for inside standing water (tidy-bowl etc)
-No contact w/ people within 8 feet, viruses jumps 5+ ft
-If an exchange is required drop item in spot i.e. porch and leave then the receiver can pick up the item i.e. soup, firewood etc. (This was the practice during the 1918 influenza)
-Keep dust to minimum, dusters, wet wipes. Sneeze into elbow
-Keep surfaces clean w/ disinfectant
-Bake items coming into house for 20 min at 325+ degrees (Microwave is best)
-Good hygiene; Wash hands thoroughly and frequently after contact from outside world
-Once one individual leaves and breaks quarantine, cannot return to re-infect rest of
Household. No group meetings parties’ weddings funerals church etc
-Only burn wood that is stored under protective covering and dry, if wet -> contaminated
-Wallpaper ceiling, walls and windows w/ foil in one safe room to insulate and retain heat
-UV lighting on surfaces (can cause skin cancer)
-No washing cars by hand
-Flies and mosquitoes out, don’t leave windows, doors open, screens are not an option
-Bug Zappers are either a really good idea because they kill bugs or a real bad idea because they attract bugs
-Handling mail, wear gloves and bake mail before opening it (e-mail best)
-Analogue phone for when power goes out
-supply for diarrhea and/or cold remedies
-Homemade Gatorade
1 tsp Lite Salt (source of potassium)
1/3 tsp Baking Soda
10 tsp sugar in 1 qt water
OR
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
1 qt water
-Turnips, clover and potatoes good crops for cold weather
-copper wool to keep out Mice
-Garbage bags to wear punch holes in sides and put arm through, good for warmth and as a disposable barrier from the outdoors
-Vitamins
-Wash down entryways w/ bleach or cleaner
-Keep shoes outside
-Pressure cooker and microwave to disinfect food
-Grow inside food is best, outside root veggies only (nuke and wash)
-Cage animal, not range free (rabbits)
-Dishwasher sterilizes
-Dishcloth dirtiest item in household
-Shopping cart handles dirtiest item in public
-Magazines dirtiest item in doctor’s office
-Purse is exposed to everything, along with the morning coffee mug that follows you around at work
-Do not share pens, combs etc.
-Tarp and duct tape corpses, bury deep at home if possible
-Remove moss from roof, harbors bacteria and virus (mushroom too)
-Streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, rivers source of contamination
-Keep outside dry, no watering lawn
-Rain, Snow, Mist, and fog are also carriers for the virus…
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?73.last
The Best Long Storing Fats
The best fats for storage are those that are naturally resistant to oxidation or going rancid. There are several factors which effect this ability to oxidation.
1. The saturation of the individual fats, their ratio in the oil or grease.
a. Saturated fats are most resistant
b. Monounsaturated next resistant
c. Polyunsaturated the least resistant
2. The content of anti-oxidants (like vitamin E)
Animal fat such as tallow or lard are relatively high in saturated fats; meaning that in the fatty acid portion, all the carbon atoms are bound to two hydrogen atoms, and there are no double bonds. These are the weak points where oxidation will occur first. The elimination of double-bonds by adding hydrogen atoms is called saturation; as the degree of saturation increases. Oil may be hydrogenated to increase resistance to rancidity (oxidation) or to increases, the oil's viscosity and melting point.
From a survival view, here are some fats that you maybe considering storing or home producing and how they rate for storage.
Palm Oil
The palm oil is a prime cooking oil. Vegetable ghee is 100% palm oil colored with beta carotene and with some butter like flavorings added
Sheep Tallow
Sheep fat is processed from suet to tallow the same way as Beef Fat and is used as a substitute for Lard.
Beef Tallow
This fat was used to make candles, and as a lubricant, and by "fast food" restaurants for deep frying. Beef fat is the primary flavoring in beef and the purified white fat called tallow can be kept at room temperature much longer than many vegetables oils without spoiling.
Ghee
A very thoroughly clarified and purified butter fat that is can be kept at room temperature much longer than suet without spoiling. Used as a major cooking oil through much of India. Because it is so thoroughly purified of all moisture and solids it can be used at higher temperature and is much more resistant to rancidity than more casually purified clarified butter. Pots of ghee buried by nomads have been found in excellent condition even after a couple hundred years.
Lard [Pig Fat]
Once the most popular cooking and baking fat in America and Europe, lard is still by far the best fat for many baking uses such as pie crusts. The best lard to use for baking is called "leaf lard" which is made from the fat from around the pigs kidneys. Now that evil trans fats in vegetable shortening are claimed to be even more dangerous, pig is back in the running. Experts say the health implications for lard are about the same as for butter.
Schmaltz (rendered chicken or goose fat)
Used as a spread for bread and to cook chopped liver and potato pancakes. Goose fat is preferred for its flavor if available.
Coconut oil
It's 91% saturated fat (pig lard is just 43%). Saturated fats are supposed to clog your arteries with "bad" cholesterol. Unfortunately for "accepted medical knowledge" no clogging is found among those who use coconut oil every day for every meal, fine medium temperature frying oil, clear and devoid of any flavor that would interfere with the taste of the food being fried. Since it's solid at room temperature it can also be used as a shortening for baked goods. Coconut oil is highly resistant to rancidity and has an extremely low oxidation factor so it's highly durable as a deep fat oil, even more durable than beef tallow.
Vegetable Shortening
Crisco is made from hydrogenated cottonseed oil and, based on unverified claims (no FDA back then), was called a "healthier" substitute for Lard in baked goods. The main requirements for vegetable shortening are to be a fat solid at normal room temperature, devoid of flavor and made from plants, so vegetable oils, mostly cotton seed, soy and corn, are partially hydrogenated to achieve the right consistency. Unfortunately partially hydrogenated oils are evil trans fats, now considered the most dangerous type of fat, more dangerous even than evil saturated fats.
Olive oil
Pure Olive Oil is a superb multi-use oil. Use it the same as Extra Virgin wherever the distinctive flavor of ExV would overwhelm. It can be used for all moderate temperature sauté and braising applications and for moderate temperature deep frying, anything below 400°F. Stored in a cool place and out of direct sunlight. In tightly sealed glass bottles it will last up to a year. If stored below 50°F it will become cloudy, and if refrigerated, positively murky, but it will be unharmed and will clear up if allowed to rest at a warmer temperature.
Soy oil
Soy oil, along with corn oil, dominates the market for general purpose cooking oil sold in the supermarkets.
While serious health questions surround some soy products (soy milk and TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)), soybean oil is widely considered safe. Because it is high in polyunsaturated fats and contains limited antioxidants it is more subject to rancidity than, say, olive oil or canola oil, so keep it in tightly sealed containers in a cool place away from direct sun and it should be good for 9 months or so.
Sunflower oil
Refined sunflower oil is a good all-around cooking oil but not as neutral in flavor. "Virgin" or "cold pressed" sunflower oils have a very low smoke point and should not be used for cooking. High in polyunsaturates, sunflower oil will go rancid faster than olive oil. Store it tightly sealed in a cool dark place and use it within 9 months.
Canola Oil (genetically modified or low erucic acid rapeseed)
Rapeseed / Canola is a member of the mustard / cabbage family. Unmodified rapeseed is high in erucic acid which has caused heart lesions in animals so is considered unfit for food. The genetically modified (by breeding, not gene splicing) canola version has under 2% erucic acid and is approved by the FDA (though it's rumored the approval cost Canada a bundle). The taste of canola oil is unobtrusive enough to be used as a general purpose oil. Canola oil is considered one of the more "heart friendly" oils, having a very high percentage of monounsaturated fats (though not as much as Olive Oil) and a very low percentage of saturated fats.
This is the best comparison that I could find for rancidity resistance: Saturated fats are most resistant, Monounsaturated next resistant and Polyunsaturated the least resistant
Name.......Smoke°F........Sat......Monounsat...Polyunsat....Oxidation index (lower better for frying)
Coconut Oil.........350................. 92%......... 6%........... 2%........... 0.24......
Palm Kernel.............................. 82%......... 11%..........7%.......... 0.27
Butter.................300.................65%......... 30%......... 5%
Butter Ghee........375................ 65%......... 30%......... 5%
Beef Tallow.........420................. 52%..........43%.........5%........... 0.86
Palm...................420................ 51%......... 39%..........10%
Sheep Tallow.............................50%......... 41%...........9%
Lard (Pig).............360................44%......... 45%......... 11%..........1.7
Duck Fat..............375................ 33%......... 49%......... 13%
Chicken Fat..........375................32%......... 46%......... 22%
Goose Fat.............375............... 28%......... 57%..........11%
Cottonseed...........420............... 24%..........26%..........50%........ 5.4
Margerine.............325............... 20%......... 47%..........33%
Peanut....................450.............19%......... 48%......... 33%......... 3.7
Olive, "Pure"...........410............. 15%......... 75%......... 10%..........1.5
Soybean.................450............. 15%......... 23%..........62%..........7
Corn (Maize)..........450.............. 13%......... 29%......... 58%..........6.2
Sunflower...............450............. 12%......... 16%..........72%.........6.8
Canola...................400............. 7%........... 61%......... 32%..........5.5
Where to Buy
The best price I have found so far is from Oils by Nature. They pack in 5 gal. hi density plastic pails with a Nitrogen atmospheres to reduce rancidity for longer storage. Most vegetable oils (like corn or soybean) are light, about 7 lbs per gal. but coconut and palm kernel are 10.5 lb per gal. so go by weight not price per gallon when you compare prices.
Here are two that I am strongly considering (note that they fit between oils and shortenings and can reasonably be used for both):
Coconut Oil 92 Degree (Hydrogenated) This is a white semisolid fat which liquefies at 92F, 53lb pail $0.93/ lb $49.29
Palm Kernel Oil (Non-Hydrogenated) resemble those of coconut oil and interchangeably with coconut oil. Used in confectionery items. Semi-solid fat which liquefies at 73 to 84F, 53lb pail $ 0.74 / lb $39.22.
http://www.oilsbynature.com/product-category/oils.htm
I went back to "Oils By Nature" to finish off my Fat Storage and found the Food shortage has struck.
They used to carry 4 types of coconut oil including organic (the very best for storage) not they list only one and it is too pricy for me. Price & availability changing rapidly. 230gr
Coconut Oil 53lb. Pail $195
Palm Kernel Oil 53 lb. Pail $50
Palm Oil 50 lb. Pail $60.00
FYI, each pail supplies almost 1 1/2 years worth of fat for an adult.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?834.last
Might want to check this one out also. It is about how much fats and oils you need. It made a previous Highlight blog entry.
http://frcforums.blogspot.com/2009/04/frc-forums-highlighted-post.html
New Hampshire Court orders Christian homeschooled girl to attend public school
A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having "sincerely held" religious beliefs.
An attorney working with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed motions with a New Hampshire court, asking it to reconsider its order to send the 10-year-old homeschooled girl into public school.
According to ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons, the court acknowledges that the girl in question is doing well socially and academically, but he adds that the court went too far when they determined that the girl's Christian faith was a "bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews."
Simmons contends that parents have a "fundamental right to make educational choices for their children." However, the girl's parents divorced in 1999, and she is now living with her mother who has been homeschooling the child since first grade. As part of the schooling, the young girl has been attending supplemental public school classes.
As part of parental custody hearings, a court-appointed guardian stated that the child reflected her mother's "rigidity" on questions of faith and added that girl's best interest would be served by exposure to a public school setting.
According to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, home-based education is an enduring American tradition and right. ADF concludes, based on that statement, that there is no legitimate legal basis for this latest court ruling.
OneNewsNow has contacted ADF attorney Simmons for further comment and is awaiting a response.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=659638
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
FRC Forums Highlighted Post of the Week
This week is a great book review or synopsis, about a book by
Steve Solomon called “Gardening Without Irrigation (or not much anyway)”
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part1: The Secret of Available Moisture
Steve Solomon’s book “Gardening Without Irrigation (or not much anyway)”; At first, I did not think it would be too useful in out “rainy” eastern climate but the drought this year makes me think other wise. 230gr
This is essentially a story of a man, survivalist at heart, who moved his family from Michigan to a 5 acres homestead in Oregon in a lovely, grassy valley. To feed his family, he sets up raised beds and intensive (square foot) gardening, which had worked so well back east. He runs into an irrigation problem unlike anything he had anticipated and nearly looses the garden crops he was depending on which were sustained by watering all night, five or six nights a week, with a single, 2-1/2 gallon-per-minute sprinkler moved from place to place.
Eventually, realizing his vulnerability, he is forced to abandon the homestead and move. Yet he knows that the Indian peoples produced crops without irrigation and he sets out to find out how and to adapt it (if possible) to our current vegetables. He grew two gardens side-by-side: a large "dry" garden and another large one intensive style, on raised beds with lots of irrigation to feed his family and act as a control. Eventually, he discovered a method for growing a lush, productive vegetable garden on deep soil with little or no irrigation, in spite of 8 to 12 virtually dry weeks every summer by adapting Native Americans of the Southwest and the highlands of Peru grew remarkable desert gardens, with little or no water, in areas of only 8 to 12 inches of rainfall.
He found:
1. some types of vegetable could be grown with out irrigation at all
2. some needed irrigation to simply survive
3. some benefited from a few minimally metered-out applications of fertilizer enriched watering ("fertigation")
4. some showed no increase in yield with fertigation.
5. there is water already present in the soil and, by creatively using and conserving this moisture, gardeners can go through an entire summer without much, if any, irrigation
The Secret of Available Moisture
Sandy….1.0 inches of water per foot of soil
Loam…..2.0 inches of water per foot of soil
Clay……2.7 inches of water per foot of soil
If you get a rainy or snowy winter, by spring the soil is holding all the moisture it can. Summer rains come rarely and do not penetrate deeply so it quickly evaporates from the surface few inches without recharging deeper layers. While the hot sun does dry out the surface inches, down 6 inches or so, there will be almost as much water present in September as there was in April. Once a thin surface layer is completely desiccated, be it loose or compacted, virtually no further loss of moisture can occur except certain kinds of very heavy clays that form deep cracks. If the cracks are filled with dust by surface cultivation, even this soil type ceases to lose water. If a vegetable’s root systems can grow deep and wide enough and given permeable soil with enough space to grow, it can utilize this available moisture to sustain it’s growth.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?706
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part2: Helping Plants to Need Less Irrigation
How Plants Obtain Water
Plants acquire water and minerals through their actively growing, tender root tips and almost microscopic root hairs close to the tip absorb most of the plant's moisture while the parts behind the tip cease to be effective. The plant is far better off to aggressively seek new water in unoccupied soil than to wait for the soil its roots already occupy to be recharged. Once a leaf canopy forms, plant growth slows markedly. Adding a little more fertilizer helps but the rate of growth never equals that of younger plants. The unseen competition for root room slows them down and allocating more area allows vegetables to get larger, yield longer and allows reduced irrigation frequency. How long available soil water will sustain a crop is determined by how many plants are drawing on the reserve, how extensively their root systems develop, and how many leaves are transpiring the moisture. If there are no plants, most of the water will stay unused in the barren soil through the entire growing season. Most gardens can yield abundantly without any rain at all if only we reduce competition for available soil moisture, judiciously fertigate some vegetable species, and practice a few other water-wise tricks. Lowering plant density will lower the yield but not proportionately. A plant density one-eighth of intensive gardening results in a yield about half as great.
Helping Plants to Need Less Irrigation
1. The most obvious step is thorough weeding.
2. Keep the surface fluffed up with a rotary tiller or hoe during April and May, to break its capillary connection with deeper soil and accelerate the formation of a dry dust mulch.
3. Should rain during summer, hoe or rotary till a day or two later and again help a new dust mulch to develop.
4. Loosen the soil! Compacted soil acts as a mechanical barrier to root system expansion and many vegetable species are capable of reaching 4, 5, and 8 eight feet down to find moisture and nutrition.
5. Double digging by trenching out 12 inches and mixing the next foot with organic matter for a depth of nearly 24 inches to 10% (rotary tilling only 6 or 7) very sandy soil’s water-holding ability in the top 2 feet could be doubled to 2 extra inches of water per foot of soil; enough to increase the time between heavy irrigations by 10 days.
6. When roots decay, fresh organic matter can be left deep in the soil, once the subsoil has been mechanically fractured, green manure crops can maintain the openness of the subsoil; sweet clover, may go down 8 feet, red clover, the top 5 feet, densely sown carrots, parsley, and parsnip are helpful.
7. Permanent mulching with organic matter does not reduce moisture loss any better than dust mulching and frequently hoeing of weeds will make the top inch or two of earth dry and powdery.
8. A mulch of dry hay, grass clippings, or leaves, will also retard moisture loss, especially right at the surface, however, the overall moisture loss is about the same.
a. permanent thick mulch quickly breeds many slugs, earwhigs, and sowbugs
b. that maintaining it for more than one year makes vegetable gardening very difficult.
c. Unless you live in an area with a long winter freeze to set populations back.
9. Windbreaks are also helpful in reducing evaporation.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?707
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part 3: Dry garden feeding & seed sprouting
Fertilizing, Fertigating and Foliar Spraying
1. Fertilizing, before sowing or transplanting large species like tomato, squash or big brassicas, dig out a small 12 inch deep pit, blend in two cups of organic fertilizer with the soils at the bottom, then fill the hole back in to concentrate fertility at 18 to 24 inches below the seedlings.
2. Foliar feeding, dilute soluble nutrients sprayed on plant leaves, is rapidly taken in but the growth response lasts for 3 to 5 days so must be applied weekly.
a. Use caution, spinach, beet, and chard leaves may be damaged by even half-strength applications.
b. The cabbage family leaf surfaces are waxy makes sprays run off mix a little Soap.
c. The poorest foliar sprays are organic, poor in phosphorus & calcium but the most useful is 1/2 to 1 tablespoon each of fish emulsion and liquid seaweed concentrate per gallon of water.
d. Chemical fertilizers, water-soluble, the best is Rapid-Gro or Dyna-Gro 7-9-5, then Peters 20-20-20, if you dissolve calcium nitrate into a solution just before spraying; all these chemicals are mixed at about 1 tablespoon per gallon.
3. Fertigation, for maximizing yield while minimizing water use, every two to four weeks beginning late in June and continue periodically through early September.
a. Use six or seven plastic 5-gallon "drip system" buckets, setting one by each plant, and fill them all with a hose, doing 12 or 14 plants each and rotate through them all more or less every three weeks.
b. Make a 5 gallon drip bucket by drilling a 3/16-inch hole through the side about 1/4-inch up from the bottom.
c. Placed the bucket so that the fertilized water drains out close to the stem of a plant, then filled with liquid fertilizer solution.
d. It takes 5 to 10 minutes for 5 gallons to pass through a small opening, and because of the slow flow rate, water penetrates deeply into the subsoil without wetting much of the surface.
e. Each fertigation makes the plant grow very rapidly for two to three weeks.
f. Organicfertigate with fish emulsion and seaweed at 1/2 to 1 tablespoon each per gallon of water with weak compost/manure tea.
Vegetables That:
Like foliars
Asparagus Carrots Melons Squash
Beans Cauliflower Peas Tomatoes
Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cucumbers
Cabbage Eggplant Radishes
Kale Rutabagas Potatoes
Don't like foliars
Beets Leeks Onions Spinach
Chard Lettuce Peppers
Like fertigation
Brussels sprouts Kale Savoy cabbage
Cucumbers Melons Squash
Eggplant Peppers Tomatoes
Sprouting Seeds Without Watering
Small seeds need to grow in light, fluffy soil but tillage breaks capillary connections that draw up subsoil moisture until the fluffy soil resettles. In recently tilled earth, successfully sprouting small seeds in warm weather is dicey without frequent watering or reestablishing capillarity moisture below sprouting seeds so that moisture held deeper in the soil rises to replace that lost from surface layers, reducing or eliminating the need for watering. Simple foot pressure can restored capillarity, and during the night, fresh moisture replaced what had evaporated. This simple technique helps start everything except carrots and parsnips (which must have completely loose soil to develop correctly). Compress the soil below the seeds and then cover the seeds with a mulch of loose, dry soil. Sprouting seeds then rest atop damp soil and will sprout, root and leaf very quickly.
Techniques to reestablish capillarity after tilling.
1. Push planter: first compacts the tilled earth with its front wheel, cuts a furrow, drops the seed, and then with its drag chain pulls loose soil over the furrow.
2. Wheelbarrow, pull a lightly loaded, down the row to press down a wheel track, sprinkled seed on that compacted furrow, and then pulled loose soil over it.
3. Handmade Footprints-
a. sow large brassicas, squash, melon and cucumber, in clumps on hills above a fertilized, double-dug spot, about 18 inches square, deeply dig in complete organic fertilizer.
b. In the center of the fluffed-up mound, punch down a depression to reestablish capillarity by having firm soil under a shallow, fist-sized depression, then a pinch of seed is sprinkled atop this depression and covered with fine earth and good germination without watering.
How to Fluid Drill Seeds
1. Place the seeds in a half-pint mason jar, cover with a square of plastic window screen held on with a strong rubber band, soak the seeds overnight, and then drain them first thing in the morning.
2. Gently rinse the seeds with cool water two or three times daily until the root tips begin to emerge.
3. As soon as this sign appears, the seed must be sown, because the newly emerging roots become increasingly subject to breaking off as they develop and soon form tangled masses.
4. Presprouted seeds may be gently blended into some crumbly, moist soil and this mixture gently sprinkled into a furrow and covered.
Starch gelatin fluid drilling
If the sprouts are particularly delicate or, as with carrots, you want a very uniform stand, disperse the seeds in a starch gelatin for fluid drilling.
1. Heat one pint of water to the boiling point and dissolve in 2 to 3 tablespoons of ordinary cornstarch.
2. Let the mixture cool until it becomes a soupy gel.
3. Gently mix this cool starch gel with the sprouting seeds, making sure the seeds are uniformly blended.
4. Pour the mixture into a 1-quart plastic bag and, scissors in hand, go out to the garden.
5. Prepared a furrow with capillarity restored and cut a /4 inch in diameter hole in one lower corner of the bag.
6. Walk quickly down the row, dribbling a mixture of gel and seeds into the furrow, then cover.
7. The presprouted seeds come up days sooner, the root will penetrating moist soil long before the shoot emerges and the stand of seedlings will be very uniformly spaced, be easier to thin and that you need quite a bit less seed per length of row.
Nursery Bed alternative
1. Instead of trying to irrigate the entire area, seedlings are first grown in irrigated nurseries for transplanting after the rains come back.
2. If desperately short of water, locate the nursery where it gets only morning sun and sow a week or 10 days earlier to compensate for the slower growth.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?708
Steve Solomon called “Gardening Without Irrigation (or not much anyway)”
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part1: The Secret of Available Moisture
Steve Solomon’s book “Gardening Without Irrigation (or not much anyway)”; At first, I did not think it would be too useful in out “rainy” eastern climate but the drought this year makes me think other wise. 230gr
This is essentially a story of a man, survivalist at heart, who moved his family from Michigan to a 5 acres homestead in Oregon in a lovely, grassy valley. To feed his family, he sets up raised beds and intensive (square foot) gardening, which had worked so well back east. He runs into an irrigation problem unlike anything he had anticipated and nearly looses the garden crops he was depending on which were sustained by watering all night, five or six nights a week, with a single, 2-1/2 gallon-per-minute sprinkler moved from place to place.
Eventually, realizing his vulnerability, he is forced to abandon the homestead and move. Yet he knows that the Indian peoples produced crops without irrigation and he sets out to find out how and to adapt it (if possible) to our current vegetables. He grew two gardens side-by-side: a large "dry" garden and another large one intensive style, on raised beds with lots of irrigation to feed his family and act as a control. Eventually, he discovered a method for growing a lush, productive vegetable garden on deep soil with little or no irrigation, in spite of 8 to 12 virtually dry weeks every summer by adapting Native Americans of the Southwest and the highlands of Peru grew remarkable desert gardens, with little or no water, in areas of only 8 to 12 inches of rainfall.
He found:
1. some types of vegetable could be grown with out irrigation at all
2. some needed irrigation to simply survive
3. some benefited from a few minimally metered-out applications of fertilizer enriched watering ("fertigation")
4. some showed no increase in yield with fertigation.
5. there is water already present in the soil and, by creatively using and conserving this moisture, gardeners can go through an entire summer without much, if any, irrigation
The Secret of Available Moisture
Sandy….1.0 inches of water per foot of soil
Loam…..2.0 inches of water per foot of soil
Clay……2.7 inches of water per foot of soil
If you get a rainy or snowy winter, by spring the soil is holding all the moisture it can. Summer rains come rarely and do not penetrate deeply so it quickly evaporates from the surface few inches without recharging deeper layers. While the hot sun does dry out the surface inches, down 6 inches or so, there will be almost as much water present in September as there was in April. Once a thin surface layer is completely desiccated, be it loose or compacted, virtually no further loss of moisture can occur except certain kinds of very heavy clays that form deep cracks. If the cracks are filled with dust by surface cultivation, even this soil type ceases to lose water. If a vegetable’s root systems can grow deep and wide enough and given permeable soil with enough space to grow, it can utilize this available moisture to sustain it’s growth.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?706
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part2: Helping Plants to Need Less Irrigation
How Plants Obtain Water
Plants acquire water and minerals through their actively growing, tender root tips and almost microscopic root hairs close to the tip absorb most of the plant's moisture while the parts behind the tip cease to be effective. The plant is far better off to aggressively seek new water in unoccupied soil than to wait for the soil its roots already occupy to be recharged. Once a leaf canopy forms, plant growth slows markedly. Adding a little more fertilizer helps but the rate of growth never equals that of younger plants. The unseen competition for root room slows them down and allocating more area allows vegetables to get larger, yield longer and allows reduced irrigation frequency. How long available soil water will sustain a crop is determined by how many plants are drawing on the reserve, how extensively their root systems develop, and how many leaves are transpiring the moisture. If there are no plants, most of the water will stay unused in the barren soil through the entire growing season. Most gardens can yield abundantly without any rain at all if only we reduce competition for available soil moisture, judiciously fertigate some vegetable species, and practice a few other water-wise tricks. Lowering plant density will lower the yield but not proportionately. A plant density one-eighth of intensive gardening results in a yield about half as great.
Helping Plants to Need Less Irrigation
1. The most obvious step is thorough weeding.
2. Keep the surface fluffed up with a rotary tiller or hoe during April and May, to break its capillary connection with deeper soil and accelerate the formation of a dry dust mulch.
3. Should rain during summer, hoe or rotary till a day or two later and again help a new dust mulch to develop.
4. Loosen the soil! Compacted soil acts as a mechanical barrier to root system expansion and many vegetable species are capable of reaching 4, 5, and 8 eight feet down to find moisture and nutrition.
5. Double digging by trenching out 12 inches and mixing the next foot with organic matter for a depth of nearly 24 inches to 10% (rotary tilling only 6 or 7) very sandy soil’s water-holding ability in the top 2 feet could be doubled to 2 extra inches of water per foot of soil; enough to increase the time between heavy irrigations by 10 days.
6. When roots decay, fresh organic matter can be left deep in the soil, once the subsoil has been mechanically fractured, green manure crops can maintain the openness of the subsoil; sweet clover, may go down 8 feet, red clover, the top 5 feet, densely sown carrots, parsley, and parsnip are helpful.
7. Permanent mulching with organic matter does not reduce moisture loss any better than dust mulching and frequently hoeing of weeds will make the top inch or two of earth dry and powdery.
8. A mulch of dry hay, grass clippings, or leaves, will also retard moisture loss, especially right at the surface, however, the overall moisture loss is about the same.
a. permanent thick mulch quickly breeds many slugs, earwhigs, and sowbugs
b. that maintaining it for more than one year makes vegetable gardening very difficult.
c. Unless you live in an area with a long winter freeze to set populations back.
9. Windbreaks are also helpful in reducing evaporation.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?707
Gardening Without Irrigation- Part 3: Dry garden feeding & seed sprouting
Fertilizing, Fertigating and Foliar Spraying
1. Fertilizing, before sowing or transplanting large species like tomato, squash or big brassicas, dig out a small 12 inch deep pit, blend in two cups of organic fertilizer with the soils at the bottom, then fill the hole back in to concentrate fertility at 18 to 24 inches below the seedlings.
2. Foliar feeding, dilute soluble nutrients sprayed on plant leaves, is rapidly taken in but the growth response lasts for 3 to 5 days so must be applied weekly.
a. Use caution, spinach, beet, and chard leaves may be damaged by even half-strength applications.
b. The cabbage family leaf surfaces are waxy makes sprays run off mix a little Soap.
c. The poorest foliar sprays are organic, poor in phosphorus & calcium but the most useful is 1/2 to 1 tablespoon each of fish emulsion and liquid seaweed concentrate per gallon of water.
d. Chemical fertilizers, water-soluble, the best is Rapid-Gro or Dyna-Gro 7-9-5, then Peters 20-20-20, if you dissolve calcium nitrate into a solution just before spraying; all these chemicals are mixed at about 1 tablespoon per gallon.
3. Fertigation, for maximizing yield while minimizing water use, every two to four weeks beginning late in June and continue periodically through early September.
a. Use six or seven plastic 5-gallon "drip system" buckets, setting one by each plant, and fill them all with a hose, doing 12 or 14 plants each and rotate through them all more or less every three weeks.
b. Make a 5 gallon drip bucket by drilling a 3/16-inch hole through the side about 1/4-inch up from the bottom.
c. Placed the bucket so that the fertilized water drains out close to the stem of a plant, then filled with liquid fertilizer solution.
d. It takes 5 to 10 minutes for 5 gallons to pass through a small opening, and because of the slow flow rate, water penetrates deeply into the subsoil without wetting much of the surface.
e. Each fertigation makes the plant grow very rapidly for two to three weeks.
f. Organicfertigate with fish emulsion and seaweed at 1/2 to 1 tablespoon each per gallon of water with weak compost/manure tea.
Vegetables That:
Like foliars
Asparagus Carrots Melons Squash
Beans Cauliflower Peas Tomatoes
Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cucumbers
Cabbage Eggplant Radishes
Kale Rutabagas Potatoes
Don't like foliars
Beets Leeks Onions Spinach
Chard Lettuce Peppers
Like fertigation
Brussels sprouts Kale Savoy cabbage
Cucumbers Melons Squash
Eggplant Peppers Tomatoes
Sprouting Seeds Without Watering
Small seeds need to grow in light, fluffy soil but tillage breaks capillary connections that draw up subsoil moisture until the fluffy soil resettles. In recently tilled earth, successfully sprouting small seeds in warm weather is dicey without frequent watering or reestablishing capillarity moisture below sprouting seeds so that moisture held deeper in the soil rises to replace that lost from surface layers, reducing or eliminating the need for watering. Simple foot pressure can restored capillarity, and during the night, fresh moisture replaced what had evaporated. This simple technique helps start everything except carrots and parsnips (which must have completely loose soil to develop correctly). Compress the soil below the seeds and then cover the seeds with a mulch of loose, dry soil. Sprouting seeds then rest atop damp soil and will sprout, root and leaf very quickly.
Techniques to reestablish capillarity after tilling.
1. Push planter: first compacts the tilled earth with its front wheel, cuts a furrow, drops the seed, and then with its drag chain pulls loose soil over the furrow.
2. Wheelbarrow, pull a lightly loaded, down the row to press down a wheel track, sprinkled seed on that compacted furrow, and then pulled loose soil over it.
3. Handmade Footprints-
a. sow large brassicas, squash, melon and cucumber, in clumps on hills above a fertilized, double-dug spot, about 18 inches square, deeply dig in complete organic fertilizer.
b. In the center of the fluffed-up mound, punch down a depression to reestablish capillarity by having firm soil under a shallow, fist-sized depression, then a pinch of seed is sprinkled atop this depression and covered with fine earth and good germination without watering.
How to Fluid Drill Seeds
1. Place the seeds in a half-pint mason jar, cover with a square of plastic window screen held on with a strong rubber band, soak the seeds overnight, and then drain them first thing in the morning.
2. Gently rinse the seeds with cool water two or three times daily until the root tips begin to emerge.
3. As soon as this sign appears, the seed must be sown, because the newly emerging roots become increasingly subject to breaking off as they develop and soon form tangled masses.
4. Presprouted seeds may be gently blended into some crumbly, moist soil and this mixture gently sprinkled into a furrow and covered.
Starch gelatin fluid drilling
If the sprouts are particularly delicate or, as with carrots, you want a very uniform stand, disperse the seeds in a starch gelatin for fluid drilling.
1. Heat one pint of water to the boiling point and dissolve in 2 to 3 tablespoons of ordinary cornstarch.
2. Let the mixture cool until it becomes a soupy gel.
3. Gently mix this cool starch gel with the sprouting seeds, making sure the seeds are uniformly blended.
4. Pour the mixture into a 1-quart plastic bag and, scissors in hand, go out to the garden.
5. Prepared a furrow with capillarity restored and cut a /4 inch in diameter hole in one lower corner of the bag.
6. Walk quickly down the row, dribbling a mixture of gel and seeds into the furrow, then cover.
7. The presprouted seeds come up days sooner, the root will penetrating moist soil long before the shoot emerges and the stand of seedlings will be very uniformly spaced, be easier to thin and that you need quite a bit less seed per length of row.
Nursery Bed alternative
1. Instead of trying to irrigate the entire area, seedlings are first grown in irrigated nurseries for transplanting after the rains come back.
2. If desperately short of water, locate the nursery where it gets only morning sun and sow a week or 10 days earlier to compensate for the slower growth.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?708
Sunday, August 16, 2009
FRC Highlighted Post(s) of the Week
Ez started this one out
Probiotic food is food that contains live bacteria, which is considered beneficial and not harmful to humans. The first example of probiotic food was the introduction of acidophilus to milk, which in some cases helped people who had difficulty digesting milk to be able to tolerate milk better. The specific bacteria used in probiotic food like acidophilus milk is Lactobacillus acidophilus. Such milk was available in the 1920s, and yogurt predates it, but was not specifically supplemented for probiotic effects.
One can still find probiotic food like acidophilus milk. However, the field has opened up to contain other strains of bacteria and other types of food. One naturally thinks of yogurt as a probiotic food, and it may contain lactobacillus acidophilus. One may also see other bacteria listed on probiotic food like yogurt, primarily Lactobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus GG, and variants of bifidobacteria.
Most probiotic food is fermented at least partially. A short list of probiotic food choices includes miso soup, some soft cheeses, yogurt products like kefir, sauerkraut and many pickles. Those who feel probiotic food is beneficial are now also interested in prebiotic food. It does not generally contain bacteria but appears to help healthy bacteria grow in the intestines. Prebiotic foods include Jerusalem and regular artichokes, oats, honey, many fruits, and goat’s milk. Human breast milk is also thought to have prebiotic properties that may explain why it so benefits the human newborn.
Many people add probiotic bacteria to their food or take it in capsule form. However, it is unclear how well probiotic bacteria work. Lactobacillus GG, one of the newest probiotics, has shown that it can survive processing by the gut and be especially beneficial to the colon. Not all probiotics have shown evidence that they promote better intestinal health. Some studies do show that eating yogurt during antibiotic treatment may help prevent diarrhea, and is beneficial in reducing risk of yeast infections in women.
Some experts in alternative medicine claim many other benefits to eating probiotic food or using supplements. Such claims include reduction in eczema, cessation or reduction in mental illness, improved immunity, and reduction of childhood allergies and asthma. These claims have yet to be verified, though in most cases few derive harm from probiotic food or supplementation.
Some people may experience mild stomach upset, diarrhea or flatulence during the first few days of probiotic supplementation. Further, some people may be allergic to or intolerant of certain probiotic supplements, or to the probiotic food in which they are presented. However, in most cases, probiotic food is well tolerated, and at the very least, may provide one with better intestinal health. Eating prebiotic foods may also be a good way to promote regularity, and certain prebiotic foods like oats have other benefits, like increasing one’s daily fiber and lowering cholesterol. What are some ways we can store these food for long term?
230gr responded with couple of posts
What are some ways we can store these food for long term?
Yogurt & kefir products must have live bacteria and cannot be pasteurized as most brands are, most sauerkraut and pickles are short cutted by using vinegar and not fermented much by bacteria. Relying on store bought foods for probiotic, beneficial bacteria are problematic and long term storage of acid foods is even more so.
Most vegetables are easy to ferment as they have the needed bacteria already present. Yogurt & kefir are selected strains of natural bacteria that clabber unpasteurized milk. Clabbered milk (curds) and the soft raw cheese made from it where eaten widely in the “old days” and would certainly work, it might be possible to get something like a freeze dried yogurt & kefir culture to store but I have not seen it.
See my post:
Vegetable Fermentation Basics
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?296.last
and then again
When my wife was being treated for an old case of Lymes, the Dr who specializes in such cases put her on probiotics immediately to ramp up her immune system. Although we had used yogurt cultures for GI problems and yeast infections,, I started looking at the whole range of probiotics more seriously then. They have a lot of potential. 230gr
Probiotics Part 1
The human body has an estimated 100 trillion "friendly" bacteria from at least 500 species, referred to as bacterias (probiotics) and they are responsible for several important biological functions. Some of these functions include assisting with digestion, keeping other harmful bacteria at bay and stimulating the immune system. The health benefits of probiotics have been known for at least 100 years and researchers are hopeful that probiotics hold the answer to the growing number of cases of antibiotic resistance and a natural alternatives to treating various health conditions.
• • About 80% of your immune system lives in your gastrointestinal tract.
• • 500 different species of bacteria live inside you.
• • About one hundred trillion bacteria live inside you -- more than TEN TIMES the number of cells you have in your whole body.
• • The weight of these bacteria is about two to three pounds.
• • Some of these bacteria are referred to as "good", but others do not provide any benefit. The ideal balance between them is 85% good, 15% "other".
• This ratio between the "good" and other bacteria can be critical factors determining your optimal health.
Certain studies have proven the many health benefits of probiotics such as the prevention or control of:
• Food and skin allergies in children
• Bacterial vagniosis
• Premature labor in pregnant women
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Recurrent ear and bladder infections
• Chronic diarrhea
Friendly bacteria also have the ability to :
• manufacture vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, A, and K, and essential fatty acids;
• aid in the digestive process by helping digest lactose (milk sugar) and protein;
• clean the intestinal tract, purify the colon, and promote regular bowel movements;
• increase the number of immune system cells;
• create lactic acid, which balances intestinal pH;
• protect us from environmental toxins such as pesticides and pollutants, reduce toxic waste at the cellular level, and stimulate the repair mechanism of cells;
• help maintain healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels; and
• break down and rebuild hormones.
• reduce the growth of unfriendly bacteria,
• maintain regular bowel movements,
• maintain cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and
• maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Experts agree that the absence of bacteria in the intestines is unhealthy. This was apparent in the experiment of laboratory animals that were raised to be germ-free and were frequently sick, exhibited grossly underdeveloped immune systems and vulnerable intestinal tracts.
100 Trillion Bacteria in Your Gut: Learn How to Keep the Good Kind There
You probably don't think about your gut very often but this may make you start--the bacteria in your bowels outnumber the cells in your body by a factor of 10 to one. This gut flora has incredible power over your immune system, which, of course, is your body's natural defense system that keeps you healthy. In other words, the health of your body is largely tied into the health of your gut, and it's hard to have one be healthy if the other is not.
One of the reasons why your gut has so much power has to do with the 100 trillion bacteria--about three pounds worth--that line your intestinal tract. This is an extremely complex living system that aggressively protects your body from outside offenders.
However, if you are eating as many sugars as the typical American (about 175 pounds per year) then you are feeding the "bad" bacteria, which are more likely to cause disease than promote health, rather than promoting the "good" bacteria that help protect you from disease. Exposure to chemicals will also contribute to this disruption in your gut microflora, and over time the imbalance will lead to illness. A large part of the influence of the "bad" bacteria is on the intestinal lining (mucousal barrier) that is over 300 square meters, or about the size of a tennis court.
Beneficial bacteria in your gut can help to boost the immune system, prevent allergic inflammation and food allergy, clear up eczema in children and heal the intestines from a variety of ailments.
Fortunately, you can influence the composition of the good and bad bacteria in your gut by optimizing your diet and supplementing it with a high-quality probiotic, or good bacteria. As written in a report in the October 2003 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "probiotics can act as partners of the defense system of the intestine."
The typical American diet is so full of sugar and grains that--although I don't often recommend supplements--nearly everyone can benefit from probiotics. You should look for a high potency, multi-strain variety, which can be found in most health food stores. Since the best type of probiotic to use can become highly specific, you may want to discuss the varieties with an experienced health food store employee.
I recommend probiotics to nearly all of our new patients, as it is a helpful start for their health recovery. This is not a lifetime recommendation, however. Once you are eating the right foods it is generally possible to maintain a healthy bacterial balance in your gut without the use of probiotics. On a side note, probiotics are especially helpful when you are traveling in the event you get an infectious diarrhea. Typically, large doses of a high-quality probiotic--about one-half to one full bottle in one day--are quite useful for a rapid resolution of the diarrhea
By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege
It's great news that the benefits of probiotics are being fully explored, and sought out as an alternative to the antibiotics humans are increasingly becoming resistant to. Although I am not a big fan of nutritional supplementation the way it is currently practiced by most natural medicine clinicians, I have found probiotics (beneficial bacteria) to be an exception. It is the ONLY supplement I recommend for ALL new patients (unless of course they are already on one). I don't believe that they need to stay on it the rest of their lives, but one to three months are usually beneficial until they are able to get their diet improved.
New York Times September 14, 2004
Probiotics Part 2
Probiotics are the only supplement that I advise nearly every patient to start. Once their food choices are cleaned up they can stop it. It is not necessary to take them continuously forever. I do believe it is wise to use one bottle once a year of a good probiotic as most of us are less than perfect with our food choices.
My personal favorite is Flora Source as it is a high potency multi strain product. Most good probiotics are literal miracles for most types of acute diarrhea. My recommended dose is one capsule or ¼ tsp of the powders every 30-60 minutes until the diarrhea is gone. It usually resolves in about four hours. These products are quite impressive.
I am currently in the process of discussion with Italian researchers from Sigma Tao to import what may be the finest human probiotic source available into this country. I hope to have information available later this year
Dr. Mercola
Good Bacteria Fights Flu
Researchers in Japan report that mice given a nasal spray containing the "good'' bacteria Lactobacillus casei found in human intestines were more likely to survive a serious bout of the flu and showed less influenza activity.
These findings suggest nasal administration of L. casei enhances cellular immunity in the respiratory tract and protects against influenza virus infection.
The researchers administered the bacteria to the mice for 3 days, before infecting the animals with the influenza virus. The researchers found that the mice that had received the good bacteria had a 90% lower viral level compared with those not treated with the nasal spray. What's more, 69% of the nasal-spray mice survived their bout with the flu, while only 15% of the untreated animals did.
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology May 2001;8:593-597
History does tell us about the ways different cultures promoted their intestinal health before modern times. In the past, people used fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut -- as food preservatives and as support for intestinal and overall health. Fermented foods are part of nearly every traditional culture. As far back as Roman times, people ate sauerkraut because of its taste and benefits to overall health. In ancient Indian society, it became commonplace (and still is) to enjoy a before-dinner yogurt drink called a lassi. At the end of the meal, they'd have a small serving of curd. These Indian traditions were based on the principle of using sour milk as a probiotic delivery system to the body. Other examples are all around us. Bulgarians are known both for their longevity and their high consumption of fermented milk and kefir. In Asian cultures, pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots still exist today.
Total health begins in the gut so if your GI tract is not in optimal health, then your overall health will be compromised. I have also learned the value of fermented foods that are loaded with good bacteria. They give the body similar benefits as consuming a whole bottle of good bacteria, but at a fraction of the cost. One of the best ways and least expensive to achieve this would be to obtain raw milk and convert it to kefir. Kefir is very easy to make. All you have to do is put one half packet of the kefir start granules in a quart of raw milk at room temperature and leave it out over night. By the time you wake up in the morning you will likely have kefir. If it hasn’t obtained the consistency of yogurt you might want to set out a bit longer and then store it in the fridge.
The quart of kefir has far more active bacteria than you can possibly purchase in any probiotics supplement and it is very economically as you can reuse the kefir from the original quart of milk about ten times before you need to start a new culture pack so one starter package of kefir granules can convert about 50 gallons of milk to kefir.
Kefir is one of the secrets of health of the long aged eastern Europeans and I can guarantee you that they did not use store purchased pasteurized milk to make their kefir. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/18/bacteria-gut.aspx
Foods Containing Probotic Bacteria
Some commonly used bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, & Lactobacillus acidophilus)
in products milk:
Kefir- a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region by a combination of bacteria and yeasts ,sour, carbonated, slightly alcoholic beverage, with a consistency similar to thin yoghurt, with 1 to 2 percent alcohol.
Yoghurt- bacterial fermentation of milk; beverage originally that can be slightly salty or sweet or, in the United States, have added pectin or gelatin to artificially create thickness and creaminess.
yoghurt cheese- strained through a cloth or paper filter, traditionally made of muslin, to remove the whey, giving a much thicker consistency, and a distinctive, slightly tangy taste salted and dried and rolled into balls.
Some fermented products containing similar lactic acid bacteria include:
Pickled vegetables such as Sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, onions, garlic, red beets, carrots, kohlrabi, and rutabaga.
Kimchi- traditional Korean pickled dishes made of vegetables with varied seasonings; most common is the spicy cabbage, radish, scallions, cucumber, and onion.
Pao cai- Chinese fermented cabbage, sweet and sour taste.
Zha cai- a type of pickled mustard stem (poc choy), originating from China, with a crunchy, yet tender texture and a spicy, sour, and salty taste.
Fermented bean paste such as:
tempeh- Javanese, made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form.
miso-traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt
doenjang- traditional Korean fermented soybean paste.
[b]Soy sauce- [/b]a condiment made from fermenting soybeans with the molds Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus soyae along with roasted grain, water, and salt.
Kombucha- a fermented medicinal tea symbiosis of Acetobacter (acetic acid bacteria) and yeast convert the tea into a bubbly fluid that has a palatable balance between sweet and sour and contains alcohol 0.5% to 1.5% depending on anaerobic brewing time progressing to very acidic pH 3.0 when finished.
BACTERIAL CULTURE 13 BILLION ORGANISMS- Serving Size 1 Servings Per Container 100 $19.99
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=VS-2164
A good probotic supplement is similar to the above with 10 to 12 different bacteria. I have tried to list the most common and what they do to help you choose.
• Bifidobacterium bifidum- are predominant in the gut flora of breast-fed babies, and administred to infants suffering from diarrhea, displaces the proteolytic bacteria that cause the disease, prevents the colonization of invading pathogenic bacteria by attaching to the intestinal wall, crowding out and taking nutrients from these unfriendly bacteria and yeast, enhance the assimilation of minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc.
• Bifidobacterium breve- colonize the immature bowel very effectively and is associated with fewer abnormal abdominal signs and better weight gain in VLBW infants, able to perform partial breakdown of inulin colon.
• Bifidobacterium infantis- an important organism shown to stimulate production of immunomodulating agents such as cytokines. Bacteriocidal activity is also observed against such pathogens as Clostridia, Salmonella, and Shigella.
• Bifidobacterium lactis- often found in yogurt that is known to help stimulate immune responses, shortened oro-fecal gut transit time in elderly, and appears able to reduce the duration of diarrhea and help alleviate constipation.
• Bifidobacterium longum- blocks the growth of harmful bacteria, and boosts the immune system, preventing the colonization of invading pathogenic bacteria by attaching to the intestinal wall and crowding out unfriendly bacteria and yeast, ferments sugars into lactic acid among the first to colonize the sterile digestive tract of newborns and predominates in breast-fed infants alleviation of lactose intolerance symptoms (Jiang et al., 1996); immune stimulation (Takahashi et al., 1998); and cancer prevention.
• Enterococcus Faecium- proven efficacy in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome conditions such as diarrhea, boosting the digestive ability which in turn helps to promote a strong immune system, nutritional support of diarrheal diseases, especially in cases where pathogenic microbes, such as rotavirus, invade the bowel, able to significantly lower LDL cholesterol and observed in Cheddar cheeses
• Lactobacillus acidophilus- a producer of the enzyme amylase (a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme) that is known to improve digestion and reduce lactose intolerance and constipation part of the normal vaginal flora, helps to control the growth of the fungus Candida albicans, thus helping to prevent vaginal yeast infections, as well as, oral or gastrointestinal Candidiasis infections, including improved gastrointestinal function, a boosted immune system, provides relief from indigestion and diarrhea may be helpful reducing serum cholesterol levels. A University of Nebraska study found that feed supplemented with L. acidophilus and fed to cattle resulted in a 61% reduction of Escherichia coli
• Lactobacillus brevis- is a lactic acid producing organism important in the synthesis of vitamins D and K.
• Lactobacillus bulgaricus- is one of several bacteria used for the production of yogurt. It is also found in other naturally fermented products helpful to sufferers of lactose intolerance, whose digestive systems lack the enzymes to break down lactose to simpler sugars, stimulate production of interferon and tumor necrosis factor, thus establishing a potential role in modulating the immune system.
• Lactobacillus casei- is a lactic acid producer that assists in the propagation of desirable bacteria in the natural fermentation of beans, the beans contained inulin and causing flatulence upon digestion, is present in ripening Cheddar cheese and naturally fermented Sicilian green olives and may be effective in alleviation of gastrointestinal pathogenic bacterial diseases inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the small intestine more likely to survive a serious bout of the flu and showed less influenza activity.
• Lactobacillus plantarum- found in many fermented food products antimicrobial substances produced have shown significant effect on Gram positive and Gram negative bacteriam, tested clinically for its effect on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In both studies, subjects showed a decrease in IBS symptoms and can break down protein into usable nutrients (amino acids). reduced Rats given L. plantarum in addition to E. coli showed lower counts of E. coli in the small intestine and caecum (where the large intestine begins)
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus-inhibits the growth of most harmful bacteria in the intestine. It is used as a natural preservative in yogurt and other dairy products to extend the shelf life. first successfully used to treat gastrointestinal carriage of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in renal patients Immune stimulation, improves digestive health, reduces antibiotic-associated diarrhea , inhibit the growth of streptococci and clostridia.
• Lactobacillus salivarius ability to help break down undigested protein and disengage the toxins produced by protein putrefactions, found to be a potentially effective probiotic against H. pylori. a leading cause of ulcers.
• Lactobacillus sporogenes- helps enhance your intestinal health and provides back-up for sporadic intestinal discomfort.
• Saccharomyces boulardii- nourish and support a healthy intestinal wall, the front line for the body's defense system, significant reduction in the symptoms of acute gastroenteritis in children and of diarrhea in adults, even diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, two pathogenic bacteria often associated with acute infectious diarrhea, were shown to strongly adhere to mannose on the surface of S. boulardii via lectin receptors (adhesins). Once the invading microbe is bound to S. boulardii, it is prevented from attaching to the brush border and is then eliminated from the body during the next bowel movement, induces the secretion of Immunoglobulin A.
• Streptococcus thermophilus- is used, along with Lactobacillus spp., as a starter culture for the manufacture of several important fermented dairy foods, including yogurt and Mozzarella cheese, alleviates symptoms of lactose intolerance and other gastrointestinal disorders, may have immunomodulatory and anticarcinogenic effects.
Ez Responded
I have been experimenting with some different probiotics. I take allot of antibiotics and I can tell it has a negative affect on my body.
here are a few thing I have found.
Real probiotics are hard to find everything these days has been pasteurized Thus killing all the bacteria good and bad.
here is what I'm using Certain yogurts, other cultured dairy products that have not been pasteurized.
Now I'm going one step further to work with Prebiotics. and here is a few things iv been trying to focus on eating. Whole grains, onions, bananas, garlic, honey, leeks, artichokes.
here is my goals.
improve gastrointestinal health; may improve calcium absorption, systemic immunity
Its been a few weeks now and I can report I'm seeing allot of positive results. I can actually tell a difference in the way my body feels.
I will ad to this post in a few more weeks as I introduce more probiotics and prebiotics.
230gr finished it up with this one.
My experience Probotics is largely based on yogurt which my mother made and gave to us because “it was good for us” and, with a little vanilla or cinnamon and sugar added, it was tasty too. Eventually, I realized that when I had an outbreak of fever blisters, yogurt would help make them go away. I did not know anything about bacteria like Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, or Lactobacillus acidophilus back then but just that it helped somehow. Now every time I am very ill and or get a dose of antibiotics, I eat live culture Dannon or, if I can get her to brew some up, homemade yogurt (preferably with raw goat milk).
I have experimented with Kombucha but, beyond depressing blood sugar spikes, not enough to report benefits yet. If you get it while still foamy and bubbly, still a bit sweet but yet tangy, it is tasty. Leave it go too long does it ever get vinegary! Which is what we use it for.
The 2nd post is related and deals with daily amount of protiens needed each day.
230gr started this thread
How much meat or other complete protein do you need daily?
The standard method used by nutritionists to estimate our minimum daily balanced protein requirement is to multiply the body weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a 200-pound person should get 74 grams, and a 250-pound person, 92 grams.
Under EOTWAWKI conditions, where so much muscle power will be used, this amount could increase. We might consider how much protein do athletes need? To figure out your needs, simply multiply your weight in pounds by one of the following:
Sedentary adult 0.4
Active adult 0.4-0.6
Growing athlete 0.6-0.9
Adult building muscle mass 0.6-0.9
(taken from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook)
For a 150 pound male, this would be 0.6 for a total of 90 grams of protein per day or almost 13 oz of meat, poultry or fish. Enough Cereal grain for 90 grams would require over 11 cups!
For a 115 pound, teenage, female 0.7 for a total of 80.5 grams of protein per day would be good.
While you can get your complete protein requirements from most foods, it is far richer in some:
Meat, poultry and fish 7 grams per ounce
Beans, dried peas, lentils 7 grams per 1/2 cup cooked
One large egg 7 grams
Milk 8 grams per cup
Bread 4 grams per slice
Cereal 4 grams per 1/2 cup
Vegetables 2 grams per 1/2 cup
An ounce of meat or fish has approximately 7 grams of protein.
Beef
Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein
Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams
Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce
Chicken
Chicken breast, 3.5 oz - 30 grams protein
Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)
Drumstick – 11 grams
Wing – 6 grams
Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams
Fish
Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
Tuna, 6 oz can - 40 grams of protein
Pork
Pork chop, average - 22 grams protein
Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams
Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams
Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams
Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams
Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams
Eggs and Dairy
Egg, large - 6 grams protein
Milk, 1 cup - 8 grams
Cottage cheese, ½ cup - 15 grams
Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label
Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz
Incomplete Proteins (better mixed and matched of grain, beans & nuts)
amount of of grain you need to eat per day for enough useable protein
Pounds required for 100% of protein RDA by limiting Amino Acid
Barley………………………….. 0.5lb
Wheat, Hard Red Sprng…….0.5lb
Wheat, Hard Red Winter…..0.6lb
Egg Noodles Enrich Dry…... 0.5lb
Rice, Brown………..……...... 0.7lb
Wheat, Duram…….....…….. 0.7lb
Rice, White …….………….. 0.8lb
Corn, Dry …………..……..….1.0lb
Millet…………………..….…..1.0 lb
Beans (including soy)
Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein
Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams
Soy milk, 1 cup - 6 -10 grams
Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans
Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein
Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams
Nuts and Seeds
Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams
Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams
Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams
Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 19 grams
Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams
eeyore responded to it
excellent info, helps with planning
Probiotic food is food that contains live bacteria, which is considered beneficial and not harmful to humans. The first example of probiotic food was the introduction of acidophilus to milk, which in some cases helped people who had difficulty digesting milk to be able to tolerate milk better. The specific bacteria used in probiotic food like acidophilus milk is Lactobacillus acidophilus. Such milk was available in the 1920s, and yogurt predates it, but was not specifically supplemented for probiotic effects.
One can still find probiotic food like acidophilus milk. However, the field has opened up to contain other strains of bacteria and other types of food. One naturally thinks of yogurt as a probiotic food, and it may contain lactobacillus acidophilus. One may also see other bacteria listed on probiotic food like yogurt, primarily Lactobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus GG, and variants of bifidobacteria.
Most probiotic food is fermented at least partially. A short list of probiotic food choices includes miso soup, some soft cheeses, yogurt products like kefir, sauerkraut and many pickles. Those who feel probiotic food is beneficial are now also interested in prebiotic food. It does not generally contain bacteria but appears to help healthy bacteria grow in the intestines. Prebiotic foods include Jerusalem and regular artichokes, oats, honey, many fruits, and goat’s milk. Human breast milk is also thought to have prebiotic properties that may explain why it so benefits the human newborn.
Many people add probiotic bacteria to their food or take it in capsule form. However, it is unclear how well probiotic bacteria work. Lactobacillus GG, one of the newest probiotics, has shown that it can survive processing by the gut and be especially beneficial to the colon. Not all probiotics have shown evidence that they promote better intestinal health. Some studies do show that eating yogurt during antibiotic treatment may help prevent diarrhea, and is beneficial in reducing risk of yeast infections in women.
Some experts in alternative medicine claim many other benefits to eating probiotic food or using supplements. Such claims include reduction in eczema, cessation or reduction in mental illness, improved immunity, and reduction of childhood allergies and asthma. These claims have yet to be verified, though in most cases few derive harm from probiotic food or supplementation.
Some people may experience mild stomach upset, diarrhea or flatulence during the first few days of probiotic supplementation. Further, some people may be allergic to or intolerant of certain probiotic supplements, or to the probiotic food in which they are presented. However, in most cases, probiotic food is well tolerated, and at the very least, may provide one with better intestinal health. Eating prebiotic foods may also be a good way to promote regularity, and certain prebiotic foods like oats have other benefits, like increasing one’s daily fiber and lowering cholesterol. What are some ways we can store these food for long term?
230gr responded with couple of posts
What are some ways we can store these food for long term?
Yogurt & kefir products must have live bacteria and cannot be pasteurized as most brands are, most sauerkraut and pickles are short cutted by using vinegar and not fermented much by bacteria. Relying on store bought foods for probiotic, beneficial bacteria are problematic and long term storage of acid foods is even more so.
Most vegetables are easy to ferment as they have the needed bacteria already present. Yogurt & kefir are selected strains of natural bacteria that clabber unpasteurized milk. Clabbered milk (curds) and the soft raw cheese made from it where eaten widely in the “old days” and would certainly work, it might be possible to get something like a freeze dried yogurt & kefir culture to store but I have not seen it.
See my post:
Vegetable Fermentation Basics
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?296.last
and then again
When my wife was being treated for an old case of Lymes, the Dr who specializes in such cases put her on probiotics immediately to ramp up her immune system. Although we had used yogurt cultures for GI problems and yeast infections,, I started looking at the whole range of probiotics more seriously then. They have a lot of potential. 230gr
Probiotics Part 1
The human body has an estimated 100 trillion "friendly" bacteria from at least 500 species, referred to as bacterias (probiotics) and they are responsible for several important biological functions. Some of these functions include assisting with digestion, keeping other harmful bacteria at bay and stimulating the immune system. The health benefits of probiotics have been known for at least 100 years and researchers are hopeful that probiotics hold the answer to the growing number of cases of antibiotic resistance and a natural alternatives to treating various health conditions.
• • About 80% of your immune system lives in your gastrointestinal tract.
• • 500 different species of bacteria live inside you.
• • About one hundred trillion bacteria live inside you -- more than TEN TIMES the number of cells you have in your whole body.
• • The weight of these bacteria is about two to three pounds.
• • Some of these bacteria are referred to as "good", but others do not provide any benefit. The ideal balance between them is 85% good, 15% "other".
• This ratio between the "good" and other bacteria can be critical factors determining your optimal health.
Certain studies have proven the many health benefits of probiotics such as the prevention or control of:
• Food and skin allergies in children
• Bacterial vagniosis
• Premature labor in pregnant women
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Recurrent ear and bladder infections
• Chronic diarrhea
Friendly bacteria also have the ability to :
• manufacture vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, A, and K, and essential fatty acids;
• aid in the digestive process by helping digest lactose (milk sugar) and protein;
• clean the intestinal tract, purify the colon, and promote regular bowel movements;
• increase the number of immune system cells;
• create lactic acid, which balances intestinal pH;
• protect us from environmental toxins such as pesticides and pollutants, reduce toxic waste at the cellular level, and stimulate the repair mechanism of cells;
• help maintain healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels; and
• break down and rebuild hormones.
• reduce the growth of unfriendly bacteria,
• maintain regular bowel movements,
• maintain cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and
• maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Experts agree that the absence of bacteria in the intestines is unhealthy. This was apparent in the experiment of laboratory animals that were raised to be germ-free and were frequently sick, exhibited grossly underdeveloped immune systems and vulnerable intestinal tracts.
100 Trillion Bacteria in Your Gut: Learn How to Keep the Good Kind There
You probably don't think about your gut very often but this may make you start--the bacteria in your bowels outnumber the cells in your body by a factor of 10 to one. This gut flora has incredible power over your immune system, which, of course, is your body's natural defense system that keeps you healthy. In other words, the health of your body is largely tied into the health of your gut, and it's hard to have one be healthy if the other is not.
One of the reasons why your gut has so much power has to do with the 100 trillion bacteria--about three pounds worth--that line your intestinal tract. This is an extremely complex living system that aggressively protects your body from outside offenders.
However, if you are eating as many sugars as the typical American (about 175 pounds per year) then you are feeding the "bad" bacteria, which are more likely to cause disease than promote health, rather than promoting the "good" bacteria that help protect you from disease. Exposure to chemicals will also contribute to this disruption in your gut microflora, and over time the imbalance will lead to illness. A large part of the influence of the "bad" bacteria is on the intestinal lining (mucousal barrier) that is over 300 square meters, or about the size of a tennis court.
Beneficial bacteria in your gut can help to boost the immune system, prevent allergic inflammation and food allergy, clear up eczema in children and heal the intestines from a variety of ailments.
Fortunately, you can influence the composition of the good and bad bacteria in your gut by optimizing your diet and supplementing it with a high-quality probiotic, or good bacteria. As written in a report in the October 2003 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "probiotics can act as partners of the defense system of the intestine."
The typical American diet is so full of sugar and grains that--although I don't often recommend supplements--nearly everyone can benefit from probiotics. You should look for a high potency, multi-strain variety, which can be found in most health food stores. Since the best type of probiotic to use can become highly specific, you may want to discuss the varieties with an experienced health food store employee.
I recommend probiotics to nearly all of our new patients, as it is a helpful start for their health recovery. This is not a lifetime recommendation, however. Once you are eating the right foods it is generally possible to maintain a healthy bacterial balance in your gut without the use of probiotics. On a side note, probiotics are especially helpful when you are traveling in the event you get an infectious diarrhea. Typically, large doses of a high-quality probiotic--about one-half to one full bottle in one day--are quite useful for a rapid resolution of the diarrhea
By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege
It's great news that the benefits of probiotics are being fully explored, and sought out as an alternative to the antibiotics humans are increasingly becoming resistant to. Although I am not a big fan of nutritional supplementation the way it is currently practiced by most natural medicine clinicians, I have found probiotics (beneficial bacteria) to be an exception. It is the ONLY supplement I recommend for ALL new patients (unless of course they are already on one). I don't believe that they need to stay on it the rest of their lives, but one to three months are usually beneficial until they are able to get their diet improved.
New York Times September 14, 2004
Probiotics Part 2
Probiotics are the only supplement that I advise nearly every patient to start. Once their food choices are cleaned up they can stop it. It is not necessary to take them continuously forever. I do believe it is wise to use one bottle once a year of a good probiotic as most of us are less than perfect with our food choices.
My personal favorite is Flora Source as it is a high potency multi strain product. Most good probiotics are literal miracles for most types of acute diarrhea. My recommended dose is one capsule or ¼ tsp of the powders every 30-60 minutes until the diarrhea is gone. It usually resolves in about four hours. These products are quite impressive.
I am currently in the process of discussion with Italian researchers from Sigma Tao to import what may be the finest human probiotic source available into this country. I hope to have information available later this year
Dr. Mercola
Good Bacteria Fights Flu
Researchers in Japan report that mice given a nasal spray containing the "good'' bacteria Lactobacillus casei found in human intestines were more likely to survive a serious bout of the flu and showed less influenza activity.
These findings suggest nasal administration of L. casei enhances cellular immunity in the respiratory tract and protects against influenza virus infection.
The researchers administered the bacteria to the mice for 3 days, before infecting the animals with the influenza virus. The researchers found that the mice that had received the good bacteria had a 90% lower viral level compared with those not treated with the nasal spray. What's more, 69% of the nasal-spray mice survived their bout with the flu, while only 15% of the untreated animals did.
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology May 2001;8:593-597
History does tell us about the ways different cultures promoted their intestinal health before modern times. In the past, people used fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut -- as food preservatives and as support for intestinal and overall health. Fermented foods are part of nearly every traditional culture. As far back as Roman times, people ate sauerkraut because of its taste and benefits to overall health. In ancient Indian society, it became commonplace (and still is) to enjoy a before-dinner yogurt drink called a lassi. At the end of the meal, they'd have a small serving of curd. These Indian traditions were based on the principle of using sour milk as a probiotic delivery system to the body. Other examples are all around us. Bulgarians are known both for their longevity and their high consumption of fermented milk and kefir. In Asian cultures, pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots still exist today.
Total health begins in the gut so if your GI tract is not in optimal health, then your overall health will be compromised. I have also learned the value of fermented foods that are loaded with good bacteria. They give the body similar benefits as consuming a whole bottle of good bacteria, but at a fraction of the cost. One of the best ways and least expensive to achieve this would be to obtain raw milk and convert it to kefir. Kefir is very easy to make. All you have to do is put one half packet of the kefir start granules in a quart of raw milk at room temperature and leave it out over night. By the time you wake up in the morning you will likely have kefir. If it hasn’t obtained the consistency of yogurt you might want to set out a bit longer and then store it in the fridge.
The quart of kefir has far more active bacteria than you can possibly purchase in any probiotics supplement and it is very economically as you can reuse the kefir from the original quart of milk about ten times before you need to start a new culture pack so one starter package of kefir granules can convert about 50 gallons of milk to kefir.
Kefir is one of the secrets of health of the long aged eastern Europeans and I can guarantee you that they did not use store purchased pasteurized milk to make their kefir. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/18/bacteria-gut.aspx
Foods Containing Probotic Bacteria
Some commonly used bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, & Lactobacillus acidophilus)
in products milk:
Kefir- a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region by a combination of bacteria and yeasts ,sour, carbonated, slightly alcoholic beverage, with a consistency similar to thin yoghurt, with 1 to 2 percent alcohol.
Yoghurt- bacterial fermentation of milk; beverage originally that can be slightly salty or sweet or, in the United States, have added pectin or gelatin to artificially create thickness and creaminess.
yoghurt cheese- strained through a cloth or paper filter, traditionally made of muslin, to remove the whey, giving a much thicker consistency, and a distinctive, slightly tangy taste salted and dried and rolled into balls.
Some fermented products containing similar lactic acid bacteria include:
Pickled vegetables such as Sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, onions, garlic, red beets, carrots, kohlrabi, and rutabaga.
Kimchi- traditional Korean pickled dishes made of vegetables with varied seasonings; most common is the spicy cabbage, radish, scallions, cucumber, and onion.
Pao cai- Chinese fermented cabbage, sweet and sour taste.
Zha cai- a type of pickled mustard stem (poc choy), originating from China, with a crunchy, yet tender texture and a spicy, sour, and salty taste.
Fermented bean paste such as:
tempeh- Javanese, made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form.
miso-traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt
doenjang- traditional Korean fermented soybean paste.
[b]Soy sauce- [/b]a condiment made from fermenting soybeans with the molds Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus soyae along with roasted grain, water, and salt.
Kombucha- a fermented medicinal tea symbiosis of Acetobacter (acetic acid bacteria) and yeast convert the tea into a bubbly fluid that has a palatable balance between sweet and sour and contains alcohol 0.5% to 1.5% depending on anaerobic brewing time progressing to very acidic pH 3.0 when finished.
BACTERIAL CULTURE 13 BILLION ORGANISMS- Serving Size 1 Servings Per Container 100 $19.99
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=VS-2164
A good probotic supplement is similar to the above with 10 to 12 different bacteria. I have tried to list the most common and what they do to help you choose.
• Bifidobacterium bifidum- are predominant in the gut flora of breast-fed babies, and administred to infants suffering from diarrhea, displaces the proteolytic bacteria that cause the disease, prevents the colonization of invading pathogenic bacteria by attaching to the intestinal wall, crowding out and taking nutrients from these unfriendly bacteria and yeast, enhance the assimilation of minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc.
• Bifidobacterium breve- colonize the immature bowel very effectively and is associated with fewer abnormal abdominal signs and better weight gain in VLBW infants, able to perform partial breakdown of inulin colon.
• Bifidobacterium infantis- an important organism shown to stimulate production of immunomodulating agents such as cytokines. Bacteriocidal activity is also observed against such pathogens as Clostridia, Salmonella, and Shigella.
• Bifidobacterium lactis- often found in yogurt that is known to help stimulate immune responses, shortened oro-fecal gut transit time in elderly, and appears able to reduce the duration of diarrhea and help alleviate constipation.
• Bifidobacterium longum- blocks the growth of harmful bacteria, and boosts the immune system, preventing the colonization of invading pathogenic bacteria by attaching to the intestinal wall and crowding out unfriendly bacteria and yeast, ferments sugars into lactic acid among the first to colonize the sterile digestive tract of newborns and predominates in breast-fed infants alleviation of lactose intolerance symptoms (Jiang et al., 1996); immune stimulation (Takahashi et al., 1998); and cancer prevention.
• Enterococcus Faecium- proven efficacy in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome conditions such as diarrhea, boosting the digestive ability which in turn helps to promote a strong immune system, nutritional support of diarrheal diseases, especially in cases where pathogenic microbes, such as rotavirus, invade the bowel, able to significantly lower LDL cholesterol and observed in Cheddar cheeses
• Lactobacillus acidophilus- a producer of the enzyme amylase (a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme) that is known to improve digestion and reduce lactose intolerance and constipation part of the normal vaginal flora, helps to control the growth of the fungus Candida albicans, thus helping to prevent vaginal yeast infections, as well as, oral or gastrointestinal Candidiasis infections, including improved gastrointestinal function, a boosted immune system, provides relief from indigestion and diarrhea may be helpful reducing serum cholesterol levels. A University of Nebraska study found that feed supplemented with L. acidophilus and fed to cattle resulted in a 61% reduction of Escherichia coli
• Lactobacillus brevis- is a lactic acid producing organism important in the synthesis of vitamins D and K.
• Lactobacillus bulgaricus- is one of several bacteria used for the production of yogurt. It is also found in other naturally fermented products helpful to sufferers of lactose intolerance, whose digestive systems lack the enzymes to break down lactose to simpler sugars, stimulate production of interferon and tumor necrosis factor, thus establishing a potential role in modulating the immune system.
• Lactobacillus casei- is a lactic acid producer that assists in the propagation of desirable bacteria in the natural fermentation of beans, the beans contained inulin and causing flatulence upon digestion, is present in ripening Cheddar cheese and naturally fermented Sicilian green olives and may be effective in alleviation of gastrointestinal pathogenic bacterial diseases inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the small intestine more likely to survive a serious bout of the flu and showed less influenza activity.
• Lactobacillus plantarum- found in many fermented food products antimicrobial substances produced have shown significant effect on Gram positive and Gram negative bacteriam, tested clinically for its effect on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In both studies, subjects showed a decrease in IBS symptoms and can break down protein into usable nutrients (amino acids). reduced Rats given L. plantarum in addition to E. coli showed lower counts of E. coli in the small intestine and caecum (where the large intestine begins)
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus-inhibits the growth of most harmful bacteria in the intestine. It is used as a natural preservative in yogurt and other dairy products to extend the shelf life. first successfully used to treat gastrointestinal carriage of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in renal patients Immune stimulation, improves digestive health, reduces antibiotic-associated diarrhea , inhibit the growth of streptococci and clostridia.
• Lactobacillus salivarius ability to help break down undigested protein and disengage the toxins produced by protein putrefactions, found to be a potentially effective probiotic against H. pylori. a leading cause of ulcers.
• Lactobacillus sporogenes- helps enhance your intestinal health and provides back-up for sporadic intestinal discomfort.
• Saccharomyces boulardii- nourish and support a healthy intestinal wall, the front line for the body's defense system, significant reduction in the symptoms of acute gastroenteritis in children and of diarrhea in adults, even diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, two pathogenic bacteria often associated with acute infectious diarrhea, were shown to strongly adhere to mannose on the surface of S. boulardii via lectin receptors (adhesins). Once the invading microbe is bound to S. boulardii, it is prevented from attaching to the brush border and is then eliminated from the body during the next bowel movement, induces the secretion of Immunoglobulin A.
• Streptococcus thermophilus- is used, along with Lactobacillus spp., as a starter culture for the manufacture of several important fermented dairy foods, including yogurt and Mozzarella cheese, alleviates symptoms of lactose intolerance and other gastrointestinal disorders, may have immunomodulatory and anticarcinogenic effects.
Ez Responded
I have been experimenting with some different probiotics. I take allot of antibiotics and I can tell it has a negative affect on my body.
here are a few thing I have found.
Real probiotics are hard to find everything these days has been pasteurized Thus killing all the bacteria good and bad.
here is what I'm using Certain yogurts, other cultured dairy products that have not been pasteurized.
Now I'm going one step further to work with Prebiotics. and here is a few things iv been trying to focus on eating. Whole grains, onions, bananas, garlic, honey, leeks, artichokes.
here is my goals.
improve gastrointestinal health; may improve calcium absorption, systemic immunity
Its been a few weeks now and I can report I'm seeing allot of positive results. I can actually tell a difference in the way my body feels.
I will ad to this post in a few more weeks as I introduce more probiotics and prebiotics.
230gr finished it up with this one.
My experience Probotics is largely based on yogurt which my mother made and gave to us because “it was good for us” and, with a little vanilla or cinnamon and sugar added, it was tasty too. Eventually, I realized that when I had an outbreak of fever blisters, yogurt would help make them go away. I did not know anything about bacteria like Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, or Lactobacillus acidophilus back then but just that it helped somehow. Now every time I am very ill and or get a dose of antibiotics, I eat live culture Dannon or, if I can get her to brew some up, homemade yogurt (preferably with raw goat milk).
I have experimented with Kombucha but, beyond depressing blood sugar spikes, not enough to report benefits yet. If you get it while still foamy and bubbly, still a bit sweet but yet tangy, it is tasty. Leave it go too long does it ever get vinegary! Which is what we use it for.
The 2nd post is related and deals with daily amount of protiens needed each day.
230gr started this thread
How much meat or other complete protein do you need daily?
The standard method used by nutritionists to estimate our minimum daily balanced protein requirement is to multiply the body weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a 200-pound person should get 74 grams, and a 250-pound person, 92 grams.
Under EOTWAWKI conditions, where so much muscle power will be used, this amount could increase. We might consider how much protein do athletes need? To figure out your needs, simply multiply your weight in pounds by one of the following:
Sedentary adult 0.4
Active adult 0.4-0.6
Growing athlete 0.6-0.9
Adult building muscle mass 0.6-0.9
(taken from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook)
For a 150 pound male, this would be 0.6 for a total of 90 grams of protein per day or almost 13 oz of meat, poultry or fish. Enough Cereal grain for 90 grams would require over 11 cups!
For a 115 pound, teenage, female 0.7 for a total of 80.5 grams of protein per day would be good.
While you can get your complete protein requirements from most foods, it is far richer in some:
Meat, poultry and fish 7 grams per ounce
Beans, dried peas, lentils 7 grams per 1/2 cup cooked
One large egg 7 grams
Milk 8 grams per cup
Bread 4 grams per slice
Cereal 4 grams per 1/2 cup
Vegetables 2 grams per 1/2 cup
An ounce of meat or fish has approximately 7 grams of protein.
Beef
Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein
Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams
Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce
Chicken
Chicken breast, 3.5 oz - 30 grams protein
Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)
Drumstick – 11 grams
Wing – 6 grams
Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams
Fish
Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
Tuna, 6 oz can - 40 grams of protein
Pork
Pork chop, average - 22 grams protein
Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams
Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams
Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams
Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams
Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams
Eggs and Dairy
Egg, large - 6 grams protein
Milk, 1 cup - 8 grams
Cottage cheese, ½ cup - 15 grams
Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label
Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz
Incomplete Proteins (better mixed and matched of grain, beans & nuts)
amount of of grain you need to eat per day for enough useable protein
Pounds required for 100% of protein RDA by limiting Amino Acid
Barley………………………….. 0.5lb
Wheat, Hard Red Sprng…….0.5lb
Wheat, Hard Red Winter…..0.6lb
Egg Noodles Enrich Dry…... 0.5lb
Rice, Brown………..……...... 0.7lb
Wheat, Duram…….....…….. 0.7lb
Rice, White …….………….. 0.8lb
Corn, Dry …………..……..….1.0lb
Millet…………………..….…..1.0 lb
Beans (including soy)
Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein
Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams
Soy milk, 1 cup - 6 -10 grams
Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans
Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein
Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams
Nuts and Seeds
Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams
Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams
Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams
Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 19 grams
Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams
eeyore responded to it
excellent info, helps with planning
Sunday, August 9, 2009
FRC highlighted posts of the week
We are highlighting three posts this week, one about land, one about water and last is medical related.
Eeyore started this string of post titled
Carrying capacity for land (in general or in total)
I was wondering what peoples thoughts are on the carring capacity of land in general or total.
What i mean is how much land is necessarly for a long term Bad Times. I understand that is different in different parts of the country also.
I mean for growing enough food, having enough water, having enough wood to having enough stock.
Then you would have to couple that with having enough people (for security to work the land to purpose what you need) then figuring out exactly what skills are necessary and what skill would good to have.
It is really a lot to think about if you what to be realistic about it.
The more land ou need to secure (or protect) means more people, which means more land and then more people.
Just something i have been mulling about in my mind after reading some of the latest post.
230gr responded
Unless you have irrigation capability, intensively fertile soil and can practice bio-intensive gardening, you will need 1/3 to ½ acre just for garden area per adult for a years worth of fresh and canned foods with adequate calories.
For 12 adults, that means about 4 to 6 acres for growing food. More for orchards and small fruits and possibly a fish pond, as well as, pasture for your animals.
For the ongoing production of firewood you will need a large enough woodlot in the more heavily forested eastern US this means about 5 acres for a Northern winter’s heating and cooking (if you every twig, branch and log) figuring on at least a cord per acre with out cutting more than what will regrow annually.
Then there is your housing, outbuildings and just plain living space and privacy space. This will be 1 or 2 acres more.
Much more land is needed where it is dry and hot with sparse woods but more land may not necessarily need to be protected by more people. You need to cover your inner perimeter, gardens, barn, retreat and out buildings especially at night. Woods, pastures (when the animals are driven in), and grain fields are not as vital. Animals like cattle and goats will be extremely valuable and armed herdsman will need to overwatch them on pasture during the day. A lot will depend on the population density of your area and you relationship to likely “golden hoard” movement routs.
Grog responded
When it comes to sustainability, a few things come to mind, space for food production, space for storage of supplies, access to potable water, conditions for waste/garbage (Not every thing can be composted)
and can you protect it? Not just from jbts/hordes but say flooding, fire or the like.
The number of people and things like security, maintaining shelters, growing food, securing clothing (weave, tan hides, make foot wear etc).
Grog added to his earlier post addendum: figure 5 acres per person, and if raising food animals, figure again water needs, fodder sources, and again sustainability. based on a loose rule, a core of say 24 people say between ages 6 to 65, without special needs would need a minimum of 120 acres, call it 5 gallons of water per person per day every day for sanitation, hydration and personal hygiene. so daily water 120 gallons every 24 hours.
For animals, call it 10 gallons a day part water for hydration and for crop production for those animals.
call this roughly 1000 gallons a day for 100 goats or sheep. I am sticking to small food animals, not larger ones like bison or cattle. Granted these may be higher than actual usage. The water rates for animals includes water for growing food, for humans, I set the usage for not just hydration, but food prep, washing of clothing and materials, not just survival intake minimums. As to waste, well even properly built privys are of a limited lifespan and need another one some where, same with septic systems. Possibly using methane generators could off set this, but this will depend on how you are set up. I feel the sanitation issue is often over looked....
Groovy Mike responded
My great grandfather said (+/- 75 years ago) that "with 10 good acres" he could feed his family of 5 year round without ever leaving home. With a good water source and at least 50% tillable ground I think he was right on target.
ez responded
Looking at my area.
there isn't really a need for firewood.so that cuts down the amount of land needed.
the big things here are gardening and the amount of land you can secure.
gardening you would need 4times more land so that rotating from year to year is possible. with our poor soil conditions it takes xtreme composting to ensure the soil will be good for the next year.
I'm saying for 2 families 3 acres just for gardening 11/2 to plant am year the use the other 11/2 to plant the next year.
For fruit trees 2 acres. plums/ citrus/ mango's/ avocados/ peaches and nuts . I say 2 acres because I see small front yards growing these fruits healthy all around me.
For living I believe 1 acre for 2 homes is good. you can still have limited privacy and be close enough to provide security to each other. most homes today are closer then that and still have room for a garage and small buildings
Live stock is a big one here since we have mostly sands raising live stock on a large scale would not be practical.
with that said we are already over run with wild hogs and gators. both could supply with a years worth of meat.
A pond Id say the bigger the better I could easily go with a 1 acre pond this would supply watter for the crops home to the gators / fish/ and birds (duck, geese, ) .
I based this on 2 families roughly 11 people. So I'm up to 7 acres I believe could work as long as careful attention was taken to plan out every year
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?488.last
Our second post is offered from Jerry D. Young called
Some average water usage numbers
Okay. Got my Arkansas State Board of Health Bureau of Sanitary Engineering Individual Water Supply Systems handbook dated 1961 out. Don't think many things have changed except house hold use may be up. Though with water saving toilets, showers, Energy Star appliances and such, it might be about the same. Take it as you see it. Use or reject what you don't feel is correct.
Domestic use per person average household: 50 gallons
Per horse, mule, or steer 12 gallons/day
Per dairy cow drinking only 15 gallons/day
Per dairy cow drinking & dairy servicing 35 gallons/day
Per hog 4 gallons/day
Per sheep 2 gallons/day
Per 100 chickens 4gallons/day
Per 100 turkeys 7 gallons/day
Per 5/8" hose 200 gallons /day
Per 3/4" hose w/1/4" nozzle 300gallons/day
Per 1 1/2" fire hose w/1/2" nozzle 2,400 gallons/day
For small residences a minimm of 5 gallon/minute pump with a 42 gallon pressure tank
An average residence should have a 10 gallon/minuite pump and a 100 gallon pressure tank.
From the Ruth-Berry pump engineering manual
Pasture 1 1/2" to 2" per irrigation every 10 to 15 days
Alfalfa 3" to 6" per irrigation every 21 to 45 days
Vegetables 1" to 3" per irrigation every 7 to 21 days
Berries 2" to 3" per irrigation every 14 to 21 days
Orchards 3" to 6" per irrigation every 21 to 45 days
Clover 2" to 4" per irrigation every 14 to 30 days
Root crops 1" to 3" per irrigation every 7to 14 days
1 acre inch of water = 27,100 gallons of water
eeyore responded
I can say a donkey uses less then 5 gallons a day. That is one on pasture and hay no real work being done.
From an experiment a friend and my family did back around 2000 (a bugin type situation), we found it took (realistically) over two gallons per person each day, when you figured cleaning, for food and hygiene.
Can it be less i'm sure, but if you are working even part of the day, you are going to at least want to take some type of bath at the end of the day.
230gr responded
Good information! thanks Jerry.
Domestic use per person average household: 50 gallons
can be cut back a lot with planning & reuse, IMO.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?543.last
The third post is from 230gr called
Reducing Insulin Requirements & Blood Sugar levels
This is information that I have been collecting for personal use and I no longer have the referances and sources. I have tried a good bit of it and find it is worth doing. 230gr
Reducing Insulin Requirements & Blood Sugar levelsFor Type 2 Diabetics
1. Dr. Jonathan Wright suggests diabetics have a daily intake of the following nutrients chromium 1000 to 2000 mg., Niacin 1.5 to 2.5 mg , Niacinamide 50 to 100 mg ,Biotin 8 to 16 mg., Alpha-lipoic- acid 300 mg., Co-Enzyme Q 10-60 mg. Vitamin K 5 to 10 mg., Vitamin D -2000 I.U. daily, Vitamin E (as mixed tocopherols) 400 IU, Vitamin C 2000-3000 mg., Magnesium 300-400 mg., Vanadium 1-2 mg., Zinc 30 mg. Copper 2 mg., Manganese 5-10 mg.,
a. Most supplements will lack a few of these ingredients which can be added from another source.
b. Use only butter, olive oil, and coconut oil for cooking.
2. A current study among Finnish men and women between the ages of 35, with no history type 2 diabetes, where followed for about 12 years. Those who drank three to four cups of coffee per day had a 27 to 29 percent reduced risk of diabetes. Those who drank at least 10 cups a day had a 55 to 79 percent reduced risk.* Adding one additional cup of coffee per day was associated with a .16-units higher insulin sensitivity.
a. Note: Except men who drank pot-boiled coffee, who faced three times the risk of diabetes compared to men who drank filtered coffee. Which may have to do with the length of time the coffee was exposed to high temperatures.
3. Tea consumption was also related to improved insulin sensitivity.
4. 1/2 tsp of cinnamon per day (on toast, in coffee, etc) will lower insulin requirements and also lowers cholesterol.
5. Vinegar can flatten out glucose spikes in your blood as it slows down the digestion of carbohydrates. Just using vinegar on a salad or a teaspoon in a small glass of water ahead of a moderate carbohydrate meal seems to flatten the blood sugar out and give the pancreas a chance to catch up.
6. James Duke in The Green Pharmacy suggests drinking lots of
a. black tea as it significantly reduces blood sugar levels
b. Insulinade (even better!) To a pot of black tea add a pinch each of bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, and tumeric, and steep for 10 minutes.
For Type 1 Diabetics
1. There does not seem to be a feasible way make or a substitute for insulin.
2. Insulin can be stored in a refrigerator (35 to 46 degrees F), unopened, and maintain potency until the expiration date on the package.
3. It may be used beyond the expiration date for an additional year or until it becomes cloudy but no MD would recommend that. In a situation where it is use it or die without it, you will have little choice.
4. Insulin products may be left un-refrigerated (between 59 and 86 degrees F) for up to 28 days and still maintain potency.
5. Under emergency conditions, when the storage temperatures might exceed even 86 degrees F, insulin exposed to these temperatures may still need to be used but it may lose potency.
6. A 6 pack cooler-sized refrigerators that run off 12V DC that run off solar cells or car battery recharged by solar cells.
7. A solar-powered refrigerator with its own collector, the SunDanzer BFR105 Battery-Free (PV Direct) model, at $1199, has ultra low energy consumption, is 3.7 cf. (41W x 31 D x 39H inches) and 200 lbs
Herbs for Diabetes
Diabetes has been treated with plant medicines and recent scientific investigation has confirmed the efficacy of many of these preparations, some of which are remarkably effective. Only those herbs that appear most effective, are relatively non-toxic and have substantial documentation of efficacy are covered here.
1. Pterocarpus marsupium (Kino tree) gum-resin much used in Indian medicine as a treatment for diabetes. The crude alcohol extract have actually been shown to regenerate functional pancreatic beta cells. No other drug or natural agent has been shown to generate this activity.
2. Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia) or balsam pear, is a tropical vegetable widely used as a remedy for diabetes. The blood sugar lowering action of the fresh juice of the unripe fruit has been clearly established in clinical studies.
a. Charantin, extracted by alcohol, is a hypoglycaemic agent composed of mixed steroids that is more potent than the drug tolbutamide which is often used in the treatment of diabetes.
b. Momordica also contains an insulin-like polypeptide, polypeptide-P, which lowers blood sugar levels when injected subcutaneously into type 1 diabetic patients. The oral administration of 50-60 ml of the juice has shown good results in clinical trials.
3. Gymnema Sylvestre (Gurmar) assists the pancreas in the production of insulin in Type 2 diabetes. Gymnema also improves the ability of insulin to lower blood sugar in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It decreases cravings for sweet. This herb can be an excellent substitute for oral blood sugar-lowering drugs in Type 2 diabetes. Some people take 500 mg per day of gymnema extract.
4. Onion and Garlic ( Allium cepa and Allium sativum) have significant blood sugar lowering action. Clinical evidence suggests that APDS components lower glucose levels by competing with insulin for insulin-inactivating sites in the liver which results in an increase of free insulin.
a. APDS administered in doses of 125 mg/ kg to fasting humans was found to cause a marked fall in blood glucose levels and an increase in serum insulin.
b. Allicin doses of 100 mg/kg produced a similar effect.
c. Onion extract was found to reduce blood sugar levels even with 1 to 7 oz (raw and boiled onion) by the metabolism of glucose and/or increases the release of insulin, and/or prevent insulin's destruction.
d. Additional benefit of the use of garlic and onions are to lower lipid levels, inhibit platelet aggregation and are antihypertensive. So, liberal use of onion and garlic are recommended for diabetic patients.
5. Fenugreek the antidiabetic properties of seeds that contains the alkaloid trogonelline, nicotinic acid and coumarin.
6. Blueberry leaves-A decoction of the leaves of the blueberry has a long history of use in the treatment of diabetes. The compound myrtillin (an anthocyanoside), the most active ingredient, when injected is somewhat weaker than insulin, but is less toxic, even at 50 times the 1 g per day therapeutic dose. A single dose can produce beneficial effects lasting several weeks and also increase capillary integrity and improve the tone of the vascular system. In Europe, it is used as an anti-haemorrhagic agent in the treatment of eye diseases including diabetic retinopathy.
7. Asian Ginseng has been shown to enhance the release of insulin from the pancreas and to increase the number of insulin receptors. 200 mg of ginseng extract per day improved blood sugar control as well as energy levels in Type 2 diabetes.
8. Bilberry may lower the risk of some diabetic complications, such as diabetic cataracts and retinopathy.
9. Ginkgo Biloba extract may prove useful for prevention and treatment of early-stage diabetic neuropathy.
10. Cinnamon - Triples insulin's efficiency
11. Barberry - One of the mildest and best liver tonics known. Dosage: tincture, 10-30 drops; standard decoction or 3-9 g.
12. Herbal Combinations For all pancreatic problems:
1 part uva ursi
1 part goldenseal
1 part elecampane
2 parts dandelion root
2 parts cedar berries
1 part fennel part ginger
a. Mix the powdered herbs and put them in #00 capsules.
b. Take them after every meal
Herbal Treatment of Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes
In a comprehensive management program of non-insulin dependent diabetes, where the Islets of Langerhans are working, plant hypoglycemics documented.
1. Examples from Europe:
a. Bilberry, Garlic, Goat's Rue, Mulberry Leaves, Olive Leaves
b. Goat's Rue is a gentle endocrine stimulation of pituitary or hypothalamus and in some people they can be dramatically effective in lowering blood sugar.
2. Plants that been shown to have experimental hypoglycemic effects to a greater or lesser degree but where the mechanisms are not clear:
a. Black Cohosh, Burdock, Cashew, Cayenne, Celery, Dandelion, Fenugreek Ginseng, Golden Seal, Gravel Root, Oats, Peyote, Pill bearing Spurge, and Spinach.
3. Cardio-vascular system (Heart and vascular) tonics, appropriate for long-term use, especially are Bilberry, Hawthorn berry and Ginkgo.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?479.last
Eeyore started this string of post titled
Carrying capacity for land (in general or in total)
I was wondering what peoples thoughts are on the carring capacity of land in general or total.
What i mean is how much land is necessarly for a long term Bad Times. I understand that is different in different parts of the country also.
I mean for growing enough food, having enough water, having enough wood to having enough stock.
Then you would have to couple that with having enough people (for security to work the land to purpose what you need) then figuring out exactly what skills are necessary and what skill would good to have.
It is really a lot to think about if you what to be realistic about it.
The more land ou need to secure (or protect) means more people, which means more land and then more people.
Just something i have been mulling about in my mind after reading some of the latest post.
230gr responded
Unless you have irrigation capability, intensively fertile soil and can practice bio-intensive gardening, you will need 1/3 to ½ acre just for garden area per adult for a years worth of fresh and canned foods with adequate calories.
For 12 adults, that means about 4 to 6 acres for growing food. More for orchards and small fruits and possibly a fish pond, as well as, pasture for your animals.
For the ongoing production of firewood you will need a large enough woodlot in the more heavily forested eastern US this means about 5 acres for a Northern winter’s heating and cooking (if you every twig, branch and log) figuring on at least a cord per acre with out cutting more than what will regrow annually.
Then there is your housing, outbuildings and just plain living space and privacy space. This will be 1 or 2 acres more.
Much more land is needed where it is dry and hot with sparse woods but more land may not necessarily need to be protected by more people. You need to cover your inner perimeter, gardens, barn, retreat and out buildings especially at night. Woods, pastures (when the animals are driven in), and grain fields are not as vital. Animals like cattle and goats will be extremely valuable and armed herdsman will need to overwatch them on pasture during the day. A lot will depend on the population density of your area and you relationship to likely “golden hoard” movement routs.
Grog responded
When it comes to sustainability, a few things come to mind, space for food production, space for storage of supplies, access to potable water, conditions for waste/garbage (Not every thing can be composted)
and can you protect it? Not just from jbts/hordes but say flooding, fire or the like.
The number of people and things like security, maintaining shelters, growing food, securing clothing (weave, tan hides, make foot wear etc).
Grog added to his earlier post addendum: figure 5 acres per person, and if raising food animals, figure again water needs, fodder sources, and again sustainability. based on a loose rule, a core of say 24 people say between ages 6 to 65, without special needs would need a minimum of 120 acres, call it 5 gallons of water per person per day every day for sanitation, hydration and personal hygiene. so daily water 120 gallons every 24 hours.
For animals, call it 10 gallons a day part water for hydration and for crop production for those animals.
call this roughly 1000 gallons a day for 100 goats or sheep. I am sticking to small food animals, not larger ones like bison or cattle. Granted these may be higher than actual usage. The water rates for animals includes water for growing food, for humans, I set the usage for not just hydration, but food prep, washing of clothing and materials, not just survival intake minimums. As to waste, well even properly built privys are of a limited lifespan and need another one some where, same with septic systems. Possibly using methane generators could off set this, but this will depend on how you are set up. I feel the sanitation issue is often over looked....
Groovy Mike responded
My great grandfather said (+/- 75 years ago) that "with 10 good acres" he could feed his family of 5 year round without ever leaving home. With a good water source and at least 50% tillable ground I think he was right on target.
ez responded
Looking at my area.
there isn't really a need for firewood.so that cuts down the amount of land needed.
the big things here are gardening and the amount of land you can secure.
gardening you would need 4times more land so that rotating from year to year is possible. with our poor soil conditions it takes xtreme composting to ensure the soil will be good for the next year.
I'm saying for 2 families 3 acres just for gardening 11/2 to plant am year the use the other 11/2 to plant the next year.
For fruit trees 2 acres. plums/ citrus/ mango's/ avocados/ peaches and nuts . I say 2 acres because I see small front yards growing these fruits healthy all around me.
For living I believe 1 acre for 2 homes is good. you can still have limited privacy and be close enough to provide security to each other. most homes today are closer then that and still have room for a garage and small buildings
Live stock is a big one here since we have mostly sands raising live stock on a large scale would not be practical.
with that said we are already over run with wild hogs and gators. both could supply with a years worth of meat.
A pond Id say the bigger the better I could easily go with a 1 acre pond this would supply watter for the crops home to the gators / fish/ and birds (duck, geese, ) .
I based this on 2 families roughly 11 people. So I'm up to 7 acres I believe could work as long as careful attention was taken to plan out every year
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?488.last
Our second post is offered from Jerry D. Young called
Some average water usage numbers
Okay. Got my Arkansas State Board of Health Bureau of Sanitary Engineering Individual Water Supply Systems handbook dated 1961 out. Don't think many things have changed except house hold use may be up. Though with water saving toilets, showers, Energy Star appliances and such, it might be about the same. Take it as you see it. Use or reject what you don't feel is correct.
Domestic use per person average household: 50 gallons
Per horse, mule, or steer 12 gallons/day
Per dairy cow drinking only 15 gallons/day
Per dairy cow drinking & dairy servicing 35 gallons/day
Per hog 4 gallons/day
Per sheep 2 gallons/day
Per 100 chickens 4gallons/day
Per 100 turkeys 7 gallons/day
Per 5/8" hose 200 gallons /day
Per 3/4" hose w/1/4" nozzle 300gallons/day
Per 1 1/2" fire hose w/1/2" nozzle 2,400 gallons/day
For small residences a minimm of 5 gallon/minute pump with a 42 gallon pressure tank
An average residence should have a 10 gallon/minuite pump and a 100 gallon pressure tank.
From the Ruth-Berry pump engineering manual
Pasture 1 1/2" to 2" per irrigation every 10 to 15 days
Alfalfa 3" to 6" per irrigation every 21 to 45 days
Vegetables 1" to 3" per irrigation every 7 to 21 days
Berries 2" to 3" per irrigation every 14 to 21 days
Orchards 3" to 6" per irrigation every 21 to 45 days
Clover 2" to 4" per irrigation every 14 to 30 days
Root crops 1" to 3" per irrigation every 7to 14 days
1 acre inch of water = 27,100 gallons of water
eeyore responded
I can say a donkey uses less then 5 gallons a day. That is one on pasture and hay no real work being done.
From an experiment a friend and my family did back around 2000 (a bugin type situation), we found it took (realistically) over two gallons per person each day, when you figured cleaning, for food and hygiene.
Can it be less i'm sure, but if you are working even part of the day, you are going to at least want to take some type of bath at the end of the day.
230gr responded
Good information! thanks Jerry.
Domestic use per person average household: 50 gallons
can be cut back a lot with planning & reuse, IMO.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?543.last
The third post is from 230gr called
Reducing Insulin Requirements & Blood Sugar levels
This is information that I have been collecting for personal use and I no longer have the referances and sources. I have tried a good bit of it and find it is worth doing. 230gr
Reducing Insulin Requirements & Blood Sugar levelsFor Type 2 Diabetics
1. Dr. Jonathan Wright suggests diabetics have a daily intake of the following nutrients chromium 1000 to 2000 mg., Niacin 1.5 to 2.5 mg , Niacinamide 50 to 100 mg ,Biotin 8 to 16 mg., Alpha-lipoic- acid 300 mg., Co-Enzyme Q 10-60 mg. Vitamin K 5 to 10 mg., Vitamin D -2000 I.U. daily, Vitamin E (as mixed tocopherols) 400 IU, Vitamin C 2000-3000 mg., Magnesium 300-400 mg., Vanadium 1-2 mg., Zinc 30 mg. Copper 2 mg., Manganese 5-10 mg.,
a. Most supplements will lack a few of these ingredients which can be added from another source.
b. Use only butter, olive oil, and coconut oil for cooking.
2. A current study among Finnish men and women between the ages of 35, with no history type 2 diabetes, where followed for about 12 years. Those who drank three to four cups of coffee per day had a 27 to 29 percent reduced risk of diabetes. Those who drank at least 10 cups a day had a 55 to 79 percent reduced risk.* Adding one additional cup of coffee per day was associated with a .16-units higher insulin sensitivity.
a. Note: Except men who drank pot-boiled coffee, who faced three times the risk of diabetes compared to men who drank filtered coffee. Which may have to do with the length of time the coffee was exposed to high temperatures.
3. Tea consumption was also related to improved insulin sensitivity.
4. 1/2 tsp of cinnamon per day (on toast, in coffee, etc) will lower insulin requirements and also lowers cholesterol.
5. Vinegar can flatten out glucose spikes in your blood as it slows down the digestion of carbohydrates. Just using vinegar on a salad or a teaspoon in a small glass of water ahead of a moderate carbohydrate meal seems to flatten the blood sugar out and give the pancreas a chance to catch up.
6. James Duke in The Green Pharmacy suggests drinking lots of
a. black tea as it significantly reduces blood sugar levels
b. Insulinade (even better!) To a pot of black tea add a pinch each of bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, and tumeric, and steep for 10 minutes.
For Type 1 Diabetics
1. There does not seem to be a feasible way make or a substitute for insulin.
2. Insulin can be stored in a refrigerator (35 to 46 degrees F), unopened, and maintain potency until the expiration date on the package.
3. It may be used beyond the expiration date for an additional year or until it becomes cloudy but no MD would recommend that. In a situation where it is use it or die without it, you will have little choice.
4. Insulin products may be left un-refrigerated (between 59 and 86 degrees F) for up to 28 days and still maintain potency.
5. Under emergency conditions, when the storage temperatures might exceed even 86 degrees F, insulin exposed to these temperatures may still need to be used but it may lose potency.
6. A 6 pack cooler-sized refrigerators that run off 12V DC that run off solar cells or car battery recharged by solar cells.
7. A solar-powered refrigerator with its own collector, the SunDanzer BFR105 Battery-Free (PV Direct) model, at $1199, has ultra low energy consumption, is 3.7 cf. (41W x 31 D x 39H inches) and 200 lbs
Herbs for Diabetes
Diabetes has been treated with plant medicines and recent scientific investigation has confirmed the efficacy of many of these preparations, some of which are remarkably effective. Only those herbs that appear most effective, are relatively non-toxic and have substantial documentation of efficacy are covered here.
1. Pterocarpus marsupium (Kino tree) gum-resin much used in Indian medicine as a treatment for diabetes. The crude alcohol extract have actually been shown to regenerate functional pancreatic beta cells. No other drug or natural agent has been shown to generate this activity.
2. Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia) or balsam pear, is a tropical vegetable widely used as a remedy for diabetes. The blood sugar lowering action of the fresh juice of the unripe fruit has been clearly established in clinical studies.
a. Charantin, extracted by alcohol, is a hypoglycaemic agent composed of mixed steroids that is more potent than the drug tolbutamide which is often used in the treatment of diabetes.
b. Momordica also contains an insulin-like polypeptide, polypeptide-P, which lowers blood sugar levels when injected subcutaneously into type 1 diabetic patients. The oral administration of 50-60 ml of the juice has shown good results in clinical trials.
3. Gymnema Sylvestre (Gurmar) assists the pancreas in the production of insulin in Type 2 diabetes. Gymnema also improves the ability of insulin to lower blood sugar in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It decreases cravings for sweet. This herb can be an excellent substitute for oral blood sugar-lowering drugs in Type 2 diabetes. Some people take 500 mg per day of gymnema extract.
4. Onion and Garlic ( Allium cepa and Allium sativum) have significant blood sugar lowering action. Clinical evidence suggests that APDS components lower glucose levels by competing with insulin for insulin-inactivating sites in the liver which results in an increase of free insulin.
a. APDS administered in doses of 125 mg/ kg to fasting humans was found to cause a marked fall in blood glucose levels and an increase in serum insulin.
b. Allicin doses of 100 mg/kg produced a similar effect.
c. Onion extract was found to reduce blood sugar levels even with 1 to 7 oz (raw and boiled onion) by the metabolism of glucose and/or increases the release of insulin, and/or prevent insulin's destruction.
d. Additional benefit of the use of garlic and onions are to lower lipid levels, inhibit platelet aggregation and are antihypertensive. So, liberal use of onion and garlic are recommended for diabetic patients.
5. Fenugreek the antidiabetic properties of seeds that contains the alkaloid trogonelline, nicotinic acid and coumarin.
6. Blueberry leaves-A decoction of the leaves of the blueberry has a long history of use in the treatment of diabetes. The compound myrtillin (an anthocyanoside), the most active ingredient, when injected is somewhat weaker than insulin, but is less toxic, even at 50 times the 1 g per day therapeutic dose. A single dose can produce beneficial effects lasting several weeks and also increase capillary integrity and improve the tone of the vascular system. In Europe, it is used as an anti-haemorrhagic agent in the treatment of eye diseases including diabetic retinopathy.
7. Asian Ginseng has been shown to enhance the release of insulin from the pancreas and to increase the number of insulin receptors. 200 mg of ginseng extract per day improved blood sugar control as well as energy levels in Type 2 diabetes.
8. Bilberry may lower the risk of some diabetic complications, such as diabetic cataracts and retinopathy.
9. Ginkgo Biloba extract may prove useful for prevention and treatment of early-stage diabetic neuropathy.
10. Cinnamon - Triples insulin's efficiency
11. Barberry - One of the mildest and best liver tonics known. Dosage: tincture, 10-30 drops; standard decoction or 3-9 g.
12. Herbal Combinations For all pancreatic problems:
1 part uva ursi
1 part goldenseal
1 part elecampane
2 parts dandelion root
2 parts cedar berries
1 part fennel part ginger
a. Mix the powdered herbs and put them in #00 capsules.
b. Take them after every meal
Herbal Treatment of Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes
In a comprehensive management program of non-insulin dependent diabetes, where the Islets of Langerhans are working, plant hypoglycemics documented.
1. Examples from Europe:
a. Bilberry, Garlic, Goat's Rue, Mulberry Leaves, Olive Leaves
b. Goat's Rue is a gentle endocrine stimulation of pituitary or hypothalamus and in some people they can be dramatically effective in lowering blood sugar.
2. Plants that been shown to have experimental hypoglycemic effects to a greater or lesser degree but where the mechanisms are not clear:
a. Black Cohosh, Burdock, Cashew, Cayenne, Celery, Dandelion, Fenugreek Ginseng, Golden Seal, Gravel Root, Oats, Peyote, Pill bearing Spurge, and Spinach.
3. Cardio-vascular system (Heart and vascular) tonics, appropriate for long-term use, especially are Bilberry, Hawthorn berry and Ginkgo.
http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?479.last
Monday, August 3, 2009
Frc's Highlighted post of the week
Tool of His posted this handy litle primer on canning
Canning Equipment
Make sure you have the right equipment for home canning. To safely can low acid
foods, such as vegetables and meats, you must have a pressure canner. This is
not a pressure cooker. Only use a pressure cooker if it specifies you can use it as
a canner. Read the manufacturer's directions for the unit. Various makes differ in
size, pressure control, material, and operating instructions.
All canners must be kept in good repair. If yours has a dial pressure gauge, check
it at least once a year for accuracy. An accurate pressure gauge is necessary to
prevent food spoilage and possible food poisoning.
Use water bath canners for canning acid foods such as fruits, pickles and
tomatoes. If you buy a water bath canner, make sure it is deep enough to hold
water one inch above jars and will be able to handle a full rolling boil without
water boiling over onto the stove. It should come with a rack to hold jars off the
bottom, and a tight fitting lid.
In addition to a pressure canner and / or a boiling water bath canner, you need
standard canning jars and new two piece lids. Discard any jars with cracks or
chipped rims.
A few small utensils help speed canning. Small vegetable brushes and large pans
or colanders to hold and wash food will help. Other tools that will help are a jar
funnel for packing, tongs for lifting foods and lids, and a slender plastic spatula
or a non metal knife to work out air bubbles in the packed jar. A jar lifter is a must
for safely lifting hot jars in and out of the canner.
Cloudiness in Liquid of Canned Foods
Cloudiness in canned food liquid often indicates spoilage, so be careful.
Cloudiness often accompanies flat sour spoilage, but you can usually detect a
bad odor as well. Boil food 10 minutes before you taste it if the liquid is cloudy, or
if you are unsure how the food was canned. If the food does not smell normal
during boiling, throw it away without tasting. In spoiled foods, the cloudiness will
usually be very obvious.
In certain foods, cloudiness may not indicate spoilage. For example, the starch
content in over mature peas and many kinds of dry beans can cause cloudiness.
Uneven sizing of products can also cause cloudiness.. For example, small tender
peas will cook to pieces during heat processing, while more mature peas in the
same can will keep their shape. The liquid will be somewhat cloudy under these
circumstances.
In home canned foods, hard water or salt containing impurities or additives, may
cause cloudiness. In fruits, over-ripe fruit may make the syrup cloudy.
Fermentation causes the liquid on brined dill pickles to become cloudy. In all of
these examples, the cloudiness is normal and not harmful.
How do different canning methods effect the safety of home canned foods?
There are no safe short-cuts in home canning. Heat processing all high acid
foods in a boiling water canner and low acid foods in a pressure canner - for the
appropriate time for the food and jar size - are the only currently approved
methods for safe home canning.
There is no substitute for adequate heat treatment. Some people may experience
"good luck" with outdated methods...and then one year everything spoils! Each
growing season is different. Heat-resistant bacteria are not necessarily present in
every piece of produce. IF these organisms are absent... and that's a big IF...
under processed foods might keep. When they are present, the food spoils. Be
safe rather than sorry. Always assume these micro organisms are present. Follow
current, tested practices, such as those recommended on this site, that use the
equipment and supplies available to you today.
Certain home canning methods and techniques, once thought to offer success,
have been shown to be faulty, unsafe and potentially dangerous. These include:
Open Kettle Canning: Open kettle canning is not safe and is not recommended
for food preservation. Open kettle canning involves cooking the food in an open
saucepan. The hot food is then put into jars and the lids are quickly put in place.
This method "hopes" that a proper seal will be achieved as the food cools.
Regardless of the duration or heat intensity of the cooking period, the open-kettle
method is not safe because the filled jars of food are not heated to and
maintained at temperatures necessary to destroy spoilage microorganisms and
assure strong vacuum seals. The open-kettle method omits essential heat
processing necessary to drive the air from the jar to create a vacuum seal. The lid
may appear to seal, but later may unseal due to a low vacuum. Or, micro
organisms left in the food may cause spoilage. This spoilage produces gases,
which in turn increase pressure inside the jar. The increased pressure may force
the lid to release.
Foods ferment when open kettle canning does not destroy yeasts, or permits
them to enter the jar as it is filled and before it is sealed. Simply getting lids to
curve downward on jars will not, in itself, prevent food from spoiling. The only
successful way to create an airtight vacuum seal and destroy spoilage
microorganisms is to heat process all filled jars by a method and time,
appropriate for the type of food and jar size.
Oven Canning: Not only is it unsafe, oven canning can be extremely hazardous.
Regardless of the brand of oven, jar, cap or lid you use, jars can break or explode
due to temperature fluctuations when the oven door is opened. When you
preserve food, it is important to know and control temperature. Oven
temperatures vary according to accuracy of the oven regulator and how heat
circulates. Also, dry heat penetrates food jars very slowly. Moreover, the
temperature of the food inside the jar is not heated sufficiently to destroy
microorganisms.
Steam Canning: Do not confuse steam canning with pressure canning. Steam
canning places jars of food on a rack in a covered, shallow pan. As the water in
the shallow pan boils, steam is circulated around the filled jars. Steam in this
device is not pressurized. These canners do not create a steady flow of steam nor
maintain an even temperature. It is impossible to know if the heat has penetrated
the food properly. The heat processing times given in recipes on this site are safe
for processing foods in a boiling water canner or pressure canner as specified.
Do not use these processing times for a steam canner as safe processing times
have not been established for this method.
Glossary of Canning Terms
Acid foods - Foods which contain enough acid to result in a pH of 4.6 or lower.
Includes all fruits except figs; most tomatoes; fermented and pickled
vegetables; relishes; and jams, jellies, and marmalades. Acid foods may be
processed in boiling water.
Altitude - The vertical elevation of a location above sea level.
Ascorbic acid - The chemical name for vitamin C. Lemon juice contains large
quantities of ascorbic acid and is commonly used to prevent browning of peeled,
light-colored fruits and vegetables.
Bacteria - A large group of one-celled microorganisms widely distributed in
nature. See microorganism.
Blancher - A 6 to 8 quart lidded pot designed with a fitted perforated basket to
hold food in boiling water, or with a fitted rack to steam foods. Useful for
loosening skins on fruits to be peeled, or for heating foods to be hot packed.
Boiling water canner - A large standard-sized lidded kettle with jar rack,
designed for heat-processing 7 quarts or 8 to 9 pints in boiling water.
Botulism - An illness caused by eating toxin produced by growth of Clostridium
botulinum bacteria in moist, low-acid food, containing less than 2 percent
oxygen, and stored between 40 degrees and 120 degrees F. Proper heat
processing destroys this bacterium in canned food. Freezer temperatures inhibit
its growth in frozen food. Low moisture controls its growth in dried food. High
oxygen controls its growth in fresh foods.
Canning - A method of preserving food in air-tight vacuum-sealed containers and
heat processing sufficiently to enable storing the food at normal-home
temperatures.
Canning salt - Also called pickling salt. It is regular table salt without the anti
caking or iodine additives.
Citric acid - A form of acid that can be added to canned foods. It increases the
acidity of low-acid foods and may improve the flavor and color.
Cold pack - Canning procedure in which jars are filled with raw food. "Raw pack"
is the preferred term for describing this practice. "Cold pack" is often used
incorrectly to refer to foods that are open-kettle canned or jars that are heatprocessed
in boiling water.
Enzymes - Proteins in food which accelerate many flavor, color, texture, and
nutritional changes, especially when food is cut, sliced, crushed, bruised, and
exposed to air. Proper blanching or hot-packing practices destroy enzymes and
improve food quality.
Exhausting - Removal of air from within and around food and from jars and
canners. Blanching exhausts air from live food tissues. Exhausting or venting of
pressure canners is necessary to prevent a risk of botulism in low-acid canned
foods.
Fermentation - Changes in food caused by intentional growth of bacteria, yeast,
or mold. Native bacteria ferment natural sugars to lactic acid, a major flavoring
and preservative in sauerkraut and in naturally fermented dills. Alcohol, vinegar,
and some dairy products are also fermented foods.
Headspace - The unfilled space above food or liquid in jars. Allows for food
expansion as jars are heated, and for forming vacuums as jars cool.
Heat processing - Treatment of jars with sufficient heat to enable storing food at
normal home temperatures.
Hermetic seal - An absolutely airtight container seal which prevents reentry of air
or microorganisms into packaged foods.
Hot pack - Heating of raw food in boiling water or steam and filling it hot into jars.
Low-acid foods - Foods which contain very little acid and have a pH above 4.6.
The acidity in these foods is insufficient to prevent the growth of the
bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Vegetables, some tomatoes, figs, all meats,
fish, seafood, and some dairy foods are low acid. To control all risks of
botulism, jars of these foods must be (1) heat processed in a pressure canner, or
(2) acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower before processing in boiling water.
Microorganisms - Independent organisms of microscopic size, including bacteria,
yeast, and mold. When alive in a suitable environment, they grow rapidly and may
divide or reproduce every 10 to 30 minutes. Therefore, they reach high
populations very quickly. Undesirable microorganisms cause disease and food
spoilage. Microorganisms are sometimes intentionally added to ferment foods,
make antibiotics, and for other reasons.
Mold - A fungus-type microorganism whose growth on food is usually visible and
colorful. Molds may grow on many foods, including acid foods like jams and
jellies and canned fruits. Recommended heat processing and sealing practices
prevent their growth on these foods.
Mycotoxins - Toxins produced by the growth of some molds on foods.
Open - Kettle canning A non-recommended canning method. Food is supposedly
adequately heat processed in a covered kettle, and then filled hot and sealed in
sterile jars. Foods canned this way have low vacuums or too much air, which
permits rapid loss of quality in foods. Moreover these foods often spoil because
they become recontaminated while the jars are being filled
Pasteurization - Heating of a specific food enough to destroy the most
heat-resistant pathogenic or disease-causing microorganism known to be
associated with that food.
PH - A measure of acidity or alkalinity. Values range from 0 to 14. A food is
neutral when its pH is 7.0: lower values are increasingly more acidic; higher
values are increasingly more alkaline.
Pickling - The practice of adding enough vinegar or lemon juice to a low acid
food to lower its pH to 4.6 or lower. Properly pickled foods may be safely heat
processed in boiling water.
Pressure canner - A specifically designed metal kettle with a lockable lid used for
heat processing low acid food. These canners have jar racks, one or more safety
devices, systems for exhausting air, and a way to measure or control pressure.
Canners with 20 to 21 quart capacity are common. The minimum volume of
canner that can be used is 16 quart capacity, which will contain 7 quart jars. Use
of pressure saucepans with less than 16-quart capacities is not recommended.
Raw pack - The practice of filling jars with raw, unheated food. Acceptable for
canning low acid foods, but allows more rapid quality losses in acid foods heat
processed in boiling water.
Spice bag - A closeable fabric bag used to extract spice flavors in a pickling
solution.
Style of pack - Form of canned food, such as whole, sliced, piece, juice, or
sauce. The term may also be used to reveal whether food is filled raw or hot
into jars.
Vacuum - The state of negative pressure. Reflects how thoroughly air is removed
from within a jar of processed food - the higher the vacuum, the less air left in the
jar.
Yeasts - A group of microorganisms which reproduce by budding. They are used
in fermenting some foods and in leavening breads.
How Long Are Canned Foods Safe
Canned foods, whether in tins or glass jars, won't keep forever. Commercial
canners work under tightly controlled conditions with careful sanitation and just
the right heat and timing periods, but there are still limits to how long food quality
can be preserved. Home-canned foods, processed under less carefully controlled
conditions, may have even shorter storage lives.
There are several factors that limit the shelf-life of canned foods. First, cans or
metal lids on glass jars can rust. When rust is deep enough, tiny holes open in
the can or lid that may let spoilage agents in. Shipping accidents that dent or
crush cans also cause container problems.
Then there is can corrosion. In all foods, especially high-acid foods like canned
tomatoes and fruit juices, the food continually reacts chemically with the metal
container. Over several years, this can cause taste and texture changes, and
eventually lower the nutritional value of the food.
High temperature over 100 degrees F are harmful to canned foods, too. The risk
of spoilage jumps sharply as storage temperatures rise. In fact, canned goods
designed for use in the tropics are specially processed. Even at prolonged
storage temperatures above 75 degrees F, the rate of nutrient loss in canned
foods increases. Light can cause color changes and nutrient losses in foods
canned in glass jars.
Never use foods from containers with these spoilage warning signs--loose or
bulging lids on jars; bulging, leaking or badly dented cans, or foods with a foul
odor.
To store canned food wisely, follow these guidelines:
Store them in a cool, clean dry place where temperatures are below 85 degrees. A
range of 60 to 70 degrees is even better.
Low-acid canned foods may be stored in a cupboard for as long as two to five
years. For top quality use before one year.
Use high-acid foods within 12 to 18 months. Foods stored longer will still be safe
to eat if the cans show no signs of spoilage or damage, but the foods may have
deteriorated in color, flavor and nutritive value.
If home canned foods have frozen during storage, are they safe to eat?
If the jar of food was processed according to current home canning
recommendations), and the jar is still vacuum sealed, the food should be safe to
eat.
Examine the jar closely, freezing can cause damage to the vacuum seal or jar
breakage. Home canned food that has been frozen during storage may by less
desirable due to changes in texture, flavor, nutritional value and color.
Reasons Home Canned Food Spoils
When foods canned in a pressure canner spoil, it is usually due to one of the
following reasons:
An inaccurate dial gauge.
Failure to vent steam from the canner for 10 minutes before closing the petcock
or placing the weighted pressure control on the canner (or specified time
recommended by the manufacturer of your canner).This allows air to remain in
the canner and temperatures will be lower than needed.
Fluctuating heat under the canner.
Processing for too short a time.
If you used a boiling water bath canner and canned food spoils, the cause could
be failure to have water hot when you placed the jars in the canner, not having
enough water to cover the tops of the jars by at least an inch, processing for too
short a time, or processing low-acid foods with this method.
Temperatures for Food Preservation
Temperature(s) Effect
240 to 250°F
Canning temperatures for low acid
vegetables, meat, and poultry in a pressure
canner.
212°F Temperature water boils at sea level.
Canning temperature for acid fruits,
tomatoes, pickles, and jellied products in a
boiling-water canner.
180 to 250°F
Canning temperatures are used to destroy
most bacteria, yeasts, and molds in acid
foods. Time required to kill these decreases
as temperatures increase.
140 to 165°F
Warming temperatures prevent growth, but
may allow survival of some microorganisms.
40 to 140°F
DANGER ZONE. Temperatures between
40°F - 140°F allow rapid growth of bacteria,
yeast, and molds.
95°F
Maximum storage temperature for canned
foods.
50 to 70°F
Best storage temperatures for canned and
dried foods.
32°F Temperature water freezes.
32 to 40°F
Cold temperatures permit slow growth of
some bacteria, yeasts, and molds.
-10 to 32°F
Freezing temperatures stop growth of
microorganisms, but may allow some to
survive.
0 to -10°F
Best storage temperatures for frozen foods.
Testing Your Pressure Canner Dial Gauge
If your pressure canner has a dial gauge, have it checked once a year before the
canning season. Also check it during the season if you use the canner frequently.
Your local NDSU Extension Service office can check the dial gauge on pressure
canners. You can also get them tested at a radiator repair shop.
If you cannot get it tested nearby, write to see if the manufacturer can do it. The
manufacturer's name and address will be pressed into the canner or on a plate
attached to it. Ask for shipping instructions. Pack it like fine crystal and label the
package "fragile." If you do not have an instruction book for your canner, write
for one.
If the gauge reading is off one pound or more, buy a new pressure gauge. If it is
off less than one pound, tie a tag on the canner to remind yourself of the
difference and adjust to pressure reading to allow for difference.
The weighted pressure control on canners does not need to be checked. Keep it
clean and rust free.
In most canners there is a gasket. These gaskets are made of rubber or rubber
like compounds to keep steam from leaking out around the cover. You can
remove and replace most gaskets as needed. Some only need to be turned to
ensure a tight seal. Replace a worn, stretched or hardened gasket with a new one.
Refer to the canner instructions for directions. Leakage makes it difficult to reach
the right pressure and may cause the canner to boil dry. (I suggest keeping a
spare gasket on hand. They seem to only go when you need it the most and don’t
have one).
Unsafe Canning Methods
There are no safe short cuts in canning. And there is no substitute for adequate
heat treatment. Some people have had "good luck" for years, but each season is
different and you never know if this is the year everything spoils. This is because
heat-resistant bacteria are not always present. When these organisms are absent,
the under-processed foods might keep. If they are present, the food spoils. So
you must always assume they are present.
The open kettle method involves placing hot food in jars and sealing with no
further heat treatment. This method is NOT recommended for home canning of
any food because it seldom sterilizes food. Without sufficient heat to destroy
bacteria and sterilize the food, the product may spoil. Foods ferment when openkettle
canning does not destroy yeasts, or permits them to enter the jar before it
is sealed. Simply getting lids to seal on jars will not prevent food from spoiling.
Oven canning is extremely hazardous. When you can food it is important to know
and control temperature. With oven canning the temperature will vary according
to accuracy of the oven regulator and how heat circulates. The dry heat
penetrates food jars very slowly. Oven canning can be dangerous regardless of
brand of oven, jar, cap or lid you use. Jars may explode, wrecking the oven and
seriously cutting or burning someone. Most important, the temperature of the
food in the jars during oven-canning is not high enough to destroy dangerous
bacteria.
Do not use any chemicals or preserving powders as a substitute for heat treating
home canned food. These will not prevent food from spoiling, or give you a good
product. If you do not use a heat treatment, there will not be a vacuum in
containers and this will generally accelerate food deterioration. The only safe
procedures are boiling water bath process for acid foods and pressure canning
for low acid foods.
Some new kitchen appliances will create a vacuum in the jar without heat
treatment. These are dangerous because there is no heat to destroy spoilage
organisms and botulism bacteria could grow under the vacuum seal.
Potentially unsafe devices are now sold for canning food in a microwave oven.
These have not been shown to destroy all bacteria present in the food or heat
uniformly. Problems may also occur with siphoning of the food out of the jars and
lid failures. Do not use these devices to can food at home.
Meat and Poultry Yields
beef & pork (w/o bone), 2 to 2 1/2 lbs per Pint
beef & pork (w bone), 1 1/2 to 2 lbs per Pint
chicken (w/o bone), 3 to 3 1/2 lbs per Pint
chicken (w bone), 4 to 5 lbs per Quart
The exact yield depends on the way the product is trimmed, cut, and packed.
Altitude Charts
BOILING-WATER CANNER
Altitude Increase Processing Time
1,001 – 3,000 5 minutes
3,001 – 6,000 10 minutes
6,001 – 8,000 15 minutes
8,001 – 10,000 20 minutes
STEAM-PRESSURE CANNER
Altitude Weighted Gauge Dial Gauge
0 – 1,000 10 11
1,001 – 2,000 15 11
2,001 – 4,000 15 12
4,001 – 6,000 15 13
6,001 – 8,000 15 14
8,001 – 10,000 15 15
Clear Jel, a corn starch derivative, is a commercial thickening product used by
bakeries and for frozen food. This product is used the same as flour or corn
starch. There are two types of Clear Jel available, “instant” and “regular”.
“Instant” does not require heat to thicken. The product will thicken once the
liquid is added. “Regular”, on the other hand, must be heated. This is generally
the preferred type to use in products to be canned.
To use Clear Jel in a hot dish such as gravy, first mix a small amount in cold
water, then add gradually to the hot liquid, mixing constantly. Or, mix everything
together while cold, and then heat and stir to thicken.
Pies and fillings which have been prepared with Clear Jel and frozen need to be
cooked or baked before serving. If the fillings become “thin” during baking,
increase the oven temperature, and shorten the baking time to prevent what is
called “oven boil out”. This usually is caused by excessive baking at a
temperature too low.
Advantages:
• It is clear in color when cooked.
• It has excellent stability.
• It remains smooth.
• It prevents liquid separation and curdling after foods have been frozen.
• Cream sauces, custard, and puddings may be frozen with excellent results.
• It is less expensive than pectin.
• The amount of sugar may be adjusted without losing the jelling capacity.
• Recipes may be doubled, tripled or halved..
• The jam may be frozen or processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Hints:
• Using Clear Jel in making jams and jellies is not an exact science. Many factors
influence the quality of the product. It is best to try a small batch and make
adjustments before making larger batches.
• Use pint or 1/2 pint jars.
• Any fruit jam or jelly recipe may be used as long as the product is processed for
10 minutes or frozen. Substitute 7 Tbsp of Clear Jel for the pectin in cooked jams
and jellies and 3 to 4 Tbsp of Clear Jel for the pectin in freezer jam recipes.
• For freezer jam follow the jam recipes on this sheet.
• Clear Jel does not dissolve easily in liquid. To help dissolve the product mix the
Clear Jel with a little sugar before adding to the fruit or juice.
Problem solving:
Jam is too stiff: To make softer, heat the product and add a little more juice or
water, then reprocess.
Jam is too thin: To make stiffer, heat the product and add more Clear Jel mixed
with a few Tbsp of sugar and dissolved in 1/2 cup of the product.
Knowing Your Headspace
Headspace is the space in the jar between the top of the food or liquid and the
inside of the jar. If you are packing solids and liquid into a jar, add 1/4" to the
recipe's headspace, pack solids to this level. Then add the liquid to the level
recommended for the type of food being canned.
Pickles and fruit require 1/2" headspace. Because these foods are packed with
solids and liquid, pack solids to within 3/4" of the top rim, then add liquid to the
1/2" level.
Relishes, chutney and condiments require 1/2" headspace.
Jams, jellies, soft spreads, preserves, conserves and juices require 1/4"
headspace.
Low acid foods require 1" headspace.
Why is it important?
The proper headspace provides a good balance of - enough space for the food to
expand during heat processing yet not too much space to allow a strong vacuum
to form as the jars cool after processing.
High Acid Foods Step by Step Procedures (Boiling Water Bath)
The air and all foods in their natural state contain invisible microorganisms which
if uncontrolled cause food spoilage. Proper, safe home canning procedures
control the growth of spoilage microorganisms.
Fruits, fruit juices, jams, jellies and other fruit spreads, pickles, relish, salsa,
chutney and tomatoes with added acid are all High Acid Foods. All High Acid
Foods must be "heat processed" in a boiling water canner.
Use only the best, top quality ingredients. For best results, can produce at its
peak of ripeness. (Partially thawed fruits, frozen without added sugar, may be
used in some home canned recipes.)
Use only current, tested home canning recipes that:
1. Include the appropriate heat processing method and time for the food and
mason jar size.
2. Designate heat space for the food and jar size.
3. Come from reputable source which uses the jars and lids that you are using
today.
Step by Step Guide - HIGH ACID FOODS
1. Before your begin, review the recipe and assemble equipment and ingredients.
2. Visually inspect mason jars for nicks, cracks, uneven rims or sharp edges that
may prevent sealing or cause breakage. Check screw bands for proper fit on your
mason jars and be sure SNAP Lids are scratch-free. Wash jars and lids in hot,
soapy water. Rinse well.
3. Place required number of clean mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner;
cover jars with water and heat water to a simmer (180 degrees F, 82 C., 355 K).
Keep jars hot until ready to use. This procedure of sterilizing the jars can be
omitted if foods to be processed have a processing time of 10 minutes or more. I
myself will wash and rinse the jars then place them on a large cooking tray in the
oven at 200 degrees F. (93 C or 366 K) to keep them warm).
4. Prepare food as recipe directs.
5. Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180 degrees
F). Keep SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.
6. Ladle prepared food into a hot jar leaving proper 'heat space'. This is the space
at the top of the jar between the underside of the SNAP Lid and the top of the
food or liquid. Overfilling and under filling can result in seal failure.
Head space is determined by the type of food:
Jam, Jelly 1/4 inch
Fruit 1/2 inch
Pickles, tomatoes 1/2 inch
Relish, Salsa, Chutney 1/2 inch
7. Remove air bubbles by sliding a nonmetallic utensil such as a Bubble Remover
or rubber spatula between jar and food. After removing air bubbles, readjust head
space if required.
8. Wipe jar removing any stickiness. Center SNAP Lid on jar.
9. Apply screw bands evenly and firmly until resistance is met -- fingertip tight.
Over tightening prevents venting - air escaping - during heat processing and can
cause seal failure. The "steam" created inside the jar during heat processing
must be exhausted to allow the formation of a strong airtight seal.
10. Place jar on elevated rack in boiling water canner. Repeat jar filling / closing
steps 6 through 9. When all jars are filled or canner is full, lower rack into water.
Be sure water covers jars by at least 1 inch; add boiling water if required. Place
lid on canner and turn heat to high.
11. When water returns to a full rolling boil, begin counting "heat processing"
time. When time has elapsed, turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow boil to
subside, then lift jars without tilting and place them upright on a towel to cool in a
draft-free place. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands. Cool jars undisturbed for 24
hours.
12. After jars have cooled, check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the
lid center is pulled down and does not move, remove the screw band and lift the
jar by the lid. Lids that do not flex and cannot be easily lifted off the jars have
good seals. Refrigerate or reprocess any unsealed jars.
13. Wipe jars with a damp cloth. Remove, wash and dry screw bands; store
separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool,
dark place. For best quality use home canned foods
Low Acid Foods Step by Step Procedures (Pressure Canning)
Vegetables, meat and game, poultry, seafood, soups, stews, tomato - vegetable
sauces and tomato-meat sauces are all Low Acid Foods. All Low Acid Foods
must be "heat processed" in a pressure canner to eliminate the risk of botulism.
The spoilage organism, Clostridium botulinum can be present in any food. It is
itself destroyed at boiling temperatures, BUT it has the ability to form hardy
spores that can survive the boiling treatment. These spores thrive in a low acid
environment without air - i.e. a sealed jar. As they grow these spores give off a
deadly toxin.
The growth of Clostridium botulinum spores is prevented when filled jars of low
acid foods are "heat processed" at a temperature of 240 degrees F. for the
prescribed time. The only way for a home canner to achieve a 240 degrees F.
temperature is in a pressure canner. (Boiling water canners heat only to 212
degrees F., the temperature of boiling water.) Because Clostridium botulinum
spores do not grow in the presence of acid, HIGH ACID Foods can be safely
processed in a boiling water canner.
Use only current, tested home canning recipes that:
1. Include the appropriate heat processing method and time for the food and
mason jar size.
2. Designate head space for the food and jar size
3. Come from reputable source that uses the jars and lids that you are using
today
Step by Step Guide - LOW ACID FOODS
1. Review the recipe and assemble equipment and ingredients. Visually inspect
mason jars for nicks, cracks, uneven rims or sharp edges that may prevent
sealing or cause breakage. Check screw bands for proper fit on your mason jars
and that SNAP Lids are scratch-free. Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water.
Rinse well.
2. Inspect pressure canner. Check lid and gasket to be sure an airtight seal can
be achieved. Have dial gauge checked regularly.
3. Place rack in pressure canner. Add 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) water. Place jars in
canner; heat water to a gentle boil. Keep jars in canner until ready to fill.
4. Prepare food as recipe directs.
5. Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180 degrees
F). Keep SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.
6. Pack food into a hot jar leaving 1 1/4 inch head space. This is the space at the
top of the jar between the underside of the SNAP Lid and the top of the food or
liquid. Over filling or under filling can result in seal failure.
7. Remove air bubbles by sliding a nonmetallic utensil such as a Bubble Remover
or rubber spatula between jar and food. After removing air bubbles, readjust head
space if required.
8. Wipe jar removing any stickiness. Center SNAP Lid on jar.
9. Apply screw band just until fingertip tight. FINGERTIP TIGHT is as snug as
band can be applied with your fingers. Fingertip tight allows some 'give' between
the SNAP Lid and jar to allow rising steam to escape during heat processing. The
"rising steam" is created inside the jar during heat processing and must be
exhausted to allow the formation of a strong airtight seal.
10. Place jar on rack in canner. Repeat jar filling / closing steps 6 through 9. When
all jars are filled or canner is full, check that water level in canner is about 3
inches or that recommended in manufacturer's manual..
11. Lock canner lid in place, leaving vent open. Place canner over high heat.
Allow steam to escape steadily for 10 minutes (venting canner). Close the vent,
using the weight or method described for your canner. Gradually reduce the heat
to achieve and maintain the recommended pressure. Regulate heat only with
gradual changes to heat level.
12. At altitudes up to 1,000 ft HEAT PROCESS at 10 lb pressure in a weighted
gauge canner or 11 lb pressure in a dial gauge canner for the specified time for
food and jar size. At altitudes higher than 1,000 ft increase lb pressure to that
recommended for your elevation.
13. When processing time is complete, remove canner from heat. Let canner
stand undisturbed until pressure drops to zero.
14. When dial gauge registers zero or when no steam escapes when weighted
gauge canner's weight is nudged, wait 2 minutes - then remove cover, tilting it
away from yourself.
15. Lift jars without tilting from canner and place them upright on a towel to cool
in a draft-free place. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.. Cool undisturbed for 24
hours.
16. After jars have cooled, check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the
lid center is pulled down and does not move, remove the screw band and lift the
jar by the lid. Lids that do not flex and cannot easily be lifted off the jars have
good seals. Refrigerate or reprocess any unsealed jars.
17. Wipe jars with damp cloth; wash and dry screw bands. Store screw bands
separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool,
dark place. For best quality use home canned foods within 1 year.
How tightly should screw bands be applied?
Apply screw bands securely until fingertip tight. Center the prepared SNAP Lid on
the jar. Then, using just your fingers, screw the band down evenly until you meet
a point of resistance. Do not over tighten bands by using the full force of your
hand or a utensil to tighten the band. Do not apply band very firmly and then
reverse it ("back it off") a quarter turn.
After processing, bands may appear to have loosened.. This is natural. Do not
retighten bands after processing. Let jars stand undisturbed 24 hours.
Over tightening bands prevents venting of excess air from the jar during heat
processing. Jars that do not vent properly do not seal securely. Screw bands that
are applied too tightly can cause lids to buckle. Buckling leads to seal failure.
Reasons for Liquid Loss from Jars
As strange as it may seem, there are many reasons for liquid loss from jars
during processing. The following are possible reasons:
The jar is packed too full, that is, you did not leave recommended headspace.
The food is packed so tightly that liquid did not fill the spaces between food
pieces.
Starchy foods may absorb some of the liquid.
The liquid you added to cover cold, raw food was not hot enough when you put
it in the canner.
You did not remove air bubbles when you packed the food. (You can do this by
running a rubber spatula between the food and the jar.)
You did not cover jars of acid foods with one or two inches of water in the
boiling water bath canner.
The pressure canner was not sufficiently exhausted.
Pressure fluctuated, or the temperature lowered suddenly during processing,
due to uncontrolled heat source.
The temperatures changed suddenly when processing was over. If the pressure
canner cools too quickly while the contents of the jar remain at a much higher
temperature, the liquid will boil over. The "coming down" period has to be
gradual and even.
The petcock was opened before the pressure had returned to zero. When the
pressure gets to zero, open the petcock cautiously; if steam escapes, close
and wait a few minutes.
The canner stood too long after pressure returned to zero. Open the canner
within several minutes after it returns to zero pressure.
You removed the jars too quickly after removing the cover. Let the jars stay
in the canner for a few minutes after removing the cover, or until the boiling
in the jars goes down.
The gauge's pointer does not rest at zero when not under pressure.
What causes buckled or bulging lids?
Buckled lids appear to warp or bulge upward under the screw bands. There are
two causes:
Buckling that is apparent immediately after heat processing is caused by
application of the screw bands too tightly.
Two - piece home canning lids are made in two pieces for a very important
reason: to release pressure and vent air from the jar during heat processing.
As the filled jar is heated, headspace pressure increases until excess air is
vented from the jar. When the band is applied too tightly, there is no way for air to
be exhausted from the jar. Consequently, the pressure build-up warps the lids
and disrupts the seal formation.
Buckling that occurs during storage is caused by food spoilage. When heat
processing is insufficient and does not destroy all spoilage microorganisms, food
may spoil during storage. This spoilage produces gases inside the jar that forces
the lid to bulge upward. This food should be discarded in a manner that neither
humans nor animals will consume it.
What causes seal failure or lids to seal then unseal?
The use of up to date home canning utensils and supplies, following the
manufacturer’s recommended lid application techniques and heat processing
steps are all essential for sealing success with home canning two-piece metal
lids.
The most common causes of seal failure are:
Insufficient heat processing of filled jars. When filled jars are not heat processed
and/or when the heat processing method or time are inadequate for the type of
food and jar size – excess air is not “vented” from the jars and microorganisms
that cause food spoilage are not inactivated. Initially, some lids may appear to
seal. i.e. curve downward. However, these same lids may unseal during shelf
storage.
The seal failure at that time is caused by one of two reasons:
a) Very low vacuum was created initially. Low vacuums do not hold over time, or
b) Due to inadequate heat processing, food begins to spoil inside the jar. This
spoilage produces gases that force the lid to release. All filled jars, regardless of
their content, must be heat processed by an appropriate method and time for
safe, shelf-stable storage.
Over tightening of screw bands. Over tightening screw bands prevents “venting.”
Apply screw bands securely, until fingertip tight. Note: Applying screw bands
very tightly, then backing them off a quarter turn is an outdated method that does
not work successfully with SNAP Lids.
Re tightening or tampering with screw bands immediately after processing before
food is thoroughly cooled. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 24 hours.
Incorrect headspace or failure to remove air bubbles before placement of the
SNAP Lid.
Failure to soften sealing compound on SNAP Lids prior to use. Boil SNAP Lids 5
minutes, not longer; let stand in hot water until used.
Reuse of single use SNAP Lids or use of commercial food glass jars.
Use of mason jars with nicks, cracks or chips in the sealing edge or neck rim.
Failure to clean the rim of the filled jar before applying the lid and/or rapid
changes in processing temperatures that cause liquid to siphon from jar. Food,
grease or seeds lodged between the jar rim and sealing compound can prevent
the formation of airtight seals.
Careless or inappropriate handling of jars and lids before and after processing.
i.e. inverting jars after filling or processing.
What is correct way to prepare SNAP Lids for use on jars?
"Boiling lids" prior to placement on jars is no longer required for home canning
success. This recommendation was changed in 2002 to "heat SNAP Lids in hot
water, NOT boiling" (180 degrees F).
Previously, Canadians had been advised to "boil SNAP lids five minutes" before
placing them on filled jars. Testing in Bernardin's labs revealed that boiling the
lids too long, combined with overly tight application of the screw bands, could
lead to seal failure. Research among consumers showed that some home
canners tended to follow the old adage - 'If a little is good, more must be better.'
While pre boiling metal lids is not required, Bernardin lids must be hot when
placed on hot food in hot jars, thus the recommendation to place them in 'hot'
water. Do NOT heat lids in an oven.
Screw bands require no preparation and are much easier to apply to jars when
used at room temperature.
What is the black deposit on the inside of the lid after canning?
The black deposit sometimes found on the underside of a lid is caused by tannins
in the food or hydrogen sulfide which is liberated from the food by the heat of
processing. This does not indicate spoilage.
What should I do if a lid doesn’t seal?
If a lid does not seal within 24 hours, the product must be:
Reprocessed immediately, Stored in the refrigerator and used within a few days,
or Placed in a proper freezer container and frozen.
To reprocess a product, remove the lid and check the sealing surface of the jar
for tiny nicks or imperfections. If glass is damaged, replace the jar. If the product
was packed hot originally, empty the jar and reheat the food. Pack the food into a
clean, hot jar. (If processing time is less than 10 minutes, sterilize the jar before
filling.) Boil a new SNAP Lid 5 minutes, place it on the jar and apply the screw
band securely, until fingertip tight. Reprocess the product using the canning
method and full processing time recommended by an up to date reliable home
canning resource.
You can fix Jarring Errors
PROBLEM 1: Jar doesn't seal.
TO FIX: Reseal it within 24 hours.
Usually, when you take hot jars out of a boiling-water or pressure canner, you'll
hear a "ping" as the jars cool. That's the lid sealing after you forced out the air
with heat. But sometimes, it doesn't happen. The lid stays loose. When you tap it,
it will even sound hollow.
To try again, you need to put hot food back into hot jars. So dump the contents
into a saucepan and reheat them. Wash the jar and put it back into hot water. Put
the hot product back into the hot jar, top it with a new lid -- never reuse a canning
lid -- put it back in the boiling water bath and reprocess it for the time called for in
the original recipe.
PROBLEM 2: Jar doesn't seal the second time.
TO FIX: Put it in the refrigerator or freeze the contents.
A lot of things can keep a jar from sealing. The biggest mistake, says McNeill, is
over tightening the screw band, which keeps the air from escaping to form a
vacuum. But if you use a new lid, reprocess the jar and it still doesn't seal, don't
try a third time. Just refrigerate it or freeze it.
PROBLEM 3: You sealed the jars, then discovered you made a mistake in the
recipe.
TO FIX: Dump it out, add what's missing and reprocess the jars within 24 hours.
If you left out something simple, like a 1/2 teaspoon of a spice from a pickle, it
may not be worth the trouble. But if you've left out something important, like
some of the sugar from a jelly, recook it, working with 4 cups at a time.
For jelly without pectin, bring it to a boil, cook for 2 minutes and see if it gels (put
a dab on a plate and put in the freezer for a minute). Then boil it 1 minute longer,
put it back in clean jars and reprocess it.
For jelly with powdered pectin, put 4 teaspoons pectin and 1/4 cup water in a pot.
Heat to boiling while stirring, add 4 cups jelly and 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a
boil. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Remove from heat, skim the foam, put it back
in clean jars and reprocess.
For liquid pectin, bring 4 cups jelly to a boil, stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 3/4
cup sugar and 2 tablespoons liquid pectin. Boil 1 minute, then reprocess in clean
jars.
PROBLEM 4: Jam didn't gel.
TO FIX: See adding pectin, above.
Fruits with natural pectin will gel on their own, given enough cooking time. If the
fruit didn't gel, take it out of the jars and cook it to the jelly stage again, using a
candy thermometer to be sure. Or dump it out, add pectin and start over (see
above).
If you used pectin and it didn't gel, you may have added it at the wrong time.
Powdered pectin has to be rehydrated, so you add it to the fruit or juice first,
before you add the sugar. Liquid pectin is added after the sugar is mixed in.
If the jelly is runny and you don't want to reprocess it, change the label to "ice
cream topping."
PROBLEM 5: You didn't measure the head space.
TO FIX: Live with it.
Head space is the space you leave at the top of the jar, usually 1/4 to 1 inch. If you
don't leave enough space, liquid will leave the jar when the air is forced out.
If you leave too much headroom, or you didn't leave enough and the liquid level
drops during canning, the tops of fruits or vegetables will be uncovered. They'll
darken and soften. But if the jar sealed, you don't have to reprocess it -- it's a
matter of quality, not safety.
PROBLEM 6: You didn't process the jars long enough.
TO FIX: Reprocess the jars with new lids within 24 hours, using the full time
called for.
If you discover the mistake after more than 24 hours later, don't try to refrigerate
or refreeze. Throw the product away. It's been long enough for bacteria to begin
to grow.
Processing too long isn't a problem, as long as the jars sealed.
PROBLEM 7: You want to use an old recipe.
TO FIX: Adapt it to modern methods.
Many old-style canning methods are no longer recommended. Don't seal jars with
paraffin, can in an open kettle, turn jars upside down to seal or can in the oven.
To adapt those old recipes -- or to use an old recipe with vague instructions --
compare them to modern recipes. High-acid foods, like fruits and pickles, can be
processed in a boiling-water bath. Low-acid foods, including most vegetables,
must be processed in a pressure canner, which gets much hotter. Tomatoes must
have bottled lemon juice or citric acid added.
PROBLEM 8: You want to change a recipe.
TO FIX: Proceed carefully.
Salt is optional, for instance, unless you're brining pickles or making sauerkraut.
Sugar is a quality issue; you can use plain water, unsweetened fruit juice or a
very light syrup. But changing the sugar in a jam or jelly will change the
consistency. Get a low-sugar pectin and follow the directions.
In salsas and pickles, altering the vegetables can change the acidity. Changing
the ratio of peppers, onions and tomatoes in a salsa, for instance, will alter the
acidity.
While you can substitute bottled lemon juice for commercial vinegar in a salsa
recipe, you can't do it the other way around. Lemon juice is higher in acid. Fresh
lemon juice shouldn't be substituted for bottled, because the percentage of acid
may vary.
PROBLEM 9: You have old jars and lids.
TO FIX: You can reuse screw bands that aren't rusty, and canning jars if they
aren't nicked.
Don't use commercial jars like mayonnaise jars. If the lids are old-fashioned
clamp lids, don't use them for canning. And never reuse lids -- get a fresh batch.
PROBLEM 10: You think the food spoiled.
TO FIX: Don't taste it, for heaven's sake, even if you think it smells OK.
The signs of spoiled food are bulging lids, juice that spurts when you open the jar
and bad smells. Some changes aren't a problem. Dark spots under the lid might
be a reaction with the contents of the jar, for instance. When in doubt, throw it
out.
Or call the extension agent in your county, or the Alltrista Home Canners' Help
Line, toll - free (800) 240-3340.
Cooked Jam or Jelly Remake Directions
1. PREPARE JARS
Wash jar and screw band in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling
water over flat lid in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to
use. Drain well before filling. Repeat this procedure with jars needed for
Remainder of Batch.
2. PREPARE PECTIN MIXTURE
Gradually add contents of 1 box Fruit Pectin to 3/4 cup cold water in small (1
quart) saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring to boil on medium heat; boil 2 min.,
stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3. PREPARE TRIAL BATCH
1 cup your jam or jelly
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Pectin Mixture (from Step 2)
Measure jam or jelly, sugar and Pectin Mixture into small (1-qt.) saucepan. Bring
mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high
heat. Boil 30 sec., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with
metal spoon.
Immediately pour into prepared jar. Cover and let stand up to 24 hours to check
set of Trial Batch. Cover remaining Pectin Mixture; refrigerate until ready to use.
4. PREPARE REMAINDER OF BATCH
Do not try to remake more than 8 cups of jam or jelly at one time. If Trial Batch
sets satisfactorily, follow the recipe above, using the listed measures of sugar
and Pectin Mixture for EACH 1 cup of jam or jelly. Measure jam or jelly, sugar and
Pectin Mixture into large (6- to 8-qt.) saucepot. Bring to full rolling boil as
directed; boil 30 sec., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam
with metal spoon.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar
rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Invert jars 5 min.,
then turn upright. Or, follow water bath method recommended by USDA (see
below). After jars cool, check seals.
After preparing Remainder of Batch, discard any leftover Pectin Mixture
WATER BATH METHOD
Before remaking remainder of batch, bring boiling-water canner, half full with
water, to simmer.
Follow Step 4, above, to remake remainder of batch.
Ladle hot jam or jelly mixture immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4
inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2 piece lids. Screw bands
tightly.
Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover
jars by 1 to 2 inches. (Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover and bring water to
gentle boil. Process 5 minutes for jelly or 10 minutes for jam. (adjust time
according to altitude). Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely.
After jars are cool, check seals by pressing middle of lids with finger. (If lid
springs back lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary).
For convenience in measuring larger amounts of Pectin Mixture and sugar:
8 Tbsp = 1/2 cup
16 Tbsp = 1 cup
If your jam or jelly still doesn’t set, you can always use it as a glaze or syrup.
Apple Pectin
7 tart apples (about 2 lbs)
4 cups water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Cut apples into quarters (do not peel or core). Combine with water and lemon
juice in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan.. Bring to a boil over high heat,
cover, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain
through a coarse sieve and discard solids. Pour liquid through a jelly bag or
several layers of cheesecloth. Ladle into sterilized 1 cup jars and process 10
minutes in a boiling water bath. Adjust time according to altitude.
Makes: 4 cups
To Use Homemade Apple Pectin for Jams or Jellies
For each 1 cup of finely chopped fruit or juice use 1 cup Homemade Apple Pectin
and 3/4 cup of sugar. Combine in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan with 1 tsp
lemon juice if fruit is low acid. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil HARD,
stirring constantly until mixture will form a gel (about 10 minutes). Ladle into
sterilized jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Adjust time
according to altitude.
Testing for pectin
Mix 1 teaspoon of cooked, cooled crushed fruit with 1 tablespoon of rubbing
alcohol.
In a closed container, shake the mixture gently.
Juices from fruit that is high in pectin will form a solid gelatinous lump. If the fruit
is low in pectin, it will form only small rubbery particles.
Other fruits that contain low pectin levels need added pectin to make jelly are :
mangoes, passion fruit, melon, pineapple, and bananas.
Developing Your Own Recipes
Cooked Jam (low sugar or honey)
Fruit - mashed fruit
PECTIN: use about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp per cup of fruit.
LEMON JUICE: for low acid fruits, use 1Tbsp per cup of fruit.
SUGAR: use 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar per cup of fruit.
HONEY: use 1/8 - 1/3 cup honey per cup of fruit.
CALCIUM WATER: use 1 tsp per cup of fruit.
Cooked Jelly (low sugar or honey)
PECTIN: use about 3/4 to 1 tsp per cup of juice.
LEMON JUICE, SUGAR, HONEY, CALCIUM WATER: Same as above..
General instructions for using Pomona Pectin
Wash and rinse jars and let stand in hot water. Bring lids and rings to a simmer,
turn down heat and let stand in hot water.
Prepare fruit or juice. Measure fruit or juice into pan with lemon juice (if called for
in recipe).
Add proper amount of calcium water from little jar into pan and stir well.
Measure sugar or cold / room temperature honey into separate bowl. Thoroughly
mix proper amount of Pectin powder into honey or sugar.
Bring fruit or juice to a full boil. Add pectin / honey or pectin / sugar and stir
vigorously 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat.
Fill jars to 1/4" of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2 piece lids. Put filled jars in
boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft.
above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals - lids should be
sucked down. Lasts about 3 weeks once opened.
What are conserves, jams, jellies, preserves, marmalades & butters?
The basic difference between jams and jellies is that jelly is made from the juice
of the fruit only. Fruit is crushed, strained, and then is boiled with sugar and
pectin in order to make a spreadable product. Jams on the other hand, feature
crushed fruit, often with seeds left in berry jams. This means when you spread a
jam, it will be somewhat lumpy since it contains some whole fruit. It is not the
same with jelly, which spreads evenly.
Preserves contain whole or large pieces of fruit, making them thicker and more
fruit filled than jams or jellies. However, this varies - some people use the terms
preserves and jams interchangeably.
Another related term is Conserves, which is often a combination of several fruits
made in jams or preserves fashion. Orange apricot jam is an example of
conserves. Other recipes for conserves might include nuts or raisins. You may
also run into various fruit butters, and a few made from sweet winter squash.
Fruit butters are made from fruit pulp and sugar cooked together with spices till
nice and thick. There is no butter in fruit butter. The term may have developed to
describe the appearance of the product or because it is a spread.
Marmalade is a sweet preserve with a bitter tang made from citrus fruit, sugar,
water, and (in some commercial brands) a gelling agent. In English speaking
usage "marmalade" invariably refers to a preserve derived from a citrus fruit,
most commonly from oranges. The recipe includes sliced or chopped fruit peel,
which is simmered in fruit juice and water until soft; indeed marmalade is
sometimes described as jam with fruit peel. Such marmalade is most often
consumed on toasted bread as part of a full English breakfast. The favored citrus
fruit for marmalade production in the UK is the "Seville orange", Citrus aurantium
var. aurantium, thus called because it was originally imported from Seville in
Spain; it is higher in pectin than sweet oranges, and therefore gives a good set.
Marmalade can also be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, or a combination of
citrus fruits.
Can fruit be safely canned without adding sugar?
Sugar is not an "essential" ingredient for safe preservation of food in mason jars.
Many foods can be safely preserved with little or no added sugar. The absence of
sugar, however, may alter the flavor, texture and color of home preserved foods
especially when compared to similar foods that contain higher quantities of
sugar.
To preserve fruit without sugar, select only fully ripe fruit at its peak flavor. Water
or unsweetened fruit juice (such as white grape or apple juice) may be used in
place of sugar syrup. Or, if you choose, make a Very Light Syrup: combine 1/2
cup granulated sugar with 5 cups water.
This approximates the natural sugar level in most fruits and adds few calories.
This small quantity of sugar also helps canned fruit retain their natural color and
texture.
Canning with Sweeteners other than Sugar
Home canned fruits do not require sugar to prevent spoilage. The main reason
sugar is used during canning is to help preserve the fruit's texture, flavor, and
color. All or part of the sugar can be replaced by other sweeteners, such as fruit
juices, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, and non-nutritive sweeteners.
Fruit juice may be substituted for all of the sugar syrup in your recipe or for part
of it, if you prefer. The juice may be purchased or made from fresh fruit.To make
your own juice, use fully ripe, juicy fruit. Crush it in a pan and bring it to a simmer
over low heat for several minutes, stirring gently. Then strain the hot pulp
through a jelly bag or cheesecloth.
Mild-flavored honey and light corn syrup may be used to replace as much as half
of the white sugar called for in your canning syrup recipe. Honey will also add
flavor and color to the fruit, depending on the type of honey you use. Honey also
may darken during storage. It's best to use fresh mild, light colored honey in
canning.
Maple syrup can be used to replace up to 1/4 of the sugar in a recipe, but it will
effect the natural flavor and color of the fruit.
It's best not to use molasses, sorghum, dark corn syrup, or other strong-flavored
syrups when canning fruit. These sweeteners darken the fruit and over power the
fruit flavor.
Non nutritive sweeteners may be used to sweeten canning syrups, but they may
cause a bitter or metallic aftertaste. You can reduce this problem by adding the
non nutritive sweetener when you serve the fruit rather than when you process it.
Most of the sugar substitutes mentioned here will cost more per cup than
granulated sugar, and except for non-nutritive sweeteners and fruit juices, they
will produce a canning syrup higher in calories than a medium syrup made with
granulated sugar. However, some of them, particularly fruit juice, will add
nutritive value to the canning syrup. Replacing 1/3 of the sugar in a medium
syrup recipe with an equal amount of honey will add about 30 calories per pint of
fruit.
If you have never used some of these sweeteners before, experiment with small
batches first before making large quantities.
Here is a summary of things to remember about canning with sugar substitutes:
Sugar is not essential for preventing spoilage of canned fruits, but it helps
preserve flavor, texture, and color. Other sweeteners may be substituted for part
or all of the sugar in your canning syrup recipe, but some sweeteners may
change the flavor and color of the fruit. I myself use Whey Low type D. It is an all
natural sugar that has the same preservative properties as regular sugar. It is
also low carb and tastes exactly like regular sugar. Made for Diabetics.
Good things to know about canning fruit.
Canned fruits oftentimes will float if the sugar syrup is too heavy, if jars are
packed too loosely or if air remains in the tissues of the fruit after
processing.
To avoid this use a light or medium sugar syrup, make sure fruit is firm and
ripe and pack fruit tightly in jars without crushing.
If fruit is not covered by liquid it may darken during storage but does not
necessarily mean it is spoiled. To avoid this be sure fruit is covered by liquid
while still leaving the recommended head space. Also be sure to remove trapped
air bubbles with a slim rubber scraper, spatula or kitchen knife.
To do this effectively, tilt the jar slightly while running the tool between the
fruit and the edge of the jar and also pressing inward against the fruit a few
times.
Canned peaches, pears and apples may show a blue, red or pink color change
after processing. This is sometimes the result of natural chemical changes that
occur as fruits are heated.
A spatula shaped wooden spoon that has a flat end instead of rounded, is good
to have for stirring sugar syrup in a flat bottomed pan during the cooking
process.
Prepare syrup, while heating water, add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to
dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil. Fill jars while syrup is still boiling hot.
Chart on syrups on next page.
Types of Syrups
Ultra Light: Approximates natural sugar level in most fruits, adds fewest calories.
Approximate % sugar - 10: 1/2 cup sugar, 5 cups water – Yield is 5 1/4 cups
Extra Light: Use with very sweet fruit. Try small quantity first to be sure family
likes it.
Approximate % sugar - 20: 1 1/4 cup sugar, 5 1/2 cup water - Yield is 6 cups
Light: Sweet apples, sweet
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Canning Equipment
Make sure you have the right equipment for home canning. To safely can low acid
foods, such as vegetables and meats, you must have a pressure canner. This is
not a pressure cooker. Only use a pressure cooker if it specifies you can use it as
a canner. Read the manufacturer's directions for the unit. Various makes differ in
size, pressure control, material, and operating instructions.
All canners must be kept in good repair. If yours has a dial pressure gauge, check
it at least once a year for accuracy. An accurate pressure gauge is necessary to
prevent food spoilage and possible food poisoning.
Use water bath canners for canning acid foods such as fruits, pickles and
tomatoes. If you buy a water bath canner, make sure it is deep enough to hold
water one inch above jars and will be able to handle a full rolling boil without
water boiling over onto the stove. It should come with a rack to hold jars off the
bottom, and a tight fitting lid.
In addition to a pressure canner and / or a boiling water bath canner, you need
standard canning jars and new two piece lids. Discard any jars with cracks or
chipped rims.
A few small utensils help speed canning. Small vegetable brushes and large pans
or colanders to hold and wash food will help. Other tools that will help are a jar
funnel for packing, tongs for lifting foods and lids, and a slender plastic spatula
or a non metal knife to work out air bubbles in the packed jar. A jar lifter is a must
for safely lifting hot jars in and out of the canner.
Cloudiness in Liquid of Canned Foods
Cloudiness in canned food liquid often indicates spoilage, so be careful.
Cloudiness often accompanies flat sour spoilage, but you can usually detect a
bad odor as well. Boil food 10 minutes before you taste it if the liquid is cloudy, or
if you are unsure how the food was canned. If the food does not smell normal
during boiling, throw it away without tasting. In spoiled foods, the cloudiness will
usually be very obvious.
In certain foods, cloudiness may not indicate spoilage. For example, the starch
content in over mature peas and many kinds of dry beans can cause cloudiness.
Uneven sizing of products can also cause cloudiness.. For example, small tender
peas will cook to pieces during heat processing, while more mature peas in the
same can will keep their shape. The liquid will be somewhat cloudy under these
circumstances.
In home canned foods, hard water or salt containing impurities or additives, may
cause cloudiness. In fruits, over-ripe fruit may make the syrup cloudy.
Fermentation causes the liquid on brined dill pickles to become cloudy. In all of
these examples, the cloudiness is normal and not harmful.
How do different canning methods effect the safety of home canned foods?
There are no safe short-cuts in home canning. Heat processing all high acid
foods in a boiling water canner and low acid foods in a pressure canner - for the
appropriate time for the food and jar size - are the only currently approved
methods for safe home canning.
There is no substitute for adequate heat treatment. Some people may experience
"good luck" with outdated methods...and then one year everything spoils! Each
growing season is different. Heat-resistant bacteria are not necessarily present in
every piece of produce. IF these organisms are absent... and that's a big IF...
under processed foods might keep. When they are present, the food spoils. Be
safe rather than sorry. Always assume these micro organisms are present. Follow
current, tested practices, such as those recommended on this site, that use the
equipment and supplies available to you today.
Certain home canning methods and techniques, once thought to offer success,
have been shown to be faulty, unsafe and potentially dangerous. These include:
Open Kettle Canning: Open kettle canning is not safe and is not recommended
for food preservation. Open kettle canning involves cooking the food in an open
saucepan. The hot food is then put into jars and the lids are quickly put in place.
This method "hopes" that a proper seal will be achieved as the food cools.
Regardless of the duration or heat intensity of the cooking period, the open-kettle
method is not safe because the filled jars of food are not heated to and
maintained at temperatures necessary to destroy spoilage microorganisms and
assure strong vacuum seals. The open-kettle method omits essential heat
processing necessary to drive the air from the jar to create a vacuum seal. The lid
may appear to seal, but later may unseal due to a low vacuum. Or, micro
organisms left in the food may cause spoilage. This spoilage produces gases,
which in turn increase pressure inside the jar. The increased pressure may force
the lid to release.
Foods ferment when open kettle canning does not destroy yeasts, or permits
them to enter the jar as it is filled and before it is sealed. Simply getting lids to
curve downward on jars will not, in itself, prevent food from spoiling. The only
successful way to create an airtight vacuum seal and destroy spoilage
microorganisms is to heat process all filled jars by a method and time,
appropriate for the type of food and jar size.
Oven Canning: Not only is it unsafe, oven canning can be extremely hazardous.
Regardless of the brand of oven, jar, cap or lid you use, jars can break or explode
due to temperature fluctuations when the oven door is opened. When you
preserve food, it is important to know and control temperature. Oven
temperatures vary according to accuracy of the oven regulator and how heat
circulates. Also, dry heat penetrates food jars very slowly. Moreover, the
temperature of the food inside the jar is not heated sufficiently to destroy
microorganisms.
Steam Canning: Do not confuse steam canning with pressure canning. Steam
canning places jars of food on a rack in a covered, shallow pan. As the water in
the shallow pan boils, steam is circulated around the filled jars. Steam in this
device is not pressurized. These canners do not create a steady flow of steam nor
maintain an even temperature. It is impossible to know if the heat has penetrated
the food properly. The heat processing times given in recipes on this site are safe
for processing foods in a boiling water canner or pressure canner as specified.
Do not use these processing times for a steam canner as safe processing times
have not been established for this method.
Glossary of Canning Terms
Acid foods - Foods which contain enough acid to result in a pH of 4.6 or lower.
Includes all fruits except figs; most tomatoes; fermented and pickled
vegetables; relishes; and jams, jellies, and marmalades. Acid foods may be
processed in boiling water.
Altitude - The vertical elevation of a location above sea level.
Ascorbic acid - The chemical name for vitamin C. Lemon juice contains large
quantities of ascorbic acid and is commonly used to prevent browning of peeled,
light-colored fruits and vegetables.
Bacteria - A large group of one-celled microorganisms widely distributed in
nature. See microorganism.
Blancher - A 6 to 8 quart lidded pot designed with a fitted perforated basket to
hold food in boiling water, or with a fitted rack to steam foods. Useful for
loosening skins on fruits to be peeled, or for heating foods to be hot packed.
Boiling water canner - A large standard-sized lidded kettle with jar rack,
designed for heat-processing 7 quarts or 8 to 9 pints in boiling water.
Botulism - An illness caused by eating toxin produced by growth of Clostridium
botulinum bacteria in moist, low-acid food, containing less than 2 percent
oxygen, and stored between 40 degrees and 120 degrees F. Proper heat
processing destroys this bacterium in canned food. Freezer temperatures inhibit
its growth in frozen food. Low moisture controls its growth in dried food. High
oxygen controls its growth in fresh foods.
Canning - A method of preserving food in air-tight vacuum-sealed containers and
heat processing sufficiently to enable storing the food at normal-home
temperatures.
Canning salt - Also called pickling salt. It is regular table salt without the anti
caking or iodine additives.
Citric acid - A form of acid that can be added to canned foods. It increases the
acidity of low-acid foods and may improve the flavor and color.
Cold pack - Canning procedure in which jars are filled with raw food. "Raw pack"
is the preferred term for describing this practice. "Cold pack" is often used
incorrectly to refer to foods that are open-kettle canned or jars that are heatprocessed
in boiling water.
Enzymes - Proteins in food which accelerate many flavor, color, texture, and
nutritional changes, especially when food is cut, sliced, crushed, bruised, and
exposed to air. Proper blanching or hot-packing practices destroy enzymes and
improve food quality.
Exhausting - Removal of air from within and around food and from jars and
canners. Blanching exhausts air from live food tissues. Exhausting or venting of
pressure canners is necessary to prevent a risk of botulism in low-acid canned
foods.
Fermentation - Changes in food caused by intentional growth of bacteria, yeast,
or mold. Native bacteria ferment natural sugars to lactic acid, a major flavoring
and preservative in sauerkraut and in naturally fermented dills. Alcohol, vinegar,
and some dairy products are also fermented foods.
Headspace - The unfilled space above food or liquid in jars. Allows for food
expansion as jars are heated, and for forming vacuums as jars cool.
Heat processing - Treatment of jars with sufficient heat to enable storing food at
normal home temperatures.
Hermetic seal - An absolutely airtight container seal which prevents reentry of air
or microorganisms into packaged foods.
Hot pack - Heating of raw food in boiling water or steam and filling it hot into jars.
Low-acid foods - Foods which contain very little acid and have a pH above 4.6.
The acidity in these foods is insufficient to prevent the growth of the
bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Vegetables, some tomatoes, figs, all meats,
fish, seafood, and some dairy foods are low acid. To control all risks of
botulism, jars of these foods must be (1) heat processed in a pressure canner, or
(2) acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower before processing in boiling water.
Microorganisms - Independent organisms of microscopic size, including bacteria,
yeast, and mold. When alive in a suitable environment, they grow rapidly and may
divide or reproduce every 10 to 30 minutes. Therefore, they reach high
populations very quickly. Undesirable microorganisms cause disease and food
spoilage. Microorganisms are sometimes intentionally added to ferment foods,
make antibiotics, and for other reasons.
Mold - A fungus-type microorganism whose growth on food is usually visible and
colorful. Molds may grow on many foods, including acid foods like jams and
jellies and canned fruits. Recommended heat processing and sealing practices
prevent their growth on these foods.
Mycotoxins - Toxins produced by the growth of some molds on foods.
Open - Kettle canning A non-recommended canning method. Food is supposedly
adequately heat processed in a covered kettle, and then filled hot and sealed in
sterile jars. Foods canned this way have low vacuums or too much air, which
permits rapid loss of quality in foods. Moreover these foods often spoil because
they become recontaminated while the jars are being filled
Pasteurization - Heating of a specific food enough to destroy the most
heat-resistant pathogenic or disease-causing microorganism known to be
associated with that food.
PH - A measure of acidity or alkalinity. Values range from 0 to 14. A food is
neutral when its pH is 7.0: lower values are increasingly more acidic; higher
values are increasingly more alkaline.
Pickling - The practice of adding enough vinegar or lemon juice to a low acid
food to lower its pH to 4.6 or lower. Properly pickled foods may be safely heat
processed in boiling water.
Pressure canner - A specifically designed metal kettle with a lockable lid used for
heat processing low acid food. These canners have jar racks, one or more safety
devices, systems for exhausting air, and a way to measure or control pressure.
Canners with 20 to 21 quart capacity are common. The minimum volume of
canner that can be used is 16 quart capacity, which will contain 7 quart jars. Use
of pressure saucepans with less than 16-quart capacities is not recommended.
Raw pack - The practice of filling jars with raw, unheated food. Acceptable for
canning low acid foods, but allows more rapid quality losses in acid foods heat
processed in boiling water.
Spice bag - A closeable fabric bag used to extract spice flavors in a pickling
solution.
Style of pack - Form of canned food, such as whole, sliced, piece, juice, or
sauce. The term may also be used to reveal whether food is filled raw or hot
into jars.
Vacuum - The state of negative pressure. Reflects how thoroughly air is removed
from within a jar of processed food - the higher the vacuum, the less air left in the
jar.
Yeasts - A group of microorganisms which reproduce by budding. They are used
in fermenting some foods and in leavening breads.
How Long Are Canned Foods Safe
Canned foods, whether in tins or glass jars, won't keep forever. Commercial
canners work under tightly controlled conditions with careful sanitation and just
the right heat and timing periods, but there are still limits to how long food quality
can be preserved. Home-canned foods, processed under less carefully controlled
conditions, may have even shorter storage lives.
There are several factors that limit the shelf-life of canned foods. First, cans or
metal lids on glass jars can rust. When rust is deep enough, tiny holes open in
the can or lid that may let spoilage agents in. Shipping accidents that dent or
crush cans also cause container problems.
Then there is can corrosion. In all foods, especially high-acid foods like canned
tomatoes and fruit juices, the food continually reacts chemically with the metal
container. Over several years, this can cause taste and texture changes, and
eventually lower the nutritional value of the food.
High temperature over 100 degrees F are harmful to canned foods, too. The risk
of spoilage jumps sharply as storage temperatures rise. In fact, canned goods
designed for use in the tropics are specially processed. Even at prolonged
storage temperatures above 75 degrees F, the rate of nutrient loss in canned
foods increases. Light can cause color changes and nutrient losses in foods
canned in glass jars.
Never use foods from containers with these spoilage warning signs--loose or
bulging lids on jars; bulging, leaking or badly dented cans, or foods with a foul
odor.
To store canned food wisely, follow these guidelines:
Store them in a cool, clean dry place where temperatures are below 85 degrees. A
range of 60 to 70 degrees is even better.
Low-acid canned foods may be stored in a cupboard for as long as two to five
years. For top quality use before one year.
Use high-acid foods within 12 to 18 months. Foods stored longer will still be safe
to eat if the cans show no signs of spoilage or damage, but the foods may have
deteriorated in color, flavor and nutritive value.
If home canned foods have frozen during storage, are they safe to eat?
If the jar of food was processed according to current home canning
recommendations), and the jar is still vacuum sealed, the food should be safe to
eat.
Examine the jar closely, freezing can cause damage to the vacuum seal or jar
breakage. Home canned food that has been frozen during storage may by less
desirable due to changes in texture, flavor, nutritional value and color.
Reasons Home Canned Food Spoils
When foods canned in a pressure canner spoil, it is usually due to one of the
following reasons:
An inaccurate dial gauge.
Failure to vent steam from the canner for 10 minutes before closing the petcock
or placing the weighted pressure control on the canner (or specified time
recommended by the manufacturer of your canner).This allows air to remain in
the canner and temperatures will be lower than needed.
Fluctuating heat under the canner.
Processing for too short a time.
If you used a boiling water bath canner and canned food spoils, the cause could
be failure to have water hot when you placed the jars in the canner, not having
enough water to cover the tops of the jars by at least an inch, processing for too
short a time, or processing low-acid foods with this method.
Temperatures for Food Preservation
Temperature(s) Effect
240 to 250°F
Canning temperatures for low acid
vegetables, meat, and poultry in a pressure
canner.
212°F Temperature water boils at sea level.
Canning temperature for acid fruits,
tomatoes, pickles, and jellied products in a
boiling-water canner.
180 to 250°F
Canning temperatures are used to destroy
most bacteria, yeasts, and molds in acid
foods. Time required to kill these decreases
as temperatures increase.
140 to 165°F
Warming temperatures prevent growth, but
may allow survival of some microorganisms.
40 to 140°F
DANGER ZONE. Temperatures between
40°F - 140°F allow rapid growth of bacteria,
yeast, and molds.
95°F
Maximum storage temperature for canned
foods.
50 to 70°F
Best storage temperatures for canned and
dried foods.
32°F Temperature water freezes.
32 to 40°F
Cold temperatures permit slow growth of
some bacteria, yeasts, and molds.
-10 to 32°F
Freezing temperatures stop growth of
microorganisms, but may allow some to
survive.
0 to -10°F
Best storage temperatures for frozen foods.
Testing Your Pressure Canner Dial Gauge
If your pressure canner has a dial gauge, have it checked once a year before the
canning season. Also check it during the season if you use the canner frequently.
Your local NDSU Extension Service office can check the dial gauge on pressure
canners. You can also get them tested at a radiator repair shop.
If you cannot get it tested nearby, write to see if the manufacturer can do it. The
manufacturer's name and address will be pressed into the canner or on a plate
attached to it. Ask for shipping instructions. Pack it like fine crystal and label the
package "fragile." If you do not have an instruction book for your canner, write
for one.
If the gauge reading is off one pound or more, buy a new pressure gauge. If it is
off less than one pound, tie a tag on the canner to remind yourself of the
difference and adjust to pressure reading to allow for difference.
The weighted pressure control on canners does not need to be checked. Keep it
clean and rust free.
In most canners there is a gasket. These gaskets are made of rubber or rubber
like compounds to keep steam from leaking out around the cover. You can
remove and replace most gaskets as needed. Some only need to be turned to
ensure a tight seal. Replace a worn, stretched or hardened gasket with a new one.
Refer to the canner instructions for directions. Leakage makes it difficult to reach
the right pressure and may cause the canner to boil dry. (I suggest keeping a
spare gasket on hand. They seem to only go when you need it the most and don’t
have one).
Unsafe Canning Methods
There are no safe short cuts in canning. And there is no substitute for adequate
heat treatment. Some people have had "good luck" for years, but each season is
different and you never know if this is the year everything spoils. This is because
heat-resistant bacteria are not always present. When these organisms are absent,
the under-processed foods might keep. If they are present, the food spoils. So
you must always assume they are present.
The open kettle method involves placing hot food in jars and sealing with no
further heat treatment. This method is NOT recommended for home canning of
any food because it seldom sterilizes food. Without sufficient heat to destroy
bacteria and sterilize the food, the product may spoil. Foods ferment when openkettle
canning does not destroy yeasts, or permits them to enter the jar before it
is sealed. Simply getting lids to seal on jars will not prevent food from spoiling.
Oven canning is extremely hazardous. When you can food it is important to know
and control temperature. With oven canning the temperature will vary according
to accuracy of the oven regulator and how heat circulates. The dry heat
penetrates food jars very slowly. Oven canning can be dangerous regardless of
brand of oven, jar, cap or lid you use. Jars may explode, wrecking the oven and
seriously cutting or burning someone. Most important, the temperature of the
food in the jars during oven-canning is not high enough to destroy dangerous
bacteria.
Do not use any chemicals or preserving powders as a substitute for heat treating
home canned food. These will not prevent food from spoiling, or give you a good
product. If you do not use a heat treatment, there will not be a vacuum in
containers and this will generally accelerate food deterioration. The only safe
procedures are boiling water bath process for acid foods and pressure canning
for low acid foods.
Some new kitchen appliances will create a vacuum in the jar without heat
treatment. These are dangerous because there is no heat to destroy spoilage
organisms and botulism bacteria could grow under the vacuum seal.
Potentially unsafe devices are now sold for canning food in a microwave oven.
These have not been shown to destroy all bacteria present in the food or heat
uniformly. Problems may also occur with siphoning of the food out of the jars and
lid failures. Do not use these devices to can food at home.
Meat and Poultry Yields
beef & pork (w/o bone), 2 to 2 1/2 lbs per Pint
beef & pork (w bone), 1 1/2 to 2 lbs per Pint
chicken (w/o bone), 3 to 3 1/2 lbs per Pint
chicken (w bone), 4 to 5 lbs per Quart
The exact yield depends on the way the product is trimmed, cut, and packed.
Altitude Charts
BOILING-WATER CANNER
Altitude Increase Processing Time
1,001 – 3,000 5 minutes
3,001 – 6,000 10 minutes
6,001 – 8,000 15 minutes
8,001 – 10,000 20 minutes
STEAM-PRESSURE CANNER
Altitude Weighted Gauge Dial Gauge
0 – 1,000 10 11
1,001 – 2,000 15 11
2,001 – 4,000 15 12
4,001 – 6,000 15 13
6,001 – 8,000 15 14
8,001 – 10,000 15 15
Clear Jel, a corn starch derivative, is a commercial thickening product used by
bakeries and for frozen food. This product is used the same as flour or corn
starch. There are two types of Clear Jel available, “instant” and “regular”.
“Instant” does not require heat to thicken. The product will thicken once the
liquid is added. “Regular”, on the other hand, must be heated. This is generally
the preferred type to use in products to be canned.
To use Clear Jel in a hot dish such as gravy, first mix a small amount in cold
water, then add gradually to the hot liquid, mixing constantly. Or, mix everything
together while cold, and then heat and stir to thicken.
Pies and fillings which have been prepared with Clear Jel and frozen need to be
cooked or baked before serving. If the fillings become “thin” during baking,
increase the oven temperature, and shorten the baking time to prevent what is
called “oven boil out”. This usually is caused by excessive baking at a
temperature too low.
Advantages:
• It is clear in color when cooked.
• It has excellent stability.
• It remains smooth.
• It prevents liquid separation and curdling after foods have been frozen.
• Cream sauces, custard, and puddings may be frozen with excellent results.
• It is less expensive than pectin.
• The amount of sugar may be adjusted without losing the jelling capacity.
• Recipes may be doubled, tripled or halved..
• The jam may be frozen or processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Hints:
• Using Clear Jel in making jams and jellies is not an exact science. Many factors
influence the quality of the product. It is best to try a small batch and make
adjustments before making larger batches.
• Use pint or 1/2 pint jars.
• Any fruit jam or jelly recipe may be used as long as the product is processed for
10 minutes or frozen. Substitute 7 Tbsp of Clear Jel for the pectin in cooked jams
and jellies and 3 to 4 Tbsp of Clear Jel for the pectin in freezer jam recipes.
• For freezer jam follow the jam recipes on this sheet.
• Clear Jel does not dissolve easily in liquid. To help dissolve the product mix the
Clear Jel with a little sugar before adding to the fruit or juice.
Problem solving:
Jam is too stiff: To make softer, heat the product and add a little more juice or
water, then reprocess.
Jam is too thin: To make stiffer, heat the product and add more Clear Jel mixed
with a few Tbsp of sugar and dissolved in 1/2 cup of the product.
Knowing Your Headspace
Headspace is the space in the jar between the top of the food or liquid and the
inside of the jar. If you are packing solids and liquid into a jar, add 1/4" to the
recipe's headspace, pack solids to this level. Then add the liquid to the level
recommended for the type of food being canned.
Pickles and fruit require 1/2" headspace. Because these foods are packed with
solids and liquid, pack solids to within 3/4" of the top rim, then add liquid to the
1/2" level.
Relishes, chutney and condiments require 1/2" headspace.
Jams, jellies, soft spreads, preserves, conserves and juices require 1/4"
headspace.
Low acid foods require 1" headspace.
Why is it important?
The proper headspace provides a good balance of - enough space for the food to
expand during heat processing yet not too much space to allow a strong vacuum
to form as the jars cool after processing.
High Acid Foods Step by Step Procedures (Boiling Water Bath)
The air and all foods in their natural state contain invisible microorganisms which
if uncontrolled cause food spoilage. Proper, safe home canning procedures
control the growth of spoilage microorganisms.
Fruits, fruit juices, jams, jellies and other fruit spreads, pickles, relish, salsa,
chutney and tomatoes with added acid are all High Acid Foods. All High Acid
Foods must be "heat processed" in a boiling water canner.
Use only the best, top quality ingredients. For best results, can produce at its
peak of ripeness. (Partially thawed fruits, frozen without added sugar, may be
used in some home canned recipes.)
Use only current, tested home canning recipes that:
1. Include the appropriate heat processing method and time for the food and
mason jar size.
2. Designate heat space for the food and jar size.
3. Come from reputable source which uses the jars and lids that you are using
today.
Step by Step Guide - HIGH ACID FOODS
1. Before your begin, review the recipe and assemble equipment and ingredients.
2. Visually inspect mason jars for nicks, cracks, uneven rims or sharp edges that
may prevent sealing or cause breakage. Check screw bands for proper fit on your
mason jars and be sure SNAP Lids are scratch-free. Wash jars and lids in hot,
soapy water. Rinse well.
3. Place required number of clean mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner;
cover jars with water and heat water to a simmer (180 degrees F, 82 C., 355 K).
Keep jars hot until ready to use. This procedure of sterilizing the jars can be
omitted if foods to be processed have a processing time of 10 minutes or more. I
myself will wash and rinse the jars then place them on a large cooking tray in the
oven at 200 degrees F. (93 C or 366 K) to keep them warm).
4. Prepare food as recipe directs.
5. Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180 degrees
F). Keep SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.
6. Ladle prepared food into a hot jar leaving proper 'heat space'. This is the space
at the top of the jar between the underside of the SNAP Lid and the top of the
food or liquid. Overfilling and under filling can result in seal failure.
Head space is determined by the type of food:
Jam, Jelly 1/4 inch
Fruit 1/2 inch
Pickles, tomatoes 1/2 inch
Relish, Salsa, Chutney 1/2 inch
7. Remove air bubbles by sliding a nonmetallic utensil such as a Bubble Remover
or rubber spatula between jar and food. After removing air bubbles, readjust head
space if required.
8. Wipe jar removing any stickiness. Center SNAP Lid on jar.
9. Apply screw bands evenly and firmly until resistance is met -- fingertip tight.
Over tightening prevents venting - air escaping - during heat processing and can
cause seal failure. The "steam" created inside the jar during heat processing
must be exhausted to allow the formation of a strong airtight seal.
10. Place jar on elevated rack in boiling water canner. Repeat jar filling / closing
steps 6 through 9. When all jars are filled or canner is full, lower rack into water.
Be sure water covers jars by at least 1 inch; add boiling water if required. Place
lid on canner and turn heat to high.
11. When water returns to a full rolling boil, begin counting "heat processing"
time. When time has elapsed, turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow boil to
subside, then lift jars without tilting and place them upright on a towel to cool in a
draft-free place. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands. Cool jars undisturbed for 24
hours.
12. After jars have cooled, check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the
lid center is pulled down and does not move, remove the screw band and lift the
jar by the lid. Lids that do not flex and cannot be easily lifted off the jars have
good seals. Refrigerate or reprocess any unsealed jars.
13. Wipe jars with a damp cloth. Remove, wash and dry screw bands; store
separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool,
dark place. For best quality use home canned foods
Low Acid Foods Step by Step Procedures (Pressure Canning)
Vegetables, meat and game, poultry, seafood, soups, stews, tomato - vegetable
sauces and tomato-meat sauces are all Low Acid Foods. All Low Acid Foods
must be "heat processed" in a pressure canner to eliminate the risk of botulism.
The spoilage organism, Clostridium botulinum can be present in any food. It is
itself destroyed at boiling temperatures, BUT it has the ability to form hardy
spores that can survive the boiling treatment. These spores thrive in a low acid
environment without air - i.e. a sealed jar. As they grow these spores give off a
deadly toxin.
The growth of Clostridium botulinum spores is prevented when filled jars of low
acid foods are "heat processed" at a temperature of 240 degrees F. for the
prescribed time. The only way for a home canner to achieve a 240 degrees F.
temperature is in a pressure canner. (Boiling water canners heat only to 212
degrees F., the temperature of boiling water.) Because Clostridium botulinum
spores do not grow in the presence of acid, HIGH ACID Foods can be safely
processed in a boiling water canner.
Use only current, tested home canning recipes that:
1. Include the appropriate heat processing method and time for the food and
mason jar size.
2. Designate head space for the food and jar size
3. Come from reputable source that uses the jars and lids that you are using
today
Step by Step Guide - LOW ACID FOODS
1. Review the recipe and assemble equipment and ingredients. Visually inspect
mason jars for nicks, cracks, uneven rims or sharp edges that may prevent
sealing or cause breakage. Check screw bands for proper fit on your mason jars
and that SNAP Lids are scratch-free. Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water.
Rinse well.
2. Inspect pressure canner. Check lid and gasket to be sure an airtight seal can
be achieved. Have dial gauge checked regularly.
3. Place rack in pressure canner. Add 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) water. Place jars in
canner; heat water to a gentle boil. Keep jars in canner until ready to fill.
4. Prepare food as recipe directs.
5. Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180 degrees
F). Keep SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.
6. Pack food into a hot jar leaving 1 1/4 inch head space. This is the space at the
top of the jar between the underside of the SNAP Lid and the top of the food or
liquid. Over filling or under filling can result in seal failure.
7. Remove air bubbles by sliding a nonmetallic utensil such as a Bubble Remover
or rubber spatula between jar and food. After removing air bubbles, readjust head
space if required.
8. Wipe jar removing any stickiness. Center SNAP Lid on jar.
9. Apply screw band just until fingertip tight. FINGERTIP TIGHT is as snug as
band can be applied with your fingers. Fingertip tight allows some 'give' between
the SNAP Lid and jar to allow rising steam to escape during heat processing. The
"rising steam" is created inside the jar during heat processing and must be
exhausted to allow the formation of a strong airtight seal.
10. Place jar on rack in canner. Repeat jar filling / closing steps 6 through 9. When
all jars are filled or canner is full, check that water level in canner is about 3
inches or that recommended in manufacturer's manual..
11. Lock canner lid in place, leaving vent open. Place canner over high heat.
Allow steam to escape steadily for 10 minutes (venting canner). Close the vent,
using the weight or method described for your canner. Gradually reduce the heat
to achieve and maintain the recommended pressure. Regulate heat only with
gradual changes to heat level.
12. At altitudes up to 1,000 ft HEAT PROCESS at 10 lb pressure in a weighted
gauge canner or 11 lb pressure in a dial gauge canner for the specified time for
food and jar size. At altitudes higher than 1,000 ft increase lb pressure to that
recommended for your elevation.
13. When processing time is complete, remove canner from heat. Let canner
stand undisturbed until pressure drops to zero.
14. When dial gauge registers zero or when no steam escapes when weighted
gauge canner's weight is nudged, wait 2 minutes - then remove cover, tilting it
away from yourself.
15. Lift jars without tilting from canner and place them upright on a towel to cool
in a draft-free place. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.. Cool undisturbed for 24
hours.
16. After jars have cooled, check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the
lid center is pulled down and does not move, remove the screw band and lift the
jar by the lid. Lids that do not flex and cannot easily be lifted off the jars have
good seals. Refrigerate or reprocess any unsealed jars.
17. Wipe jars with damp cloth; wash and dry screw bands. Store screw bands
separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool,
dark place. For best quality use home canned foods within 1 year.
How tightly should screw bands be applied?
Apply screw bands securely until fingertip tight. Center the prepared SNAP Lid on
the jar. Then, using just your fingers, screw the band down evenly until you meet
a point of resistance. Do not over tighten bands by using the full force of your
hand or a utensil to tighten the band. Do not apply band very firmly and then
reverse it ("back it off") a quarter turn.
After processing, bands may appear to have loosened.. This is natural. Do not
retighten bands after processing. Let jars stand undisturbed 24 hours.
Over tightening bands prevents venting of excess air from the jar during heat
processing. Jars that do not vent properly do not seal securely. Screw bands that
are applied too tightly can cause lids to buckle. Buckling leads to seal failure.
Reasons for Liquid Loss from Jars
As strange as it may seem, there are many reasons for liquid loss from jars
during processing. The following are possible reasons:
The jar is packed too full, that is, you did not leave recommended headspace.
The food is packed so tightly that liquid did not fill the spaces between food
pieces.
Starchy foods may absorb some of the liquid.
The liquid you added to cover cold, raw food was not hot enough when you put
it in the canner.
You did not remove air bubbles when you packed the food. (You can do this by
running a rubber spatula between the food and the jar.)
You did not cover jars of acid foods with one or two inches of water in the
boiling water bath canner.
The pressure canner was not sufficiently exhausted.
Pressure fluctuated, or the temperature lowered suddenly during processing,
due to uncontrolled heat source.
The temperatures changed suddenly when processing was over. If the pressure
canner cools too quickly while the contents of the jar remain at a much higher
temperature, the liquid will boil over. The "coming down" period has to be
gradual and even.
The petcock was opened before the pressure had returned to zero. When the
pressure gets to zero, open the petcock cautiously; if steam escapes, close
and wait a few minutes.
The canner stood too long after pressure returned to zero. Open the canner
within several minutes after it returns to zero pressure.
You removed the jars too quickly after removing the cover. Let the jars stay
in the canner for a few minutes after removing the cover, or until the boiling
in the jars goes down.
The gauge's pointer does not rest at zero when not under pressure.
What causes buckled or bulging lids?
Buckled lids appear to warp or bulge upward under the screw bands. There are
two causes:
Buckling that is apparent immediately after heat processing is caused by
application of the screw bands too tightly.
Two - piece home canning lids are made in two pieces for a very important
reason: to release pressure and vent air from the jar during heat processing.
As the filled jar is heated, headspace pressure increases until excess air is
vented from the jar. When the band is applied too tightly, there is no way for air to
be exhausted from the jar. Consequently, the pressure build-up warps the lids
and disrupts the seal formation.
Buckling that occurs during storage is caused by food spoilage. When heat
processing is insufficient and does not destroy all spoilage microorganisms, food
may spoil during storage. This spoilage produces gases inside the jar that forces
the lid to bulge upward. This food should be discarded in a manner that neither
humans nor animals will consume it.
What causes seal failure or lids to seal then unseal?
The use of up to date home canning utensils and supplies, following the
manufacturer’s recommended lid application techniques and heat processing
steps are all essential for sealing success with home canning two-piece metal
lids.
The most common causes of seal failure are:
Insufficient heat processing of filled jars. When filled jars are not heat processed
and/or when the heat processing method or time are inadequate for the type of
food and jar size – excess air is not “vented” from the jars and microorganisms
that cause food spoilage are not inactivated. Initially, some lids may appear to
seal. i.e. curve downward. However, these same lids may unseal during shelf
storage.
The seal failure at that time is caused by one of two reasons:
a) Very low vacuum was created initially. Low vacuums do not hold over time, or
b) Due to inadequate heat processing, food begins to spoil inside the jar. This
spoilage produces gases that force the lid to release. All filled jars, regardless of
their content, must be heat processed by an appropriate method and time for
safe, shelf-stable storage.
Over tightening of screw bands. Over tightening screw bands prevents “venting.”
Apply screw bands securely, until fingertip tight. Note: Applying screw bands
very tightly, then backing them off a quarter turn is an outdated method that does
not work successfully with SNAP Lids.
Re tightening or tampering with screw bands immediately after processing before
food is thoroughly cooled. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 24 hours.
Incorrect headspace or failure to remove air bubbles before placement of the
SNAP Lid.
Failure to soften sealing compound on SNAP Lids prior to use. Boil SNAP Lids 5
minutes, not longer; let stand in hot water until used.
Reuse of single use SNAP Lids or use of commercial food glass jars.
Use of mason jars with nicks, cracks or chips in the sealing edge or neck rim.
Failure to clean the rim of the filled jar before applying the lid and/or rapid
changes in processing temperatures that cause liquid to siphon from jar. Food,
grease or seeds lodged between the jar rim and sealing compound can prevent
the formation of airtight seals.
Careless or inappropriate handling of jars and lids before and after processing.
i.e. inverting jars after filling or processing.
What is correct way to prepare SNAP Lids for use on jars?
"Boiling lids" prior to placement on jars is no longer required for home canning
success. This recommendation was changed in 2002 to "heat SNAP Lids in hot
water, NOT boiling" (180 degrees F).
Previously, Canadians had been advised to "boil SNAP lids five minutes" before
placing them on filled jars. Testing in Bernardin's labs revealed that boiling the
lids too long, combined with overly tight application of the screw bands, could
lead to seal failure. Research among consumers showed that some home
canners tended to follow the old adage - 'If a little is good, more must be better.'
While pre boiling metal lids is not required, Bernardin lids must be hot when
placed on hot food in hot jars, thus the recommendation to place them in 'hot'
water. Do NOT heat lids in an oven.
Screw bands require no preparation and are much easier to apply to jars when
used at room temperature.
What is the black deposit on the inside of the lid after canning?
The black deposit sometimes found on the underside of a lid is caused by tannins
in the food or hydrogen sulfide which is liberated from the food by the heat of
processing. This does not indicate spoilage.
What should I do if a lid doesn’t seal?
If a lid does not seal within 24 hours, the product must be:
Reprocessed immediately, Stored in the refrigerator and used within a few days,
or Placed in a proper freezer container and frozen.
To reprocess a product, remove the lid and check the sealing surface of the jar
for tiny nicks or imperfections. If glass is damaged, replace the jar. If the product
was packed hot originally, empty the jar and reheat the food. Pack the food into a
clean, hot jar. (If processing time is less than 10 minutes, sterilize the jar before
filling.) Boil a new SNAP Lid 5 minutes, place it on the jar and apply the screw
band securely, until fingertip tight. Reprocess the product using the canning
method and full processing time recommended by an up to date reliable home
canning resource.
You can fix Jarring Errors
PROBLEM 1: Jar doesn't seal.
TO FIX: Reseal it within 24 hours.
Usually, when you take hot jars out of a boiling-water or pressure canner, you'll
hear a "ping" as the jars cool. That's the lid sealing after you forced out the air
with heat. But sometimes, it doesn't happen. The lid stays loose. When you tap it,
it will even sound hollow.
To try again, you need to put hot food back into hot jars. So dump the contents
into a saucepan and reheat them. Wash the jar and put it back into hot water. Put
the hot product back into the hot jar, top it with a new lid -- never reuse a canning
lid -- put it back in the boiling water bath and reprocess it for the time called for in
the original recipe.
PROBLEM 2: Jar doesn't seal the second time.
TO FIX: Put it in the refrigerator or freeze the contents.
A lot of things can keep a jar from sealing. The biggest mistake, says McNeill, is
over tightening the screw band, which keeps the air from escaping to form a
vacuum. But if you use a new lid, reprocess the jar and it still doesn't seal, don't
try a third time. Just refrigerate it or freeze it.
PROBLEM 3: You sealed the jars, then discovered you made a mistake in the
recipe.
TO FIX: Dump it out, add what's missing and reprocess the jars within 24 hours.
If you left out something simple, like a 1/2 teaspoon of a spice from a pickle, it
may not be worth the trouble. But if you've left out something important, like
some of the sugar from a jelly, recook it, working with 4 cups at a time.
For jelly without pectin, bring it to a boil, cook for 2 minutes and see if it gels (put
a dab on a plate and put in the freezer for a minute). Then boil it 1 minute longer,
put it back in clean jars and reprocess it.
For jelly with powdered pectin, put 4 teaspoons pectin and 1/4 cup water in a pot.
Heat to boiling while stirring, add 4 cups jelly and 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a
boil. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Remove from heat, skim the foam, put it back
in clean jars and reprocess.
For liquid pectin, bring 4 cups jelly to a boil, stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 3/4
cup sugar and 2 tablespoons liquid pectin. Boil 1 minute, then reprocess in clean
jars.
PROBLEM 4: Jam didn't gel.
TO FIX: See adding pectin, above.
Fruits with natural pectin will gel on their own, given enough cooking time. If the
fruit didn't gel, take it out of the jars and cook it to the jelly stage again, using a
candy thermometer to be sure. Or dump it out, add pectin and start over (see
above).
If you used pectin and it didn't gel, you may have added it at the wrong time.
Powdered pectin has to be rehydrated, so you add it to the fruit or juice first,
before you add the sugar. Liquid pectin is added after the sugar is mixed in.
If the jelly is runny and you don't want to reprocess it, change the label to "ice
cream topping."
PROBLEM 5: You didn't measure the head space.
TO FIX: Live with it.
Head space is the space you leave at the top of the jar, usually 1/4 to 1 inch. If you
don't leave enough space, liquid will leave the jar when the air is forced out.
If you leave too much headroom, or you didn't leave enough and the liquid level
drops during canning, the tops of fruits or vegetables will be uncovered. They'll
darken and soften. But if the jar sealed, you don't have to reprocess it -- it's a
matter of quality, not safety.
PROBLEM 6: You didn't process the jars long enough.
TO FIX: Reprocess the jars with new lids within 24 hours, using the full time
called for.
If you discover the mistake after more than 24 hours later, don't try to refrigerate
or refreeze. Throw the product away. It's been long enough for bacteria to begin
to grow.
Processing too long isn't a problem, as long as the jars sealed.
PROBLEM 7: You want to use an old recipe.
TO FIX: Adapt it to modern methods.
Many old-style canning methods are no longer recommended. Don't seal jars with
paraffin, can in an open kettle, turn jars upside down to seal or can in the oven.
To adapt those old recipes -- or to use an old recipe with vague instructions --
compare them to modern recipes. High-acid foods, like fruits and pickles, can be
processed in a boiling-water bath. Low-acid foods, including most vegetables,
must be processed in a pressure canner, which gets much hotter. Tomatoes must
have bottled lemon juice or citric acid added.
PROBLEM 8: You want to change a recipe.
TO FIX: Proceed carefully.
Salt is optional, for instance, unless you're brining pickles or making sauerkraut.
Sugar is a quality issue; you can use plain water, unsweetened fruit juice or a
very light syrup. But changing the sugar in a jam or jelly will change the
consistency. Get a low-sugar pectin and follow the directions.
In salsas and pickles, altering the vegetables can change the acidity. Changing
the ratio of peppers, onions and tomatoes in a salsa, for instance, will alter the
acidity.
While you can substitute bottled lemon juice for commercial vinegar in a salsa
recipe, you can't do it the other way around. Lemon juice is higher in acid. Fresh
lemon juice shouldn't be substituted for bottled, because the percentage of acid
may vary.
PROBLEM 9: You have old jars and lids.
TO FIX: You can reuse screw bands that aren't rusty, and canning jars if they
aren't nicked.
Don't use commercial jars like mayonnaise jars. If the lids are old-fashioned
clamp lids, don't use them for canning. And never reuse lids -- get a fresh batch.
PROBLEM 10: You think the food spoiled.
TO FIX: Don't taste it, for heaven's sake, even if you think it smells OK.
The signs of spoiled food are bulging lids, juice that spurts when you open the jar
and bad smells. Some changes aren't a problem. Dark spots under the lid might
be a reaction with the contents of the jar, for instance. When in doubt, throw it
out.
Or call the extension agent in your county, or the Alltrista Home Canners' Help
Line, toll - free (800) 240-3340.
Cooked Jam or Jelly Remake Directions
1. PREPARE JARS
Wash jar and screw band in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling
water over flat lid in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to
use. Drain well before filling. Repeat this procedure with jars needed for
Remainder of Batch.
2. PREPARE PECTIN MIXTURE
Gradually add contents of 1 box Fruit Pectin to 3/4 cup cold water in small (1
quart) saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring to boil on medium heat; boil 2 min.,
stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3. PREPARE TRIAL BATCH
1 cup your jam or jelly
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Pectin Mixture (from Step 2)
Measure jam or jelly, sugar and Pectin Mixture into small (1-qt.) saucepan. Bring
mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high
heat. Boil 30 sec., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with
metal spoon.
Immediately pour into prepared jar. Cover and let stand up to 24 hours to check
set of Trial Batch. Cover remaining Pectin Mixture; refrigerate until ready to use.
4. PREPARE REMAINDER OF BATCH
Do not try to remake more than 8 cups of jam or jelly at one time. If Trial Batch
sets satisfactorily, follow the recipe above, using the listed measures of sugar
and Pectin Mixture for EACH 1 cup of jam or jelly. Measure jam or jelly, sugar and
Pectin Mixture into large (6- to 8-qt.) saucepot. Bring to full rolling boil as
directed; boil 30 sec., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam
with metal spoon.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar
rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Invert jars 5 min.,
then turn upright. Or, follow water bath method recommended by USDA (see
below). After jars cool, check seals.
After preparing Remainder of Batch, discard any leftover Pectin Mixture
WATER BATH METHOD
Before remaking remainder of batch, bring boiling-water canner, half full with
water, to simmer.
Follow Step 4, above, to remake remainder of batch.
Ladle hot jam or jelly mixture immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4
inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2 piece lids. Screw bands
tightly.
Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover
jars by 1 to 2 inches. (Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover and bring water to
gentle boil. Process 5 minutes for jelly or 10 minutes for jam. (adjust time
according to altitude). Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely.
After jars are cool, check seals by pressing middle of lids with finger. (If lid
springs back lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary).
For convenience in measuring larger amounts of Pectin Mixture and sugar:
8 Tbsp = 1/2 cup
16 Tbsp = 1 cup
If your jam or jelly still doesn’t set, you can always use it as a glaze or syrup.
Apple Pectin
7 tart apples (about 2 lbs)
4 cups water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Cut apples into quarters (do not peel or core). Combine with water and lemon
juice in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan.. Bring to a boil over high heat,
cover, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain
through a coarse sieve and discard solids. Pour liquid through a jelly bag or
several layers of cheesecloth. Ladle into sterilized 1 cup jars and process 10
minutes in a boiling water bath. Adjust time according to altitude.
Makes: 4 cups
To Use Homemade Apple Pectin for Jams or Jellies
For each 1 cup of finely chopped fruit or juice use 1 cup Homemade Apple Pectin
and 3/4 cup of sugar. Combine in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan with 1 tsp
lemon juice if fruit is low acid. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil HARD,
stirring constantly until mixture will form a gel (about 10 minutes). Ladle into
sterilized jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Adjust time
according to altitude.
Testing for pectin
Mix 1 teaspoon of cooked, cooled crushed fruit with 1 tablespoon of rubbing
alcohol.
In a closed container, shake the mixture gently.
Juices from fruit that is high in pectin will form a solid gelatinous lump. If the fruit
is low in pectin, it will form only small rubbery particles.
Other fruits that contain low pectin levels need added pectin to make jelly are :
mangoes, passion fruit, melon, pineapple, and bananas.
Developing Your Own Recipes
Cooked Jam (low sugar or honey)
Fruit - mashed fruit
PECTIN: use about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp per cup of fruit.
LEMON JUICE: for low acid fruits, use 1Tbsp per cup of fruit.
SUGAR: use 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar per cup of fruit.
HONEY: use 1/8 - 1/3 cup honey per cup of fruit.
CALCIUM WATER: use 1 tsp per cup of fruit.
Cooked Jelly (low sugar or honey)
PECTIN: use about 3/4 to 1 tsp per cup of juice.
LEMON JUICE, SUGAR, HONEY, CALCIUM WATER: Same as above..
General instructions for using Pomona Pectin
Wash and rinse jars and let stand in hot water. Bring lids and rings to a simmer,
turn down heat and let stand in hot water.
Prepare fruit or juice. Measure fruit or juice into pan with lemon juice (if called for
in recipe).
Add proper amount of calcium water from little jar into pan and stir well.
Measure sugar or cold / room temperature honey into separate bowl. Thoroughly
mix proper amount of Pectin powder into honey or sugar.
Bring fruit or juice to a full boil. Add pectin / honey or pectin / sugar and stir
vigorously 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat.
Fill jars to 1/4" of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2 piece lids. Put filled jars in
boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft.
above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals - lids should be
sucked down. Lasts about 3 weeks once opened.
What are conserves, jams, jellies, preserves, marmalades & butters?
The basic difference between jams and jellies is that jelly is made from the juice
of the fruit only. Fruit is crushed, strained, and then is boiled with sugar and
pectin in order to make a spreadable product. Jams on the other hand, feature
crushed fruit, often with seeds left in berry jams. This means when you spread a
jam, it will be somewhat lumpy since it contains some whole fruit. It is not the
same with jelly, which spreads evenly.
Preserves contain whole or large pieces of fruit, making them thicker and more
fruit filled than jams or jellies. However, this varies - some people use the terms
preserves and jams interchangeably.
Another related term is Conserves, which is often a combination of several fruits
made in jams or preserves fashion. Orange apricot jam is an example of
conserves. Other recipes for conserves might include nuts or raisins. You may
also run into various fruit butters, and a few made from sweet winter squash.
Fruit butters are made from fruit pulp and sugar cooked together with spices till
nice and thick. There is no butter in fruit butter. The term may have developed to
describe the appearance of the product or because it is a spread.
Marmalade is a sweet preserve with a bitter tang made from citrus fruit, sugar,
water, and (in some commercial brands) a gelling agent. In English speaking
usage "marmalade" invariably refers to a preserve derived from a citrus fruit,
most commonly from oranges. The recipe includes sliced or chopped fruit peel,
which is simmered in fruit juice and water until soft; indeed marmalade is
sometimes described as jam with fruit peel. Such marmalade is most often
consumed on toasted bread as part of a full English breakfast. The favored citrus
fruit for marmalade production in the UK is the "Seville orange", Citrus aurantium
var. aurantium, thus called because it was originally imported from Seville in
Spain; it is higher in pectin than sweet oranges, and therefore gives a good set.
Marmalade can also be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, or a combination of
citrus fruits.
Can fruit be safely canned without adding sugar?
Sugar is not an "essential" ingredient for safe preservation of food in mason jars.
Many foods can be safely preserved with little or no added sugar. The absence of
sugar, however, may alter the flavor, texture and color of home preserved foods
especially when compared to similar foods that contain higher quantities of
sugar.
To preserve fruit without sugar, select only fully ripe fruit at its peak flavor. Water
or unsweetened fruit juice (such as white grape or apple juice) may be used in
place of sugar syrup. Or, if you choose, make a Very Light Syrup: combine 1/2
cup granulated sugar with 5 cups water.
This approximates the natural sugar level in most fruits and adds few calories.
This small quantity of sugar also helps canned fruit retain their natural color and
texture.
Canning with Sweeteners other than Sugar
Home canned fruits do not require sugar to prevent spoilage. The main reason
sugar is used during canning is to help preserve the fruit's texture, flavor, and
color. All or part of the sugar can be replaced by other sweeteners, such as fruit
juices, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, and non-nutritive sweeteners.
Fruit juice may be substituted for all of the sugar syrup in your recipe or for part
of it, if you prefer. The juice may be purchased or made from fresh fruit.To make
your own juice, use fully ripe, juicy fruit. Crush it in a pan and bring it to a simmer
over low heat for several minutes, stirring gently. Then strain the hot pulp
through a jelly bag or cheesecloth.
Mild-flavored honey and light corn syrup may be used to replace as much as half
of the white sugar called for in your canning syrup recipe. Honey will also add
flavor and color to the fruit, depending on the type of honey you use. Honey also
may darken during storage. It's best to use fresh mild, light colored honey in
canning.
Maple syrup can be used to replace up to 1/4 of the sugar in a recipe, but it will
effect the natural flavor and color of the fruit.
It's best not to use molasses, sorghum, dark corn syrup, or other strong-flavored
syrups when canning fruit. These sweeteners darken the fruit and over power the
fruit flavor.
Non nutritive sweeteners may be used to sweeten canning syrups, but they may
cause a bitter or metallic aftertaste. You can reduce this problem by adding the
non nutritive sweetener when you serve the fruit rather than when you process it.
Most of the sugar substitutes mentioned here will cost more per cup than
granulated sugar, and except for non-nutritive sweeteners and fruit juices, they
will produce a canning syrup higher in calories than a medium syrup made with
granulated sugar. However, some of them, particularly fruit juice, will add
nutritive value to the canning syrup. Replacing 1/3 of the sugar in a medium
syrup recipe with an equal amount of honey will add about 30 calories per pint of
fruit.
If you have never used some of these sweeteners before, experiment with small
batches first before making large quantities.
Here is a summary of things to remember about canning with sugar substitutes:
Sugar is not essential for preventing spoilage of canned fruits, but it helps
preserve flavor, texture, and color. Other sweeteners may be substituted for part
or all of the sugar in your canning syrup recipe, but some sweeteners may
change the flavor and color of the fruit. I myself use Whey Low type D. It is an all
natural sugar that has the same preservative properties as regular sugar. It is
also low carb and tastes exactly like regular sugar. Made for Diabetics.
Good things to know about canning fruit.
Canned fruits oftentimes will float if the sugar syrup is too heavy, if jars are
packed too loosely or if air remains in the tissues of the fruit after
processing.
To avoid this use a light or medium sugar syrup, make sure fruit is firm and
ripe and pack fruit tightly in jars without crushing.
If fruit is not covered by liquid it may darken during storage but does not
necessarily mean it is spoiled. To avoid this be sure fruit is covered by liquid
while still leaving the recommended head space. Also be sure to remove trapped
air bubbles with a slim rubber scraper, spatula or kitchen knife.
To do this effectively, tilt the jar slightly while running the tool between the
fruit and the edge of the jar and also pressing inward against the fruit a few
times.
Canned peaches, pears and apples may show a blue, red or pink color change
after processing. This is sometimes the result of natural chemical changes that
occur as fruits are heated.
A spatula shaped wooden spoon that has a flat end instead of rounded, is good
to have for stirring sugar syrup in a flat bottomed pan during the cooking
process.
Prepare syrup, while heating water, add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to
dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil. Fill jars while syrup is still boiling hot.
Chart on syrups on next page.
Types of Syrups
Ultra Light: Approximates natural sugar level in most fruits, adds fewest calories.
Approximate % sugar - 10: 1/2 cup sugar, 5 cups water – Yield is 5 1/4 cups
Extra Light: Use with very sweet fruit. Try small quantity first to be sure family
likes it.
Approximate % sugar - 20: 1 1/4 cup sugar, 5 1/2 cup water - Yield is 6 cups
Light: Sweet apples, sweet
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