SC - Pears and Jalapenos

[Aldyth@aol.com]

Michael F. Gunter wrote:
 
> I've been interested in canning for a long time but I've never had anyone show
> me how.  One question, when I've gotten homemade jams from friends the jams
> have a wax seal under the lid. Is this step necessary?

The wax seal seems to be a traditional way of sealing and expelling the
air before the use of vacuum-sealed (Ball, etc.) jars came into
widespread use. It might be a case of someone forgetting why it is there
and assuming it was still essential. Or, I could be talking through my
hat, which sometimes happens too.
 
> I would love to can stuff for later in the year or for feasts in the future,
> I've just been chicken to try.

There are plenty of books devoted to the entire spectrum of food
preservation, and, for the generalist, there's always "The Joy of
Cooking", although I understand the newest edition is going to be a
pretty, like, Wild and Crazy 90's cookbook, so the section may suffer
from Irrelevance. The books I'm thinking of are Jocasta Inness' "The
Country Kitchen", and there's one called "Putting Food By", whose author
I forget. 

And don't forget the Usenet Newsgroup rec.food.preserving as a resource
for specific questions that might not be addressed by other books. Being
in the pursuit of keeping food from poisoning you, the folks there are
generally a responsible and well-informed.

For what it's worth, and I mention this mostly as a curiosity, it is
illegal in New York City, my home town, to sell home-canned food in
restaurants. So, while the chef in a NYC restaurant may make all manner
of preserves, pickles, and chutneys, they cannot be canned prior to sale
in a restaurant, either in or out of the canning jar. I realize that
other municipalities, counties, or whatever, may have health codes that
differ, but I thought it might have legal ramifications worth looking
into locally. I hope this doesn't create another thread like the one
about alcohol...

Tentatively,

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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