4-H 264 Foods for the Future 3
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Nebraska 4-H Clubs: Historical Materials and 4-H Youth Development Publications 1988 4-H 264 Foods for the Future 3 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/a4hhistory "4-H 264 Foods for the Future 3" (1988). Nebraska 4-H Clubs: Historical Materials and Publications. 396. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/a4hhistory/396 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the 4-H Youth Development at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nebraska 4-H Clubs: Historical Materials and Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. cyl 5 RD2178 32567 5""3:3 Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service 4-H 264 Fufl AiJ. ~.a- fly Foods For The Future 3 v •, Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the / e e\ a U.S. Department of Agriculture. leo E. lucas, Director of Cooperative Extension Service, University of Nebraska. : · ; Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. ~• • _ . .. .. o The Cooperative Ex tenaion Service providea Information and educational programa to all people w ithout regard to race. color, national origin. aex or handtcap. Foods For The Future 3 WELCOmE Foods for the Future was written by Eloise Christianson, M.S. and Laurel Branen, M .S., R.D. under contract with the University of Nebraska. What You Will Learn 0 New words 0 All about botulism 0 How to process using a pressure canner 0 About canning vegetables 0 About canning meats and poultry What You Will Do 0 Can several vegetables using the pressure canner 0 Can several meats using the pressure canner 0 Evaluate your products 0 Answer Quiz Time questions 2 DEFINITIONS HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES - Interesting historical facts about food preservation and those foods that we like to preserve. YOU'RE THE CONSUMER - Important information you need to make wise con sumer decisions. · KITCHEN SAFETY - Hints on how to work in the kitchen safely. FOOD SAFETY - Hints on how to work with food to keep it safe to eat. WORDS TO KNOW - New words and WORDS TO KNOW their meanings to be used in a chapter. I DON'T GET IT? - A question/ answer format for questions you may have. fi100 EXPERIMENTS - Activities that help you understand what happens to food under varying conditions. KNOW-HOWS - Mini-projects that you KNOW-HOWS need to know how to do before you can complete the major project. HOW-TOS - Major project that tells you HOW-TOS how to preserve your food . A RAINBOW OF SERVING IDEAS - Sug gestions on how you can use your pre served food. ...... QUIZ TIME ••••·· QUIZ TIME - A fun time to answer some questions on what you have learned. 3 CHAPTER I Getting Stnrted WORDS TO KNOW Botulism - Deadly illness caused by a toxin (or poison) produced by Clostridium botu linum in sealed containers. Correct process ing techniques eliminate this danger in low acid foods. Pressure Canning - Processing or cooking In Foods For The Future 2 you learned food at a temperature higher than boiling the importance of acid content in process water in a special canner which can be seal ing your food. Foods below pH 4. 5 can be ed to hold steam pressure. A higher processed using the boiling-water bath pressure is reached when water in the clos method. This includes fruits, tomatoes and ed canner changes to steam and takes up pickled vegetables. In this unit you will use more space. As the pressure increases, the the pressure canner to can "low acid" temperature within the canner also in foods or foods above pH 4. 5. Low acid creases. This higher temperature kills bac foods are vegetables and meats. teria which boiling temperatures won't kill Very high temperatures can be reached in in the same length of time. Low acid foods a pressue canner. The high temperature is must be processed under pressure. (DO needed to kill the specific bacteria NOT confuse a pressure canner with a Clostridium botulinum. The illness caused steam canner.) by this bacteria is called botulism poisoning. Low Acid Foods - Those foods with little Many people have died from botulism. For natural acid. Meats and vegetables (except this reason it is important that you learn to tomatoes) are low acid foods. can vegetables and meats properly using Gauge - Part of the pressure canner which the pressure canner. shows pressure and temperature inside the This is your planning chapter. In it you will canner. do four things: Gasket - Rubber seal that goes around the 1 . Learn new words about pressure can edge of the inside of the lid of the pressure ning. canner. 2. Learn more about botulism. Petcock - A valve for letting air out of the 3. Look at a pressure canner and learn its pressure canner. parts. Heat Penetration - Rate at which the heat 4. Plan out how many and which vege goes through the total quantity of food in a tables you will can. jar. 4 Preventative Measures Since the major cause of botulism out breaks is improperly processed home canned foods, here are some simple preven tive measures you can use: • Follow proper techniques when canning food in the home. Follow the specific instructions that come with your canner. • Do not use dangerous canning methods for low acid vegetables and meats-only can these foods using the pressure canner. Dangerous methods for these foods include the boiling-water bath method, steam canning, oven canning, and dishwasher canning. • Use up-to-date home canning recipes. Botulism The best sources of up-to-date information How many times have you heard some are recently published booklets by the Co one say, "I've canned this way my whole operative Extension Service, the USDA, life and I've never had anything go bad. I major manufacturers of home canning don't need to update my information!" Un equipment, and reputable test kitchens. fortunately, some people do think just this Avoid following the home canning advice way. Read the following paragraphs on the of celebrities, old cookbooks, "back-to occurrence of foodborne botulism and you nature'' publications and any out-of-date will understand why it is important to can home canning leaflets. Some potentially foods safely. dangerous instructions can be found in old Botulism was first recognized in the U.S. official publications. So be up to date and in 1 899. In the 79 years from 1 899 to keep yourself safe! 1978, there were 778 reported outbreaks • Inactivate the toxin. You cannot see, of botulism in this country. Two thousand smell or taste the toxin or poison produced nineteen individuals were involved, of by C. botulinum. But it is easily destroyed which 1,002 died! The death rate has de by heat. To do this: dined significantly in recent years. This is -Bring food to a boiling temperature and due mainly to improved detection methods, hold that temperature for 1 0 minutes. more readily available antitoxin and -A good rule to follow is: especially to the pressure canner. Always boil home-canned vegetables and One of the famous outbreaks of botulism meats 10 minutes before tasting them. in the U.S. killed an entire family of 1 2. The Food canned in the home under proper outbreak involved home-canned string conditions for the type of food involved is beans. It occurred in Albany, Oregon in safe to eat. Problems only develop when im 1924. proper canning techniques are used. For Since 1 899 there have been 10 out more information on botulism see NebGuide breaks, 28 cases and 21 deaths in Nebras G83-640. (Available at your local Extension ka. The latest outbreak occurred in 1979! office.) 5 Using a Pressure Canner will pressurize during the next 3 to 5 There are two different types of pressure minutes. See Figure 4. > canners available. One has a weighted gauge which automatically limits the pressure to a preset level; the other type has a petcock and dial gauge which regis ters the amount of pressure inside the can ner. Have one or more pressure canners avail-able to look at as you review this sec tion. Point out the different parts as you read about them. Follow the manufacturer' s directions ex actly for your pressure canner. To get a '•:•.-• •-: •;•. '•· • • ~ - · - r- :o-• •·)' """ • ,• .._ ·~ ... general idea of what you will be doing, Figures 1.2,3 some general points on pressure canners have been included that are the same for all canners. • Many manufacturers strongly suggest that a pressure canner equipped with a pressure gauge be checked at least once or twice a year to make sure it is accurate. An accurate pressure gauge is necessary to get correct processing temperatures which are Figure 4 needed t o prevent spoilage of foods. To check the accuracy of a gauge, look at the pointer. If the pointer is loose and 4. Start timing the process when the moves back and forth when the cover is pressure reading on the dial gauge indicates tipped, it should be replaced. If the pointer that the recommended pressure has been falls away from the stop pin two or more reached, or when the weighted gauge pounds, or if it does not return to one pound begins to jiggle or rock. See Figures 5, 6 , of the stop pin, it should be replaced. Check and 7. your gauge now. For your own safety, test or replace gauges on old canners that have not been used for some time and on canners purchas ed at garage or farm sales.