In article ,
Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...
Baz wrote:

I am going to do some beetroot, onions, tomatoes and some cucumbers
(gerkins?).

I may have missed mention of botulism; surely everybody knows that non-acid
foods need the temperature of a pressure canner to be sure?

Nope, nobody in the UK knows that. Here, Kilner jars of fruit/veg are
just filled, closed and cooked in a boiling water pan without pressure.

That is wrong. If you look at most older books, you will see that
the recommendation is exactly as Gary said. Also, some people living
in the UK have previously lived at moderate altitudes, which makes
the requirement more important.

What's more, when we've filled jars with home made jam and put the
lid on, that's it done; we don't boil them at all.

You make entirely non-acid jam? Please post the recipe for our
amusement (if not delectation) :-)

I know that transpondians regard these as dicing-with-death pagan
practices, but we've always done it this way and not died of botulism.

The recommendation always was slightly overstated, because the main
danger comes from high-protein foods. I would very, VERY strongly
advise people not to store such things in that way without the
extra pressure or without checking the seal when using them.

Also, it really only matters for foods that are only lightly cooked
after being removed from the jar. Extended cooking will destroy
the botulinism toxin.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.