Canning in the oven

In the May/June issue of Countryside mag, there is an article on canning in an oven at 200 degrees. I know you have warned readers in the past about this, but will you comment on this.

Clovis Steelman
Gilmer, Texas

This is a difference in terms! Oven canning means canning fruits or vegetables in the oven — a real bad idea. This article on “oven canning” refers to sealing dry foods in canning jars in the oven. It isn’t really oven canning but oven sealing. I agree with the article; these foods do seal well and store well when processed in the oven. The one plus is that if there should be any insect eggs in the food, the heat will kill them. Remember, though, that just putting dry foods in a sealed airtight container that is insect and moisture proof will allow you to store them for very long periods of time, nearly indefinitely. I don’t oven can. I use my canning jars for canning. I store my dry foods in other sealed, moisture-proof containers such as gallon glass jars and popcorn tins. It also saves time and energy used to heat up the oven. — Jackie

Canning meatloaf

I saw a video on the Tattler Lids website on canning meat loaf. The person doing it canned the meat loaf raw and processed it at 90 minutes. Have you ever tried this? Do you recommend it? Other thoughts about it?

Lynda

There’s a big debate on this among the “experts.” Some say that it’s fine as the ground meat allows juices to boil within it as it processes. Others say that it’s dangerous because meatloaf is a dense food like pureed squash and the center of the jar may not heat up enough for long enough for safe processing.

I used to can meatloaf all the time. It’s in my All American instruction manual but several other “experts” recommend NOT canning meatloaf. Are they just trying to keep us safe from ourselves by being overly cautious? Or is there a real concern? I’m not sure so I now can meatloaf shaped into larger meatballs. Then when I want to have a meatloaf dinner, I dump out a quart into a shallow baking dish, top with green peppers and ketchup, and pop into the oven for about half an hour. The texture and taste is like meatloaf without any possible danger. — Jackie