Most things can be safely canned at home with a pressure canner. Some on this board strictly follow only the USDA recommendations but they are only that, recommendations. When reading through the official USDA guide, I could find no mention of eggplant being unsafe to home can. I have read that it is not recommended for quality reasons. Many items that used to have published recommendations for have been black-listed due to aesthetics. I imagine most would find pressure canned cubes of eggplant in water unappetizing.

As far as adding oil to a recipe, it's safe to pressure can chicken, beef, venison and other meats that naturally contain animal fat or vegetable oil. It's also safe to add a small amount of butter to jams to prevent foaming. Yet some claim that adding oil will protect botulism spores. That seems contradictory to me. I think the biggest concern with oil in a recipe is getting any on the rim of the jar, preventing a good seal.

Ann, it does get confusing and even for us "old-timers" there are still unresolved issues or areas of confusion.

I think you misunderstood something about tomato sauces. Lots of tomato sauces are boiling water bathed. For example, the newest Ball publication, the "Complete Book of Home Preserving" has several seasoned tomato sauce recipes which are BWB'd, including one with onion, celery, carrot, garlic and 4 T. bottled lemon juice.

Pressure canning is required for sauces with a high proportion of low-acid ingredients (i.e. vegetables and/or meat).

Regarding your other question about the Caponata recipe, Bernardin (the Canadian version of the Ball Blue Book) has a similar recipe containing eggplant which also calls for red wine vinegar and tomato paste. (They call it Vegetable Antipasto.)

Ellie Topp's recipes often call for red wine (acid), tomato paste (acid) and red wine vinegar (typically 7-8% acidity as opposed to the more usual 5% of distilled or cider vinegar).

Regarding your other question about deciding which books are reliable or not, I don't think there is one standard answer. Each of us has to conclude for him/herself what will satisfy the criteria for safety. We differ philosophically.

More typically you will find books which in the main are reliable, but individual recipes may prove the exception and you may not choose to prepare those. For example, I really like Linda Amendt's "Blue Ribbon Preserves," but I know her pressure-canned curds don't meet current canning guidelines. I've always meant to email and ask how she arrived at the conclusion that it was all right to can them, but until then I just skip those recipes.

Part of the reason I do is that while Linda Amendt is tremendously imaginative and has won many awards for her canning, she has, as far as I know, no credentials in biology, science, home economics or related fields. Her book mentions nothing about USDA standards or a review committee which has tested her recipes.

She does have a chapter on the basics of canning safety, and it may be that all her recipes are safe. However, I have no way to be sure.

I'm not saying a degree or credentials are the be-all and end-all, but for me they're an important part of the package. When I look at a book and decide the degree to which I'll trust it, I check the publication date, I investigate the author, I read reviews of the book and finally I see if it's ever been recommended by trustworthy sources. In Ellie Topp's case, not only does she have the credentials, and not only has she developed recipes for Bernardin, but her book is listed as an excellent source by several Extension services.

It's just the usual in researching anything we read.

The best thing to do is take preserving courses, provided by Extension services or online, read the standard sources and get a good sense of what falls into the usual range of canning practices. Then you'll be able to flag what seems questionable. At that point you can consult your local Extension, post here or shoot off an email to the NCFHFP. They're good about answering. I just sent them a question and I've emailed Extension services before.

Carol

Thank you both for the answers! It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one that gets confused. Carol, you're right - somewhere along the way I did get it into my head that tomato sauces have to be pressure canned - maybe so I could justify that pressure canner I bought! And your reasoning on how to decide whether to trust a recipe and/or an author certainly makes sense. And given that, I think I'm going to try that caponata.

Thank you.

Ann

Ann,

It really is frustrating when you start wanting to branch out and get creative with canning that so much information doesn't have the "why" attached to it, isn't it?

General rules of thumb such as "don't try to can recipes containing oil" and "don't can eggplant" are simple, clear, and easy to remember for beginners --- if canning guidelines conatined all the detailed whys and wherefores, they would be so intimidating few people would ever dare to take it up, I suspect!

But as Carol points out, some of the recommendations are for safety reasons, and some are for aesthetic or taste reasons, and I, too, often wonder which ones are which. And remember, the safety guidelines suggesting not to can certain things are sometimes not along the lines of "if you do X your jars WILL get botulism in them" or even "are likely to get botulism." In some cases like with the pumpkin puree, I don't know that there is any evidence that ANYone has ever actually GOTTEN botulism from home- canned pumpkin. But the aim of the USDA recommendations is to be SURE that EVERYTHING done according to them is safe, which means testing the results, and the tests for pumpkin puree showed such varying denities that they couldn't GUARANTEE that if you canned it even in a pressure canner even for a long time it would be of a density where the heat would have penetrated to all of it. So they started recommending against canning it.

I'm really grateful for this forum, as I've learned so much about these issues and both the science and philosophy that goes into deciding what to can and what not to....

Let us know how that recipe comes out!

Zabby, also a fan of Ellie Topp (who is Canadian!)

We were taught eggplant is like zucchini or summer squash, too dense when canned, unless it is pickled or used in the Ball recipe for vegetable antipasto. I know the zucchini can be mixed in the right proportion with tomatoes and pressure canned(USDA recipe). I know the recipe by Ball that has some eggplant that is vegetable antipasto. It does say their recipe must be followed exactly to be safe.

There is a historical reason the USDA standards (and those of their "descendents" like the NCFHFP) are so conservative.

In WWII citizens were encouraged to grow Victory Gardens and home food preservation was promoted as a patriotic duty. It was so important that metal and industrial production was allocated specifically for the manufacture of pressure canners.

However, an increase in the number of home canners also led to a disturbing increase in the incidence of food poisoning. A certain percentage seemed incapable of following directions. So USDA standards were modified to allow generous leeway. In other words, they're geared to the lowest common denominator, so that even if a certain number of processing errors are made, the likelihood is that no one will die from it.

Carol

Carol,

That's interesting!

My mom was a small child in Chicago during WWII, and was required to grow a Victory Garden like a good patriotic girl, and she says she hated it --- involved endless lugging of buckets of water for blocks to the allotment garden (this being a very urban environment), and miserable bouts of weeding in the hot sun. And apparently my grandmother hated the canning --- she was a city woman with a job whose mother had also been one and just didn't enjoy the extra time in the kitchen.

I wouldn't have been surprised if she or many of her friends grudginly cut corners in those recipes, trying to get the durn job done....

Zabby, whose mom thinks she's NUTS to enjoy this canning stuff, though after 60 years mom has finally recovered from her miserable gardening childhood experience enough to enjoy growing some pansies in her tiny backyard and picking them daily

All I know is that the recipe here from Ball says not to add olives when water bath canning. I was taught that olives should not be added to foods and canned, not even in the pressure canner. I don't know Ellie Topps credentials when it comes to knowing food safety. If you want to know more, I would contact a Food Safety Scientist at a university. They will have more information about it than I do. Some university sites have a place to email questions.
VEGETABLE ANTIPASTO
Makes about 7 (500 m)l jars

This antipasto recipe was specifically formulated to be processed safely in a boiling water canner. Do not deviate from the recipe ingredients and quantities as any change could affect the safety of the end product.

2 1/2 cups (625 ml) green beans cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces
2 1/2 cups (625 ml) cauliflower florets, about 1/2 medium head
2 cups (500 ml) diced onion, about 2 large
2 cups (500 ml) diced green pepper, 2 medium
2 cups (500 ml) diced red pepper, 2 medium
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) diced carrots, 3 to 4 medium
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) diced celery, 4 to 5 stalks
2 cups (500 ml) lightly packed brown sugar
3 tbsp (45 ml) pickling salt
2 cups (500 ml) red wine vinegar
3 cans (each 156 ml) tomato paste
4 tbsp (60 ml) worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp (30 ml) hot pepper sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups (500 ml) diced peeled eggplant or unpeeled zucchini
3 tbsp (45 ml) dried basil
1 tbsp (15 ml) dried mustard

Prepare, measure and combine vegetables (including zucchini if using), except garlic and eggplant; set aside.

Place 7 clean 500 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat water to a simmer (180F/82°C). Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.

Combine brown sugar, salt, vinegar, tomato paste, worcestershire and hot pepper sauce and garlic in a large stainless steel saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil.

Prepare eggplant (if using); stir into hot sauce along with remaining vegetables. Stirring occasionally, return mixture to a boil; boil gently, 5 minutes to begin to soften vegetables. Remove from heat; stir in basil and mustard.

Ladle antipasto into a hot jar to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre SNAP Lid on jar; apply screw band securely & firmly until resistance is met Âfingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining antipasto.

Cover canner; bring water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process Âboil filled jars  25 minutes.* When processing time is complete, turn heat off and remove canner lid. When boil subsides - bubbles no longer rise to surface (3 to 5 minutes) - remove jars without tilting. Cool jars upright, undisturbed 24 hours. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

After cooling, check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Note: Because antipasto is available commercially, many people believe they can preserve their own recipe at home. Most traditional antipasto recipes cannot be home canned safely in a boiling water bath canner. (However, some can be frozen successfully.) When the recipe adds low acid foods such as tuna (or other canned seafood), olives, mushrooms, vegetables and/or oil the resulting food mixture needs to be processed at temperatures higher than those that can be reached in a boiling water canner. These higher temperatures are essential to avoid the risk of deadly botulism poisoning. Processing filled jars of homemade antipasto in a pressure canner is unsuccessful because the temperature/time combinations required to eliminate the risk of botulism destroys the integrity of the vegetables resulting in a product that is almost spreadable. This Vegetarian Antipaso recipe has been specially formulated and tested to allow low acid vegetables (with added vinegar) to be processed safely in a boiling water canner. It yields a product with a well-balanced flavour and varied texture. Do NOT alter ingredients or measures.

When ready to serve, to make a traditional antipasto, toss the contents of a jar of Vegetarian Antipasto with tuna, salmon or shrimp and add your personal finishing touchesÂmushrooms, olive oil and/or olives. Or, just serve this delicious Antipasto on its own. It`s delicious as a spread, dip or appetizer.

I suppose at some point it's appropriate to give up the fight.

I'm not there yet, LOL.

Ellie Topp has been a member of the Standing Committee for the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education.

"Put a Lid on It," the previous edition of "Small-Batch Preserving," is mentioned in the Canadian government's Food Safety Network archives as a book which "features currently accepted techniques and recipes for small-batch preserving."

They also include in their archives the document I cited on another thread on the proper preparation and storage of infused oils and credit Topp and Howard (a Registered Dietitian and Topp's co-author) with developing a new safe method for infused oils. That method was "developed in consultation with the Bureau of Microbial Hazards of Health Canada."

I concede it is hypothetically possible for someone to write a later edition of a book which is unsafe compared to the original edition.

But given Topp's background and history (and Howard's) it defies logic to assume so.

I feel totally comfortable with "Small-Batch Preserving" but one could spend a lifetime happily canning and never use any source other than those which fall within the "Canon." There are hundreds of recipes of proven safety available in USDA documents, Extension documents, the Ball Blue Book, the Bernardin Book. That is certainly the least-risk choice.

Carol

Linda Lou, Ellie Topp's credentials are Canadian rather than American, but in my humble opinion that doesn't make them any less valid.

Where I live, she IS considered part of "the canon." And I'm so glad, because, as many of us have grumbled, there arent' very many new recipes being tested & approved by USDA, Extension offices, or Ball, and many of Topp's recipes are creative, delicious, and well suited to my own tastes.

Zabby, who'll go down kicking with you, Carol, on defending ET! ;-)

Z

Uh, I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean to begin a debate. However, I also find the combinations of flavors that she uses to be fun and interesting and therefore want to use many of the recipes. As I am inexperienced, I was trying to figure out how to evaluate recipes.

I value all of the opinions shared here.

Ann

Ann, I don't think there's any problem with a debate as long as there's respect for the other person. There's a powerful difference between a fact-based argument and snarky personal attacks.

While Linda Lou and I differ on this particular issue, she has contributed immeasureably to this forum and others. She is an invaluable resource and has taken on herself what is often a thankless task. While I prefer to "branch out" no one will ever go wrong following her advice. I respect that.

Thanks, Zabby! Nice to get back-up from the other side of the border.

Carol

Ok, so that is why I don't know anything about her and her credentials. We go by USDA guidelines. That is what I have been taught, to follow them and I have to provide where I got my information and document it when answering phone calls. Liability.
Zabby, no, that doesn't make her credentials any less valid. I just didn't know who she was.