Saturday, November 2, 2013

Attitude, altitude, aptitude...

Attitude of safety.
Yesterday I was canning a little left over chicken broth and my DH was in the kitchen. He looked at me funny when I picked up the lid for my canner, held it up to the light and said “check the vent hole”. I explained to him that there are important steps that you need to do every time when canning. And yes, I do them every time.

While I may be a bit of a renegade canner, I ALWAYS follow the safety steps & I am a stickler about sanitation.
Shanon shared what her grams taught her “she said even the best will have a mishap every now and then that's why you need to always practice safety remember it can't speak to you and say shanny you forgot a step.”
These links are to various photo albums on my facebook page and a blog post to help you get started.

Also, if your scroll back through the facebook page, there are other general canning posts that I have posted last week.

Altitude and canning.
It may be a little known fact, especially for newbies, that the elevation of where you live impacts what pressure (pounds of pressure) you need to attain for canning. Most recipes list instructions for elevations of 1,000 feet or less.
If you live above 1,000 feet above sea level, the atmospheric pressure changes. This impacts how your pressure canner cooks.
Here is a great article from Simply Canning that explains it in simply detail. Attitude Adjustments. This includes charts.

The great thing is once you figure out the altitude of where you live, you have the information you need to can properly.

Aptitude: The natural ability to learn something. You don't have to have a natural ability to can.
You can learn how to to it and through experience you will become more comfortable over time.
One year ago, I did my first pressure canning session. I made my experienced friend teach me. I was listening, taking instruction, a little nervous at each step. A year later, we were canning again (this past weekend). I realized just how much I have learned over the last year.
I was the one giving directions, reassuring her when issues came up.
The difference: she shared that she has only pressure canned proteins when I came out and made her. LOL. I have been pressure canning proteins every single month, sometimes several times a month.
Experience trumps aptitude and the can do attitude makes it happen!


No comments:

Post a Comment