Subject: Rec.Food.Preserving FAQ (v.5.02) Part6-6

From: Eric <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 21:31:10 -0500

Archive-name: food/preserving/part6
Posting-Frequency: monthly (on or about 20th)
Last-modified: 2000/02/29		
Version: 5.02
Copyright: (c) 2000 Eric Decker ( and others as specified within ) 
Maintainer: Eric Decker <[email-masked]>

                         Rec.Food.Preserving FAQ

          FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) in the newsgroup preserving

This FAQ and all its constituent parts, as a collection of information, is 
Copyright 1998-2000 by Eric Decker, as a work of literature. Distribution 
by any electronic means is granted with the understanding that the article 
not be altered in any way.  Permission to distribute in printed form must 
be obtained in writing.  The removal of this copyright notice is forbidden.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: No author represented in this FAQ is qualified to establish
scheduled processes nor is any author a competent processing authority in
the sense of 21 CFR 113.83 et alia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 6 of 6

14.    Recipe troubleshooting, and a list of Other Resources.

14.1.1  [I just got a recipe from rec.food.preserving that I'd like to try.
Is it safe to make?]

0.  Posters should be responsible for recipes posted, and if you are trying
out a preserving recipe for the first time, extreme caution should be taken.
Your best source of information on a posted recipe is the poster's E-mail
address. 

1. Recipes, if they came from a publication (book, pamphlet, magazine), that
publication should be stated, preferably at the beginning.  It would be very
wise to note the copyright date, too.  If the recipe is an old family recipe,
it should also be posted, too.  Of course, plenty of bad recipes get into
cookbooks, so....

2. If you altered the recipe, you should post that.  The best thing to post
would be the original recipe, and your changes made to it.

3. Processing times for recipes are assumed to be for sea level.  You should
know your elevation, and you must remember to increase the processing time
the higher the altitude that you can at.  If you are posting an old family
recipe, you really should post your altitude, too.

4. And remember, you can always make a refrigerator batch, by not sealing
and processing, just refrigerating the results.

14.1.2  [Most of the recipe measurements posted here are not metric.  Can you
help me?]

Some basic conversions.  Check the rec.food.cooking FAQ for more of them.

*Temperature*.
    F to C = temp-32 X (5/9)           C to F =temp X (9/5)+32

-20 F = -29 C         0 F = -18 C       32 F = 0 C     70 F = 21 C
165 F =  74 C       180 F =  82 C      212 F = 100 C   220 F = 105 C
240 F = 116 C

*Volume Measure*.
        1 qt = 1 liter (L)
        1 cup (C) = 250 mL ; 1/2 pt = 250 mL
        1 pt = 500 mL
        1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) = 15 mL
        1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 mL
        1 fluid oz = 30 mL

*Weight Measure*.
        1 lb = 454 grams or .454 kg
        1 oz = 28.4 grams

*Length (elevation)*.           *Length (headspace measurement)
        1000 ft = 305 meters            1 inch = 2.5 centimeter

14.1.3  [Help!  What's a peck?  Uncommon English measurements.]

From: Barb Schaller :
3 tsp = 1 Tbsp
2 Tbsp liquid = 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 1/8 cup
16 fl oz = 2 cups = 1 pint (look on a carton of whipping cream)

(From Nathan Justus :  I burned many things that I
cooked from my British cookbooks until I realized that Imperial pints are
20 ounces, and not 16)

32 fl oz = 4 cups = 1 quart (look on a carton of milk)
64 fl oz = 8 cups = 1/2 gallon (look on a bigger carton of milk)
128 fl oz = 16 cups =  one gallon (look on a bleach bottle)

And a couple of measurements especially useful for
rec.food.preservers:
Dry measures  (1 1/6 dry = 1 wet), this taken from _Joy of Cooking_
1 peck = 2 gallons = 8 quarts
1 bushel = 4 pecks = 32 quarts
These are really only useful for large quantities of whole fruits and
vegetables.

14.1.4  [Finding your elevation so you can alter your canning recipes.]

Yep, you've got to alter your processing times if you are above sea-level.
The question is, what is your elevation?  If you live in the US, and have
Web access, check out the URL
        http://www.mit.edu:8001/geo
Type in your town, and you should see a geographic summary, including your
elevation in feet.  

Just one cavaet, from Susan Wood :
I just read your post of the URL for finding out geographic data.  When you
include this in the FAQ I think it is important that people understand they
must adjust for their specific location.  I just checked my town, Woodbury,
Vermont.  The data was OK except I live on a hillside which puts me about
1000 feet above the elevation listed in the data.  Anyone in a hilly terrain
owes it to themselves and their families to check a topographic map for their
area and confirm the elevation.

14.1.5  [I got some recipes from my grandparents.  Are they safe?  How can I
make them safe?]
----
Evaluating Home Canning Recipes For Safety

What do you do when someone gives you "Aunt Tillie's Special" old favorite
jam recipe?  Or Uncle Willie's barbecue sauce?  Or Cousin Millie's dill
pickle recipe?  In today's heightened awareness of food safety, how do you
tell which are safe and which are not?  There are no hard and fast rules, or
secret formulas, to help you decide.  But there are some priorities you can
use to help you balance the pros and cons.  They depend on the factors that
molds, yeasts and bacteria need to grow, and on the relative hazards that
molds, yeast and bacteria present in foods.

Factors Influencing Safety

In food preservation, the growth factors that are important are:

Sugar - enough sugar will stop the growth of most organisms
Salt - enough salt will stop the growth of most organisms
Acid - enough acid will stop the growth of most organisms

** Too little sugar, salt or acid will permit spoilage.

Air - most organisms must have air to grow, BUT the most dangerous bacteria in 
home food preservation, Clostridium botulinum, will only grow without air.

Temperature - most dangerous microorganisms grow best at room temperature or 
a little above.  But in preserving food, we are interested in killing the 
organisms and their spores, not just in slowing their growth.

The death rate of microorganisms depends on:

The microorganism - they die at different rates. The number of cells or spores 
present initially in the food - the more there are, the longer it will take to 
kill them all. The medium (food) that they are in - most die faster in acidic 
food than low acid food, and in wet food than dry food.  The temperature - in 
canning the important temperature is the temperature at the coldest spot in the 
jar. The length of time at that temperature - when we heat food, not all
the organisms will die at the same time, they die gradually, and the full 
process time is necessary to be sure that all, even the most heat-resistant 
ones, have died.

These last two factors, temperature and time, depend on how much solid vs. 
liquid is in the jar, and on how tightly the food is packed.  Heat from
the steam or water in the canner penetrates into different foods at different
rates.  Liquids circulate in the jar and carry the heat into the center of
the jar.  Solids must heat slowly from the outside in.  A process time for
randomly packed green beans, which have spaces for water to circulate, will
not be adequate for "tin soldier" green beans, when the tightly packed, 
vertically aligned beans leave no room for water to circulate.

The most important microorganism in home canning is Clostridium botulinum.
The toxins it produces damage the nervous system, producing paralysis and
possible death.  The damage to nerve cells is permanent.  Minute amounts of
contaminated food can carry enough toxin to cause death.  This bacteria 
produces spores which are very resistant to heat.  It is also very sensitive
to acid, and will not grow in acid foods.  Other pathogenic bacteria are usually
killed by much less heat and in a shorter period of time than Cl.  botulinum.
Most require air, so will not grow in a sealed jar.  They are of less concern
in home canning.

Molds and yeast are of concern because if they grow they can reduce the
amount of acid present in the food.  If that occurs Cl. botulinum may be able
to grow.  Some molds, particularly those that grow on fruits and fruit 
products are known to produce toxins that cause damage to the nervous system and
kidneys, or cancer in research animals.  The likelihood is that they will
cause some damage in humans if consumed often enough.  (Toxin-producing molds
grow well on grains and peanuts, but these products are not home-canned.)
Molds and yeasts will also spoil the taste, texture, color and overall 
appearance of the food, making it unfit for consumption.

Jams, Jellies, Sweet Spreads
In a jam or jelly recipe made with regular pectin, not the low or no-sugar
variety:  If the jam or jelly sets properly (stiffens into jam or jelly) it
has enough sugar to inhibit the growth of bacteria and all but a few sugar
tolerant molds and yeasts.  This will also be true for marmalades and 
preserves, and for jellies made the long-boil method without added pectin.
The fruit blend used is not crucial.

However, mold growing on a fruit spread is a problem.  It should not be
scooped off, rather the entire product should be discarded.  To avoid mold
problems, all jellies, jams and sweet preserves should be packed in 
pre-sterilized jars and processed 5 minutes or more in a boiling water 
bath canner. 

The exceptions are some of the sugar-free types which explicitly state on
the package of jelling agent that they should not be processed.  These 
contain preservatives to prevent mold growth, and the heat of processing 
would cause soft jelly.  In addition, heat will cause the sweetener to break 
down and lose its sweet taste.

Pickles and Relishes
 The pickle recipe is more complicated.  The proportion of acid
(vinegar) to the amount vegetable is crucial.  Enough vinegar must be added to
change the low-acid cucumber into a high-acid pickle to be safe.  There is no
formula or set proportion to decide if the recipe provides for adequate vinegar.
The best thing to do is to find a recipe with similar procedures in the
USDA Guide to Home Canning and compare the amounts.  This is especially
true of pickle relishes or vegetable relishes where several vegetables are
ground together.

Similarities to look for include:

1.   Similar recipes will use the same presoak - soak in ice water, or in
     salt water, or no soak.

2.   They will call for the same size cucumbers - 4", or 6", or 8", or

     specify small or large.

3.   The maturity of the cucumber influences how much acid it will take to
     pickle it.  Smaller, less mature cucumbers have the capacity to neu-
     tralize more acid per unit of weight than do larger, more mature ones.

4.  Similar recipes will also specify similar procedures with the brine: Are
the slices or spears packed in the jar raw and the brine poured over, are they 
merely heated in the brine, or are they simmered before packing?  Is the 
simmering or boiling time the same?  Each of these will influence how rapidly 
the acid penetrates the cucumber and how much the cucumber juice will dilute 
the acid.

5. Similar recipes will call for similar proportions of onion or other
vegetables.

6. Quantities of salt are critical in fermented pickled products; proportion of 
salt to vegetable to vinegar should be very similar to USDA recipe to be sure 
that it will be safe.  Proportions of spices are not crucial and may be adjusted

to suit tastes without danger.

If too little salt is used the cucumbers will spoil, get slimy, float, smell 
foul, and the fermenting mixture may support the growth of hazardous 
microorganisms.  If too much salt is used, there will be no fermentation, 
just shriveled cucumbers sitting in salt water.  Either case is obvious: the 
recipe is not good.

In quick-pack pickles the amount of salt is not critical.  Salt may be
omitted, or a reduced sodium salt-type product used.  The flavor and
texture may be noticeably different, and probably less acceptable but,
the product will be safe.

All pickle products should be processed in a boiling water bath to reduce the
likelihood of mold or yeast spoilage.  Old recipes for whole or sliced 
pickles that have been used for generations without processing and without
spoilage should at least be given a 10 minute process.

Pickle relish products must also adhere to the USDA proportions and process
times.  Quantities of vegetable and vinegar, heating prior to packing, and
process time must be similar to a USDA recipe.  An old, tested and trusted
recipe may be used if the 10 minute process time is used.  Other recipes may
be changed, or the product refrigerated.

For comparison of quantities, note the following equivalencies:

       1 lb 5" cucumbers = about 5 cucumbers
       1 lb mushrooms = about 6 cups chopped = 1 1/2 cups sauteed
       1 lb onions = about 3 cups chopped = about 4 medium
       1 lb green peppers = about 3 C chopped = 8-9 peppers
       1 lb sweet red peppers = about 3 cups chopped = 6-7 peppers
       1 lb celery = about 4 cups chopped)
       1 lb tomatoes = about 3 medium = about 1 1/2 cups chopped
       22-23 lb tomatoes = about 7 quart or 28 cups cooked juice

Other Ingredients:

The use of alum is unnecessary.  The slight increase in crispness that it 
provides is lost after about 2 months of storage.  Few pickles are consumed 
within 2 months of processing.  However, since alum is usually used in very 
small amounts, its use does not constitute a safety problem.

The use of grape leaves might contribute slightly to flavor.  They have no 
significant effect on safety.

Lime does cause a significant increase in the crispness of pickles.  If it is 
used, all excess lime must be rinsed away before the vinegar is added since it 
will neutralize the vinegar.  After the soak in lime water, the cucumber slices 
should be soaked in fresh water then drained, re-soaked and drained two more 
times (3 rinses in fresh water).

Honey may be used safely, but quantities will need to be adjusted for taste, and

color may be darker.  One cup of sugar is equivalent to 3/4 C + 1 T honey 
(or 1 C less 3 T).

Tomato Products

Tomatoes and tomato products are very hard to categorize.  Tomatoes are 
borderline acidic.  Lemon juice or other acid (vinegar, citric or ascorbic 
acid) must be added to all tomato products to insure adequate acidity.  Added 
acid is necessary whether the product will be pressure canned or boiling water
bath processed.  Bacteria and spores die faster in an acidic environment, and
the recommended process times for pressure canning assume that the tomatoes
are acidic.  The times would not be reliably adequate to insure safety if the
tomatoes were low-acid.

Green tomatoes are more acidic, and may be used safely in any recipe calling
for red tomatoes.  Overripe and frosted tomatoes are less acidic and can not
be safely home canned.  They can be frozen.

Addition of salt, while optional, does give an extra margin of safety.  For
dietary information, one teaspoon of salt added to 1 quart of juice or sauce
adds about 526 mg sodium per cup.

Addition of low-acid vegetables to tomatoes decreases the acidity.  The
amount by which the acidity is lowered depends on which vegetables, how much,
how finely they are chopped, if they are boiled in the tomatoes or not, if
seeds and skins remain in or are removed, and if the chunks of vegetable and
tomato remain, if they are ground together or sieved out.  The initial 
acidity of the vegetables and tomatoes depends on maturity, growing conditions,
post-harvest holding conditions, and soil/location of growth.

It is impossible to test every recipe.  It has so far been impossible to de-
velop a set of proportions or an equation that would take into account all
the variables and give a reliable assessment of the acidity or the necessary
process times.  The only safe recommendations can be made by comparing the
recipe in question with the USDA guide recipes.  If more vegetable or less
acid (vinegar or lemon juice) is added than the USDA recipe, the recipe in
question can be changed or the product should be processed according to the
process times for the vegetables.  Alternatively the product may be frozen
or refrigerated.

These proportions of vegetables have processing times in the USDA Home 
Canning Guide:

  Tomato-vegetable juice   22 lb tomato : 3 C chopped vegetable
  Spaghetti sauce          30 lb tomato : 8 C vegetable : no acid
  Ketchup #1               24 lb tomato : 3 C onion : 3 C vinegar
  Ketchup #2               24 lb tomato : 1 C peppers : 2.6 C
                              vinegar
  Ketchup #3               24 lb tomato : 9 C vegetables : 9 C
                              vinegar

Use the equivalencies above to convert the amount of vegetables to cups be-
fore a recipe is evaluated for safety.

The tomato-vegetable juice recipe specifies "chopped vegetables".  Up to but
no more than 3 cups of mixed vegetables may be safely added to tomatoes to
make 7 qts of juice.  Which vegetables are used is not important, the margin
of safety is large enough to tolerate the variations in this recipe.  BUT,
after boiling, this recipe is pressed or sieved, so the chunks are removed,
and a smooth juice is canned.  These proportions can not be used for a chunky
sauce.

The spaghetti sauce is pressure processed, so the proportions can be 
different.  The tomato acid and the long boiling prior to canning are 
sufficient.  These proportions and procedures can be used with different 
spices to make a taco or barbecue sauce type product.

Ketchups 1 and 2 are pressed or sieved so skins and seeds are removed.  The
proportions are similar, #2 with less added vegetable has a little less added
vinegar.  Ketchup #3 is a blender ketchup, skins are not removed prior to
canning.  The amount of added vegetable and of added acid is much greater
relative to the amount of tomato.

If these proportions are maintained, the amounts of sugar and spices may be
varied to suit one's taste without endangering the safety of the product, and
processing times given in the USDA Guide can be used.  If other proportions
are used, if the product is canned chunky instead of sieved smooth, or 
blended raw (uncooked) or any other variation, the processing times are not 
valid: the recipe must be changed, or the product must be frozen or held 
refrigerated.

Fruits and Vegetables

These products may be safely canned only according to USDA guidelines.  Piece
size, packing density and process times must be followed.  Grated carrots can
not be safely processed according to times for carrot chunks.  Pumpkin puree
can not be safely canned.  The density varies too much, according to variety
and preparation method, to give safe recommendations.  Only pumpkin chunks
may be canned.  Addition of aspirin, salt, or "canning powders" will not
increase the safety or allow for reduced process times.  Deviations from the
specified procedures might not be safe. The only safe recommendations that
can be given for other procedures is to freeze or refrigerate the product.

[There you have it.  Don't bother asking for a pumpkin-butter recipe.
LEB]

Fruits and vegetables may be pickled.  In this case the guidelines for
pickled products should be used.

Jar Sizes

For all products, if the USDA Home Canning guide only offers processing times
for pint jars, then the product should not be canned in quarts.  Usually this
occurs for dense or tightly packed products such as cream style corn, or for
heat-sensitive products such as jelly, mushrooms or pickle relishes.  In all
cases, the extra processing time that would be required to insure an adequate
temperature for an adequate time in the coldest part of the jar would be so
long that the quality of the product would be lost.  Relishes would be soft
and mushy, corn would be tough, jelly would be syrupy.

Packing food for canning in irregularly-shaped jars such as ketchup bottles
or honey bears is not acceptable.  The irregular shape and size might not
allow for normal circulation and heat penetration, and cold spots might exist
that would allow for the survival of bacteria.

If the product has all ready been packed and processed within the last 24
hrs, it may be repacked and reprocessed in smaller jars, or refrigerated.
If it has been longer than 24 hrs since the processing, the product should
be discarded to ensure safety.

Food may be packed and processed in smaller jars, half pint instead of pint
if desired, but the processing time to be used should be that specified for
pints.  There is no formula to determine how much less processing would still
be adequate.  Mayonnaise or other straight sided, regularly shaped, 
commercial packer jars may be used for boiling water bath canning only.  They
should not be used for pressure canning, due to the danger of breakage, 
particularly when the canner is opened.  Flying glass is dangerous.

SUMMARY
1.  SWEET FRUIT SPREADS

If it was made with regular pectin, high sugar recipe: 

Did it jell?  If it jelled, it has enough sugar, so is safe. Was it 
processed?  If not processed, it should be refrigerated for added 
safety. Is there visible mold?  If so, discard the entire contents of 
the container.

If it was made with a low sugar or no sugar pectin product:

Were the directions on the box, particularly the processing or refrigeration, 
followed exactly? If the directions were not followed, but there is no visible 
spoilage, the product may be refrigerated, or possible frozen.  If there is 
mold, if there are bubbles rising, or other signs of spoilage, the product must 
be discarded.

2.  PICKLED VEGETABLE OR FRUIT:

Find a recipe that has similar ingredients and procedures (i.e.  pre-soak, 
size of pieces, maturity and size of vegetables, treatment in brine).

If there is no similar recipe, you can make no judgement on the recipe. If it 
is an old recipe that has been used successfully for generations without 
spoilage, a 10 minute processing should be added. If there is a similar recipe, 
compare the amount of acid to vegetable between the two. If the recipe in 
question has less acid, either the acid can be increased or vegetable 
decreased to fit the USDA recipe.  If acid is increased, sugar may be 
increased to adjust the flavor.

If the product is all ready made and the recipe is unsafe:

If it was made less than 24 hrs previously, it may be refrigerated.
If it was made more than 24 hrs previously, it should be disposed of in a 
safe manner.

If the recipe is safe but the product was not processed:

If it was made less than 24 hrs previously, it may be processed, with new lids.
If it is cold, either empty the jars, heat product, repack, and put into hot 
water, or put cold, filled jars in cold water, heat together; process for full 
time. It may be refrigerated, or frozen if feasible.  If it was made more than 
24 hr previously, and has not been refrigerated, it should be disposed of in a 
safe manner.

3. TOMATO-VEGETABLE BLEND:

Find a similar recipe in the USDA Guide. Check ingredients, proportions,
and procedures.

If there is no similar recipe, no processing times can be estimated.  To
err on the side of safety, do not use the recipe, or freeze the product.

If there is a similar recipe, check proportions of tomato to vegetable, and be 
sure there is added lemon juice or vinegar.  Minor adjustments to quantities of 
ingredients may be made to fit the USDA recipe.

USDA recipes for juice can not be used to judge chunky sauce recipes, or
vice versa.

Spices and seasonings are not crucial to the safety of a recipe and can
be adjusted.

4.  FRUIT OR VEGETABLE:

Products improperly processed less than 24 hours previously may be reprocessed, 
with new lids, or refrigerated or frozen.

Products improperly processed more than 24 hrs previously should be discarded 
as potentially unsafe.

5.  Wrong JAR OR JAR SIZE:

If a larger jar or an irregularly shaped jar was used, and the food was
processed less than 24 hours previously, it may be reprocessed, with new lids, 
in smaller jars.

If more than 24 hours have passed, the food should be discarded.

Prepared by Mary A. Keith, Foods and Nutrition, September, 1991
Revised by M. Susan Brewer, Foods and Nutrition, June, 1992
EHE-705
----

How To Evaluate Recipes - Procedures

Here are five sample recipes taken from two home canning cookbooks on the
market.  Use the questions and procedures from Fact Sheet EHE-705, Evaluating
Home Canning Recipes For Safety, to evaluate them [the section above--LEB].
You will also need the USDA  Complete Guide to Home Canning.
[This is also available online, check "Other Resources--Electronic" at the
end of this FAQ--LEB.]

[Please remember that these are sample recipes, each with or without an
important flaw.  Do not use them until you read the ANALYSIS for each one.]

1.   Pepper relish

     2 C chopped sweet red peppers           4 C cider vinegar
     2 C chopped sweet green peppers         4 C sugar
     4 C shredded cabbage                    4 T mustard seeds
     2 C chopped onions                      1 T celery seeds
     3 small hot red peppers, chopped        4 T salt

     Mix all the ingredients and let stand in a cool place overnight.
In the morning pack in sterilized jars and seal.

2.  Picnic Relish

     12 sweet green peppers, seeded          6 C sugar
     12 onions, peeled                       2 t dry mustard
     12 green tomatoes                       1 t allspice
     1/2 C salt                              1/4 T red pepper
     4 C cider vinegar

     Put all the vegetables through the medium blade of a food chopper, 
sprinkle with the salt, and let stand 4 hr. drain, rinse in clear water, 
and drain again.  In a kettle combine the vinegar and sugar.  Bring the 
liquid to a boil, add vegetables and spices.  Boil for 10 min. and seal in 
hot jars.

3. Chili Sauce I

     24 large ripe tomatoes             2 C cider vinegar
     1 small bunch celery, chopped      2 T salt
     6 onions, chopped                  1 t pepper
     3 cloves garlic, minced            1 t dry mustard
     3 sweet red peppers, seeded and chopped
     2 T whole allspice, tied in a bag  1 1/2 C light brown sugar

     Scald, peel, core, and quarter the tomatoes.  Squeeze out the seeds and
excess juice and chop the pulp finely.  Put the pulp in a large kettle, bring
to a boil, and boil rapidly until the tomatoes are soft.  Ladle off the clear
liquid that comes to the top of the tomatoes while they are cooking.  Add the
remaining ingredients and cook for 30 min. Discard the spice bag and continue
to cook for about 1 hour longer, or until thick, stirring occasionally.  Seal
in hot sterilized jars.

4.  Chili Sauce II

     4 qt ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
     1 C chopped onions                      2 sticks cinnamon
     1 1/2 C chopped red peppers             2 C vinegar
     1 1/2 C chopped green peppers           1 C sugar
     1 1/2 t whole allspice                  3 T salt
     1 1/2 t whole cloves

     In a large preserving kettle, combine the tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
Add the spices, tied in a bag, bring the mixture to a boil and cook until it
is reduced to half its volume, stirring frequently.  Add the vinegar, sugar,
and salt and boil rapidly for 5 min., stirring constantly.  Discard the spice
bag.  Pour into hot jars and seal.

5.   Shirley's Sweet-Sour Sauce

     10 C chopped, ripe tomatoes        2 C sugar
     2/3 C chopped green peppers        2 C 5% acid cider vinegar
     2 C chopped onions                 2 T canning/pickling salt

     Dip tomatoes into boiling water 1/2 min. to loosen skins.  Cool in cold
water.  Remove skins and cores.  Blend or put through food chopper.  Place
in 8-qt. kettle.  Remove stems, membranes and seeds from peppers and peel
onions before chopping.  Add to tomatoes; stir in sugar, vinegar and salt.
Simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, for 2 hours or until thick and sauce
begins to round up on spoon. Ladle into 3 hot pint jars, filling to within
1/8" of jar top. Wipe jar rims: adjust lids.  Process in boiling water bath
15 minutes.  Start to count processing time when water in canner returns to
boiling.  Remove jars and complete seals unless closures are self-sealing
type.  Makes 3 pints.

ANALYSIS OF THE RECIPES

1.   Pepper Relish

     A.   First, as it stands, there is neither cooking nor processing.  The
recipe can not be used as is. Can it be made useable?  Here's how to try.

     B.   What are the vegetable:acid proportions?   Add the cups of 
vegetable.  There are 10 C vegetables.  The 3 small hot peppers are negligible 
so they do not need to be counted.  There are 4 C vinegar.  Notice that the
recipe did not specify 5% acidity.

     C.   What is the most similar USDA recipe?  While the Piccalilli recipe
(p.18) might look similar because they both have shredded cabbage, it really
is not, because it has green tomatoes, an acid product, and the questionable
recipe has no acid foods.  So, the USDA recipe to use is the Pickled 
Pepper Onion Relish (p.18).

     D.   What are the USDA proportions?  Twelve cups of vegetables to 6 C
vinegar.

          recipe    10 C veg : 4 C acid = 2.4 C veg : 1 C acid
          USDA      12 C veg : 6 C acid = 2.0 C veg : 1 C acid

     Therefore, this trial recipe does not have enough acid to be safe.

     E.   What recommendations can be made?

          If the vinegar were increased to five cups, the ratio would then be
     2 C veg : 1 C acid (10:5).  So, to use this recipe:

          a. increase the vinegar to 5 C
          b. use 5% acidity vinegar
          c. boil the mixture for 30 min. to use USDA procedures
          d. presterilize jars
          e. process the filled jars for 5 min. in boiling water

     OR:  f. make the recipe as directed, do not seal it, refrigerate.

     Note that the recipe all ready has much more sugar (4C) than the
USDA recipe, so the increased vinegar should still be acceptable.  However,
the sugar could be increased still further to counteract the vinegar
increase if desired.

     If the recipe is made in its original form, the jars should be covered
but the lids should not be sealed.  There should be no vacuum in the jars.
Since nothing has been done to kill or inactivate any Cl. botulinum spores
or cells, air should be left in the jar.  The air will prevent its growth.

2.  Picnic relish

     A.   What is the most similar USDA recipe?  In this case, the Piccalilli
(p.18) is the reference recipe to use.  Both the ingredients and the proced-
ures are similar.  It does have green tomatoes, it does call for soaking the
vegetables in salt water and draining them, and it does call for simmering
them before packing.  So, while the times are not quite the same, the next
step is to look at proportions.

     B.   What are the vegetable:acid proportions?  With this recipe it is
not as simple as adding the quantities, because this one only specifies 
numbers of peppers, etc., and not cups.  Use the equivalencies table in fact
sheet (705) to estimate how many cups of produce it uses.

       12 peppers; 9 peppers = about 3 C,       so 12 = about 4 C
       12 onions;  4 onions = about 3 C,        so 12 = about 9 C
       12 tomatoes; 3 tomatoes = about 1.5 C,   so 12 = about 6 C

          TOTAL VEGETABLES =            19 C

          4 C vinegar
          TOTAL ACID=                    4 C

In the USDA recipe there are a total of almost 19 C of vegetables, but the 
vinegar amount is 4.5 C.

          Recipe:   19 C vegetables :    4 C   acid
          USDA:     18.75 C vegetables : 4.5 C acid

     C.   So, to correct the proportions, the acid must be increased at least
to 4.5 C, or better yet, to 4.75 C of vinegar.  This recipe also has much
more sugar than the USDA recipe, so the increased vinegar might not be
noticeable.  If it is the sugar may be increased as desired.

     D.   What recommendations can be made?

          a. use 5% acidity vinegar
          b. increase the vinegar from 4 C to 4.75 cups
          c. mix the salt in, do not just sprinkle it on top
          d. increase the time of soaking from 4 hrs to 12 hrs
          e. increase the simmering time from 10 min to 30 min
          f. use presterilized jars
          g. process the filled jars for 5 min in boiling water

     OR:  h. use the recipe as is, do not seal, refrigerate the product

3.  Chili Sauce I

     A.   The procedures in this recipe are so different that there are no
USDA recipes to use for reference.  It can not be considered safe.

     B.   Explanation and analysis:

          When the juice is removed from tomatoes by mechanical means
(squeezing, ladling off the clear liquid) the acid balance is changed.  With
the juice removed, it will take less time for the sauce to become thick when
it is cooked.  But, that means that there is less cooking time to kill bac-
teria and mold spores.  Also, because it is thicker the heat will penetrate
and kill the spores more slowly.  So, the product going into the jar has a
greater likelihood of still having live spores present.  And, if it were
processed, because it is thick, it would need more than the usual process
time to kill them.

     C.   The only recommendation that can be made with a recipe of this
type is to refrigerate the product without sealing, or freeze it.  It can not
be canned safely.

4.  Chili Sauce II

     A.   First look at the procedures in this recipe.  The tomatoes and
vegetables are boiled together until it is thick.  But, the mixture is not
sieved or put through a food mill.  All the skins and seeds are left in.
Therefore, this has to be considered in looking for a similar USDA recipe.
There are several possibilities; the Spaghetti Sauce without Meat (p.  13),
or any of the Ketchup recipes (p. 16-17).

     B.   So, go to proportions and see which matches best.

      Chili Sauce       Spaghetti           Ketchups
          ?          Sauce     Regular  Western   Blender
tomatoes   16 C      30lb=45C  24lb=36C  36C        36C
onions      1 C      1 C       3C        --       (2 lb = 6C)
red pepper 1.5 C     --        --        5chili   (1 lb = 3C)
grn pepper 1.5 C     1 C       --        --       (1 lb = 3C)
mushrooms  1 lb=6 C            --        --        --

TOTAL VEG:
          4 C       8 C       3 C       0 C       12 C
TOTAL TOMATO
          16 C      45 C      36 C      36 C      36 C
TOTAL ACID
          2 C       --        3 C       2.6 C      9 C

     C.   Spaghetti sauce: the proportions do look the closest.  Half of each
quantity is 4 C vegetables to 22.5 C tomatoes.  However, looking at the 
directions, it specifically states: "Caution-do not increase the proportion of 
vegetables."  So, for an exact match, the amount of tomatoes in the chili sauce
recipe would have to be increased to 22.5 C.  You might say "Yes, but the chili 
sauce has vinegar added." That is true, but there is no way of knowing if the 
added vinegar is enough to compensate for the fewer tomatoes.  (Both are acid.)
If you adapt to the spaghetti sauce recipe, the vinegar becomes optional.

Next, notice that the tomatoes in the spaghetti sauce are sieved to remove the 
seeds and thick pulp.  This would have to be done for the chili sauce too.  The
skins have been removed in both recipes. Also, notice that the spaghetti sauce
recipe only has directions for pressure processing.  Many consumers do not have 
or do not want to use a pressure canner for their tomato products.  The other
vegetables remain, so the sauce is chunky.

     D.   So, if the spaghetti sauce recipe were used the recommendations
would be:

          a. increase the tomatoes to 22.5 C
          b. sieve to remove the seeds of the tomatoes.
          c. process in a pressure canner, 10 psig for 20/25 min.
          d. the vinegar is optional, use it for flavor

All the chili sauce spices would remain the same, so the flavor should be quite 
similar to the original.

     E.   Now, look at the proportions of the ketchup recipes compared to
          the chili sauce in question.

     chili     1 C veg.  :    4 C tomato     :    0.5 C acid
     Regular   1 C veg.  :    12 C tomato    :    1 C acid
     Western   - C veg.  :    14 C tomato    :    1 C acid
     Blender   1 C veg.  :    3 C tomato     :    0.75 C acid

Of the ketchups, we can eliminate the Western, because it has no added 
vegetables at all.  It is essentially spicy tomato sauce. The regular ketchup 
has a much higher proportion of tomato to vegetable, and more acid as well.  
This is what happens when the solids are removed (sieved out).

     F.   What can be done with the blender ketchup recipe?  The amount of
vinegar would have to be increased from 2 C to 3 C.  There are more tomatoes 
than needed, but that only increases the safety margin. So, they do not have 
to be changed.  The spices and cooking procedure could be left the same, with 
the exception of blending the tomatoes and vegetables together.  This would 
insure that all the pieces are small enough to coincide with the USDA recipe.  
It becomes a smooth rather than chunky product but all the original solids 
are still present.  And finally, the product would have to be processed.

     G.   The recommended changes in the recipe would be:

          a. specify 5% acidity vinegar
          b. increase the vinegar from 2 C to 3 C
          c. blend the tomatoes and vegetables together before cooking
          d. process the product for 15 min in boiling water

     OR   e. use as is, do not seal, refrigerate or freeze the product

V.   Shirley's Sweet-Sour Sauce

     A.   Begin with the procedures.  The tomato skins are removed, the rest
of the tomato is blended, the onions and peppers are chopped, added to the 
tomatoes, and the mixture is simmered until thick.  It is not sieved.  Of the 
USDA tomato recipes used in the previous section, the Blender ketchup is again 
the most similar in procedures.

     B.   Look at the proportions.

     sweet-sour  2.6 C veg :    10 C tom  :    2 C acid
     or to reduce it to lowest common denominator (divide all by 2.6):

     sweet-sour  1 C veg   :    4  C tom  :    0.75 C acid
     Blender     1 C veg   :    3  C tom  :    0.75 C acid

So, this is an almost perfect match.  The sweet-sour sauce has more 
tomatoes than necessary for minimum safety, the acid and vegetable are 
balanced correctly.  The long boiling times match, the final processing 
times match.

     C.   What recommendations are necessary?

The only thing that could be said would be "Be sure the vegetables are chopped 
finely, to approximate the blending used in the Blender ketchup." Most people 
wouldn't mind using a blender to chop the vegetables, so it is a minor change.

Remember, if there is no similar USDA recipe, the only recommendation can be
to freeze or refrigerate the product.

Prepared by Mary A. Keith, Foods and Nutrition, September, 1991
Revised by M. Susan Brewer, Foods and Nutrition, June, 1992
EHE-705 Supplement

15.   Other Sources (besides this FAQ)

15.1  [US national Food Safety Database]
 The current revision date is 1994. http://www.foodsafety.org

15.1.1 [This FAQ does not tell me what I need to know!]

Please put the question to the group, rec.food.preserving.  Rec.food.cooking,
rec.food.historic, misc.consumers.frugal-living, misc.rural and 
misc.survivalism all have dealt with some food preservation traffic.  
Sci.bio.food-science has been helpful for more pointed scientific questions 
about food preservation.  Procedures and or devices not currently reccomended 
for home-based preserving are best discussed in sci.bio.food-science.

15.1.2 [ General Reference Books]

N.B. I've attached a little code to describe the main contents of the
books I have or know about. {c = canning/ f = freezing/ dr = dehydration/ s =
smoking/ p = pickling/ cr = curing/ pt = potting/ d = distilling/ rc = root
cellaring}

Putting Food By (1991). Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan.
ISBN 0-452-26899-0.  If you only can afford one book on this subject, this
is the one to get. {c,f,dr,s,cr,p,rc}

Stocking Up (1990).  Carol Hupping.  ISBN 0-671-69395.  This is the book
compiled by the Rodale Institute.  Check for copyright dates, especially if
you are curing meats.  Early editions have meat curing protocols and recipes,
the latest edition does not. {c,f,dr,p,rc,d}

The Ball Blue Book: The Guide to Home Canning and Freezing (various).
Ball Corporation.  So important, it is its own question in the FAQ.  You may
order your copy using the coupon on the top of your next case of Ball jars.
{c,f,p}

Kerr Kitchen Book, Home Canning and Freezing Guide (various).  Kerr Glass
Manufacturing Corporation.   Can order your copy using the coupon on the top
of your next case of Kerr Jars. {c,f,p}

Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving (various).  Bernardin of Canada.  
Consumer Services/ Bernardin of Canada Ltd/ 120 The East Mall/ Toronto
Ontario M8Z 5V5.  ISBN 0-9694719-0-4.  Also can order your copy via the
coupon contained on side of the box of lids, also on top of the next case of
Mason jars.  Also printed in French. [Look for both its phone number and Web
site below.--LEB]

Complete Guide to Home Canning, Preserving, and Freezing (various).  USDA.
Dover Publication  ISBN 0-486-27888-3. Tip from Susan Hattie Steinsapir
Another tip for the cheap--The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is online. 
Look for the address under Internet Sources. 

 Sunset Home Canning Guide (1993).  ISBN 0-376-02433.  Now you know I'm
posting west of the Mississippi; this book can be hard to find in the
eastern United States. {c,f,p}

The Beeton Homebooks (various), edited by Irene Hirst.  Publisher Ward Lock
and Co. Limited, London, Melbourne and Cape Town.  From Ellen Wickberg

15.1.3 [ Specific Techniques and Interests ]

Arranged in alphabetical order.  If your favorite book isn't here, talk 
about it in r.f.p, and I'll put it on the list...

The Art of Accompaniment (1988).  Jeffree Sapp-Brooks. ISBN 0-86547-346-
3. {c,p,d}. Some of the most unusual jam/chutney/sauce recipes I've seen.
Love the dried fig jam recipe, still thinking of trying out the carrot/
date marmalade.  Lots of quick pickle recipes, a kimchee recipe, even a
recipe for pickling grape leaves for dolmathes..

Better Than Store Bought: Authoritative Recipes for the Foods that Most
People Never Knew They Could Make at Home  (1979).  Helen Witty, Elizabeth
Schneider Colchie.  ISBN 0-06-014693-1.   Recipes in this book include those
for crystallized violets, tomato ketchup, German-style mustard, pickled okra,
chutneys, mustards, jellies and jams, gravlax, three recipes for corned beef,
and smoked meats and fish.  While you're waiting for the fish to smoke, you
can whip up some pudding mix, or make marshmallows or fig newtons.  Recipes
do not appear to be excessively difficult--some, like those for mustards and
flavored liqueurs, are simple--and descriptions of ingredients and finished
products are clear and understandable. Thanks to [email-masked] (Kevin Johnson)

Canning (1983, also various).  Bill and Sue Demming.  HP Books.  ISBN 0-
89586-185-2. {c}.

Canning and Preserving Without Sugar (1993).  Norma M. MacRae.  ISBN 1-
56440-163-4. (1982).  ISBN 0-914718-71-1, Published by Pacific Search
Press in 1982. from Ellen Wickberg  {c}

Clearly Delicious (1994).  Elizabeth Lambert-Ortiz, Judy Ridgway.  ISBN
1-56458-513-1.

The Country Kitchen (1979).  Jocasta Innes.  Frances Lincoln Publishers LTD,
London. ISBN 0-906459-01-X  This book also contains recipes for scones and
blackcurrant jam, besides many others, many of which touch on preservation
topics, including curing hams and bacon, salting and smoking fish, making
pickles, chutneys, preserves, butter, cheeses, etc.  Review from James 
Harvey .

Don Holm's Book of Food Drying, Pickling, and Smoke Curing (1992).  Don and
Myrtle Holm.  ISBN 0-870004-250-5. {dr,p,s,cr}

Dry It - You'll Like It (1974).  Gen MacManiman. Published by MacManiman,
Inc., P.O. Box 546, Fall City, WA 98024. from . {dr}

European Peasant Cookery: The Rich Tradition (1986). Elizabeth Luard.  Corgi
Publishing.  ISBN 0-552-12870-8.

The Fancy Pantry (1986).  Helen Witty.  ISBN 0-89480-094-9.  {c,p,d,pt}. The
first food preserving book I ever bought.  I still use a lot of the recipes
in it.  The pear honey recipe is sinful, so is the green tomato mincemeat.
Cornichon, sundried tomato, pepper flavored vodka, pepper jam, herb jellies.
Excuse me while I go get my waterbath canner..

Farm Journal's Homemade Pickles and Relishes (1976).  Betsy McCracken.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76-14048. {p}

Feast of the Olive (1993).  Maggie Beth-Klein.  ISBN 0-8118-0523-9.

Several olive curing techniques listed here, also everything you've wanted
to know about different olive oils. {cr}

Fruits of the Desert (1986).  Sandal English.  ISBN 0-9607-758-0-3.
Preserving fairly exotic fruits, such as kumquats, loquats, fresh figs,
cactus fruits, olives. {c,p,cr,d,dr}

The Glass Pantry: Preserving Seasonal Flavors (1994).  Georgeanne Brenner.
ISBN 0-8118-0393-7. {c,p,dr,d,pt}

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing (1984).  Rytek Kutas.  Self published.
Can be obtained from the author at The Sausage Maker Inc./ 26 Military Road/
Buffalo NY 14207. (716)-876-5521.  {s,cr}.  If you want to learn how to cure
and smoke meats, and make sausage, this is the place.  You can also order
equipment and supplies pertaining to meat preservation here.

The Herbal Pantry (1992).  Chris Mead, Emelie Tolley.  ISBN 0-517-58331-3.
{c,p,d}

Herbal Vinegar (1994).  Maggie Oster.  ISBN 0-88266-843-9. {d}

Home Book of Smoke Cooking Meat, Fish & Game.  Jack Sleight and Raymond
Hull. ISBN 0-8117-2195-7.  Stackpole Books, Cameron and Kelker Sts., 
Harrisburg, PA 17105.  I'm very happy to say that I found a book about 
smoking foods that I can recommend.  Covers all the essentials from 
building a low-temperature home smoker to large-scale production.  It 
provides some recipes, but mainly is concerned with techniques and methods.  
From Paul Hinrichs. {cr,s}

How to Dry Foods (various).  Deanna DeLong.  HP books.  This book is highly
recommended by Anna Louise Gockel, and several other folks in r.f.p.  
ISBN 0-89586-024-4 

[ ISBN provided by Vicky Shaw. Vicky notes: " The only thing outdated in it 
is the jerky information.  Here in the northwest the procedures have changed 
for drying".] 

Keeping Food Fresh (1989).  Janet Bailey.  ISBN 0-06-272503.  This book will
also give you tips on how to select produce from either the supermarket or
garden. {f,rc}

Keeping the Harvest (1990).  Nancy Chioffi and Gretchen Mead. 
ISBN 0-88266-650-9.

Little Chief Smoker Recipes (?). Is available at:  Luhr Jensen and Sons,
Inc./Post Office Box 296/Hood River, OR 97031. from Hank Nolle .

Making and Using Dried Foods (1994).  Phyllis Hobson.  ISBN 0-88266-615 -0.
{dr}

Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook (1994).  Mary Bell. ISBN 0-688-
13372-X.  {dr}  from Paul Opitz

Mary Norwak's The Book of Preserves (Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, jellies).
Mary Norwak. ISBN 0-89586-507-6, HPBooks.  A tip o' the hat from Barb
Schaller

Native Harvest (1979).  Barrie Kavasch.  Vintage Books.  Native American
preserving recipes, including pemmican. {dr}

Out of the Sugar Rut (1978).  HAH Publications/ Box 2589/ Colorado Springs,
CO 80906.  Low sugar canning recipes, from Jean Sumption  {c}

Preserving Today (1992).  Jeanne Lesem.  ISBN 0-364-58653-0. {c,dr,p}

The Rocky Mountain Berry Book (1991).  Bob Krumm.  ISBN 1-56044-040-6, 
Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc.  A book to fill a need--how to identify 
edible wild berries, then recipes for their use.  Preserving recipes are 
pretty much jam/jelly/ketchup, with 2 pemmican recipes thrown in.  I would 
note that the processing times do not mention altering them based on your 
elevation, so be sure you remember, especially if you are able to harvest 
them locally.--LEB. 

Root Cellaring (1994).  Mike and Nancy Bubel.  ISBN 0-88266-703-3.  {rc}

Smoking Salmon and Trout ().  Jack Whelan. ISBN 0-919807-00-3.  Aerie

Publishing, Deep Bay, Vancouver Island R.R.1, Bowser, B.C. V0R 1G0.  This is
probably the best resource for smoking fish that I've ever seen.  It is where
I learned the art of cold smoking using a forced draft smoker.  Plans on how
to build various smokers are in the book. Also has the best description on
the whys and therefors of marinades and brining that I've ever read.  review
from Kai  {s}

Summer in a Jar: Making Pickles, Jams, and More (1985).  Andrea Chessman.
ISBN 0-913589-14-4.  This book has basic canning instructions but also some
inventive recipes.  It has a section on single jar recipes (although why 
anyone would go to the trouble to can one jar of something is beyond me).  
The single jar recipes are, however, successfully increased to make a 
reasonable batch.  The jam recipes are easy and unusual,they don't require 
that you use pectin or make your own apple pectin.  My favorite is peach 
maple jam. It is low sugar and very tasty.  It also has lots of recipes for 
vegetable pickles. (from Rachel Beckford ) {c}

--N.B. Many standard cookbooks, such as Joy of Cooking, will give you 
information on preserving food and recipes.  Check for the most recent edition
and the copyright dates.  Ethnic cookbooks often have food preserving or
condiment recipes that can be preserved (refrigerate or freeze if in doubt
about canning them).--

15.1.4 [ Books and Guides to Equipment]

"Red Book No. 6 The Collector's Guide to Old Fruit Jars" by Alice M.  Cres-
wick.  This is one of two by Creswick on fruit jars.  A purchase address is
Alice Creswick, 0-8525 Kenowa Sw., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504.  Thanks
from: Emily Dashiell

"1000 Fruit Jars Priced and Illustrated" by Bill Schroeder.  1996 is the
fifth edition. An ordering address is: Collector Books/ P.O. Box3009/ 
Paducah KY 42002-3009. 1996 price is $5.95 + $2.00 handling.  The dedication
lists William A. Dudley as a dealer in rare jars.  His address is: 393
Franklin Ave./Xenia OH 45385.  From Leslie Basel

The Embarcadero Home Cannery (Division of Quaternion Industries)/ 2026
Livingston Street/ Oakland CA 94606.  Proprietor: Louis "Butch" Nagel.  This
catalog is also a mini-pamphet of home canning, especially tin canning.  Got
a need for an unusual piece of canning equipment?  Need a stitch pump, a 
portable pressure canning unit, cans, can sealers, chucks, tin lids, lifters?
Here they are.  Also are "outfitters of community and commercial canneries".

Home Canning Supply & Specialties (Hugh and Myra Arrendale) have a selection
of books, bulletins, and pamphlets (not to mention canning jars and supplies).
They are in San Diego CA area, 1-800-354-4070 (orders); 619-788-0520; fax
619-789-4745.  They have the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, Preserving
and Freezing (240 pages, $7.95, 2/1/95) and many more.  Give Myra a call for
her current catalog/pricelist.  Info from Barb Schaller .

15.1.5 [ Food Preserving books of Historic Interest ]

 The Domostroi: Rules for Russian Households in the Time of Ivan the Terrible
(original 1550's, current English translation 1994).  Edited and translated
by Carolyn Johnston Pouncy.  ISBN 0-8014-2410-0.  If you think preserving
food is a lot of work nowadays, imagine being a Russian house steward in
1550...

 Michel de Nostradame (Nostradamus) apparently published a collection of
jelly recipes.  From: Tim  in rec.food.historic: The recipes I have of 
Nostrodamus are contained in the book 'The Elixirs of Nostradamus' edited
by Knut Boeser.  Published by Bloomsbury U.K. 1995.  I have tried searching
on the net for similar items, but all that 'Nostrodamus' turns up are
predictions.  [There's a real foodie for you!--LEB].  The book is divided 
into two sections.  The first is a collection of beauty potions and elixirs, 
the second is a collection of jellies and preserves.  These include:  How to 
preserve lemon peel/ How to preserve pumpkins/ Preserving bitter oranges in 
sugar of honey/ How to preserve bitter cherries/ How to preserve limes/ How 
to make a superb quince jelly.

 The Foxfire series (especially Foxfire 1) has some information on food
preserving techniques as they are (and were) practiced in the southeastern
US.

 From [email-masked] (M Zoe Holbrooks) in rec.food.historic:
I've just gotten word that Louis & Clark Booksellers (P.O. Box 5093, Madison, 
WI 53705) has a complete set of the Mallinckrodt Collection of Food Classics for
sale. 
The set of 6 volumes includes:  Nicholas Appert (The Art of Preserving All
Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years; 1812); Frederick
Accum (A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons; 1820);
Denys Papin (A New Digester or Engine for Softening Bones; 1681); H.  Jackson
(An Essay on Bread; 1758); Platina (De honesta voluptate; 1475); and Kenelme
Digbie (The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt.  Opened;
1669).  Most of these works are difficult to find.  If interested, please
contact them directly (tel# 608-231-6850).  They are not yet online (maybe
later this year [1995.--LEB]).  My personal experience with them has been
pleasant and rewarding.  They put out a catalog at least once a year and it
never fails to include something I "can't live without"!

 If you are looking for older canning recipes, ones that contain unusual
combinations of fruits, or perhaps are trying to track down your 
grandmother's secret conserve recipe, check out the selection of used
or collectible cookbooks from the Book Garden Gallery.  The BGG is online, 
at email address [email-masked]; and a Web page at http://www.eden.com/~bgg/
index.html.  I've ordered books in cyberspace from them, they are polite,
speedy, and accurate about the condition of their used books.

15.1.6 [Pamphlets] 

Consumer Information Center, Department EE, Pueblo CO 81009.  Ask for the
Consumer Mailing List Catalog.  Can order those nifty USDA pamphlets from
this catalog.

The Foodsense series of pamphlets in the UK.  Keeping Food Cool and Safe.
The booklet number is PB 1649 and it can be obtained from...  Foodsense,
London, SE 99. 7 TT. Tele 01645 556000.  There are a number of other book-
lets in this food series covering such things as additives, labels,
pesticides, radioactivity in food, etc.  Citation From Ron Lowe .

The Jam & Jelly Times is a newsletter-type publication from SureJell.  No
specific subscription info, but return address says:  Jam & Jelly Times
from SureJell,  P. O. Box 945, Kankakee, IL 60901. (A tip from our woman
in Gedney, Barb Schaller)

The Kerr Kitchen Pantry, 6 pages, each issue focusing on a topic.  The
Kerr Kitchen Pantry is published by the Consumer Products Division of Kerr
Group, Inc., 1840 Century Park East, Los Angeles, CA 90067.  (from Barb
Schaller)

Heinz Successful Pickling Guide, P.O. Box 57, Pittsburgh PA 15230.  [That
PO Box is easy to remember, eh?--LEB]

The Pleasures of Pickling (1986).  46 pg. Older editions appeared as the
Pampered Pickle, each are from Sifto Salt Division of Domtar Inc.  Write
to: Sifto Canada Inc./ 5430 Timberlea Blvd./ Mississauga, Ontario/ Canada
L4W 2T7/ 1-800-387-8580 (from Brenda Sharpe, [email-masked])

Home Meat Curing Guide.  Morton Salt. can get at the Cumberland General
Store/ Rt 3/ Box 81/ Crossville TN 38555.  32 pg. 15 meat recipes and various
techniques for curing hams with Morton salt products: dry cure, dry/sweet
pickle cure combination, aged/non-aged cures.

So Easy to Preserve.  Agriculture Business Office, 203 Conner Hall,
Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia, Athens GA, 30602.  This
series is online at the University of Florida site, see below under Internet
listings.

Kraft General Foods has booklets and info available:  1-800-437-3284
(1-800-43PECTIN  :-) Their Gifts From the Harvest has a couple of conserve
recipes.  So, too, does Fruits of the Harvest.  And, surprise, Fruits of
the Harvest Beyond the Basics.  Not surprisingly, all of their recipes
involve added pectin in one form or another.  From Barb Schaller .

Storey Communications, Inc., Department 9300, Schoolhouse Road, Pownal,
Vermont 05262 (1-800-827-8673 or 802-823-5811) publishes a series of
32-page booklets on a variety of topics from "Grow the Best Strawberries"
to "TACK: Care & Cleaning" to "Making Potpourri."  Bulletin A-129 is
Making & Using Mustard. From Barb Schaller .
Also has smokehouse plans, from [email-masked].

Check for pamphlets when you purchase new equipment.  I recently found a
multi-lingual pamphlet (English, French, German, Spanish) on canning with
a new waterbath canner.

Seed Catalogs have ordering information for canning supplies, and food
preserving information.  Catalogs to check for this include Johnny's Select
Seeds, Gurney's Seed Nursery, Burpee, Henry Fields.  Tip 'o the hat to Joan
Lane.

Check your county extension service office for pamphlets, which can usually
be bought for a dollar or so.  Especially important for high altitude canning,
getting recipes specific for locale, even information on U-Pick sites and
local farmers' markets.

The Church of Latter Day Saints can sell you a copy of "Essentials of Home
Production and Storage" which is _really basic_, but a good start.  Another
idea is to get catalogs from Emergency Essentials (Ogden, UT), Out-N-Back
(Salt Lake City, UT) and Nitro-Pak Preparedness Ctr (CA).  All have 800 #'s,
free catalogs (last I checked) and sell lots of books.  Citation from Logan
VanLeigh .

15.1.7 [Magazines]

(These are all hit or miss.  To the best of my knowledge, no magazine
specific to food preserving exists.)

 The Herb Companion               Sunset
 Mother Earth News                Saveur
 Organic Gardening                Martha Stewart's Living
 Better Homes and Gardens         Farmer's Almanac (various)

15.1.8 [Phone - voice ] 

Bernardin Ltd.                                     1-416-239-7723
Kerr Hot Line                                      1-800-654-6249
Ball Hot Line                                      1-800-240-3340
Kraft General Foods Corp.           1-800-431-1001/1-800-437-3284
Sifto Canada, Inc.                                 1-800-387-8580
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints        1-800-537-5950
Andrews Senic Acres (berry farm all varieties)     1-519-878-5807
Lehman's Hardware				   1-330-857-5757
National Presto					   1-800-877-0441
American Harvest Customer Service                  1-800-288-4545  
All-American Canner / Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry   1-920 682 8627

Also check locally:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints usually has a local Relief
Society (womens' auxiliary) representative to call. [From Logan VanLeigh.]

Your county extension service - check your local university directory,
especially if its a Land Grant College; look under Government Services,
under Dept. of Agriculture.

[ Compliments of Blanche Nonken here is a list of central office numbers 
for each State's County Cooperative Extension Office program. There may 
be variations. If you notice a number as being invalid - get the correct 
number and area code an send it to the RFP FAQ Maintainer by email.] 

Alabama:  334-821-5108
Alaska: 907-474-7246
Arizona: 520-626-5161
Arkansas: 501-671-2000
California: 510-987-0505
Colorado: 970-491-6281
Conneticutt: 860-484-4125
Delaware: 302-831-2504
District of Columbia: 202-274-6900
Florida: 352-955-2402
Georgia: 706-542-3824
Hawaii: 808-956-7138
Idaho: 208-885-6639
Illinois: 217-333-2660
Indiana: 765-458-5055
Iowa: 515-294-4576
Kansas: 913-532-5820
Kentucky: 606-257-1846
Louisiana: 504-388-6083
Maine: 207-581-3188
Maryland: 301-405-2906
Massachusetts: 413-545-4800
Michigan: 517-355-2308
Minnesota: 612-624-1222
Mississippi: 601-325-3036
Missouri: 573-882-8237
Montana: 406-994-6647
Nebraska: 402-472-2966
Nevada: 702-784-1614
New Hampshire: 603-862-1520
New Jersey: 908-932-9306
New Mexico: 505-646-3015
New York: 607-255-2237
North Carolina: 919-515-2811
North Dakota: 701-231-8944
Ohio: 614-292-4067
Oklahoma: 405-744-5398
Oregon: 541-737-2711
Pennsylvania: 814-863-3438
Rhode Island: 401-884-2671
South Carolina: 864-656-3382
South Dakota: 605-688-4792
Tennessee: 423-522-3148
Texas: 409-845-7808
Utah: 435-797-2200
Vermont: 802-656-2990
Virginia: 804-524-5961
Washington: 509-335-2811
West Virginia: 304-293-5691
Wisconsin: 608-263-5110
Wyoming: 307-766-5124

15.9  [ Suppliers of Specific Items ]

16.  [Internet]

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ext_f&n/HRAP/cespub.htm
   A page with links to the Extension Pages of 39 States [-ED]

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/app3a.html - PH of food stuffs

http://www.ext.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm
   Utah State presents an electronic version of the USDA Home 
   Canning Guides in PDF format. Excellent page for preservers. 

http://www.orst.edu/food-resource/index.html
   Food Resource at Oregon State University 
   excellent content  - ED]

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/agentinfo/hot/natdis.html
    Natural Disasters and Food Safety
    North Carolina State University Food Safety Information Retrieval 
    System  - thank you George Shirley for the tip ]
    
    This site is a good one to assist preservers in planning. The six 
    disasters listed may not be common in all locales but flood, fire, 
    and power outages almost certainly are.  No paranoia here - just 
    plain common sense of being prepared. 

http://www.extension.umn.edu/Nutrition/
   University of Minnesota Extension Service. 
   Aging Beef, dairy, preserving.  

http://www.foodpres.com/   - from A. Gallagher Oct/98
  - Food Safety and Preservation by Dr. Shirley Vangarde and Dr. Margy Woodburn.

ftp:   ftp.ucdavis.edu    pub/extension/4h-youth   fp001.zip-fp008.zip
   Files are eight lessons in food preservation, written for 4H students.
   These are compressed, written in Word Perfect 5.1 or Post Script format.

http://www.ext.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm
http://www.hoptechno.com/book30.htm

  One site at Utah State University, another at Johns Hopkins.  You will find
  the entire contents of the USDA canning guide (258 pages, beware for your
  hard disk!) along with several other food safety data sheets.  These are in
  .pdf format, so you need another program to read the files. [From Dirk Howard]

Dehydration:

http://dryer.com
1-800-369-4283
Voice: 1-541-688-5281
Fax: 1-541-688-5989

This firm provides dehyration equipment for the _serious_ dehydration
preservers.
Live in a good neighbourhood?  Pool the cost and use of a larger unit. - ED]

Thanks for to A. Gallagher for the Nov/98 tip on this site. 

http://www.dfst.csiro.au/handling.htm  [ reprinted 1993 - ED]
http://www.dfst.csiro.au/consumer.htm  [ articles have various 1994 dates - ED]

  Files from the Commonwealth Science Industrial Research Organization 
Department of Food Sciences (Australia).  Excellent files on handling frozen, 
refrigerated, and thawed food, including little known facts about the average
refrigerator.  [From John Laidler]

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/PUBS/FOODNUT/pubfood.html
  Colorado Extension Food and Nutrition.
They also have a LOT of other good food preservation publications
(all in Adobe .pdf format). [From Michael Stallcup]

http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~foodsaf/
 
  A collection of food preservation and food safety files collected at the
University of Florida.  There is a lot of information here, but you will be
driven mad by the non-descriptive file titles (at least I was!).  Some hints:
can*, canning; freeze*, freezing; cont*, contamination; dry*, dehydration.
[From Daniel Burke]
 
  Several of the two letter codes are from specific states; e.g. ga, il, nc, de,
wi, wy.

http://www.home-canning.com/

  This is the Bernardin Web site. A pretty site, good for beginners. The recipe 
search is good for common ingredients like strawberries and peaches, hit and 
miss for rarer ingredients like figs.  Files are also written in French, 
ingredients are noted in English and metric. From Leslie Basel.

http://www.lehmans.com
email: [email-masked]
FAX: 330-857-5785
TEL: Customer Service: 330-857-5757
TEL: Orders only: 330-857-1111

********************

Lehman's, home of the Non-Electric Catalog
"Serving the Amish and others without electricity with products for
simple, self-sufficient living"

See the retail store at One Lehman Circle, Kidron. 
(Mon-Sat, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm plus Thur til 8:00 pm.)
PO Box 41, Kidron, OH, 44636

*******************

This is the home of Lehman's Hardware.  If you ever get within 200miles of 
Kidron, Ohio you MUST get to Lehmnan's. The entire store evokes memories of a
simpler 
and more gentle time.  They carry high quality goods which have been tested in
the 
crucible of real life.  - ED.

See 10.1 for additional info on Lehman's.

http://www.azstarnet.com/~thead/bbq/
http://www.azstarnet.com/~thead/msfaq.html

  These are the addresses and URLs for the current version Rick Thead's Meat
Curing and Smoking FAQ.  An early version of that FAQ is contained in this
FAQ, while the current version has more recipes and advice.

http://www.stuffers.com/  -  Stuffers Supply Company - an excellent catalog of
all the supplies for making sausages.

ftp://ftp.stuffers.com/pub  Serious sausage heads will want to use a FTP client
and download it all. Check often, updates are constantly happening. 
Recipes are available from the Web page also. 

  "The recipe archive of www.stuffers.com. An archive of sausage making recipes
from all over the world". [ Thank you Stuffers Supply Company -ED]
 
http://www.panix.com/~paleodiet/

   The Paleolithic Diet Page - What the Hunter/Gathers Ate 

http://www.beyondveg.com/
  From their Mission Statement: 
"We hope the range of views presented here will encourage--perhaps even
force--you to think for yourself and go beyond the need for reliance on any
single
authority in evaluating the worth and workability of a diet."

[Food preservers by virtue of what they do are creating a special diet which may
be condidered to be quite retro.  These pages give preservers a wider
perspective. It is my
hope your efforts are enhanced by what you find here. Kudos go to donwiss@nospam
panix.com 
(Don Wiss) for the link to this site - ED]

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/
   Home of the BBQ FAQ and More.  Home made smokers and smokehouses.

http://members.xoom.com/celtic_farm/
  Celtic Homestead. "One of our major interests is self reliance and doing
things the "old fashioned" way."  [Good and getting better - ED]

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6996/homecft.html
  Chatzie's Homepage. Another person we know who is putting back more than they
take. 
  
http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/

  Huge searchable index of recipes - they have a canning and preserving section
[-ED]

http://www.gingerich.com/
   Berry farm with some really cool recipes  [ - ED ]

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~gcaselton/chile/canning.html
   A site in the UK whick has a neat page on chiles - quotes USDA.  Whoever
thought the British to be just bubble and squeak heads had best take a look at
this
excellent site.    Chile-heads in Merry Olde England - Yayyyyyy!

http://ificinfo.health.org/index8.htm
   FNIC information regarding sugar. Includes Food Insight reports, 
   Q&A on aspartame and a variety of other resources.

http://www.sugars.com/
    Indiana Sugars, INC. is a site which has considerable information on 
sugar/sweetener information. Has an excellent update of sugar as a crop and 
links to a variety of sugar associations.

http://www.imperialholly.com/
     Imperial Holly Corporation has processing and history methods wth sugar
beet. 

http://www2.portal.ca/~urbanpre/
     Urban Preserving is a supplier of labels suitable for home cannning
creations. 

http://www.cheesemaking.com

   This a terrific site to visit if you are thinking of trying to make cheeses
and yogurts.  While it is run by New England Cheesemaking Supply Company,
the webmaster has the good taste to give a surfer a mini-FAQ about cheese
and yogurt making before trying to sell you something.  Also has good links
to other cheese/dairy sites.  [From Daniel Nachbar]

http://www.lis.ab.ca/walton/old/

   This is the Old Timer's Page, where you can get information about old timer's
rural skills, such as preserving food. Think of it as an online Foxfire book.
If you are the *least bit* interested in building or using a root cellar, you
must check out this site. [From Al Durtschi]

http://www.seanet.com/Users/tberry/recipe.html#Recipe_List
   Apples, apples, apples. A recipe for Beverly's Fried Apples is here. Has a
recpie for maing your own pectin.    

http://www.wwmagic.com/haphov/
    
A food storage Web page of the Back-to-the-land stuff. [From Deana D. Karas]

http://ecep1.usl.edu/cajun/index.htm
   A Cajun Family's Recipe Collection.  Jams, pickles, etc - you will have to
poke around a bit.   

http://www.kitchenkrafts.com
    KitchenKrafts webpage.  Suppliers of ClearJel(tm) among other things.	
1998 - $2.85/lb (16 pies) or $2.65/lb if you buy it bulk. Those prices might
be slightly out of date, but I do recall paying less than $3. 
Thank you Kate Wrightson for the price information.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com   
    ClearJel(tm) is available at King Arthur Flour. 
1-800-827-6836 It is $3.25 (+s&h) for 8oz.  6 pies. - 1998 price
Thank you Susan Ness

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henriette Kresses' four part culinary herb FAQ
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ftp: ftp.sunsite.unc.edu
/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/herbal-medicine/faqs/culiherb.txt

http://sunsite.unc.edu/herbmeds/culiherb.html

   Henriette Kresses' four part culinary herb FAQ (and its almost as big as this
   one!).  She also crossposts it on rec.food.preserving monthly, around the
   20th of each month.  The culinary herb faq has ideas and recipes for 
   preserving herbs--check out the recipes for garlic and lavender jelly, herbal
   syrups, scented and flavored sugars, candied and sugared rose petals.  Also
   contains info on drying herbs, making herb vinegars, oils, mustards, etc.

Email to: [email-masked].  Leave the subject line blank, but
write a one-line message in the format 'subscribe HERBS '
If you wish to discuss culinary herbs, or gardening of herbs here's the
list for that. From Henriette Kress .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/intro.html

  The FDA's Home Page and Bad Bug Book.  If we haven't scared you about 
  spoilers, maybe they can.  From Ron Meisenheimer .  http://www.cdc.gov
  The MMWR (Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report) is available from the 
  CDC's web page.  From Richard De Castro .

  Email to [email-masked]   Write a one line 
  message containing the command SUBSCRIBE to this listserve address.  This is
  the chile heads mailing list, which has info on preserving chile peppers.

http://chile.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu:8000/www/preserve.html

  Point to this www site for information on preserving chile peppers.  This
  includes recipe classics like drying (make your own ristra!), pickling,
  smoking, and pepper jam; but there are novel recipes like honey preserved
  chiles, chiles in sherry, and salted chiles.  Also contains a number of
  salsa recipes, including fruit salsas.

Kansas State Extension Preserving web site  - the links and recipes  

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/foodsafety/hotlist.htm

http://www.accessone.com/~sbcn/index.htm

  The homepage of the Solar Cooking Archive, with an article describing solar
  canning and solar dehydration.  From Tom Sponheim.

[ Solar Canning is not recommended by any canning authority or reputable ( Ball,
Bernardin, etc) firm in the home canning business.  The "boil-in-a-jar-method"
method 
is NOT canning that assures food safety of time in storage. The
"boil-in-a-jar-method" 
does not assure proper processing throught the jar at all. From that series of
web 
pages: "terminal sterilization ... Once the correct temperature has been
reached,  
the contents of the jar will boil and flow under the tightly screwed-on lid.
Remove 
the jars one-by-one as each one boils over." 

Absolute hogwash ... terminal indeed.  Heat penetration is higly likely to be
spotty
and concentrated in the exposed areas.  We certainly DO NOT want food between
the lid and 
jar lips for that is a contaminated seal. It will go bad, it will fail, it will
attract 
pests and vermin.  The process as outlined is little better if not worse than
open kettle 
canning where the jar lips are kept clean.  

If you use your solar cooker to do BWB for recommended times - ah! now that is a
different
story where heat penetration is assured. ]

http://www.ebicom.net/kitchen/page/veggies/chipot.htm (chipotles)
http://www.watermelon.org (watermelon)
http://www.arrowweb.com/aris/rsa/biltong.html
http://www.worldexport.com/bcblue (blueberries)
http://members.tripod.com/~DanGill/Beef.htm#Jerky (jerky) 

Pick a noun, there's probably a home page for it.  If you get stuck for a
recipe, try a search for the item in question, like this item + recipe. You
just might find it.

http://me-www.jrc.it/htbin/cook
   Dan Sawyer's Smokehouse Jerky
  
http://www.cookshack.com/recipe.html
   BBQ and Smoke food  - lots of really cool smoky recipes.
  Thanks to Jerry<rednck> for the mention and evaluation of this site.

Little Chief Smoker is made by Luhr-Jensen
http://www.luhr-jensen.com	
1-800-535-1711

Thanks to Ivan Weiss for the information. 

Shelf life / storage guidlines 

http://www.msnbc.com/OnAir/nbc/Dateline/Food/shelf.asp

http://www.glitchproof.com/glitchproof/filearchive.html
   Select the "Food Shelf Life Info" link. 
   Thanks to Carol Zimmer for the diligent work on the document.
   Pat Meadows gets a nod for notiying of Carol's work. 

http://www.glitchproof.com/glitchproof/linksaboutfood.html 	
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_fnut/HRAP/STORAGE/cupstor.htm

http://www.alpakfoodequipment.com
   Suppliers of used and new food processing equipment.  This site is 
mentioned purely for education or voyerism. Could be a good source for 
community preserving kitchens but the equipment is commercial. Be prepared 
to pay 20-50x residential retail AND do you have 550 volts?  A lot of commercial
gear is 550 volt, practically none is less than 220v.   If money is no 
object for your preserving kitchen - this is the site for you. 

http://www.neosoft.com/recipes/

  [Note: the neosoft site is compiled by Stephanie da Silva.]

http://sunsite.auc.dk/recipes/english/index.html
   Morten's Recipe Collection.  Has 186 Jam, 272 pickle recipes. [-ED]

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Recipes/RecipesDB.html
  Arabic recipes. None are specifically cited as preserves per se, but many 
  give valuable insights on how to use exotic ingredients in what we preserve. 

17   BitBucket of valauble information unclassified - yet.

All-American Canners are made by:

Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Co. 
P.O. Box 246, 838 S. 16th St. 
Manitowoc, WI 54220 
414-682-8627 
Fax: 414-682-4090 
All-American pressure canner; Burpee Seed 
Catalogues w/canners. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nutritionsciencenews.com/
  Nutrition Science News online

Some sources for FCC(Food Chemical Codex) and USP(United States Pharmacopoeia) 
chemicals: [ Thank you Derace Fridel ]

http://www.hawkinschemical.com/
http://www.spectrumchemical.com/
http://www.execpc.com/milsolv/
http://www.witeg.com/
http://www.jostchemical.com/

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

One last quote:
"And here, without secrecy anywhere or of any kind, are some recipes which
seem to have outlived the nineteenth century, our Golden Age of Pickling.
Like most family jewels, they are called Sarah's This and Maggie's That, and
in one way or another all of these people were witches, so I have carefully
tested their brews, and often, to prove them honest... There are shades of
exotic and ethnic backgrounds in them, but basically they are still living
proofs of the passionate romance between Midwestern housewives and the Mason
jar, which filled shelves with gleaming beautiful vessels of cooked fruits
and vegetables, all dirt cheap in season and as rare as toad gems in the long
winters fed on potatoes, cabbages, and parsnips..."
                       --MFK Fisher, With Bold Knife and Fork (1968)

(That's all folks .. this is the end of the RFP FAQ - for now. [ED] )