Can You Can That Part 2

Foods that Can

On the flip side, if you have pumpkin and squash that you would like to can, putting them in a jar in raw chunk form will allow them the proper canning temperature in a pressure canner. It also begins to moisten them up for later use. Other than that, just about everything falls into the category of able to be canned. Foods such as lemons, plums, figs, apples and some tomatoes can be home canned with ease.

Here is a brief list of foods and their respective pH levels, which are good for canning:

  1. pH 2.0-3.0 – Lemons, limes, gooseberries and under-ripe plums
  2. pH 3.0-3.5 – Ripe plums, under-ripe apples, ripe oranges and
    grapefruit, strawberries, rhubarb, blackberries, cherries,
    raspberries, blueberries, very under-ripe peaches and apricots
  3. q       pH 3.5-4.0 – Ripe apples, oranges, grapefruit, overripe
    blackberries, cherries, raspberries, and peaches, ripe apricots,
    under-ripe pears, pineapple, sauerkraut and other pickled items
  4. pH 4.0-4.6 (BORDERLINE) –Tomatoes and figs Above 4.6 or so, must
    be pressure canned.
  5. 4.6-5.0 – Some tomatoes, depending on the variety (Green
    tomatoes are below 4.6). Pimentos, pumpkin. The USDA suggests that
    pumpkin butter cannot be canned safely.
  6. 5.0-6.0 – Carrots, beets, squash, beans, spinach, cabbage,
    turnips, peppers, sweet potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, white potatoes
  7. 6.0-7.0 – Peas, tuna, lima beans, corn, meats, cow’s milk, salmon, oysters, shrimp.

Please make note of the borderline items, which must be pressure canned. Remember the pumpkin butter, along with many other purees and thick substances, which the USDA does not consider safe for canning. The USDA site is always a fail-safe place to check when determining which foods can be properly canned and which ones are not recommended. Go gather up everything you can think of and start preserving for your own household stash.

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