What Preps are you doing this week

[preppingsu]

This is 'UK' Preppers.

Canning in the UK is putting into cans or tins.
Bottling is putting into glass bottles.

Canning is NOT bottling here

So.... using a water bath/pressure cooker thingy to perserve food in jars is definately called bottling in the UK and canning in the US but is exactly the same process?

[Red Doe]

I think (so far as I know) it's a tricky thing to explain but.....
Water bath canning, as it's known, and oven canning, they're similar ways of preserving foods in jars. Folks just say 'canning' because it sounds better than Water bath bottling, I think.
But...and this is crucial...
because of the threats of botulism and other bacteria, some foods need particular temperatures to preserve them so these threats are eliminated as much as possible. ONLY a pressure canner...NOT a pressure cooker....can reach and sustain these temperatures, which is why there are lists online of what you can bottle using the bath system or oven system, and what you can't but must use a genuine canner for.
The containers are different but the process is the same.
I read heaps on this a while back as I was looking for ways to preserve foods in bottles and jars. That's when I found out I couldn't, entirely safely, bottle meat and certain fruits and veg without a canner.
There ARE other ways to bottle such things but they involve preserving in substances like lard, great amounts of salt or sugar and most folks are too health conscious nowadays to like that.

[Red Doe]

PS when it comes to canning using actual tin cans, I have an old forties food preserving books which shows this being done in Britain. It was an actual canning machine they used. Everything else was put into jars.

[itsybitsy]

This is 'UK' Preppers.

Canning in the UK is putting into cans or tins.
Bottling is putting into glass bottles.

Canning is NOT bottling here

So.... using a water bath/pressure cooker thingy to perserve food in jars is definately called bottling in the UK and canning in the US but is exactly the same process?

As far as I know. It's just the terminology that's different. I am just going to call it preserving I think, And then that covers everything!

[silverrider]

This is 'UK' Preppers.

Canning in the UK is putting into cans or tins.
Bottling is putting into glass bottles.

Canning is NOT bottling here

Canning and bottling are two different processes and the term refers to those processes, not the vessels used. The terminology is already widely accepted and adopted, and transcends 'countries'. Try 'bottling' meat at your peril (read botulism).

[Red Doe]

True, not just meat either, but some veg and fruit!
I stick to bottling jams and jellies, and freezing, but would give my eye teeth for a canner, as I always worry about the electricity going out.
Wanted to try old fashioned sandboxing veg this year but summer was so bad I didn't grow enough.

[itsybitsy]

True, not just meat either, but some veg and fruit!
I stick to bottling jams and jellies, and freezing, but would give my eye teeth for a canner, as I always worry about the electricity going out.
Wanted to try old fashioned sandboxing veg this year but summer was so bad I didn't grow enough.

OK, now I'm really confused. I have seen a lot of US folks canning (bottling) chilli/stew and allsorts of meat, as well as fruit, veg and allsorts. I don't really understand now..

[Red Doe]

Bitsy, it's cos they have the proper type of canner. That's what makes the difference.
There's a whole lot including meat, you can't can or bottle using the water bath or oven method because the prolonged high temps can't be reached. Hope that helps.

[itsybitsy]

Bitsy, it's cos they have the proper type of canner. That's what makes the difference.
There's a whole lot including meat, you can't can or bottle using the water bath or oven method because the prolonged high temps can't be reached. Hope that helps.

YES! Thankyou! Now I get it...

Maybe it would be good to have a list of things that are safe to can/bottle/preserve using the water bath/oven method...

[preppingsu]

Bitsy, it's cos they have the proper type of canner. That's what makes the difference.
There's a whole lot including meat, you can't can or bottle using the water bath or oven method because the prolonged high temps can't be reached. Hope that helps.

YES! Thankyou! Now I get it...

Maybe it would be good to have a list of things that are safe to can/bottle/preserve using the water bath/oven method...

I have started another thread HERE
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2619
so we can carry on discussing this topic in the appropriate place.
Cheers