(Mis) Adventures in Canning 2013 - Summer Squash

I should have read this before canning my squash. So don't make the same mistake I did.

Canning Granny: Canning Yellow Summer Squash: Here's what my research on canning squash revealed... seems it's not like the USDA has had a huge outbreak of bacteria in home cann...

Apparently the reason there’s very few canning recipes for certain vegetables is because they’re very prone to botulism, and summer squash (and I’m assuming kohlrabi?) are among them. You can pressure can summer squash because that takes the temperature up to 240 degrees, to the point where most of the bacteria is no longer harmful, but a hot water bath is ineffective at killing the bacteria because it doesn’t get hot enough for long enough. A three-hour hot water bath, for example, might kill the bacteria but it would also destroy all the nutrients in the food.

So fail: me.

Luckily we only have a dozen or so jars of inedible food. It physically pains me to throw away food and doubly so with this one, due to the amount of work involved. Next time, I need to pay A LOT more attention. Canning isn’t baking or cooking. It’s preserving, and food that isn’t preserved properly can kill you. No one needs to die over a mediocre pickle.

Chock it up to experience and better luck with the green beans.