Originally posted: rec.food.preserving
...I get topping buckets from Dairy Queen and I have to make sure
there is no trace of the strawberry syrup left. A little detergent and
elbow grease followed by a chlorine solution bath keep everything nice
and clean.--
OK, I've got some used food grade containers, but they're
pickle buckets. How do I get the smell out?
I've had fairly good luck doing it this way. Since vinegar is the
primary smell in pickles and it's acidic, we used a base to counteract
it. First we scrubbed the bucket well, inside and out, with Dawn dish
detergent. I imagine most any sort will do. Then we filled the buckets
with hot water and dissolved a cup of baking soda in each. Stir well,
get the bucket as full as you can and put the top on. Put the bucket in
the sun to keep it warm so the plastic pores stay open as much as
possible. In a couple of days come back and empty the buckets. Rinse
them out, fill with warm water again and add about two cups of bleach
and reseal. Put back in the sun for another couple of days. Empty
out and let dry with the tops off. We completely eliminated the vinegar
smell this way. It might be possible to cut the time down a lot, but we
haven't experimented that much since we can't get that many pickle
buckets.
Metal Cans
The metal cans used by the canning industry for wet-pack canning are
designed to last only a few years. Most losses of canned foods occur
due to the breakdown of the can rather than extensive deterioration of
the food under normal storage conditions.
The major disadvantages of metal cans for putting up your own food
are that the cans are hard to come by, they take specialized equipment
to use (but so do glass jars) and they can only be used once to seal in
food. Not being reusable is the flaw that has largely made them
unpopular for home canning use. Since they're not interested in reusing
the containers, metal cans make great sense for the commercial canning
industry. The cans are both cheaper (for them) and lighter than glass
jars and this adds to the economy of scale that makes canned foods as
cheap as they are in the grocery store.
For home canners, glass jars are better because even the smallest of
towns will usually have at least one store that carries pressure and
boiling water canners along with jars, rings and lids. With tin cans,
however, a can sealer is necessary and that usually has to be ordered
from its manufacturer.
Tin cans are not really made of tin. They're actually steel cans
with a tin coating on the inside and outside. Some kinds of strongly
colored acidic foods will fade in color from long exposure to tin so
a type of enamel liner called "R-enamel" is used to forestall this.
Certain other kinds of food that are high in sulfur or that are close to
neutral in pH will also discolor from prolonged contact with tin. For
those foods, cans with "C-enamel" are used.
The excellent food preservation book, *Putting Food By* Chapter 6
(see reference list) has a section on the use of tin cans for wet packed
foods.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- The Mormons
There is one way that metal cans do make economic sense to use and
that is by pooling community resources to purchase the can sealer and
the cans. The LDS church does just this in their family canneries and
have, in fact, almost exclusively gone over to using metal cans from all
other containers. This is done primarily for dry-pack canning. Those
areas that do wet-pack canning primarily use canning jars. By sharing
the cost of the equipment and purchasing the cans in bulk quantities to
reduce cost to the lowest possible level, the advantage of metal cans
over plastic containers can then begin to outweigh the disadvantages.
If properly protected from corrosion, metal cans are gas-impervious
and immune to rodent attack, qualities that plastic containers are weak
on. The cans still aren't resealable, other than with a plastic lid,
after they're opened, but for a one time use they're pretty tough. Of
course, there is still the oxygen and moisture that is trapped inside to
deal with, and the heat of the storage area they're kept in, but this is
common to all food storage regardless of the container.
It may not be necessary to form your own community to purchase a
dry-pack can sealer and bulk quantities of metal cans. If you live in
the right area your local LDS church may have facilities they will allow
you to use and perhaps even suitable food products they will sell you.
Most facilities will be located at one of the LDS Bishop's
Storehouses located in various places around the country, but some
churches also have their own local facilities. The easiest means of
finding out is simply to ask the LDS church member you know. If they
don't themselves know, or you don't know any Mormons then a little phone
book research will be necessary. Find your nearest local Mormon church
and ask about speaking with the local Bishop of the Ward or Relief
Society president. Either one of those two individuals will be able to
give you the information you seek.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do keep in mind that the individuals responsible
for the family canneries are all volunteers with demands on their time from many
areas. Be courteous when speaking with
them and, if there are facilities for use, flexible in making
arrangements to use them. You will, of course, have to pay for the
supplies that you use, cans and lids at the least, and any food products
you get from them.
Any food products you want to have sealed in cans will need to fall
within their guidelines of suitability for that type of packaging. This
is for reasons of spoilage control since many types of foods just aren't
suitable for just sealing in a container without further processing. If
you purchase food products from them, they will already be within those
guidelines.
I've corresponded with many LDS members and have even contacted the
LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City to get the official word. Keeping in
mind that not every area may have facilities for use and that the family
canneries are run by volunteers, they are quite earnest about allowing
non-church members to use their facilities. It's worth investigating.
See also IV.C.2 Preventing Corrosion of Canned Goods.
Glass Jars
Compared to metal cans, glass jars are very stable, although they
don't take being banged around very well. The cardboard boxes the jars
come in are well designed to cushion them from shocks. The box also has
the added bonus of keeping out damaging light.
The major advantage of glass jars is that they are reusable, both
jars and rings, with lids being the only part of the package that must
be purchased new for every use. If you're not using the lids to form a
vacuum seal such as would happen when doing boiling water or pressure
canning then even the lids can be reused.
When you get right down to the bottom line, it is seldom practical
strictly in terms of dollars and cents to put up your own food in jars.
When you count the cost of your equipment, including the jars, rings,
lids and all the rest, along with a not inconsiderable amount of your
personal time, the cost of purchasing or growing your produce, you'll
almost always come out ahead to buy food canned for you by the
commercial canning industry. That said, forget about the strict bottom
line and examine more closely why you want to put up your own food. For
many, gardening is a pleasure and they have to have something to do with
the food they've grown! There's also the fact that for many, you simply
cannot buy the quality of the food you can put up for yourself. The
canning industry tries to appeal to a broad spectrum of the general
public while you can put up food to your own family's specific tastes.
Home canning is not so much about saving money as it is about
satisfaction. You get what you pay for.
If home canning appeals to you, please allow me to point you toward
the rec.food.preserving FAQ where much very good information about
methods and techniques may be found.
One source of gallon sized glass jars are sandwich shops and
restaurants that use pickled peppers. I have a Subway (tm) sandwich
shop that saves its pepper jars for me and receive several per week.
