Holy Cow !! They all know that the inversion method is nothing more that "open kettle". Even hearing that makes me mad ! The air is not driven out unless you process the jars. That is only a weak surface seal, not a true vacuum. We are teaching everyone to not rely on their own ph testing, as foods can change ph after they are canned.
This is a Food Safety Advisors nightmare !!
Here we work and work, teaching everyone to be safe and then a book like this comes out ? I could just vent and vent over this one.

Oh that's disappointing. Are any of the jam recipes interesting? I assume those are safe as long as you ignored the direction to open kettle and used a bwb.

Yes, several of them do sound intriguing. My wife is the jam lady in our house and she has already earmarked the Ginger Pear Preserves and the Peach Mint Preserves.

I'm intrigued by the Artichoke Relish since I love them and I told her I wanted some of the Very Berry Preserves because it uses strawberries, blueberries, and red raspberries. ;)

Linda Lou - I know exactly what you mean. I was shocked to discover it was still litmus testing based. I mean it just came out this month and you'd think a 2008 book would be beyond those practices - especially from someone who sells to the public via his commercial gourmet store.

He makes this statement: I have read many books on the subject of canning. I have yet to read a book that sets forth the procedures as required by the FDA for safely canning...[but] the canning steps outlined in this manual are the same as required by the FDA.

I don't THINK so. ;)

Dave

hmmm. Well the canning standards are determined by the USDA, not the FDA so I guess he is technically correct. But I'm certainly not going to use recipes by someone who would publish that.

I guess I'll keep an eye out for a library copy to check out the high acid jam recipes.

This is an interesting discussion which calls to mind, if you don't mind a slight sidetrack, an .mp3 audio file I listened to of June Taylor talking about her artisanal jams. My mouth was watering listening to her speak, in plummy English accents, of historic & lost fruits and the beautiful (& pricey) preserves she makes of them. Then the bubble popped: I don't think she uses USDA approved recipes.
Visions of salmonella, e coli, etc.

And then I found this on the internet in a forum:
" I took a class from June Taylor this weekend. She does NOT pressure cook or use a water bath to seal her preserves. She uses a plastisol lined lid with a glass jar - the heat of the jam and glass jar create the vacuum seal of the plastisol liner."

GAACK!!!

I guess there's money to be made in beautifully packaged preserves that wouldn't pass muster with the USDA canning procedures?

Thanks for the heads-up Dave. That is interesting.

There's been discussion in the past on another preserving forum about FDA standards. I know some small-businesspersons who sell preserves occasionally complain about FDA standards for "acidified foods," i.e. lemon curd, etc. Usually the complaints are that their standards are excessively stringent (sometimes maddening). So it's a surprise to see an author recommend litmus paper and inversion when his own commercial products would never meet FDA approval following those procedures.

On rec.food.preserving, Bob Pastorio, a small "artisinal" producer, said, "One of my lines is fruit curds the recipe for which includes sugar, fruit juices and purees, butter and eggs. The production of acidified foods is very
much an FDA jurisdictional question. I've had FDA agents from the Roanoke, Virginia office at one of my retail spaces three times in the past year and others from VDACS just as many. I've given the FDA 48 sample jars of various curds for them to test for pH, Aw, bacterial content and whatever else they'd like. I've brought them to the kitchen I use and actually demonstrated the processes I use."

awm03, I wouldn't be concerned about June Taylor's preserves. There is essentially no risk with open kettle canning of fruit preserves. The longevity of the product may be affected (i.e. shelf life) but fruits are high-acid, there's sugar which is a natural dessicant, and the product is cooked at high heat. I suppose if one were to put a June Taylor preserve on the shelf and check it in a year, it might have to be discarded for mold, but other than that, there's not a problem.

BWB is recommended for jams and jellies because it increases shelf-life and reduces waste, not because open-kettle jams kill people.

Of course I'm only referring to sugared preserves. If June Taylor starts making salsa, that's a whole different issue.

Carol