Using High Quality Food to Ensure Home Canning Food Safety

Home canning with foods that are high in quality goes a long way towards improving home canning food safety.  You should follow these recommendations when selecting food for home canning.

Use only fresh fruit, vegetables and meats for home canning.  The quality of your end canned product largely depends on the care you put into selecting only the best food for home canning.

Discard any food products that are bruised, moldy, diseased, or less than top quality.  You can save these foods and prepare them for eating right away if you are able, but do not use them for canning.

Fresh vegetables should be canned within 12 hours of harvest for the best quality.  This time limit reduces the chances of deterioration and possible colonization by microorganisms.

Fresh fruits should be fully ripe before canning.

Fresh meat and poultry products should be chilled below 40 degrees Fahrenheit up until the point that they are used for home canning.  This is to prevent microorganisms from multiplying on the fresh meat or poultry.

Fresh fish should be cleaned and dressed immediately and kept chilled in the same manner as meat and poultry before canning.

Following these guidelines for food quality and safety can make a big difference in the overall food safety of your home canned foodstuffs.