Dieter Zakas wrote:
> In article , Melba's
> Jammin' at wrote on 1/14/05 12:01:
>
> <snip>
>
>>>When my mother made plum jam, after she poured in the product (her
>>>"canning funnel" was a conical plastic cereal bowl whose bottom was
>>>cut off), she'd pour melted wax over the top to seal the product from
>>>air, then close and "boil seal" the jars. Is the wax necessary, or
>>>could I omit that step?
>>
>>That's interesting -- never heard of the wax folks doing a BWB on top of
>>it. Using paraffin to seal is no longer recommended by the universities
>>and USDA folks. Pinholes can allow air and the development of mold.
>>Don't use wax.
>
>
> I don't recall whether it was paraffin she used to seal the wax. However,
> she filled the jars to just below the mouth, and poured the wax on top, so
> it was a form-fitting seal. Later, in order to use the jam, one had to break
> the wax seal to get at the contents.
>
> The technique went something like this:
>
> 1) pour in jam to just below the mouth;
>
> 2) add melted wax on top;
>
> 3) let the wax cool and add the two-piece lid. (My memory's fuzzy whether
> she used the BWB or not.)
>
> Either way, a tight seal courtesy of the wax and two-piece lid kept the mold
> out.
More than fifty years ago my mother put up jams and jellies the same way
and my wife and I did too when we first married in 1960. Used to be an
approved US way of putting up jams and jellies but food science has
moved on in the last fifty years and paraffin and inversion methods are
no longer approved for food safety.
>
>>Let me add here, Dieter, that in reading the group you'll find some
>>folks from abroad who do things different than we do, have been doing
>>them that way forever, and that's how they do it where they live because
>>they don't have the same things available to them.
>
>
> I should have mentioned my mother's technique is likely from her heritage:
> she was born in the former Prussia in what was then the Third Reich, and
> likely picked up her canning methods from her mother. After living in the
> States for nearly forty-five years, she still retains her accent. (Mom was
> responsible for naming my younger sister and me, which accounts for the
> nice, common German name I have...common in Germany, but not here.)
Fairly common in Texas too Dieter, a goodly portion of the population
there is of German or Czech origin. Grew up with a couple of Dieter's, a
Max (actually Maximillian) and a couple of hotsy Gerta's. My wife's
maiden name was Himmelheber and she was from Maryland originally. Lots
of German names in the old melting pot.
>
> <snip>
>
>>>Incidentally, since my mother has the Tilia Foodsaver with a canning
>>>accessory, I could borrow that to evacuate the remaining air from the
>>>jar, and then used the boiling process to secure it, no?
>>
>>No. It's the boiling process that drives the air from the container and
>>creates the vacuum which seals the lid to the jar. I don't believe
>>Tilia recommends any sort of canning with their gizmo -- what you refer
>>to as a canning accessory is for jar storage of dry goods. George
>>Shirley is one of the Tilia experts who play here and I'm sure he (or
>>Ellen) will correct me if I'm wrong or incomplete.
>
>
> Dang...I was hoping to be able to use that method to store mixed
> photodeveloper, as oxygen is its enemy. Shoot.
>
> Dieter Zakas
>
George