I'm in the infant stage of PC and I would like to pressure can my own Beef stew...not going by a recipe though..I make my beef stew w/sugar..do you think it would be okay to PC? I know it will only be the meat, a little veg oil,onion's, potatoes,carrot's,salt,pepper & sugar..what do you think? I'm not sure if the sugar will ruin the seal? I know not to thicken w/flour..

I also would like to make my own split pea & ham soup that consist of ham steak cut into cubes,onion,split pea,salt & pepper boiled for 5hrs..what do you think?

I don't like to alter my recipes as I like what I like...the recipes in the Ball canning book is not really my taste..


Any input will be greatly appreciated..Thanks

Anybody???

I use the ball canning book recipe so not sure about the sugar. You could use the ball recipe and add the sugar when you open them up to eat.

I don't see how sugar would cause any problems.

I was just reading a canning book last night and the author recommended investing in a ph meter (pricey - $150-$300) and getting into the habit of opening a can from each batch, post canning, to check the ph. Ph seems to be one of the main reasons why food can be safely stored via canning.

Pressure canning is supposed to kill clostridium bacteria, the ones that cause botulism, when acidity is not high enough to do so otherwise.

None of which answers your question outright. Which is a question I wonder every year and then decide to stick with recipes from canning books precisely. In the end, I'm not willing to risk my family's health when canning meat products without clear guidance about how to go off recipe - which I've yet to find.

I would worry about the thickness of split pea soup.

The sugar shouldnt cause any issues. Make sure to leave out any thickeners like flour, corn startch, etc (add those when you reheat). Most meats are PCed for 90 minutes (quarts) under 10 lb pressure. I would look around for some recipes that are already PC tested and see how they compare and then follow instruction accordingly.

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