Hot-canning non-acidic, pressure cooked food
The reason given for pressure-canning non-acidic food is that botulism spores can survive boiling temperatures, which would spoil the food while in the jars.
If that's the case, would it be possible to hot pack pressure-cooked food into a sterilized jar?
Best Answer
While that'd be a lot less risky than no pressure cooking at all, it's not fully safe. For complete safety, it's important that the actual canning processing be pressure cooking.
The problem is, even if the jar is sterilized, and the food is safe before you put it in, there's no way to completely ensure that no additional spores make their way into the jar before you close it. I don't think there's really any good way to assess the actual level of risk, but it's a "why take the chance" thing - in the unlikely event the food does get contaminated, there'll be no sign, and the botulinum has been given an ideal environment to grow in.
Note also that in order to actually sterilize the jars, killing any botulinum spores, you'd have to pressure cook them too, so you already need a canning pot big enough to hold them even for this plan. (It sounds like maybe you were thinking of using just a boiling water bath, but then they're only safe for use for high-acid foods that you can in a boiling water bath, not for low-acid foods that you need pressure canning for.)
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HOW DO YOU can non acidic foods?
Use a pressure-canner for low-acid foods Low-acid foods can support the production of the deadly botulism toxin if these foods are not processed properly in a pressure canner. A pressure canner heats food to high temperatures (240-250 degrees F or higher) and destroys the spores that produce the botulism toxin.Can you pressure can cooked food?
Meat, poultry and game are low-acid foods and must be processed in a pressure canner at 10 to 15 pounds of pressure per square inch (psi) for safety. See Tables 1, 2 and 3 for processing times for all meat types and stock. Meat can be packed either raw or cooked. Pack meat loosely into clean canning jars.Can you pressure can low acid foods?
To can low-acid foods, you use a pressure canner. Pressure canning is the only safe way to can low-acid foods. Each step of the pressure-canning process is important to produce safe, home-canned foods: Assemble your equipment and utensils.Which canning method is recommended for low acid foods?
When it comes to low acid foods with a pH of 4.6 or above, pressure canning is the safest method. This is because low acid foods aren't appropriately processed during water bath canning and so the spores of Clostridium botulinum bacteria survive boiling water.Simple Test to Help Avoid Botulism Toxin When Home Canning
More answers regarding hot-canning non-acidic, pressure cooked food
Answer 2
No. This is not a safe method of canning low acid food.
When we talk about "sterilization" in a home environment, we are utterly fooling ourselves. The SECOND the sanitized jars come out of the hot water they are exposed to everything in the air and on our hands and utensils and are no long sanitized. This is also the reason why it is not longer advised to bother sanitizing jars before filling them with food if the processing time will be at least 10 minutes or longer.
Additionally, the vacuum seal created in a pressure canner is FAR stronger than the weak vacuum seal created in waterbath canning. For reference: I can fairly easily pry a waterbath canned lid off of a jar, but there is NO WAY I am able to pry a pressure canned lid off of a jar.
I don't know of any references that specifically address this particular point however if you are unfamiliar with it, the NCHFP website has a lot of very useful information about how to can safely.
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