# Canning cake and breads question



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

I see that you can can pound cakes, pumpkin bread, chocolate cakes, etc. in pint jars but what about in quarts? Anyone canning them in quarts?


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

where did you see that canning them was okay?


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

anniew said:


> where did you see that canning them was okay?


It's dangerous.
But, there's blogs that do support it, they're taking risks tho.
If one likes canned bread, B&M Brown Bread is canned, sold on Amazon. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...prefix=brown+bread,aps,152&crid=20UHILTD7JUWC

http://nchfp.uga.edu/questions/FAQ_canning.html


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

That's what I thought tiffany...just wondered if new verified information was available...


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## PlayingInDirt (Aug 2, 2017)

In USA its not recommended. Mason jars aren't tempered and aren't safe in the oven. Might break. 

But in Europe they do them all the time.


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

anniew said:


> just wondered if new verified information was available...


I'd like that too. I've searched the internet, I'm not finding anything positive about canning breads, due to the concern of Clostridium botulinum. https://www.clemson.edu/extension/food/canning/canning-tips/36cakes-breads.html

My guess is if we could prevent botulism from forming, related to canning bread, then we should be able to safely can bread. What I'm wondering is if the botulism is associated with using yeast, but I just don't know. 

Maybe someone else will have a better answer, and knowing that Europe do them, is good information, and it would be interesting to know how they do it. 

Also mentioned in the article attached; "Canning jars are intended for use in hot water baths or pressure canners. They are not designed to withstand the thermal stresses that occur with dry oven heat.", and as per PlayingInDirt. 

So there are some things we need to figure out first.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Well, canning bread has been around for a long time. The amish do it and old timers did it also. I got the receipt from an amish canning book and then I looked online and found other people have been doing it for generations.

Yeah, the gov site does not mention it and some people consider it dangerous, but it is done and has been done for a long, long time.

I wish I saved the link to the college extension research I stumbled on but I did not and I do not want to go hunting it down. The research on whether or not it was safe or not leaned heavily with evidence that it was safe if done properly and stored properly. In the experiment the only jar to have any botulism in it was the jar that was left in the sunlight and in over 95* degree heat for consistent periods. The other jars were fine.

You cook the cakes with the canning lid off and then add the lid right after the cake comes out and is done. This same method of putting the lids on while jars and content are hot is used in Europe to can pickles and jams. Jams are high acid, but the pickles are salt brine pickles.

The cakes last a year, so it is said.

Another thing about safety: there are people who have been canning noodles for generations and that is considered unsafe. People use to can in half gallon jars and now that is considered unsafe. Some people still can produce in half gallon jars.

Ball and the gov site are good but they are also motivated to protect themselves from liability, so IMO they play it so safe that much canning tradition is left out of consideration and what is left are only the idiot proof methods.


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## PlayingInDirt (Aug 2, 2017)

Great thread. 

I'd be comfortable trying out an old Amish recipe. Please share!


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I use either the Ball Blue Book or the "So Easy to Preserve" book put out by the Univ. of Georgia where their test kitchen results are the basis for most canning information. 
Since Botulism has great potential, or more exactly, the toxin that it forms, to kill people, I'll stick with the tested procedures which are used for non-acid foods. We take a lot of chances with a lot of things, and many times everything is okay, but it only takes one time with this kind of thing...and you are toast!!!
But, if someone has a reliable source that gives information on how to do this, I'm willing to re-consider.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

The reason I am trying to find out about quarts is because I wonder if the added density of making the cake in a quart jar is an issue when it comes to heating the cake through and killing the germs. I want to make them in quart jars because that size is perfect for a family.

Can I post a recipe that does not belong to me on here? If so I will share the amaish canned bread.

Some people do it with box cake mix from the grocery store.


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## PlayingInDirt (Aug 2, 2017)

My thought is, you could easily throw that cake in the fridge and it'd be perfectly safe. Very, very unlikely to grow botulism in there. 

As far as the original question goes, its not considered safe to go up a size on a tested recipe. But, then again, it's not a tested recipe.

There are lots of guidelines that people don't necessarily follow. For example, city bound, you mentioned the open kettle method, where you just lid hot jars. Botulism isn't the only thing to worry about. My stepmom open kettles her jams and sometimes they mold. I didn't know she was doing it "wrong" until I bought the blue book and starting canning myself.


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## wonderwmn (Feb 2, 2018)

One year I made sweet breads of different kinds using pint jars and gave them as Christmas gifts. Then I read and heard all the chatter about it being unsafe. I wont do it again. We were very blessed that no one got sick. It just isn't worth taking a chance to me.


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## Skamp (Apr 26, 2014)

Just doubling the recipe is a very dangerous statement, going from pint to quart requires added time/energy to heat through. 

You don’t change the density going from pint to quart if you use the same recipe, you change the volume and mass. 

Bread has a relatively light density, and not very conducive to heat transfer, and a relatively high ph. 

Botulism was either in the jar, or it wasn’t, when the lid was put on. Question is, was it dead?

It only takes one bullet, and that’s typically one person. It only takes one jar, and that could be a family.


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