Why Dry Canning is Unsafe #
Dry canning is a discredited method of preparing foods for long-term storage. The Internet offers many videos and articles promoting dry canning–a.k.a. oven canning. But according to experts, dry canning is unsafe. Here’s what you need to know.
“Promoted from time to time as a “new” home canning technique, “oven canning” is actually an old technique. It has been around since at least the 1920s — and it has been discredited and advised against since the 1940s. It involves “baking” your filled jars of food in the oven, instead of water bath processing them, or pressure canning them."1
“According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, dry canning vegetables without water or liquid may be extremely hazardous. The main risk with dry canning vegetables (or other low acid foods like meats, poultry or seafood when liquid cover is required) is botulism, which is a serious and potentially deadly disease. Botulism toxin can be present in canned vegetables without any changes in color, smell or texture of the food; learn more at What is Botulism (CDC). Also, foodborne bacteria and their spores are more sensitive to wet heat than dry heat. They will die in hot dry air much slower than in hot water, which makes dry canning especially dangerous."2