[quote=“Barhandar, post:9, topic:8801”][quote=“Frostwood, post:8, topic:8801”]Botulism is only a danger in low-acid canning(i.e foods that don’t have a lot of acid), as bacteria can’t grow in high-acid, high-sugar, high-salt and dry environments. Hence why you can see pastries held at room temp. Canning stuff like pickles and the like shouldn’t require a recipe, but canning stuff like meat, fish, soups, and mushrooms canned in water.
Pickling something is way safer than canning something like a pre-made meal.[/quote]
What if high-acid environment is combined with high-salt one?
What about soups that are inherently acidic?[/quote]
Depends on the soup-for soups I think a cookbook should be used for something less simple like soups. Take a cream of tomato soup-ordinarly you would think that this would be an acidic soup, but cream is a base, so it neutralizes some of the acid, making the soup more likely to grow bacteria.
Note that its the sterilization of the “can” and the contents that prevent bacteria from entering. Botulism is a anaerobic bacteria-it grows only in airless environments, so if you haven’t sterilized the contents of the can, then you are in trouble. Another dangerous combination for Botulism is infusing a oil with flavour, such as the classic olive oil mixed with garlic- the oil creates an airless environment, which allows Botulism to grow.]
Note that once food is in the “danger zone”(4 Degrees Celsius to 60 Degrees Celsius), you have what is known as “lag time”, in which you have 4 hours before bacteria starts to grow at an exponential rate. We cooks usually call it the “four hour” rule.
The combination of acid/salt/sugar/dryness doesn’t matter as long as the food item in question has on of these quantities at a sufficient level.
