Leslie---In answer to your question, I got the info from my mother in law in passing the other day.(while she was canning flour in the oven). She said at the time it was from C. Emory but it's not. It is from the Mormon church and may well be on their site somewhere. Anyway, here are the instructions from a handout. (No, we're not Mormons but a couple of very good friends are).

How-to:

Wash jars and rinse VERY well - make sure there is no soap residue.

Put jars in the oven to heat with the temp settings at 225 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.

Don't do more than 12 at a time.

Remove jars and fill with flour while jars are hot. Shake the jars while filling to make sure there are no air pockets. Do this quickly so the jars won't cool too much.

place lids on jars and put rings on lightly----don't snug them down, the jar will crack when reheated. Then place jars back in oven at 225 degrees for 1 hour (1 quart) or 2 hours (2 quart)

When time is up, remove jars. Cover with a towel to help prevent condensation while cooling

When cool, you have a decision to make. you can either tighten the rings or remove them and apply masking tape around the edge of the lid to act as a retainer. (We left our rings in place)

You can use ANY kind of jar that rings and lids will fit. Even old mayo jars work. You can do any type of DRY foodstuffs this way.

flours, rice, spaghetti, macaroni, beans, dried peas etc. Be careful that the item being canned does not have a high moisture content as this will cause mold growth.

Be sure the Jars are clean--Don't cut corners--Make sure all the soap is off the jars.

Hope this helps. If it doesn't work, we've wasted a lot of flour. (Our friend has flour she canned 8 years ago--still no bugs --not sure about the nutritional value now). You might try LDS website--they have a lot of good tips and 'stuff'. Lobo

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 04, 1999

Answers

Be carefull with this! My dad described oven canning of meat years ago. They opened the oven door to allow cooling. A cold draft hit the jars and they exploded. Glass everywhere - not in them - fortunately. LR

-- LR (Observer@Large.com), March 04, 1999.

Lobo, Thanks for the information about the flour canning. I think I might try 12. It can't hurt once :-) Leslie

-- Leslie (wondering@thetiming.com), March 04, 1999.

Leslie......I kinda like the answers you got on the other threads. I'm not real sure about this oven canning for something like flour or rice. Seems rather cost intensive for the return when cold canning and using O2 scrubbers is just as effective. It was good to try this...might be that sometime in the near future it will be a skill to have. You can think back and say --yeah, that's how I didit. My mom-in-law put up about 24 or 28 quarts this way. The above post is right--watch for glass to break. Good Luck

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 05, 1999.