During August, we get many calls and emails with canning questions. Here is our own top 10 list of canning questions.
- Someone in our family can’t have salt, is it ok to leave the salt out of home canned vegetables? YES the salt in these recipes does not help preserve the food.
- Someone in our family is diabetic; can I leave the sugar out of canned fruits? YES, fruit can be sweetened with artificial sweetener after the jar has been opened—if needed.
- I’ve opened a jar and discovered discoloration on the bottom side of the lid; is the food safe to eat? YES, probably. Acids and other compounds present in food can eat away at the underside of the lid and leave a dark spot. These foods are safe to eat.
- If my jar doesn’t seal, what should I do with the food? You have several options during the first 24 hours after canning. You can reprocess (open jars and refill to proper headspace, reprocess for entire recommended time), freeze the contents, or eat the food within 3-5 days. Refrigerate the jar until ready to eat.
- Is it really important to fill the jar according to the recipe? Is headspace really important? YES, the headspace is determined by the amount of expansion of the food inside the jar. Different foods have different headspace requirements. Too much food in the jar can cause loss of liquid inside the jar. Too much headspace can cause food darkening at the top of the jar. Either situation can cause failure of the jar to seal.
- How long can I store my home canned food? For best quality use your food within the first year after canning. Storage in warm spots, sunlight, or damp areas decreases food quality faster.
- Do I have to sterilize my jars? NO, if the canning process lasts longer than 10 minutes sterilizing jars before filling them is not necessary.
- My jars lost liquid during canning, should I open them and refill them? The lost liquid should NOT be refilled; food inside the jars remains safe but food outside the liquid will discolor over time. Choose to use these jars first. If more than half the liquid has been lost, refrigerate and use these jars in the next few days (2-3).
- I know that the jars are reusable, but can I reuse the bands and lids? YES for the bands, no for the flats (lids). The sealing compound will not seal well during a second use. Discard old lids.
And, finally one of the most popular questions we get every summer:
- My mom taught me to can using the open-kettle method; can I use this method today? NO, that method has not been recommended for over 40 years. You will not produce a safe product using this method. Choose scientifically tested recipes to produce a safe product.
Enjoy canning this summer. Remember that we are ALWAYS happy to help with your canning questions and problems.
Question:
1. Can I prepare and can whole tomatoes (diced) in a glass jars boiling water submerged
2. Can I reuse these same canned tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce, then using the same immersion process as noted above – can the spaghetti sauce
– Purpose: I am getting ripe tomatoes now, need to save as many as I can to make spaghetti sauce, if I could incrementally prep the tomatoes and can them it would be a huge cost savings when I make a large batch of sauce to be canned. Timeline 1 -2 approximately 1 month
Anne Marie, 1.The National Center for Home Food Preservation provides this information on canning tomatoes: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_juice_pack.html Follow the directions carefully and besure to add lemon juice to assure they are safe: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_intro.html
2. Yes, canned tomatoes can be used to make spaghetti sauce. However, I am not sure why you would want to can the tomatoes first, then make the spaghetti sauce and can again. If you don’t have enough tomatoes to make the spaghetti sauce, you might want to consider freezing the tomatoes and making them into spaghetti sauce when you have enough. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/tomato.html
Further, if you plan to make a spaghetti sauce, you must follow a tested recipe (without deviation) to assure food safety. Spaghetti sauce must be processed in a pressure canner because low-acid ingredients are included. Here are two tested recipes from NCHFP (with and without meat) for you to consider:
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce_meat.html
Can I use a large plastic jar to make refrigerator dill pickles?
Plastic will be fine for refrigerator dill pickles.