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Canning experts
Hi everyone,
I rarely post here, but I figured this would be the best board to ask.
Back in September, I made and canned a tomato jam recipe. The recipe said it would make 4 pints, so I prepared 4 pint jars. Well, I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with way more than 4 pint jars. I used dry-farmed tomatoes, which are pretty meaty and have very little water, so I guess that probably explains the discrepancy.
Anyway, because this was only my second canning attempt, I didn't think to add extra acid (the recipe called for some, but I did not increase it due to my increased number of jars). Not sure if it was needed or not?
So, I filled up the 4 pint jars and sealed them up and put them away. With the extra, since I didn't have time to sterilize two more pint jars, I just washed two old jam jars, filled them up, didn't seal them, and stuck them in the fridge.
I ate one of the jars in the fridge within a month and forgot about the other one.
In October, I gave a friend a sealed jar. I don't know if she's used it yet.
A few weeks ago, I pulled out the other jar. When I tried to open it, the lid had formed a seal. I popped it open, and there was a tiny bit of mold growing in there. I freaked and threw it out.
Now I'm worried about my other 3 sealed jars (and the jar I gave to my friend, if it's still unopened). I don't know if that mold was in there because I didn't seal it right or because of the lack of acid or because botulism is growing in there or what.
I don't really want to throw them out, but obviously I don't want to get botulism.
WWYD?
Re: Canning experts
Personally, if it were me, I would throw them out. Tomatoes sit right on the line on not being acidic enough to kill botulism in a water bath canner, hence why all USDA-approved recipes include the addition of lemon juice to make the tomato sauce/jam more acidic. I would not eat home canned tomatoes if I forgot to add the lemon juice. You were right to throw away the molded one too. You can't see or smell botulism, so you wouldn't see mold that's botulism. That's what makes it so tricky. I take no risks when canning, botulism is one of the most toxic nerotoxins on the planet, it can paralyze you. My motto, "when in doubt, throw it out."
When you said "I filled up the 4 pint jars and sealed them up" do you mean you literally put the 2-piece canning lid on and put them in the pantry, or you processed them in a boiling water bath canner for the time stated in the recipe, probably 15-20 minutes? After processing, you set the jars out to cool undisturbed for 24 hours. A few minutes after you remove them from the canner, you should hear a "ping" which is the jar sealing. I always wait and count the pings to make sure all the jars sealed. You then remove the band portion (not the lid) before putting the jar into storage. This ensures that any gasses give off by mold or botulism will pop the lid, and when you go to open it you'll see it's not sealed and you can chuck it. If you leave the bands on, you can't tell if the lid is popped or not.
As far as having more jam than the recipe calls for, it could be because of the meaty tomatoes. I've found that the "# of jars" a recipe says it makes varies widely. I usually sterilize as many jars as my water bath canner will hold. If I have extra jars at the end, no biggie, I can use them later. Much better than having too much product and not enough jars. Another trick I learned is you don't have to sterlize them in the dishwasher or whatever the heck the Ball Canning Book says. Just put them in the water bath canner! You're bringing the water in the canner to a boil anyway to process your jars, just add the empty jars to that water and bring the whole pot to a boil. Once you've got a rolling boil, set your timer for 10 minutes to sterlize the jars. Then you can take out one empty jar at a time (which keeps them hot), fill it, put it back into the canner, and repeat with all the other jars. You have much less risk of your jars or product getting cold when you use this method.
I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions. :-)
I'm in no way a canning expert but I did go to a canning class lead by a canning "expert" from the U of MN extension office this year. This was her motto, too.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
Yeah...they need to go. I'm sorry.
The presence of mold itself has nothing to do with bottulism though. Botulism isn't really visible.
When canning something like tomatoes, green beans, meats etc, you either a) need to follow the recipe religiously or b) get pH measuring strips, check the pH and pressure can, instead of water bath can.
The mold was probably caused by contamination. Did you submerge the canning jars in boiling water before canning? Did you inspect and sterilize the lid? What did you use to wipe off the rim of the jar?
I'm sorry about your jam. Get a canning book next year and try again.
To clarify, I sterilized 4 jars, filled those, and processed them for whatever the recipe called for. 15 minutes or whatever it was. Maybe 20. I don't remember. Those I let sit, all the lids popped, and then moved them in the cabinet the next day. I don't think I waited 24 hours. Probably just until the next morning. So maybe like 12 or 16 hours. No idea. I didn't remove the screw bands. I don't remember reading that step in the Ball book.
Then, I still had more jam. I didn't want to sterilize more jars but I didn't want to waste the jam. So I had two old jam jars that had been run through the dishwasher at some point but were sitting in a cabinet. I washed those again in hot, soapy water, filled them up, screwed the old lids on, and stuck them in the fridge. One I ate without a problem. Then, when I took out the second, the lid had sealed despite not being processed and that is where I found the mold. So I threw that out.
I have not opened any of the ones that were actually processed, though I did give one to a friend in October. I don't know if she's eaten it. It sounds like I should tell her to throw it out if she hasn't opened it. But if she has opened it and nobody got sick, is it safe for me to eat the other 3 in my cabinet?
Gah, I'm so stressed out by this. I am not sure I can handle canning.
That's the thing. I did follow the recipe religiously. It said X pounds of tomatoes, X ounces of lemon juice, etc. I measured those things out exactly.
The difference was that my X pounds of tomatoes yielded 6 pints, not 4 pints, despite me following the recipe exactly.
There was no instruction in the recipe (from the blog Food in Jars, which is fairly reputable) to add acid based on the number of jars.
So if I followed it exactly but ended up with a different amount, am I ok?
If not, how on earth do you do this? Does everyone use pH strips? I mean, I don't really want to can anything if I am going to end up with too much and then have to throw it all out because the ratios are wrong.
Oh I see. When you end up with more than the recipe says, then you need to adjust the amounts of pectin (when making jams) and sugar, vinegar, lemon or acid (again, depends on what you're making).
I also re-read your explanation of what happened. You actually haven't opened any of the jars that were processed in the boiling wtaer, correct? The moldy one is the "leftover" one? In that case, I think you *should* be fine. Since it wasn't processed, the bacteria inside wasn't killed, even though somehow, the lid sealed.
It's the same thing that happens after you open canned apple sauce (example). If you don't eat it within certain time frame (usually 2 weeks for apple sauce), mold will start growing inside.
Next time, I would start with something easier. Jams, pickles, apple sauce or even salsa. All of those are easy and you don't have to worry about botulism (except the salsa, but not really if you do it right). Also peaches. VERY easy and there's nothing like opening jar of peaches in December.
I did not know that!! That's a very smart idea! My recipe also didn't say anything about removing the bands...thanks!
Really? Yikes. I gave some to my friends for Christmas. But...I had a jar sitting in my fridge (not processed...just leftovers) for about a month (and some) and I ate it the other night and I think I feel ok...haha will never do that again....I'm an idiot!
Thanks for the advice.
Thanks for the tips! I had done some blood orange marmalade from the Ball book and that was fine. But I wasn't super into most of the Ball recipes (or they were just too expensive to make) so I decided to try this one for round 2.
I haven't done tomato jam, but the tomato sauce recipe from the Ball book says to add the acidic (lemon juice) to the jars, not to the tomatoes. I think it's 1 tsp per pint jar and 1 tbsp per quart jar. Putting the lemon juice into the jar, then filling it, ensures you're getting the same amount of lemon juice in every jar, so the acidity is the same in each jar. If you stir the lemon juice into the tomatoes, you end up with uneven acidity.
Please don't be freaked out by canning. It really is fun, and as a PP said, there is *nothing* like opening a can of peaches in December. I just did that last week, and O.M.G it's like August in a jar. It just takes some practice. After doing it a few time, you get a feel for whether it worked properly or not. I can't think of a better way to explain it. To me, it's such a great feeling to eat something I grew, cooked, and processed myself. It feels great to know that if our fragile cross-country food system breaks down from high gas prices, or a e.coli outbreak, or terrorism, that I know how to grow and preserve my own food. It's a critical skill that's worth the work IMHO.
I think I learned that from a friend of ours who lives and works on a farm, and has canned for years. It makes perfect sense. Just another precaution you can take before opening the jar. We keep all the bands on a string in a closet, so when we open, say, a jar of strawberry jam we can put the band back on and put it in the fridge. If you don't want to bother with that, these Ball plastic storage lids work great and are dishwasher safe.
awesome! thanks!
This is the recipe I used.
http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/09/tomato-jam/
Definitely says to put the lime juice in the jam mixture.
Here's a question - can I open a processed jar and test the pH balance, and if it's ok, eat it and if it's not ok throw it out? Or does the pH balance have to be measured before processing?
I know very little about canning, but i do know (a little) about micro-organisms and biology. Mold is a fungus that you'll be able to see as it grows. It's often not harmful (though sometimes is!), but is always yucky. Bacteria are sometimes detectable (slimy, off smell, pinkish or cloudy goo, smell, etc.), but not always (especially notable in the case of botulism, which is what pps have mentioned) and can cause any number of ailments. Some bacteria is good for you (like that in cultures in yogurt, etc.), but that isn't what you'll find in spoiled canned goods. I would guess that the fungus (in the jar to begin with, or settled atop the contents before putting on the lid) consumed the oxygen present in the jar, reducing the pressure and causing the lid to depress.
You may want to test the cans you have not yet opened (or one of them, at least), because a pH that is low (acidic) enough to prevent bacterial growth should also prevent mold growth. However, since the jar wasn't canned, there are lots of other ways that the jar of tomatoes could make a desirable home for the fungi.
I hope this makes sense, and that your canned goods have not all spoiled!
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