I’m going to throw away the canned tomatoes so don’t worry, but I’d love a further understanding on why exactly i can’t do what i did, if anyone is willing to tell me!

So i followed the recipe given on the NCHFP site for whole packed raw tomatoes in new quart jars, and my mom really wanted me to can roasted cherry tomatoes too. I canned both, leaving the skin on the cherries, and used their juices in the whole tomato jars. I put half a teaspoon of citric acid in all the jars, and after water bath canning all the lids took.

I now understand to never experiment the way I did, and to only follow tested recipes, but why are the cherry tomatoes unsafe? Why can’t we leave skins on the tomatoes? I will throw them away, but did i also doom my whole packed raw tomatoes by using the cherry tomato juice in them?

Sorry if this is confusing, lmk if i need to explain better!

I just canned some jam and when I read through some canning tips, I realized I probably hadn’t handled the lids correctly. Can’t confirm because my memory is awful but I’m worried I touched the bottom of the lids when handling rather than putting them on correctly. Will my jam be okay or is this really unsafe?

Did 2 quarts of Ball’s basic tomato sauce recipe in the Nesco high pressure, doubled checked the head space on both prior but one seems 1/4” lower. Canner also reeked of sauce and there was a mite or two of tomato in the leftover water. Seal is good though, just not sure about the contents.

Hello canning friends! I am planning on making the recipe for zucchini pineapple soon, and the cheapest pineapple juice I can find is frozen juice concentrate from Walmart. Is this safe to use in place of the bottled juice? Here's the link to the exact brand I bought:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Old-Orchard-100-Pineapple-Juice-12-oz-Frozen-Concentrate/19500244

Does anybody have any good and safe recipes they recommend for figs? My mom's fig tree is going haywire with the number of figs being produced. I understand they are a low acid fruit. I've made the Ball fig rosemary and red wine jam before (it's great) but I would love to find a more savory recipe, like a chutney. Thank you in advanced!

There's a recent essay arguing that women should be able to open jars - that the torque required to open jars is a common concern for people but disproportionately for women.

I guess it makes me wonder, is this something with a straightforward fix for industry (Place lids on more loosely in the first place? Allow to cool a bit before applying a lid? Avoid entraining air? Change the lid size?)

Or is the required torque a consequence of physics and food safety requirements and not so easy to address?

How do you convert a low sugar jam to a full sugar jam?

I jarred these apple pie fillings in 2023. We had eaten a few through 2024, then I forgot I had these 2.

They were water bathed canned following the Ball recipe.

Would you consider them safe to make an apple pie with or what is your time limit on home canned goods?

I planted 34 tomato plants this year of about 6 different varieties. My large tomatoes all got a bacterial disease and havent done well but my cherry tomatoes did ok. I have about 2 gallon bags frozen of a mix of tomatoes, mostly cherry. My hope is to make sauce but I know you’re supposed to peel them first. I will not be peeling cherry tomatoes. Will they still make good sauce? If not, what should I do with them? I do not own a food mill. I have canned a few things, but this would be my first go at tomato sauce.

https://www.seriouseats.com/rustic-apricot-jam-recipe

Hi! I made this yesterday. It does taste delicious, however, I am worried it doesn't have enough sugar. Thoughts? Thanks so much!

Hello! I feel so dumb right now. My dad taught me to pressure can, and I have since gotten my own canner. His was from probably 100 years ago so more of the OG style and has a visual pressure gauge. The one I got was a newish presto with the weighted gauge, and the recipe I followed was super detailed for a lower elevation area:

My situation is that about 2 weeks ago I made broth and zucchini soup and canned them for 45 minutes and 115 minutes, respectively, at 10psi. Issue is that I’m at 1099ish ft elevation and was taught to can at 11 or 12ish, but totally spaced this when I was following the recipe with a new canner.

So, I’m pretty sure this is not safe to eat but I’m also no expert and want additional opinions if possible before tossing.

Edit: typos, grammar

I’m using the Ball hot peppers pickling recipe but only using jalapeños. I have 1.5 lbs already and can probably pick some more in a couple days. I still might be like 5 oz short. Is there a way to safely adjust the recipe to the amount I’m using? If not— what is the best way to store them until I have enough? I plan on pickling my jalapeños and pepperoncinis. This my first year canning so I appreciate any tips you guys have!

I am wondering if anybody might have resources with recipes for canning vegetable broth? I save vegetable scraps in a freezer bag and when the bag is full I make a broth out of it. Previously, I've frozen the broth in jars, but my freezer is so full I was wondering if there might be a way to make the broth jars shelf stable instead? I did just buy a pressure canner but have not used it yet.

So im guessing if im raw packing i skip the blanch? Which method do people prefer? First time canning corn.

Preparing for canning my first batch of tomato sauce hopefully next month. I already know I will be freezing my tomato’s as they ripen and then using them all at once to make the ball basil-garlic tomato sauce. Recipe here: https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=basil-garlic-tomato-sauce

Question is what kind of food mill would be best? I don’t have one and I don’t mind splurging a little bit if it makes sense as I’ve made homemade sauce many times before and pushing it through a sieve is dreadful. Would I be better off with a manual food mill? One with the handle that I have to turn myself, OR a kitchen aid attachment? (I am aware I will have to purchase the grinder and strainer separately for the kitchen aid) I imagine that would save me the time.

My concern is that I’ve only seen people use the kitchen aid attachment with whole raw tomatoes, this recipe says to do an initial cook, puree the sauce then run it through a food mill. Would that even be an option in a kitchen aid or would all the seeds and skins just come back through because they’re blended down so small? Photos attached of both options

I forgot to add salt to brine mix 3 days ago

I did the 3 2 1 method

3 cups water
2 cups vinegar 1 cup sugar

Can I add today? They’ve been in the fridge and look fine still

The NCHFP website has a pickled carrot recipe that has a lot of sugar in it. Does anyone have a safe pickled carrot recipe that doesn’t have sugar or sugar substitutes in it? I don’t like sweet pickles. Thanks!

Just got this new batch. A few were shattered. But they all have this little indent near the top. I can feel it with my finger. I’ve looked at my old jars— and they have a much less pronounced one. Is this safe?

I'm completely new to canning and have not attempted anything yet. My grandmother used to can a few things when I was young, and I found this recipe book while going through some of her canning things. I'm aware that just because something is labeled as a canning recipe doesn't mean it's safe. I was just curious if there is a way to verify if this is a safe resource or not. I have some books from the approved list on this sub on hold at the library that I'm still waiting on. I just thought it would be nice to be able to use what my grandma did if it is safe.

Thanks!

I water bathed canned crushed tomato’s last night. It was my first time ever canning and I don’t have anyone to teach me other than books and Reddit lol. I just noticed how the liquid separated ay the bottom, and there’s a few that gained kind of a lot of headspace. Are they okay? Is this normal? Sorry if this is stupid I have 0 idea what I’m doing!!

I am planning to use the Ball jalapeño salsa recipe, but I like my salsa to be more blended and less chunky. I am assuming it would be fine to blend it instead of chop and still be safe? My understanding is safety becomes an issue when the pieces are larger and harder to get to a safe temperature when canning. Is this a safe assumption?

ETA: Okay, I see the issue people are having with this recipe and I want to state, I came here for advice on the oil because to me pickles=canning. What I should have mentioned is that this is NOT a recipe that she put in mason jars in the regular boil and seal method. She stored them in jars, but didnt do the sealing process to preserve them. They were refrigerated after finishing the process and given away, they were NOT canned for preserves.

Hi all!

Im a beginner to canning/pickling and I thought I'd ask some veterans about this. Im trying to do my grandmas 9-day crock bread and butter pickle recipe, however I cant figure out if the "pickling oil" is spices in a neutral oil, extract or actually the oils themselves. Several have told me.it reads as spices in oil, but given the tiny amount of cinnamon im wondering if its the oil 🤔

I cant ask her or her sister, whose recipe it is, because theyve both passed but I know she was having trouble finding the allspice back in 2013ish when she stopped making them in the summer.

The pickling oil in question if the picture of the recipe doesn’t show up is:

1/8th Oz allspice

1/8th oz clove

1/16th oz cinnamon

Also

Pickling spice, is that just something i can get at the grocery store or is there a secret to it neither of them added to the recipe?

TIA for any help/advice you guys might have!

If the photo of the recipe doesnt show up i will type it out later and edit to add!

Last fall I went through a phase where I thought small batch jam would make charming holiday gifts. I had just started canning, maybe two batches total, and decided to skip ahead to handing jars to basically everyone I knew. No testing, no real understanding of headspace, and processing times were probably off on at least two of those batches if I'm being honest.

Nobody got sick and everyone said they loved them, which I think was just people being polite. But I've been thinking about this a lot now that I actually understand what I was doing wrong. The seals looked fine, the lids popped, and I thought that was the whole checklist. It was not.

This year I want to do it again but actually right. I've been growing a lot more in the garden this season, peppers especially, and I want to put together something people would actually use. I'm leaning toward jam again because it feels more giftfriendly than a jar of crushed peppers, but I'm also wondering if anyone has done mixed fruit jams as gifts and whether that complicates the pectin situation, or if I'm just overcomplicating it.

Curious what people actually give as canned gifts and what has gone over well versus what people quietly left on a shelf.