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Home canned veggies

post #1 of 5
12/27/07 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 
My FIL has a big garden and he and my MIL live on home canned goods all year long. My MIL is now in a nursing hime and he's afraid that his canning will go to waste. This weekend he gave me a couple of cases of green and yellow beans and tomatoes, some dated as far back as 2003. My question is this: Do I dare eat them?

AS much as I love my FIL, his food/cooking habits scare me. They usually have the "famous soup" on the porch all winter long. Nope, doesn't matter if the temps are 20 degrees below or 50 degrees abovezero, the pot of soup is on the porch. They add all leftovers to the pot and when the liquid gets low, they throw in a pint of home canned tomatoes. I have actually been sick from this soup. Way back in the early days of my relationship with my DH I used to eat the soup to be polite. The last time we had to stop at a gas station bathroom on the way home was the last time I ate the soup.

Do you understand my concern with the canned veggies?
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post #2 of 5
12/28/07 at 6:45am
Asked and answered!
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post #3 of 5
12/28/07 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
So here's the plan....I'm going to return a couple of clean canning jars a week so he doesn't know I pitched the whole lot.:cool: I'm keeping the peach jam, though.
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post #4 of 5
12/30/07 at 8:38am

Some well sealed advise from an old canner.

I have canned my own porducts ( veg,fruit and meat) for at least 15 years and I have learned alot. Yes I have produced meats that have won awards, and bubbling jars of botulism. I have always used a pressure canner. I do give some of my stuff away but I make sure it has a good seal. You can do that by pressing the top center of the lid. If you can't depress the center in it is sealed. If you push on the center and it pops down and then back up DON'T use it. Also if you see somethimg is sealed and open the center lid with a bottle opener, listen for a good suction. If the you don,t hear that sudden rush of air suction DON'T use it. If it is a jam and you see any mold on the top of a freshley opened jar, DON'T use it. I personaly would rather have someone throw out something that was good than eat something that would make them sick no matter how much work went into it. I always say "when in dought, throw it out." On the flip side I have had canned vegies that are still be safe to eat that have been on the shelf for 5 years. But the quality is very low and the risk is not worth it. These are not hard times of scarce, unsafe food so why take the risk? Canning is to give you that fresh garden taste months later, not years later some people don,t understand that. So yes lie through your teeth, it will allow everyone to get along.:lol:
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post #5 of 5
12/30/07 at 9:24am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, Butcher Block. Your advice is appreciated. My inlaws won't throw anything away .....ever....ever! Very old fashioned New Englanders! One of my sisters-in-law brings her own food to their house after we were told to set the table with the margerine that had been in the china closet from Easter to Christmas. It was a melted mass of 8 month old hydrogenated oils. THere's no changing them, though, so we just (tactfully) smell, check dates, and politely pass on questionable item. Like the porch soup.:lol:
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