Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 September 26

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

September 26

Fruit canning mistake

I canned plum chutney and strawberries; I cooked the chutney and jam, sterilized lids and jars. Packed the jars, put on sterilized lids and rings. Put them in the refrigerator-then realized I should have given them a water bath after I sealed the jars and then put them in the cupboard or refrigerator.

Question: Can I bring the jars to room temperature, removed the ring and lid, apply new sterilize lids and then give them the water bath???

Thanks you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.237.155.144 (talk) 22:33, 26 September 2015 (UTC)

If you open the jars you will need to resterilize the contents, as bacteria will get in from the air. What was the water bath for, just to quickly cool the contents so you can put them in the fridge without warming up the fridge ? If so, just cool them in the water bath now, if they aren't already cooled by the fridge, without opening them.

Also, if I am reading your comments right, you packed the jars after sterilizing them with heat, not before. This is wrong, as you need to sterilize the jars with heat after everything is packed. Otherwise bacteria will get inside from the air when you pack it. If this is what happened, you need to sterilize the contents now, with heat, then cool in a water bath and refrigerate. See canning. StuRat (talk) 04:26, 27 September 2015 (UTC)

No, the (hot) water bath is the sterilisation process, you don't cool them in water. Ssscienccce (talk) 05:17, 27 September 2015 (UTC)

So "water bath" is canning-speak for when you boil the filled jars ? StuRat (talk) 03:20, 30 September 2015 (UTC)

I don't think we can really advice you on this, you have two options: only do the water bath, perhaps with 50% longer time, or empty the jars, and repeat the whole process (so cooking the contents first). This doesn't mean it's safe, it only gives you more time to get advice from a reliable source. In both cases, you still have to verify with a competent authority that the procedure you used was safe.

The CDC has a page about Home Canning, with several links, including to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and the USDA, they may be able to give a definite answer.

The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009 revision can be found here: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html but I didn't find an answer in there. It does say the water bath can be repeated in case of a broken seal, if you do it within 24 hours (first chapter, I-26). But that's not the same as not having done it the first time. They have an info request form on the site. Ssscienccce (talk) 05:17, 27 September 2015 (UTC)

The best advice would be, "If in doubt, throw it out." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:28, 27 September 2015 (UTC)

Whilst agreeing with BB's advice above, I must admit that I wouldn't throw it out. Chutney and jam (unlike some canned products) tend to keep fairly well without that final sterilisation, and if you put the tops on whilst the contents were very hot, then the contamination will be minimal. If I was going to use them within a few months, I'd take the risk of leaving them as they are, but I'd also suggest that you don't take dubious safety advice from someone on the internet. Dbfirs 16:50, 27 September 2015 (UTC)

Throwing it out is excessive. Worst case scenario, the food is simply not sterilized for preservation, so if in doubt... eat it now (or refrigerate for as long as you'd typically keep opened jars of preserves). They're not poison yet. 64.235.97.146 (talk) 15:39, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

Check your recipe. I've made a lot of jam and I've never seen a recipe that recommended heating the jars after filling. The normal procedure is to have the jam just off the boil and to fill jars that have just been sterilised. The same for chutney recipes. Recipes for bottling fruit or vegetables are different, because the heating takes place after adding to the bottles. Extreme care needs to be taken in the case of meat. Itsmejudith (talk) 09:56, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

• We really can't tell the OP this is safe. Non-sterilized sealed items can cause botulism:

  Toxin that is produced by the bacterium within containers of food that have been improperly preserved is the most common cause of food-borne botulism. Fish that has been pickled without the salinity or acidity of brine that contains acetic acid and high sodium levels, as well as smoked fish stored at too high a temperature, presents a risk, as does improperly canned food.

  I think this is the sort of case that amounts to medical advice, since we can't just point out a reference that says what he specifically has done is healthy. μηδείς (talk) 00:19, 30 September 2015 (UTC)