You hear a lot of differing advice from people on the subject of how long it’s okay to keep your preserved food once you’ve canned it. Some people say that it’s a year to the date that it went into the jars. Others will tell you that they recently ate the last of the tomatoes their grandmother canned in the summer of ’99 (1999, that is). I’m here to tell you that it’s somewhere in between.
If you talk to one of the Master Food Preservers out there or folks from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, the answer goes something like this: “For highest quality, properly stored preserved foods are best eaten within a year of canning.” (Here’s exactly what the NCHFP says.)
Some people might read that statement and think that it means that they have exactly a year to eat through every last jar. The real answer is a bit more nuanced. You will get the very best flavor and quality from a jar that is in its first year, but there’s no internal self destruct devise inside the jar that goes off on day 366 or 367. Preserves older than a year are still safe for consumption.
Home preserved foods remain safe for eating far longer than their first year, but their quality does decline the longer the jars remain on the shelf (or in my case, under the couch). This means that the jam you made two or three years ago is probably still just fine to eat but it may not taste quite as good as did on that summer afternoon when you first put it in the jars. Chances are good, though, that it will still be more delicious than anything you’re able to buy at the grocery store.
If you have some elderly high acid preserves that you’d like to eat up but are making you nervous, here’s what to do. Pull one off the shelf and take a good look at it. In the case of jams, jellies, butters, and other spreads, look to see if it changed colors radically (a little surface discoloration is normal, but total color alternation or loss is suspect). For pickles, relishes, and whole preserved fruit, look at the quality of the brine or syrup. Has it gotten muddy or opaque? Has the liquid level dropped significantly?
If you don’t see any major change, open up the jar. Look at the surface. Has any mold or scum developed? Give it a good sniff. Does it smells funky, dirty, or boozy (do check to see if you added alcohol to the starting preserve, as then it won’t be a useful symptom of spoilage).
Once you’ve determined that all is well, give it a taste (for spreads that have darkened slightly on the surface, feel free to scrape away that top half inch). If you like how it tastes, dig in and include it in your rotation of open jars. Repeat these steps for each older jar you have in your stash.
Sometimes, long storage will rob a preserve of its flavor, particularly if it was sweetened lightly, or made with honey or a sugar substitute. If it doesn’t taste like a whole lot, it may not be appropriate for spreading on toast, stirring into yogurt or serving with cheese, but you can always use up those less delicious jars in quick breads or as part of a braising liquid.
All that said, if you feel at all uncomfortable about something you canned, it is still always better to toss it than eat something that gives you pause. If you cringe every time you reach for a particular jar, it’s time to empty it out and move on.
Additionally, sometimes people try new recipes and then determine later on that they just don’t like them (not every recipe is for every person). If you made something and you just don’t like it, either give those jars away to someone who will appreciate it or dump the jars. There’s no reason to torture yourself with something you just don’t like.
What is the shelf life of sea bass gourmet in a pressurised seal bottle jar.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends that you don’t can more than you can use during a single year. However, if properly canned, food is typically safe for at least two years after canning. However, the quality will start to decline over time.
i have pint jars of okra an peppers an carrots canned together in 10 / 3 / 2018. lids still sealed. can we eat them
If the seals are good, the product is probably perfectly safe. But the quality may have declined over time and the texture might not be great.
Thank you. That was very well spoken!
Thank you for saying so!
I jarred chicken breast and chicken drumsticks on 09/27/24. They still look good and are still sealed tight. How long can I preserve them for or how long are they good for?
It is recommended that you use your home canned foods within 12-18 months. If they are stored in a cool, dry, dark place, you can sometimes get a bit longer from them, but after that period of time, you start to experience a decline in quality.
This article is so helpful! My grandma always said her canned goods were good forever, but I always worried. Last year, I found a jar of her plum jam from 2015. It looked okay, but tasted… kind of flat. I tossed it, which felt disrespectful. It’s good to know there’s a safe zone beyond the first year, even if the flavor isn’t quite as vibrant. I was thinking about selling homemade canned goods in the local farmer’s market, but found out it is subject to the local authorities and could require products made in a factory using machines such as the fluidized bed freezer to ensure a product’s freshness for longer.
I’m so glad that this was helpful. And I’m not surprised that the 2015 jam didn’t taste great. Stuff that old just loses intensity.
If I have tomatoes canned for over 2 yrs would they still be good ? They are still sealed.
As long as the seals are intact, they are safe. They might have declined slightly in flavor, but two years is well within a reasonable time frame for canned tomatoes.
We had a huge garden when I was 12-14. My parents and grandparents did a lot of canning. About 8 years ago my grandpa found a jar of green beans that were hot water bath canned.they looked good. Like they would have been canned yesterday. He said he was going to eat them. I said no you will probably get really sick. Well he popped them open right in front of me grabbed a couple to try them. He said they taste as fresh as the day they were put in. I didn’t try them. But he didn’t get sick. I am 56 now. I would have been 48 then. And that made the beans 35 years old. They smelled good. So it shows if things are done properly they can last a lot longer then most say.