Archaeological find! Usual question.

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Alix

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I know we cover this topic from time to time and the answer is usually, "When in doubt..."

So, I was cleaning out the pantry this weekend and discovered 2 jars that had somehow migrated FAR back into the Twilight zone and had never been opened. One of them is a big jar of pickles. And I'm NOT going to open that one and eat it. I'm debating how badly I want the jar back and if I DO want it back, how best to dispose of the contents.

The other find was a jar of applesauce. It is still firmly sealed, not discolored in anyway and looks as perfect as if I did it yesterday. However...the last time I canned applesauce was about 3-5 years ago. (I honestly can't remember when it was) Is this sucker still viable? It looks like it should be, but I don't think we've ever left any home canned goods this long and I'm wondering if anyone knows what the shelf life would be.
 
I strictly adhere to the two year rule myself. :)

Glass jars can always be reused. When in doubt, soaking with a little bleach will kill anything and remove smells. And you will be sterilizing them before you use them again anyway, so there's no harm.
 
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Is it an actual rule Steve or just your own rule? (And it sounds like that might be a good call)
 
Is it an actual rule Steve or just your own rule? (And it sounds like that might be a good call)
I don't know if it's an actual rule or not, but my grandmother spent 70 years of her life canning food and that was her mantra. And even if it's still safe after two years, there is almost always flavor degradation.
 
I'm not quick to toss stuff. However, at least 3-5 years old seems like a good candidate. Even if it's safe to eat, I would expect the quality has deteriorated. Most "Use By" dates are for lost quality rather than food safety.

Also, I wouldn't hesitate to open and toss the pickles so you can save the jar.
 
I still have a jar of brandied peaches we made over 20 years ago. Never been opened. Looks nice sitting on the back of a shelf, although the peaches seem to increasingly look like they are losing some muscle tone. Leaving it for the grandkids ( if I ever have any) to inherit. :LOL:
 
Not worth the risk. It would be a shame for someone to get sick over a jar of applesauce. As much as I hate wasting food, I'd toss it to be on the safe side.

.40
 
Even if it is still good I would make myself sick thinking about it!

I would pitch it a jar of apple sauce is a $1.29.

A trip to the emergency room for a family of four, priceless!:ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
Open it and taste it. It's safe to eat as long as the jar was properly sealed. Single food items tend to last a long time on the shelf. As I may have mentioned before, I'm still digging into my 2007 inventory and it all tastes just like it was canned yesterday.
 
I too have some "vintage" canned goods, the 2007 pickled green beans are still tasty.
 
In reality you should be more concerned about eating packaged salad mix than home canned items. Really though, flavor degredation is the biggest concern. Most things that would make you sick are also bugs that produce CO2 when they grow and that would blow the lid off and/or you would see molding/rotting. The two year rule is probably not bad for this reason. Although acidic items such as canned tomato products can last a long time.
 
If you can toss those items into a compost pile, or even into the woods, nature will recycled them completely, and they will do something good for the area where they are dumped, as in adding carbon to the soil at the very least. If you really think about the bilogy of this world, very little is actually wasted. It just seems wasted to us.

No plastics, on the other hand, create nothing but waste.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I strictly adhere to the two year rule myself. :)

Glass jars can always be reused. When in doubt, soaking with a little bleach will kill anything and remove smells. And you will be sterilizing them before you use them again anyway, so there's no harm.
Better than bleach is the product they sell for sterilising babies' bottles or the stuff sold for cleaning wine making equipment. Both are tasteless and safe for using on equipment meant for food use.
 
Open it and taste it. It's safe to eat as long as the jar was properly sealed. Single food items tend to last a long time on the shelf. As I may have mentioned before, I'm still digging into my 2007 inventory and it all tastes just like it was canned yesterday.
Taste and smell are NOT infallible tests of the safe edible-ness of food so beware.

I'm curious to know why the pickles are considered more likely to be bad than the applesauce. I would have thought the vinegar would be a good preservative. I have eaten 12 year old apricot chutney (made by me so I knew it's provenance) and it was OK although the flavour was a little "flat" and I'm still here to tell the tale.
 
If you're asking me Mad Cook, the pickles were discolored and the liquid had receded from the top. Can't tell you why others would suspect them more. The applesauce is still on the shelf and to be honest, if mcnerd would try it then I'll likely try it. He's the most careful canner I know.
 
Someone said:

"Open it and taste it."

I don't think I'd try that. No, on second thought I KNOW I wouldn't try that. :)

Botulism does not give a bad odor or taste to food. That's the one that can kill you.
Others might 'just' make you sick. Sometimes horribly sick.

OP----If you accept PayPal I'm sure some of us would pitch in send you the money for new jars of pickles and applesauce. LOL
 
I don't think the risk of botulism goes up after a year. So, if it was properly canned, that's not the concern.
 

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