He grew these veggies last summer and decided to try canning for the first time. I said it looks like too much headspace… he disagreed. Is he going to die if he eats these?

by ohhhtartarsauce

6 Comments

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  2. DeLucioSub

    It’s possible he experienced siphoning. And the jar is more than 2/3 full of liquid, so he’s generally going to be OK so long as he had a clean work surface and everything was acidic enough. Did he use recipes? Were they from Ball or the national center for home, preservation, or the lake?

  3. bigalreads

    Head space is only one part of the safety equation: Was a tested recipe followed for the ingredient preparation to ensure there are no density and heat-penetration concerns? And also the proper amount of processing time (adjusted for altitude).

    My understanding is head space helps to ensure proper sealing of the item and that the seal will last. More guidance from University of Arizona Extension (the NCHFP website redesign is making it difficult for me to find stuff there): https://extension.arizona.edu/node/5359

  4. Appropriate_View8753

    Listen to your father. They’re fine.

  5. sci300768

    Do you know what recipes he used and from what sources? It is possible that siphoning occurred. If you know that he used a safe and tested recipe along with following said recipes canning instructions, then safety is most likely not a concern.

    But this really depends on the recipes used!

  6. You know, my first attempts were a bit like this, and were fine. But, I did have a lot of siphoning. And, I had mom showing me, using a super old recipe that had us putting a baby aspirin into each jar of tomatoes. And the recipe is online.

    Yet, I learned while I had great food prepping skills, a great work area, and learned a lot, I went on to learn a lot more. Like that headspace as pictured is a warning sign that something in the process wasn’t right, from wrong headspace to begin with, to processing too long or too hot; other reasons can be not doing a proper raw or hot pack, and not following an updated recipe. Like my tomatoes I worked so much on was all for nothing because baby aspirin in a jar that sealed didn’t make it safe for shelf stable food source.

    While it was most upsetting to learn all was for nought, I learned valuable lessons rather cheaply and went on to compete and win canning competitions. The knowledge gained from so many who helped me was truly the most nourishing.

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