As you can see from the label, I made this peach sauce (from fruit from my own peach tree!) in 2022. It's peeled peaches brought to a simmer, blended, and mixed with brown sugar, spices and a little peach and lemon juice.
I thought I had given all of them away and used the rest, but evidently two jars were hiding behind my boxes of jar lids, pectins, etc 🤦🏾♀️
The vacuum seal was still strong, with no bulging of the lid. There's nothing growing on the glass jar grooves (see second photo), the rim of the lid, or the underside of the lid. There's no discoloration of the sauce from the original, just some separation of solids (which other peach sauce jars also did, even when they were fresh, I would just shake them).
How foolish would I be to eat this in the next few days? It's AMAZING on vanilla ice cream… 😅
by SekhmetRisen
17 Comments
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Honestly it’s probably fine. I’ve eaten canned food much older than 2 years.
I have used food I canned sometimes 5-6 years old. If it sealed properly and it was fine the first year- it is fine longer. Sometimes the quality degrades, but health wise, it is fine.
if i canned it (so i knew best practices were use) i’d tear that up! nothing at all wrong with canned foods that are only a few years old:)
I just opened peach jam I made that same month and I didn’t even worry! It was fine and just as tasty.
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We are eating several canned goods from 2021 and 2022 this year. I personally am more hesitant about the fruits on syrup or jams/jellies than vegetables or pickled items. These seem to discolor more and degrade in taste and texture which is not to my liking. I have used them as an ingredient in a recipe (such as older canned peaches is a dump cake). As long as they were canned useing a tested recipe then they are still okay to eat. You just need to decide what your limits are. There is no shame in composting a canned item if you just don’t care to eat it on its own.
I ate something older than that earlier this week. If you’re confident in the recipe and your practices, go for it.
Honestly two years for me is okay, especially if I canned it. But I usually toss anything past then.
I still have stuff from like 2017 and it’s been fine. You would absolutely be okay to eat this
If you asked an 80 year old, they would tell you to look at the lid. If it was bulging, no, don’t eat it. If it looked as it did when you canned it, then it is fine. Go ahead and eat it. They would store their canned goods in their cool basement and wouldn’t put time on them.
I’m eating the last of my pre pandemic tomatoes currently. If you know you followed the rules, snif and taste to see what you think!
Canned food can last decades
2022 is recent for me. I probably won’t get to eating my 2022 goods for another couple years!
If I canned it, the seal is intact, there is no mold, and it smells fine, I will honestly eat canned goods of any age.
I don’t think anything properly canned can go bad. Just tastes different. Hence best before dates. But milk. Milk goes bad at 12:00 am on the date of expiration
Sploosh
I would eat it. I ate apple butter that I canned some years ago- I won’t say how many because my post would probably be removed!