# Expiration Dates on Home Canning



## Country Lady (Oct 2, 2003)

If canned properly, how long would you consider it safe to eat pickles that's beens stored 75-80* in Summer and much lower temperatures in Winter? Also, any other opinions on other canned foods.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Years and years and years....
Here is a link that someone else posted a while back that is fascinating. I love the part about things canned 100yrs ago, then tested safe by the FDA. 
http://www.backwoodssurvivalblog.com/2009/09/five-different-shelf-life-studies-two.html


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

That's a good link, mekasmom. I was, however, wondering about those 30 year old pinto beans. I'll bet they were hard as rocks.

Also, I thought powdered milk had a short shelf-life. No?


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I think it depends on who you ask. I wouldn't really want to eat 100yo canned foods, but it's nice to know that the ones from the ship tested Ok at that age.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> safe to eat pickles that's beens stored 75-80* in Summer


I would consider them safe to eat assuming they were processed properly to begin with but the quality may have declined given the hot storage.

In theory, properly canned goods that are properly stored in cool and dry conditions do have many years of safe and good quality shelf life. But poor storage conditions such as you describe will shorten the quality life of the foods.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

We found several qts. of pickles in our old camper (MIL gave us 2 cases, hubby must of run out of places to stash them), these must be about 7 years old, they sure looked that old...~lol~... when I opened them for the chickens, they smelled fine but they were mighty soft and not very tasty.
Those pickles had been stored through hot summer days and below freezing winters in that old camper.
Proper storage is a must.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

We have some sweet pickle chunks that go back to the 1970s. Took a case of them out to the compost tumbler several years ago and was going to dump them. Color was slightly faded but chunks were intact and somewhat firm. First jar smelled good and tasted good. Other 11 jars returned to the basement!

Martin


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

My neighbor found a pint jar of Apple Butter that I'd canned in 2006, it was getting dark at the top of the contents and she didn't think her husband would eat so much AB when he's currently on a Honey kick.
I took the Apple Butter and found my recipe for Sourdough Pumpkin Bread and made two loaves of Sourdough Apple Butter Bread...YUM!
Waste Not, Want Not!


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## MelanieP (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm not pretty sure about expiration dates for canned goods, but I think 3 years at most would be safest. Otherwise, you're exposing yourself to botulism. You can read these do's and don'ts in home canning and maybe find a way to extend their shelf life.  Cheers!


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