Q and A: canning spaghetti and storing water

Canning spaghetti sauce

We like to use Prego and Ragu sauces and add meat for our pasta meals. Can we pressure can the store bought/meat added sauces? If so, what times and pressures would we use at sea level?
 
David Rowland
Summerdale, Alabama

Yes, you can but I much prefer to make my own spaghetti sauces from scratch as not only are they MUCH cheaper but you know exactly what’s in your food. To re-can store-bought spaghetti sauces with or without meat, simply dump them in a large pot and bring almost to a boil then ladle out into jars and process for the same times recommended for freshly made sauces. For spaghetti sauce with meat, that would be 60 minutes (pints) or 70 minutes (quarts) at 10 pounds pressure. — Jackie

Storing water

My home is on a water well. I have several water storage containers for emergency uses. I use 1/8 tsp of Clorox per gallon for sanitation. (1) Can the treated water be consumed without further filtering or boiling? (2) Can the treated water be used to water vegetables? (3) I assume the treated water should not be flushed into the septic system. (4) How long will each Clorox treatment last?

David Read
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Rather than adding the chlorine bleach to the storage containers containing water, consider just keeping an unopened gallon of relatively “new” unscented bleach in your water storage area. Then if it becomes necessary, add the 1/8 tsp of bleach to each gallon. Yes, you can consume the water without further filtering or boiling. And, yes, you can water vegetables with the water but if you don’t add the chlorine to the water in storage, you could use the untreated water for vegetable watering. Once treated, the chlorine water should stay pure indefinitely if left unopened. But, again, I’d opt for treating the water if and when needed. Sanitize the containers first, before adding the water. — Jackie