Shelf Life?

[9er]

What is the shelf life of canned goods? My wife and I just canned some green beans and jalapenos. We are going to do some tomatoes soon. We just wondered what is the shelf life estimate? I've read a year or two, then seen some say as long as the seal lasts. We don't plan on using these for long-term storage as we plan to eat the goods later this fall/winter.

[Anon001]

Canned goods can remain good for many years provided the seal never breaks. The last jar of pickles I pulled out were dated 1998 and were good. I also have a few jars of okra and carrots that seem to still be good after several years. Just make certain the seal didn't break and if there is an odd smell, toss it.

By the way, I try to keep enough for 2 years food supply in case one year is a bad year for gardening. Some things I don't eat as much of like the pickles. One quart jar lasts a long time. So, if I can a dozen or two dozen quarts of pickles, I will be eating on them much longer than 2 or 3 years. However, the 1998 jar somehow didn't get rotated to the front.

[CanNerd]

With proper canning procedures the food should last for many years beyond the standard one year standard. It all depends on the stability of the food itself. Single food items seem to fair better than those that have a mixture of ingredients. People have found jars of peaches that were over 15-20 years old that were still edible (sort of). Safety is maintained but taste and texture will begin to deteriorate over time.

I would not be too concerned for a few years, but just remember to rotate the food so that you don't have a forgotten jar in the back of the pantry that you may have to 'test' someday.

As long as the seal is intact, the contents are safe to eat.

[9er]

Thanks for the input guys! :)

[Mom5farmboys]

Quite a few years ago when I was first married, we got quite a bit of venison (husband hunts and then several more harvested deer were given to us) so I canned it all. It took about 6-7 years to use it all up, and it was fine. The last jar was just as tasty as the first IMHO. I wonder what that meat would have tasted like if it had been frozen that long??

[CanNerd]

At 0°F and vacuum-sealed against freezer burn...... but canning has all that nice liquid for making gravy too :D