The recommendation is one year for most canned goods for optimum flavor, nutrients and appearance.
If properly canned and stored, however, they are perfectly safe pretty much indefinitely. Many of us can in 2 year cycles so everything doesn't need to be canned every year.

Deanna

Just added a jar of 3 year old ones to a pot roast last night. 3 years is about our limit for most things as the decline in quality is really noticeable after that. Still safe to eat, just less appealing.

Dave

As long as the seal is intact appropriately processed foods are safe to consume indefinitely.

As Dave said, the issue is degradation of quality which does vary according to the food and storage conditions (i.e. food stored in the garage under varying conditions of heat and cold will not hold up as well as food stored in a dark interior closet).

So use your taste and sight and discard when food is no longer appealing. By then it's probably lost a lot of its nutritional value as well.

Carol

Thanks to everyone who replied! :)

I appreciate your help!

Tell me something,

in canning beans, I have always added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to pint containers as a preservative. I am somewhat confused as to using lemon juice in the process to can potatoes. I read somewhere that salt was only used to add flavor to potatoes and it wasn`t a preservative. I was always under the impression that salt was a preservative.

What can you folks tell me?

the lemon juice is usually added to keep light colored items from turning brown.

Salt has no preservative qualities except when used in very large amounts such as in fermentation or salted meats. Otherwise it is a flavoring agent only.

And as Marla said the lemon juice is a color preservative.in potatoes and several other foods. In tomatoes it is used to increase the acidity, in jellies it aides in the gel set.

Dave

Thanks again folks for your responses!

I wondered what the deal was with the lemon juice and what it was used for and why.

The salt issue with me is now settled and it is wonderful to know that friendly folks would pass along their experience to others in their quest for knowledge.

:)

Do you folks peel your potatoes before canning? I am under the impression that it is a good idea to do so.

Do you folks peel your potatoes before canning? I am under the impression that it is a good idea to do so

It is strongly recommended to do so as the peel is the primary source of bacteria and other contaminants. Remove it and you improve the long term storage quality and safety substantially.

However many contest that guideline, especially when it comes to small, new potatoes. They seem to prefer the convenience of just a good scrubbing and canning with the peels on. So in the end the choice is yours.

When dealing with normal sized, easily peeled potatoes, I just can't see any reason to leave the peels on.

Dave

PS: you might also want to read through the discussions here about using Pickle Crisp for canning potatoes to keep them from going mushy.

A bit OT since he wasn't canning, but my DS was making mashed potatoes last night, he washed the potatoes - I was coming up from the basement and found him at the sink. "Suds and spuds!" he declared - he was washing the potatoes with dish detergent before peeling them!

To peel or not to peel potatoes.

Potato skin is a good source of fiber and i t is much tastier,IMO, than the flesh. However there are trade offs. If you want to eat the skin you will need to wash them clean real good. I use a scrubber nylon brush. Some varieties are much easier to clean than other. But if you are going to boil them in liquids(stew, water for mashing) it is easier to peel afterwards. Peeling with potato peeler wastes a good and better part of potato just under the skin.

To me it's a personal preference, I don't mind the skin on new potatoes, where it is super thin, but storage potatoes I definitely DON'T like the skin.

We've been told in the past that the skins have lots of nutrients, but with all the chemicals that are being used and in the air, the skin tries to hold them away from 'their' flesh. It's a stand=off between extra nutrients and too much chemicals. I use the skins in most of my fruit, after a thorough water rinse (no soap).

I too like skins on new potatoes and I eat skins on the baked or roasted potatoes that I have scrubbed well before cooking.

But that is for fresh eating not canning them. Putting those skins into an anaerobic jar on the shelf for several months has very different possible effects than taking them out of the potato bin, scrubbing, cooking and eating them.

Dave

I have always understood that the skin holds the highest value of nutrients. When I have just dug up fresh spuds, I leave the skin on and cook them in that state....the same with store bought potatoes.

I read in another post that the skin would probably come off anyway in canning so I am just planning on peeling the `taters before canning them.

I will look into the Pickle Crisp and read up on what I can find on it. I hadn`t heard of that. Thank you for putting that bit of info up for me to look into! :)

Seems like I had also read somewhere that Fruit Fresh solution is another idea some use.

Thanks again folks for the replies.

:)