I can't answer for everyone but I try to do a guesstimate on what I'll need and I usually go over but...for instance...I only have 7 jars of salsa left and we will use it for sure. I don't can so much that it will be sitting on the shelf for two years... I don't have a time limit but I would say that I strive not to have a lot left on the shelf. In my area we have a long growing season so we can actually eat out of the garden for most of that time and I admit that when I first started gardening here, I didn't take that into consideration...Now I do...

We can or freeze everything we grow in a huge garden and then some purchased items as well with no concern for if it will be used in 1 year or not. We frequently eat foods canned as much as 3 years back but even longer is safe to consume if you happen to have it. Others have posted about 5 year old food in the past.

Technically, canned food can be safely consumed as long as the seal is still sound and there is none of the standard signs of spoilage so with proper canning techniques and storage that could easily be 5 years plus. But some flavor and color and eye appeal is lost over time with some foods.

That said, I don't think there is anything to be gained from intentionally setting out to can 5 years of food.;) Can the foods you know you will eat and use on a regular basis and skip canning the foods you know won't get eaten within a reasonable amount of time because few in the family care for them all that much even when fresh. For us, that is carrots. ;)

Dave

June Lynn,

Welcome to the wonderful world of canning!

I've had some jams sit around for four or five years (we don't eat that much of it, even small-batch recipes make several jars, and people sometimes give it to us, slowing down the consumption of the ones I make even more). They taste fine, and most look fine, though a couple have darkened.

Most stuff gets eaten within two years, however.

I have a big tomato garden, so with them it's a question of canning (and drying and freezing) however many tomatoes I've got and can possibly make time to put up in a given year --- some years there is quite a bit left over, others it runs a little short. In the bounteous years I tend to feel naturally more generous about giving it away, so it evens out more than I'd have expected.

With other fresh-harvested stuff that I'm buying, I try to make enough to last at least through the year till the next harvest. But often the limiting factor is how much time I can carve out to do the canning. For me it's a hobby -- a serious one, and I definitely love eating my own canned stuff, but I don't pretend to aspire to putting up everything, or even a significant portion, of what we eat. If something runs out, it runs out, and I buy some or we eat other stuff till the next season.

Some stuff that is really labour-intensive I try to make a big batch to last several years --- the BBB roasted red pepper spread, for example, I find a pain in the patootie, so I try to avoid making it every year. (I see there are two jars left --- will have to do it this fall!)

And some stuff, featuring ingredients I can't get farm-fresh here anyway, or that freeze really well, I can make year round. It was fun to get out my canner in December and make some "international" sauces for Christmas gifts, for example.

Have been doing this about six years now, and am starting to get a rhythm that feels good to me. I look in my pantry at this time of year and see mostly rows of empty jars, while in October I'll see mostly full ones! But there's some overlap --- I added some filled ones of rhubarb ginger jam a few weeks ago, and yesterday a dozen one-cup jars of salsa, made from tomatoes frozen last October!

Good luck finding your seasonal/yearly rhythm, and happy canning.

Z

I often have things that are two or three years old, some a little older, but I don't do it on purpose. I try to rotate my stock so I'm eating the oldest stuff first.

Mom gave me some jam that was marked 1982! It was dark and just tasted like sugar, but the Orioles loved it. The quality was definitely lacking for my use, but I wanted the jars.

I just had some sauerkraut from 2005 for supper the other night, but I think that was the oldest jar in my basement and it got stuffed back behind other jars.

Most canned food, as has been mentioned, don't present a safety problem as long as they have been properly processed, but at some point the quality suffers, especially things like pickles.

Annie