Absolutely!! Unless they are using a recipe handed down from an ancestor, or read about a recipe that they may think is safe. Some items are easily to figure out if they can be canned safely. Hard Squash, oils, dairy, eggs are all in the unsafe catagory. A gift of a home canned good may be safe, but its up to you to 'poloce' this issue by simply
asking how it was originally canned.

I feel it's best to put yourself at ease before you're given more goodies or asked how you liked the last batch.

I'd ask about the recipe, "This looks wonderful. Which book is it from?" that kind of thing. From there it's usually easy to go into details about contents, processing, etc. If you are uncomfortable with their sources and/or techniques you might gracefully say something along the lines of: "Thank you so much for the offer. I know some people think it's silly, especially for recipes that people have used for years, but..." and then decline the gift.

Well, some people around here think I'm an insanely careless cowboy, but no, I don't question the occasional gifts I'm given, although I follow tested recipes when canning myself.

Serious incidents like botulism poisoning from home canning are very rare. (I once looked up the stats for Canada, where I live, and there were only a handful a year in the country, almost all from poorly canned fish in Northern communities.)

Statistically, I am at much greater risk of getting food poisoining in a restaurant. Or from someone serving me hamburger at their table. And greater still when I get into a car with someone whose driving habits I don't know. Or going on a date with someone I have just met.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it if you need to to feel comfortable. Just that I wouldn't, and I feel pretty darned safe. I am indeed much more careful about whom I accept offers of rides from.

Zabby

Haven't had to worry about it. Hardly anyone I know cans...

:+(

But, I would have a conversation. Usually about gardening in general, do they can their own stuff, etc. I can get a pretty good feel as to their practices. If it is something very low risk like pickles or jam, I'll eat it. Salsa.....I might ask a few more questions.

Zabby is right! I'm far more likely to get sick eating in a restaurant, at a potluck or be run over by an insane driver!

Deanna

I feel the same way zabby17....Living on the farm and my dogs always bringing me dead animals etc I'm not overly concerned about food poisoning etc. And like you say easier to get sick from going out to eat and buying food in the market. But that's just me like it or not!

In this case, given your awareness of your friend's concerns about food safety and the fact that she put it in the refrigerator, I would feel comfortable eating it.

I do have relatives and acquaintances who open-kettle can and while I grew up on a farm and have a wide tolerance for dead animals etc. LOL, I would not eat their salsa "as is".

However, I would accept the gift in the spirit in which it was intended and then cook it thoroughly as a sauce for pulled pork, Spanish rice or something rather than eating it straight out of the jar.

Carol

We were given a quart of apple sauce from our neighbors last fall. I kindly said, thank you, went in the house and dumped it down the drain. It looked like brown baby food, pudding, mush, and had an inch or more of brown liquid on the bottom of the jar.

They are nice people, but we didn't want to hurt their feelings. We waited a couple of weeks to give their jar back to them.

Lynn :)

Yes, I do question them but in a friendly, "come on in and let's sit down and talk canning" way. A few self-deprecating comments or a few questions about the recipe used can usually get you the info you need to know if it is safe or not. And it gives you the chance to plant a few important tips that might take root with them in the future.

But I don't turn the gift down. I have been known to dump a few gift jars into the compost bin but the other person doesn't need to know that.

Dave

I agree, that a gift is given from the heart (especially something like a home canned item).

I would never refuse it. I may not eat it, but would certainly accept it and thank the giver!

So far, I don't believe I've made any enemies that would spend the time to 'intentionally' create something dangerous, then give it to me! LOL

So... the intent is all good and should be accepted as such.

Deanna

I accept the gift and if I question the safety I simply toss it. I don't think it is very graceful to refuse the product unless you are allergic, etc. I do have a few close friends who I would correct for their own sake. Regardless of safety, people put a lot of work into canning and if they are giving some out it is generally that they are proud of their efforts. I remember growing up that I had a relative whose house was VERY poorly kept. My father is a bit of a germ-phobe and would never eat anything that she cooked, canned or baked. He would take it with appreciation and toss it. A little white lie for the sake of her feelings :) Lori

I'm with Zabby and gardengalrn... with only a few exceptions... and I wouldn't eat anything they prepared anyway.... even a piece of toast.

I guess it's just me but I'd rather not accept the jars if I'm going to throw the contents away. Knowing how much time and energy goes into canning I'd feel way too guilty. Well that and knowing my luck, at some point it would somehow come out that I'd not been eating the "goodies" and then feelings would really be hurt. I'm just not that good at deception. :)

Maybe I'm lucky no one I know out here cans. Because of our litigious society I'd be afraid to give anyone something canned as a gift.

I'm the only person among my friends and family who actually cans. What I don't get are people who give me commerical canned products as gifts. I'm always gracious aloud, but wonder to myself what on earth they're thinking. I've only got a basement full of the homemade stuff. Whatever.

I'm actually more paranoid about stuff I give away. I pretty much do only pickles and jams and the acidity level in those products improves my safety odds. I also try to be very careful about sterilizing jars, processing for an adequate period, etc., but I always caution people I give product to that while I try to be very careful, if there's ever a sign of mold or off color or whatever to THROW IT AWAY ... and to please let me know about the problem.

I actually had such a moment yesterday. I saw a recipe posted that didn't seem like a BWB recipe. This is from an accomplished cook, and I'm wondering if she adapted it. Which I know is tempting with any recipe -- I can hardly cook without adapting -- but canning is different. I'm no expert, but I do know that certain things, you shouldn't add or subtract or change proportions on. She mentioned she'd gotten the recipe from a book, but she didn't mention whether she'd made any changes. I looked the book up on Amazon and it's a recent book, so I don't know. I'd like to look at the recipe itself, but unfortunately my library doesn't have it.

valereee, if you post the recipe on a new thread or provide a link, with the source indicated, we may be able to assist.

There's quite a library of canning and cook books amongst the Forum members, so perhaps we can access the original recipe also.

Carol

Carol, I'll go do it!

I sell my canned goods at the local farmers' market, besides gifting friends and feeding my family, but only acidified foods (pickles, relishes) and jam/jelly. Most everything else I freeze for my own family's use. The FDA does not allow anyone to sell pressure canned foods from a home-based operation like mine to the general public, nor anything frozen or that needs refrigeration, although you can give away anyhing for free. I even have my "Farm" registered with the government in the unlikely event that something from here was tainted so that they can trace it back the source, me. A little "big brother" but it makes sense to me, instead of being anonymous. Everything I can comes from safe BWB recipes, either reputably published or only with minor tweakings to them. All the ingredients are listed in case someone is allergic so they don't buy it unawares.

Recipes don't have to be invented in my kitchen to taste good and they are not registered as proprietary or have patents on them, after all. I grow everything organically and the freshly picked intense flavors from them makes all the difference in taste which is what makes home-canned so much better than commercially canned.

I had to take a class for safely canning acidified foods and got certified by the FDA -- if that class doesn't scare you to death about preparing and keeping the food safe because you might kill someone with your "love", then nothing on earth will. I have been canning since the 70's but that doesn't make how I did it then "right" because no one got sick. I've changed my methods over the years, keep an immaculate 10% bleached separate canning kitchen, and even pay very close attention to the status of ingredients I use that may be recalled after I have canned them (one was the Turkish Apricots in 2002, though I didn't use them then, just was aware). We all love to can here, obviously, and do so with love, but reality always intrudes and we do have to be knowledgeable and stay up-to-date.

I too question a gifter of canned goods, but sadly most people think anything homemade is wonderful and safe to eat but don't know enough about canning to ask the right questions. I'm a grandma now but I don't "put things up" in any way like I was taught by another grandma (my MIL). So, maybe my generation of "grandma's canned goods" is several steps above those 1970 +/- Grandma's.

Nancy

If you sold you jellies and jams here, I certainly would buy from you. :)

Oh yeah, I forgot. I also bought Personal Liability Insurance, have my well tested every year for coliform bacteria, write out FDA's procedures for each and every batch of stuff I can (a royal pain), and keep a list by batch date just in case. All this stuff is really, really paranoid but I sleep well at night knowing I make people very happy eating my pickles and fig jam and other stuff knowing it is truly good food. But, please don't ask me how clean my real kitchen is!!!!

And to you all, thank you so much for the advice posted on these forum pages. It is invaluable. I enjoy newbie questions because I still consider myself a newbie and never will be an expert like readinglady, LindaLou, KSrogers, and so many others I can't begin to list.

Nancy

Oh, the stories I hear answering questions is really something !! I think I have heard it all, then along comes someone else with something even more wacky !
I still can't really figure out why someone wants to can hotdogs. It costs more for the lids and the energy to can them than to freeze them... How hard is it to microwave a hotdog when you want one ? If you can them you would heat them to eat them, wouldn't you ?
Canning mayonnaise is another one that I keep getting questions about. Have you ever seen mayonniase that someone tried to can ? What a MESS !!
Then, the stories of the jars of tomatoes that explode because they didn't even process them. Same for water bath canned green beans that explode in a few days ! Oh my.

Linda Lou,

If my little city is any indication, I suspect the number of questions (and wacky situations) will continue to increase this year. Participation in our community garden has more than tripled in the past 2 years. I've seen herbs and rainbow chard interplanted with flowers in garden beds around town. More and more of my friends are asking how to start veggie gardens. And my favorite local plant source sold out in record time this year. As gardens become more popular, and necessary, so will the need to preserve the harvest.

Some people who are lucky to see it, could get a glimps of a commercial mayo factory. Its created by infusing pure nitrogen into the ingredients and then its also dispense with nitrogen into nitrogen purged jars. No air or other kind of gas, including oxygen is left in the mixture and because its nitrogen suspended within the whole batch it never gets past a level where it can quickly soil. Add to that, it has many additives that help retain the texture, color, and flavor along with the necessary safe nitrogen gas only environment. Admittedly, home made mayo can't be beat, but MUST be made fresh and consumed within a week in cold storage. You just can't place it in jars and can it. Luckly, here I got the big jump of having a home gardening for many years. When my folks were alive I was the one who would do all the garden, after my dads health failed and inabilty for my parents to home can anymore. I would even do some of of the stuff to can at my parents house and even to this day still find a few remnents of my moms expertise stored some place. Anyone for 30 year old green tomato picililli?

I would also probably eat it, especially something like jam, fruit, jelly, relish or pickles. I'd be a little careful even of pickles, a bunch of my family got sick on homecanned pickled mushrooms at my Aunt's house one year.

I'm pretty careful myself and I usually give my canning away, I very seldom get home canned items from anyone else. Usually if we start talking canning I can get a pretty good idea of how the person does things.

Annie

> Anyone for 30 year old green tomato picililli?

Hmm. Could it still be described as green, Ken? ;-)

Zabby

Well sort of, an olive green and quite soft like applesauce once you push a fork into it. If just dumped out it is a bit pale. Its not one of my favorites and my mome used a dozen different spices to make it. I recal my dad bringing home 10 bushels of green tomatoes that year. A LOT of work and by that time my mom was an amputee and had to do all the things with one leg.

The only person who gives me canned goods is my mother, and I learned to can from her, so I know it is safe. If someone gave me something canned, I guess it would depend on the person, whether or not I would be concerned. For example, I have friends who are cautious by nature, and I know they would find out how to can correctly if they didn't already know. On the other hand, I have friends who are sort of "flighty" and might have canned something on a whim. In that case, I would really check things out before I consumed the item.

I agree with Annie. I'll accept canned goods from the members here and on the Cooking Forum, as I'm confident they've been "nurtured" along or are one of what I call the "Jedi Masters". :-)

But other than that, I don't know of anyone else who cans. Sad but true.

I agree with gardengirl- I'm basically the only one around that cans. We should really meet up if you're in O-town! (I'm in Palm Coast, FL). However, I cringe when visiting a family member up North as she BWB her beans (complete w/ bacon strip) and dilutes the vinegar in her beets by 50% and open kettle cans her corn. At best we abstain from anything but meat and fresh potatoes and bread at the house and pray that a 350F oven kills any botulism that is in beans she throws in a caserole! I have discarded many "gifts" for safety sake but always thanked the giver. For her birthday I gave her a copy of the ball book and a note mentioning the "wonderful" recipes I find in the book...

Thank you to all the "Masters" on this site who have offered those like me advice over the years and have always been promt to answer those spur of the moment questions. Also, thanks to all those who share SAFE canning recipes we all can use- and enjoy! =)

-Laura

What an unusual and interesting thread this is, where tact intersects with a possible life or death decision. As one whose strong point is not tact, I've learned a lot. Women seem to generally have better skills in that area than we guys. If I ever face the situation, I now have a few ideas in reserve.

Jim

Nobody has ever given me anything canned. I don't know anybody who cans or shows any interest in it.

I do give away my stuff to family and friends. I don't think I have given pressure canned stuff to anyone.

I also dry cure and that gives the USDA even more problems than canning.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Art of The Pig

I've had 2 recent gifts and I tossed both (yes I saved the jars to return). The first was from my cousin. He made his mother's relish recipe. Now my aunt has been gone 5 years but I know she made this Open Kettle. When I questioned my cousin, he confirmed he "made it exactly the way his mother made it." The second incident was a client of my husband's gave him a jar of plum sauce. I have been corresponding via email with this woman for a while; she is new to gardening and canning so I have been sharing info with her. I emailed her and thanked her for the plum sauce and asked for the recipe. I got it and it's an open kettle recipe. I double checked with her and she confirmed she made it just like the recipe. I was particularly disappointed to hear this since I had her purchase the Ball Blue Book and have stressed the importance of canning safety.

Well...I dunno. I've only once been offered someone else's canned stuff and it was my neighbor offering me things her sister had canned--she didn't remember how long ago. I just passed on it. Thank, but I don't think we'd be able to use it. It didn't seem to be an issue. I just looked and saw what appeared to be alot of old dust and I knew I didn't even want the rings from the jars, much less the contents. Could've used the jars though...

Now I'm paranoid about the gifts of salsa that I've given out...I'm a biochemist who overprocesses if anything, so my friends should know its OK, but my hubby occasionally gives the stuff to co-workers who don't know a thing about me....I can see their wives wrinkling their noses and dumping my salsa right now...

Is this reason to horde the goodies for ourselves???

Well, my DH's family boiling water baths green beans (with a bit of vinegar) but they're always adamant that they be boiled 20 minutes before eating so I expect they're safe, though the quality suffers.

My BIL open-kettle-cans salsa and I wouldn't touch that for the world. He considers me paranoid, but I'm fine with it.

In fact, no one in the family gives me anything they can, assuming that I wouldn't accept it.

Carol

zippity_duda,

If you think you may be giving items out, maybe you could put a little label on them that says what it is and how long it was processed? If it is something you make frequently you could even keep the label templates stored on your computer. If what I was given had any indication that it was processed correctly, I would be fine with it. This is what I decided I would do if I ever get to the point of having canned items to give out.

Or you could just keep it all to yourself!

Laura

My mother taught me to can, and as soon as I felt proficient, I began to develop my own habits, and they weren't necessarily like hers. She always put up jams and jellies with a seal of paraffin. She had decent luck in that the wax seldom pulled away from the jars, but mine always did. I also liked to give those away for gifts at Christmas, and began processing them. It was a pleasant time for me when she'd come over to help me put up goods for my pantry. She was good in the kitchen and fast, and I will do somewhere around three or four hundred jars of food of a summer. But, for years, and years, as I bottled my jams and then put them in the BWB, she'd always say "you don't need to do that, you know". LOLOL. The year or so before she died, she finally didn't give me that advice anymore. sigh.

Both of my children do their own food preservation, my son as well as my daughter! My daughter started to pressure can things that up until very recently were considered safe to HWB, like tomatoes. I'm starting to follow suit. Her exact words were, it's just as easy to run them through a pressure canner, you can be SURE of its safety, and actually it's done more quickly, saving time and energy.

As for the comment that one is more likely to be food poisoned in a restaurant than with home canning. Well, that is probably true, the statistics for that are waaaaaaaaaay higher, BUT the type of poisoning you will get from home canning low acids foods (botulism) improperly is a lot more lethal and deadly than most forms of listeria, e. coli, or salmonella. Botulism is a killer.