Hi Len, can you omit the butter from the recipe?

I'm pretty sure our pros here will want to know the whole recipe to determine whether it is safe to can even in a pressure canner, if you don't mind posting it.

Jen

Also, forgot to mention that NO oils ofany kidn can be safely home canned. Ever wonder how they make commercial mayonaise? Its done using nitrogen gas, that is injected into mixture prior to it being put in jars. Its nitrogen has that helps to keep oxygen or regular air out.

Yeah, the butter would have to go to can it. Not only is there a rancid problem but oils insulate the botulism spores so that the heat can't kill them.

But without knowing what all else goes in it, can't say whether that is enough vinegar or not.

Dave

PS: You could freeze it.

The number one guideline in safe home food preservation is "Never can your own recipes ". Not only do you not know the ph level you don't have any way to test the density. Both need to be a known factor when canning any recipe.
My suggestion, freeze your sauce or use a recipe that is the closest from a reliable source where the recipes have been tested, such as the NCFHFP or the Ball Blue book.

I have a ball blue book canning guide. In it is a pressure canning recipe for Chicken ala king. Which calls for butter and flour in it. Now I am totally confused!! Someone gave me a tomato soup recipe that has butter and flour in it. It says to water bath for 10 minutes. I am very hesitant to try it because of what I have heard!

Ball Blue Book recipes are ok as they have all been tested numerous times for safety. And there are a couple of recipes in their books that do allow for a small amount of butter and/or flour - a very specific amount. There are also a couple at NCHFP. But it is the source of the recipe that makes it ok so one "someone gave you" wouldn't have nearly the same legitimacy when it comes to safety.

The problem comes up when someone tries to generalize from one recipe to another. The "if it is ok in this one then it must be okay in all of them." That isn't true. Each recipe has to be evaluated individually and the source of the recipe is one of the primary factors to consider.

There are a few exceptions to every rule in canning but the exceptions must be from a reliable source.

Dave

Tiki- What year/edition is your Ball Blue Book? I can't find the chicken ala king recipe in the newest edition that came out this year nor in the previous one (the one with the peaches on the cover).

Rodney

Good catch Rodney. Ball pulled the Chicken a la King recipe from their books 4 or 5 editions back so it looks like Tiki needs to pick up a new book. AFAIK no official explanation was given.

I went back through all of my editions and I note the old recipe (one of the early 80's books with strawberries and raspberries jelly on the front) stipulated chicken fat first over butter and it does have a very long pressure processing time (65-75 mins.) But think if I was going to make it I'd go with the chicken fat rather than the butter because there is about that much fat in canned chicken anyway and I'd leave the flour out and just thicken it AFTER I opened the jars to serve. That way no concerns for safety.

Dave

I suppose the years get away from me. I think my book is from 2000. Thank you all for all of the information. I appreciate it. Will choose to freeze the soup. Have a great day! And I will pick up a new book!

Thanks again. Just had to let you know that yesterday when I was at work, a customer walked up to me and gave me a brand new Ball Blue Book!! Out of the blue! Turns out his son in law works at ball and gave his mother some goodies. They passed the book to me and a few others! What an awesome thing to happen!! They didn't know I was looking for a new one!! Happy Canning everyone!

I am new to canning and made apple jam yesterday, but I misread the receipe and used a whole stick of butter instead of a small amount for foam. I did not realize my mistake until today. Jam has been sitting out in jars for 24 hours on the counter. Is it safe at this point to just use the jam to make an apple pie, or should I just toss it all?

After 24 hours you will need to cook it well first before consuming so bake it well.

Dave

I was given a very old spaghetti sauce recipe that calls for a stick of butter. I've been canning it for about 40 years and have never had any issues with it! Its like a basket of tomatoes. Excellent I’d give it a 5 star review!