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One of my blogging friends sent me a little email tip this morning about canning and cornstarch….
If you have already read my post called
Home-Canned Spaghetti Sauce
and are planning to make it…please make note.
THE SAUCE IS ONLY SAFE FROM BOTULISM WHEN FROZEN.
Last year when MyHandsomeHusband and I made the sauce, we didn’t add any cornstarch. This year we thought it would help to thicken the sauce up a bit.
It did!
I spoke with a Nutritionist from the
USU Extension Office this afternoon.
She said that cornstarch makes any kind of tomato product unsafe to be processed in a Water Bath, or a Pressure Cooker.
So, there you have it.
Please don’t bottle this sauce.
Botalism is actually fatal!
Yes, fatal.
Aren’t you glad you came by to read a recipe full of poison?
Just the cozy, heart warming kind of thing you
want to read on a Monday, isn’t it.
And now I’m signing off…..
I need to get all 33 jars of spaghetti sauce
I made last Saturday into the freezer.
So sorry for the error, my friends.
Pass the chocolate.
Did you have to freeze in plastic? Couldn't you have used the bottles?
What about if you canned it with plain gelatin as the thickener? I made salsa and used that to thicken it. Let me know what you think.
Whew! I almost commented this AM…but didn't. The recipe also doesn't have enough acid to be canned safely…but freezing it would be yummy!
check out this website for all the current info. for canning safely. http://www.ugu.edu/nchfp
Shelley-WSU master Food Preserver
I've canned salsa with corn starch. :S Oops!
Oh my gosh! I DO love botulism! How did you know!? You are so funny Jamie and I totally love you! 🙂
I'm excited to make and freeze this recipe! Thanks for working hard on it Jamie and Handsomehusband. We are all trying to figure out this food preservation stuff. Let's go pig out on something chocolate together. I love ya!
Audra,
I'm not sure about the gelatin as a thickener, could work if you used in in salsa. I would ask the folks at the USU extension. You can leave them an email on their web site, or there is a phone number you can call as well. Better safe than sorry!
~Jamie
I canned all 50 jars of my salsa 2 years ago with cornstarch. It's all gone into our bellies and we're all fine. Guess I'll think about that next time though!
Botulism is a tough dude. Did you know it only takes one case from a restaurant to be qualified as a Foodborne Illness Outbreak? Others it takes 2 or more. And yes, it can cause death.
Love your blog and love getting your updates via my Facebook page:)
That’s a smart answer to a difficult question.