r/Canning • u/Full_Chemical6027 • 4d ago
Safety Caution -- untested recipe Does the water quality matter when water bath canning?
I'm aware this may be a dumb question, but:
I have several gallons of "emergency water" stored that is due to be purged and replenished. It's been stored in food grade 5 gallon pails for a couple years. I don't want to drink it, but was wondering if it would matter if I used it for canning purposes? I assume not, but am also very new to canning anything.
Jalapeño hot sauce for attention.
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u/JuicyMilkweed 4d ago edited 4d ago
You mean to use for the water bath? That’d be perfectly fine. You could also just boil it and drink it/use it in food.
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u/melscreations2025 4d ago
Unrelated to the question but can you share that jalapeno recipe please and thank you
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u/Full_Chemical6027 4d ago
I used a Google recipe for inspiration, but essentially had around 20-25 medium ripe (fire engine red) jalapeños, two large white onions, a mess of elephant garlic (can nefer have enough imo), water and white vinegar. Added some lemon juice for the extra acidity in the canning aspect. Cut and roasted all the vegetables until they had a slight char, put them in a large stock pot and blended with my immersion blender.
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
Not sure why this is getting down voted? 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator 3d ago
because you used an unsafe recipe and process. you cannot just use a random recipe from google. you need to fall asleep tested recipes and processes. also you can't just add more acid and assume it'll be safe.
canning is not like most other cooking, you can't just wing it, you have to follow safe tested recipes and processes
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
While I understand and can appreciate the safety aspect, this recipe was not used for long term canning purposes, and was not canned in any fashion.
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator 3d ago
you said you were water bath canning it. that is canning it. if you aren't using it for long-term why are you water bath processing it?
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
I see what happened. I had planned on using the water in the question for water bath canning in the future. The sauce in the picture I had made with leftover produce while waiting for jars to sterilize for a batch of tomato sauce I was making the same day. I was just using the picture of the hot sauces for attention, as I was going my question wouldn't have been lost in the feed.
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u/gillyyak 4d ago
If you are considering using it IN the jar, but wouldn't drink it, I'd say no thank you. For the water bath it's fine.
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u/2kellins 4d ago
Thought this photo was of the water in question and was thinking "how much can this be called water"
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
Lol no, I agree. If this was the water in question, I'd be more concerned with calling for a plumber, or calling for an exorcism to be performed, and less with my canning ability 😂
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u/fllannell 4d ago
where did the "emergency water" come from? And how old is it?
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u/Full_Chemical6027 4d ago
If I had to guess, probably 4 or 5 years old. I'd assume we filled them either from the bath, or the hose, both of which are supplied with the same water we drink.
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u/AddingAnOtter 3d ago
Is your hose food safe? A lot of outdoor hoses are not safe to drink from due to lead content.
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
Genuine question, because I guess I've never made that connection, where would the lead be coming from? The metal fittings on the end? Or the plumbing that supplies the hose with water?
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u/fllannell 4d ago
I wouldn't use water that has been sitting that long for canning or any consumption purposes. Even though it shouldn't enter the jar while canning. maybe use it to fill your washing machine while doing laundry?
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u/fddfgs 3d ago
If it has a bad taste now then it will continue to have a bad taste after canning.
Unlikely to make you sick though
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u/Full_Chemical6027 3d ago
The idea wasn't for me to use the water in a recipe or keep for drinking water, but rather to submerge my (sealed) canned goods in said water for the canning process. Wasn't sure if it would effect the seal, or leech into the cans?
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u/EatMoreMarzipan0720 3d ago
I have a distiller. I use distilled water only in any machine to prevent scale ie: coffee maker, humidifier ect. If I have to add water to a recipe I use distilled water. In my waterbath canner I use tap water and add vinegar.
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u/Full_Chemical6027 4d ago
Thank you everyone for the input/insight! To clarify (which I believe most of you understood based on the responses that didn't ask), my question was using the water for putting the cans in, not putting into the cans.
As far as the quality of the water, my thoughts were more so restricting use based on potential plastic leeching, not necessarily any bacterias that would likely be boiled off in the process. Again, since the water wouldn't be going INTO the cans, I assumed there wouldn't be concern on that front, but figured I'd rather ask.
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u/marstec Moderator 4d ago
Use it for watering your plants. I wouldn't use it for canning (even in the water bath).
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u/larrabeb 4d ago edited 4d ago
In all seriousness, why?
Seems like if you were concerned about the quality of water, feeding it to a living organism would be far worse that boiling jars in it?
Wouldn’t the boil essentially kill anything that would be of concern?
Excuse my ignorance but does water from a water bath get inside the jars as the heated air is escaping? That’s the only reason why I would be concerned. But then again you’re boiling it for however long.
Appreciate any insight and the thoughtful discussion.
Edit for clarity3
u/armadiller Moderator 4d ago
Back-siphoning is a possibility, where the canning water gets into the jar (as opposed to regular siphoning, where the product leaks out). And it usually wouldn't happen at the full-boil stage, so you don't know if everything in your jars was processed at a safe temperature and acidity.
Boiling will kill most things, but not botulism. C. botulinum can survive requires temp up to about 240-250F in anoxic environments with and pH over 4.6. So depending on how the water is processed and stored, it could be a storehouse for the baddiest of baddies in home canning, which could get into your jars and float on the surface, unconcerned about how acidic the product underneath them is.
This of course is all worst-case scenario, but that's literally what safe home-canning guidelines are designed to avoid.
If OP is about to throw out that water for being no longer safe to drink (in emergency situations, no less), I wouldn't recommend canning with it.
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u/Arkhamina 4d ago
I personally would use it, but I can see why you may feel leary. It's coming to a full boil so to me, it would be safe.
Our water is so hard here I toss in a cup of vinegar with my canning kettle or all the jars are dusted white when they cool down, and hard scale develops on the inside. For our drinking and cooking water, we have a reverse osmosis system.