{"id":785,"date":"2013-07-31T09:31:19","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T15:31:19","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-02-26T17:10:36","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T00:10:36","slug":"signs-of-spoilage-in-food-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/articles\/signs-of-spoilage-in-food-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs of Spoilage in Food Storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a busy time of year indeed for food preservers!\u00a0 We often get into such a frenzy canning and dehydrating that we miss a very basic first step\u2014taking inventory of what is left in the pantry from last year!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Before you put the first jar away you need to pull everything else out.\u00a0<\/strong> Rotating your food storage is the key to successful long-term food storage because it minimizes waste\u2014both wasted food and wasted money! It is also much healthier; all food storage will lose nutritional value over time, different foods and preserving methods lose at different rates.\u00a0 Eating down the oldest food storage first means that nothing is lost in the back of the cupboard, aging beyond use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Signs of Spoilage?\u00a0 When you have everything out, look for these things:
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1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Appearance<\/span><\/strong>: some foods just do not look as appetizing as you hope, that is just the truth of it.\u00a0 Using citric acid or lemon juice will minimize oxidation; it is oxidation that causes browning in many foods.\u00a0 That oxidization does not affect food quality, just appearance.\u00a0 If oxidization is all you see by all means, eat it anyway (even if you have to hide the food as an ingredient so your family will not notice).\u00a0 If something else looks \u201coff\u201d though, especially something like mold or other growth, discard.\u00a0 Sometimes you will see a lot of aerobic activity going on there, bubbles and fermentation activity.\u00a0 These cultures are not the ones you have cultivated by fermenting with whey, do not trust this unexpected stuff!\u00a0 Along with this symptom of food spoilage, you will also often see a bulging top\u2014even if the seal is not broken.\u00a0 This means that the food <\/span>is letting off gases in there from bacterium ingesting the sugars.\u00a0 Do not trust it!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Dilly<\/p>\n

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2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Water or liquid levels:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong> Canned goods should be covered in liquids.\u00a0 Sometimes the liquid seeps out during the canning process and your green beans are not submerged.\u00a0 Although these are fine, these foods will begin to discolor. Definitely eat these foods shortly after canning, because it is my experience that these foods are the most likely candidates to succumb to food spoilage. \u00a0\u00a0Fermented foods should always be covered completely with liquid too\u2014so if you see your sauerkraut or kimchi above the water level something is not quite right. \u00a0It is normal for these foods to spill out of the jar (leaving a mess on your shelf if you are not careful), do not worry about that.\u00a0 But if these foods are not submerged,\u00a0 they should be opened and checked; if they are still healthy, refrigerate and eat immediately.\u00a0 If they are questionable, pitch!<\/span><\/p>\n

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3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A firm seal:<\/span> <\/strong>The first recommendation is that you remove the metal rings off of your canned goods, only leaving the actual canning lid.\u00a0 The ring is not necessary apart from the actual canning process and it can mask the danger of jars having lost their seal.\u00a0 Jars can lose their seal for a lot of reasons, but I do find that my Tattler Lids<\/a> are consistently solid sealers.\u00a0 My theory is that it is because they are heavier than the cheap metal lids and stay in place better during the canning process (especially during the high-bubbling action of a pressure canner).\u00a0 In either case, check each jars lid by trying to wiggle the lid, or even picking up the jar by the lid itself.\u00a0 If any jar does not have a sealed lid, discard immediately and sterilize your jars and reusable canning lids.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Tattler<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Vacuum sealed Bags should still be firmly vacuumed.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 If air has seeped in at all, there was a hole or puncture in that bag and you cannot trust that food.\u00a0 It may look okay, smell okay, but you have no way of knowing.\u00a0 Do not risk it please.\u00a0 Start with high quality bags <\/a>that have a high nylon content.\u00a0 This will minimize any risk of puncture.\u00a0 If you are vacuum sealing a dried fruit or vegetable that becomes pointy once the moisture has been removed (pineapple, potatoes, etc), try this trick: put the food into a paper lunch sack first, then vacuum seal that.\u00a0 The paper bag will do double duty\u2014keeping out the light and preventing sharp food edges from puncturing the bag.<\/span><\/p>\n

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5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Check the labels:<\/span><\/strong> Sometimes my labels have fallen off.\u00a0 Sometimes I used the wrong marker or pen on that particular type of label and they are fuzzy, difficult to read, or even faded.\u00a0 If you can still make out what it says, re-label it.\u00a0 Not only is it convenient to know what you are opening (looks can be deceiving), but having a readable date is a safety concern.\u00a0 If you aren’t labeling your food, you are missing the first sign of spoilage–the date!
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6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Check the pantry shelf itself:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Canned goods can be a lot of weight.\u00a0 Are the brackets holding the shelf secure?\u00a0 You would not want to lose all of that hard work when the shelf finally dies (I had that happen, luckily, it was a low shelf and I did not lose much).\u00a0 Are there any sticky spots, syrup rings, or other gunk on that shelf?\u00a0 That is a good sign that something is amiss with one of your jars.\u00a0 It is also a great attraction for the local ant population and it is a great time to just wipe everything clean and start over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Of course, once you open the jars, there are other things to note such as smells and flavors.\u00a0 But for the Annual Pantry Inventory Day, you are done!\u00a0 Now, go enjoy those yummy foods that you forgot you had.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"annual_pantry_checklisthumbnail.jpg\"\u00a0\u00a0 Get a Free Annual Pantry Checklist:<\/h1>\n

Get a free checklist, among a few other goodies, when you sign up for our mailing list!<\/p>\n

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Get your Annual Pantry Checklist (among other things):<\/h2>\n