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Canning chili #875551

Asked July 01, 2024, 5:52 PM EDT

Can I can chili if I have used corn flour to thicken it

Deschutes County Oregon

Expert Response

Greetings. I'm sorry, adding corn flour to chili and pressure canning it is not safe. Two main things make it risky. The starch will continue to swell during canning and may cause a sealing failure or break the jars. As the starch thickens the chili mixture slows its rotation and more even heating inside the jars. This decreases the effectiveness of the convection heating method and will result in under processing that can lead to risk of botulism poisoning.

You can freeze your chili instead. It should be a very successful food preservation method for your recipe.

We do have a chili recipe that is safe for pressure canning. You can find it free to view or download in Canning Meat, Poultry and Wild Game. Another idea is to can the main ingredients separately (tomatoes, dry beans, meat chunks, for instance) then combine them with other ingredients in your recipe while heating. Other safe recipes for canning can be found at https://beav.es/OSUFoodPreservation 
Glenda Hyde, Associate Professor of Practice Replied July 02, 2024, 4:48 PM EDT
Thank you I’ll can without any thickening agent and thicken it when we reheat it 

On Tue, Jul 2, 2024 at 1:48 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied July 02, 2024, 6:22 PM EDT
Happy to help.
Glenda Hyde, Associate Professor of Practice Replied July 02, 2024, 7:47 PM EDT
Thank you for your assistance.

On Tue, Jul 2, 2024 at 4:47 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied July 03, 2024, 12:27 AM EDT

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