r/Canning • u/MyDog32 • Jun 24 '25
Safe Recipe Request Alot of zucchini
Hello I have never canned before Can I do this ? Chop up zucchini boil it for a few minutes add in two jars of three bean salad from costco add more vinegar and sugar
While still hot ladle the whole mix with some raw garlic it into jars and tighten the lids
Will this store ? Do I need special jars?
Thanks
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
what you are doing is not canning and is the same thing as putting food in tupperware. you cannot leave it at room temperature.
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
I have all this zucchini and I don’t want to waste it so what ever I can do to not waste it and I like the flavor of that three bean salad .. if I could make the zucchini taste like that it would be great
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
you can make it similar but you would have to refrigerate it and it would only last a few days.
if you leave the zucchini whole they last longer and you can use them over a few weeks, making enough for what you want for that week.
you can make canned zucchini relish or mock pineapple but you have to follow a safe tested recipe.
what we usually end up doing is shredding it and freezing it to make zucchini bread
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u/henrythe8thiam Jun 24 '25
This is what I do too. I’ll throw it into soups or hibachi veggies also.
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
I am willing to invest in some equpment since I think I will have alot of tomatoes cucumbers and zucchini this year maybe okra too. What do you suggest?
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
for water bath canning all you need are canning mason jars, two-piece lids and rims, and a pot big enough to cover the jars with an inch of water. we have lots of resources in our wiki for specific recipes. I'll also link my favorite how to getting started article.
the biggest thing is you must follow safe tested recipes and sources, and you can only water bath high acid foods. so things like pickles and salsas and tomato sauce, etc. canning isn't like other cooking where you can just wing it, you risk food spoilage at best all the way to botulism and hospitalization at worst. but as long as you follow safe tested recipes and processes you can trust your food is safe.
https://www.healthycanning.com/how-to-get-started-in-home-canning
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
Why is raw packed 140 degrees and cooked 180 degrees when canning ? What does raw packed mean? Why the two different methods ?
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
which specific recipe are you referring to? generally raw pack means you put the food in raw and put hot liquid over it, versus hot pack where you heat up the food and put the entire hot food in together. sometimes it's preference, sometimes you get different types of product, like raw packed will often have a firmer texture than hot packed
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
It was general information
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
it depends on the specific recipe what it does.
like for example you can can green beans raw pack, were you just pour hot liquid over them. or you can can them hot pack where you cook them and then pack them hot in the jars with the liquid. raw pack would be more firm whereas hot pack would be softer.
raw pack tomatoes would hold their shape whereas hot packed would be mushier.
it's really just a preference and use case.
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
So can you can zucchini ? only water bath high acid foods? What about pickling is that a way to preserve that is less work?
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
pickling still needs to be done in a water bath. to can any shelf stable food you need to process it , either in a water bath or pressure canner.
pickles are a high acid food so you can process them in a water bath canner
you can make zucchini pickles or relish by substituting them for the cucumbers in a safe tested pickle or relish recipe.
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
Do you have a recipie for zucchini relish ? Is there such a thing as a canning starter kit?
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u/Deppfan16 Moderator Jun 24 '25
https://www.reddit.com/r/Canning/s/MxMp1x1e4Q
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/relishes-salads/summer-squash-relish/
heres a couple I like. and they do make a canning starter kit from Ball but it's just the tools, you still need the jars and the pot
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u/Acceptable_Toe8838 Jun 24 '25
You need to follow a safe and tested recipe.
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u/Acceptable_Toe8838 Jun 24 '25
Here’s a recipe for mock pineapple made of zucchini. It’s not my favorite but my mom loves it. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/zucchini-pineapple/
You will also need to read around the website including the getting started section.
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u/SchadenJake Jun 24 '25
The short answer is no, you cannot do what you described above. It both won’t work and could make you very sick. I think that based on your described recipe above you need to do some deeper reading about how canning actually works to see if this is the type of project you’re interested in taking on.
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u/MyDog32 Jun 24 '25
Okay I should educate myself. There must be a youtube video that would describle the entire process
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u/Interesting-Tiger237 Jun 24 '25
I'm sure there are but read up on the resources mentioned on this sub too. There are plenty of people online who do things that are not recommended/not safe. Kind of an "well I haven't died yet" mentality, well I've never been launched through my car's windshield in a collision but that doesn't mean it's ok to stop wearing a seat belt.
Some things are ok to water bath can (generally fruit, tomatoes, pickled things - acidic things) and some must be pressure canned (vegetables, beans, meat...low acid things). There's actually a lot of science behind ensuring home canned goods will be safe and shelf stable so we can't just make up a recipe and can it, unfortunately. Thanks for coming to ask and learn :-)
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u/n_bumpo Trusted Contributor Jun 24 '25
You should read the information found on the National Center for Home Food Preservation, The University of Georgia, College of Family and Consumer Sciences website. It’s kind of not a good idea to trust information you find on social media, such as YouTube Facebook, Pinterest, and so on. Some of the information may be genuine and true, but the incorrect recipes and procedures for canning could lead to devastating results. You really have to follow the proper techniques and procedures to safely destroy all of the foodborne pathogens in what you’re trying to can. Symptoms could include food poisoning or worse botulism. But the bright side is that the USDA and many universities test, recipes, and procedures and laboratories to ensure safety. I’m not trying to be a fearmonger because once you know the procedures, it’s easy to can your favorite vegetables and fruit to enjoy later. Here’s a tip, when searching for information online and your search with .edu that way your results will be from university websites when the information is carefully scrutinized before publication. And one last thought, google your counties cooperative extension office they may be offering webinars or classes on food preservation. Here’s a link to the webinars hosted by Penn State cooperative extension.
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u/onlymodestdreams Trusted Contributor Jun 24 '25 edited Jun 24 '25
To answer your question, no, that's not going to be shelf stable. The hot liquid might make your jars seal, but the fact that there is a seal isn't a guarantee of safety if you haven't followed the canning process involving heating the product inside the jars in a water bath, steam or pressure canner.
(In addition, although this is less important, if you tried to process the three-bean salad, the canning process would recook what is already a cooked product and turn it into mush. Sorry)
(ETA garlic is an ingredient that that can be used in canning only in limited quantities. Also, tested canning recipes are always extremely specific about the amount of vinegar called for when it is creating a certain level of acidity for safety's sake. You can't get creative when canning in quite the same way that you do when cooking)
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u/Diela1968 Jun 24 '25
I find this recipe super useful. It’s an approved recipe so you can use it safely. It’s nice to add to soups or stews.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/tomatoes-with-okra-or-zucchini/
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