Canning Potatoes - Help!

[redsoxs]

I need help from someone with potato canning experience! I have quite a bit of experience canning but never tried potatoes until last week. I need to know how the finished product should look - specifically the liquid in the jars. I went by the book and got a good seal on all 7 quarts. Within a few days however the liquid in the jars started to become cloudy or milky. Is this normal? I didn't agitate the jars - in fact they are still on the counter where I placed them when I took them out of the canner. I know the "juice" on a store bought can of potatoes isn't clear like water so I don't know if this is safe or not. Just don't want to poison myself! Help and thanks in advance!!

 

[vfem]

I've canned potatoes and I followed the recipe to the best of my ability (which means I am forever changing things my way!). And I did blanch the potatoes in a salted water. I also left the skins on. These were red skin potatoes. I had pretty much clear liquid in the jars when I was done.

However, I've seen people not blanch and they'd have liquid that was cloudy in their jars.

Did you blanch before you canned?

Otherwise, I see no issue if they sealed correctly. They just may not look wonderful, but I bet they taste wonderful!

 

[redsoxs]

Thanks for the reply, vfem. No, I didn't blanch. Hope that was the problem...or maybe not a problem at all - just made it look odd. But as you say - it's about how they taste, not look. Thanks again!

 

[erinszoo]

Potatoes often have cloudy water especially if they weren't cooked or blanched before canning. It's no big deal. It comes from the starch in the potatoes. New potatoes don't usually starch as much as russets but they still have starch. We canned potatoes today and ended up with mashed potatoes almost. Not sure what I did wrong today as I've done them a million times with no problems but they will make great potato soup this winter or quick mashed potatoes to go with a meal so all's well.