Home canners most likely don’t have access to the high-tech equipment to perform these measures, and thus don’t know whether their family recipe, or a recipe found elsewhere, is being processed safely. If you have a favorite family recipe for canning, consider freezing for later or enjoying right away.
(Only use fresh if a canning recipe specifies fresh; otherwise presume bottled. When we refer to lemon juice here, we are referring to bottled.) In recipes that call for the standard distilled white 5% vinegar as the acid, you may: substitute some or all of it with bottled lemon juice or bottled lime juice (but what a taste change!);
Canning a family recipe is risky as it can cause spoilage and foodborne illness. Botulism can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted, so the best way to ensure your home-canned products are safe is to use recipes from an evidence-based resource. Two factors that play a major role in the safety of a recipe are pH and consistency of the product.
Clostridium botulinum bacteria are the main reason why pressure canning is absolutely necessary for canning low-acid food. The bacterial cells are killed at boiling temperatures, but they can form spores that survive these temperatures. The spores grow well in low-acid foods, in the absence of air, such as in canned vegetables and meats.