Yes I do, but I use ~ 1 tablespoon cornstarch. I can't seem to find my recipe right now but I believe its similar to yours. The corn starch will make the liquid cloudy. I was also told to eat it with 6 months if using corn starch as a thickener.

thanks Boo!

Do not use flour as a thickener in home canning. Because its not a stable product when cooked with an acidic base, such as corn relish, the flour will turn watery and settle out to the bottom. Clear Jel will help to reduce cloudiness while remaining thick once cooked, as its name indicates.

Thanks for the info...I never knew what that was!

Aside from Ken's well-taken recommendation, it is not recommended to thicken any canned products, except with tested recipes. Flour affects the heat penetration and therefore the safety.

There are a few pickle/relish recipes which have been safe-tested with thickening, either flour or ClearJel, but there are many recipes online or in books which call for thickening which have not been tested and are not recommended. You should be very careful about any recipe which calls for flour and is canned.

Cornstarch does not correct the problem.

Carol

Clear Jel is usd in many commercially canned products. Take a look at Barry Farms selection of pie fillings. Each and every one they sell are all thickened with Clear Jel. An old old recipe that calls for flour to thicken a vinegar based liquid, by todays standards is considered unsafe. Clear Jel, in the proper setting to replace flour is a safer way to go, as mentioned, as its a safer ingredient to use in canning an acidic product. ANY recipe that calls for flour as a thickener is considered unsafe today. "Tested recipes" can also vary, like a tested recipe that was created 30+ years ago, would call for things like open pot processing, or just simply flipping a jar upside down, or even using wax as a sealant, that are now considered unsafe by todays standards. With the recipe above, the safety comes with all the vinegar that is used, so less than 1/4 cup of Clear Jel would be useful, something more like a tablespoon or two only. Because the corn also contains the natural starch, it will also thicken slightly on its own.

When I say "tested recipe" I'm referring to things like the flour-thickened mustard pickle in the 2005 Ball Blue Book. Something from a thirty-year-old Kerr canning book doesn't qualify. Any recipe/canning instructions older than 1994 should be regarded with care and compared to newer standards.

Carol

I made the caned corn relish and as the old recipe said add flour to thicken as l don't like it watery.It still turned out watery. Can I now thicken the liquid I have drained off with clear jel or sure jell. I have drained the 24 x 8 oz. bottles back into the cook pot to reheat then add the thickened liquid , can I do that? If I need to use only clear jel, where can I buy it in Canada right away.

This is going to be a problem as you have already added flour to it, correct? If so then as discussed above it is isn't considered safe to can to begin with because of the heat penetration problems caused. So that's one strike.

Second, any further thickening done to any foods beyond what the recipe calls for is supposed to be done AFTER the jars are opened. They are meant to be somewhat "waterey" going into the jars to insure proper heat penetration. After-opening thickeners allow for refrigerated storage only.

So technically speaking the answer to your question is no, you cannot further thicken it now with anything. Doing so will only make it considered more unsafe than it already is with just the flour.

It is going to end up being your choice whether to keep it and can it as is or just freeze it as the guidelines would recommend (assuming less than 24 hours). You can then thicken it more after opening the jars.

For what it is worth, keep in mind that flour takes time to thicken so the few tested recipes that allow for its use note that it will thicken more during shelf storage. Yours may too if you decide to keep it.

Hope this helps.

Dave

PS: AFSIK there isn't any place in Canada where you can get Clear Jel. It has to be ordered from an online source and shipped last I heard.