canned baked potato......???

Here I go with another crazy idea.

I brought a baked potato for lunch today. And while it was heating in the microwave I had this idea. What would happen if I took a bunch of med-sized potatoes, put them each in a pint jar and then ran them through the canning process? Would they end up as 'heat & eat' baked potatoes? Or would they become a pile of mashed potatoes in the bottom of the jar? Do I HAVE to cover them with water to can?? I've seen pictures of jerky and such sealed in a canning jar.... Is it possible to just seal them in the jar without water inside the jar???

Since I haven't been able to find a recipe for anything like this I'm thinking that it's a bad idea. BUT - I figure that if it's possible, someone on TEG has done it.

Diced potatoes are in canned stews as well as soups, I have seen canned baby potatoes at the grocery store... so why not can some yourself!

Canned potatoes without being covered in water? You might end up with exploded jars. I don't think I would want to be anywhere near the pressure canner either. JMO

Yeah, have to have the water to get the correct headspace in the jar. Also for things like potatoes, they have to be in smaller pieces (you can can new potatoes) so that they'll heat through thoroughly to kill bacteria and such. A regular whole potato would be too big.

The jerky you've seen canned would have been vacuum packed. Dehydrated jerky is already shelf stable. Commercially sold, they would have verified the moisture content to prevent botulism and probably added an oxygen absorber packet too for freshness.

For dehydrated things, if you want to vacuum pack them in canning jars, the FoodSaver Vac has an accessory for removing the air from canning jars. Oven canning can do the same, but there is some risk of the jars breaking since Ball specifically states they are not meant to be heated dry (without submersing in water). Folks still do it though. It's a fairly low temp, 200 degrees.

I love my canned potatoes. You do need a pressure canner to do them safely. They are so handy to grab off the shelf for a quick dinner. If your potatoes are large- just cut them up.

:-( Thanks
Well... any question that starts with 'what would happen if' is usually a good question.

So now I'm wondering WHY it won't work. What makes it safe to pressure can lots of little potatoes floating in water but not safe to pressure can 1 single potato in a dry jar? Even if the canner itself had the usual water in it?
I'm still so new to canning. And although I'm having great results so far with my beans, squash and tomatoes - there is A LOT of HOW this works that I don't know (yet).

Even a maverick like me follows the rules when it comes to canning.....

Well I'm not going to DO it. If it's dangerous, it's dangerous.
I was just wondering why.

But then... I wonder about a LOT of things..

Small chunks get heated all the way through, big chunks don't. The center of the big chunks could harbor botulism and make you sick or even be deadly. Canning jars filled with water is what the jars are made for, surrounding a dry jar with water to pressure it sounds like a recipe for explosion to me. Not to mention the jars would float and bang into each other. I can't give you all the scientific particulars as to why, but I bet there's somebody on this forum who could explain the pressure differences.

I don't think all the air would vacate either. Different canned goods have different headspaces based on how much they expand when you can them. Sometimes food bubbles out of the jar and they say the problem was you probably didn't have enough headspace. Without the water, the potato would have too much headspace.

Here's another explanation I found: (source)


And this: (source)