Violet

Putting jars in the oven can cause them to shatter when you open the door. They are not safe for the dry oven heat. Please rethink what you are doing. You could get really hurt by flying glass and also lose your food. Using oxygen absorbers is really safe and reliable.

How are you sealing these ?

The Honeyed Red Onions from Ball are good, too !

Have you tried another weight to see if it does the same thing ?

The canning element has larger coils, and more of them. Then, the part that comes out of the plug is curved up more, so it sits higher over the stove top. It also has heavier supports under the coils so it can withstand the weight of the canners. Plus sitting higher over the stove keeps it from ruining the pain on the stove. They cost about $40 usually. Just need to take your element out and take it to an appliance repair shop and they should be able to sell you one. You can order them online, too.

Did 60 half pints canned smoked salmon ! Tomorrow my friend and I are making fruit cocktail.

No, not the same product at all. The citric acid it to raise acidity the ascorbic acid keeps things from turning dark. You want Fruit Fresh for what you are doing.

The problem is, that if it goes "bad" and there is botulism involved you won't be able to see, smell, or taste it. That is why we need to find a way to get this canner to work right. You cannot use more than 12,000 btu's to safely can on. I don't know how many btu's your camp stove has. We only know of one brand that we are recommending and that is a Camp Chef since the 2 burner one with the wind shield around it seems to be low enough on the low setting. You need to see how many btu's yours has. Seems odd that your electric stove would do it, too. If you use the electric one you need a special canning element if you don't already know about them. Otherwise you may very well burn out the element or the wiring. The element may sag. The top of your stove permanently discolor. Try the canner with only water in it and see what happens with the diffuser. Get the canner to function right before processing jars of food. Keep working with just the standard 2 to 3 inches of water and vent the full 10 min. before the weight goes on.

Can you return this canner ? Truthfully, new Mirros are junk. They have little springs in the handles that don't hold up. Then, the company has been bought out and the new company is not making parts for them as they should. One store I teach at will not even carry the Mirro any more. I would take it back and get a Presto. Presto has a 16 qt. with just the weights at Walmart, or a dial gauge. Then, a 23 qt. size. If you plan to process more jars that what that 16 qt. holds, you can stack pints in the 23 qt on. Amazon sells them and free shipping. Get the dial gauge canner, then buy a 3 piece weight set and use that instead of the counterweight if you can't find just the Presto weighted. . It is so easy ! The weight will jiggle the whole time. No guesswork. Presto part 50332 is what you would need. I think your heat may be up too high with that Mirro. If it dances like that, and is doing at least 3 times a minute,then I would think it Ok. It will be a bother to keep track of, though, unlike a Presto.

You can preserve any fruit with just water, but the heavier syrup you use the more firm the fruit, plus less floating of the fruit. Do you not like the canned pie fillings ? I usually can apples with red hot cinnamon candies in the syrup, not just plain. I make my pie filling separately using Clear Jel. It also makes a difference the variety of apples you can as to how firm. Of course, Granny Smith are great for pies. Why not make a few jars, the open one up and see if you like the consistency.

Why did you leave them in the canner for 20 min. ? That will sure make them softer. You only let them sit another 5 min. with the lid off. Leaving them in too long can also cause a thermal loving bacteria to start growing. Using a light syrup will make them softer than a heavier syrup. I also only do a raw pack. I do not like a hot packed fruit.

I know some of the people in extension have been trying to get them to change their owners manuals. I don't know what the Mirro or Presto ones say now. New Mirro canners are junk ! They put these wimpy springs in the handles and they don't hold up. They are no stronger than ones from an ink pen. Once Mirro was bought out, the canners became pretty much worthless.

Philbe, the book with canners are not accurate on many things. Please toss it and use the current Ball Blue Book or So Easy to Preserve or extension websites.

If the food is not hot and the beans cooked, most of the processing time is spent heating the food. It takes away from the processing time, meaning your food is underprocessed and unsafe to eat. If a recipe/method says hot pack, that is the ONLY safe way to do that food. Plus, not hydrating the beans makes them absorb all the liquid in a jar. If you don't want beans, then leave them out. Since both chili con carne and ground meats take the same time, it would be fine to do that. Seems odd to me to have chili and no beans. You just eat a bowl of seasoned meat ?

We just recently had a case of botulism from a man in our state that got botulism and nearly died from canning elk in a pressure cooker. This man is a lawyer. Shows you that just because you are educated in many things sure doesn't mean you understand food preservation safety. This is why I always try to explain that following just any website or book will not insure your food is safe to eat. I am just glad the man lived to tell about it.

Sorry, no. Dried beans must be fully rehydrated, never packed dry into the jars. Plus, all chili needs to be hot packed, not done like they are doing.It is cooked and the whole product hot as it goes into the jars. Plus, you are trying to use a recipe that was made up, not a safe tested recipe. Please, never use a recipe from some website that is not USDA tested. The only ones you can totally trust are any of the USDA/ extension sites and the Ball website, plus the books and information those places print. There are some tested recipes for chili that are good. I liked the one from the Univ. of Georgia's site/So Easy to Preserve Book.

Have you canned cabbage before ? It is really strong in smell and taste. It is not recommended to can plain.

There really is no way of knowing unless you open the food and look to see if it is edible. Depends upon how they were stored, what the temp. was, just different variables. No way of saying a certain amount of years. If they are rusted or bulging, then just toss.

They are still safe to eat. Just get them cold and they will taste better, in my opinion. Foods are good as long as they are sealed if they were processed correctly to start with. It may be a bit of a quality loss, but not safety. You can keep things for years.

It will be fine to use the tomato juice.

Usually the canners will say cooker/canner on the box. You can cook in a canner, but not can in a cooker. If it holds more than 4 qt. jars and has a way to vent it out before the weight/counterweight goes on, it is a canner. That Fagor has no way to leave off any weight to vent it for a full 10 minutes. I don't remember the brand, but there is also an electric cooker that says you are able to can in it. Again, it has no way to vent it out, plus it only has one pressure to choose from. It just closes and cooks.

No, it has to be the garlic. It says to wash and trim the okra. I feel there was yeast growth in the garlic to start with. Sorry, Wormie, I would toss those jars.

They have been tested. People are not educating themselves. If they would read the USDA information, they would find out they ARE tested. That is not a canner !! It is only meant for cooking in. Fagor is making false statements. With the recent near death of that man in Seattle canning in a cooker like that, it would make you think the companies would take liability issues more seriously. Nope, they just want to sell a product no matter what.

AH, it needs to be fully fermented first. Just 3 days will not give it enough natural lactic acid growth to make it safe. This is just like doing any fermented pickle. Unless fully fermented, you can get listeria. I made some sauerkraut in a jar recently, let it fully ferment, then put in the fridge. It is so crispy, mild flavor, etc. Takes about 2 weeks to ferment at room temperature. Instead of using vinegar in a pickled food to make it safe, when you ferment, it makes it's own natural lactic acid. That takes the place of vinegar. Listeria can grow in the fridge. Keeping it cold won't stop listeria.

All I can think of is that the garlic had some sort of bacteria in it to make it cloudy. I would suspect yeast growth from what you have described. Yes, I would toss the first batch. It had to be the garlic. I looked up the recipe last night and found it to be the one you used. I knew you would have done things right !