Finished Jam Storage

[moonstar]

Was reading recipes on a canning site (link on this site), and it said when the jars cooled to store jam with the ring off. Is that how y'all do it? Don't have my Ball Blue Book yet and going shopping tomorrow to get all the necessities to make my blueberry jam. Anxious to get started but was wondering about storing the finished jam jar without the rings.

[Guest Guest]

Yep, you remove the rings. I think the rule is to wait 24 hours but I usually do it in the morning after the day of canning.

 

Make sure you wipe each jar well as you can have a real mess with ants/bugs if there's any food on the outside of the jars.

 

I canned pork recently and one jar leaked all over the outside of it and others but the jar still sealed so don't think just because they're sealed they don't need a good wipe with a warm cloth.

 

Good work!

 

 

[moonstar]

Thanks. Wasn't sure and wanted to check with y'all.

[gardnmom]

There is good reason for this.

If you bump the jar with the ring on it it is more likely to break the seal with the ring on than if you take it off.

[nativeMama]

There is good reason for this.

If you bump the jar with the ring on it it is more likely to break the seal with the ring on than if you take it off.

 

And the ring could hold water in it, and rust the lid.

[moonstar]

So you take off the rings when storing for water-bath products and also for pressure canned jars? I got a lot to learn. One other thing, and I guess this is a dumb question, reading here and there...somewhere...I read you stir the contents in the jar when pressure canning something, to get the air bubbles out. Does that apply to water-bath items also? Yep, I'm lost but y'all are a great help. Thanks.

[momahen]

Yes - you do it to both water-bath and pressure canned items. It is necessary for anything other than pure liquid items (like strained soup stock, fruit juice, or jelly). My favorite is to use a chopstick for the stirrin'.

[brightblessings5]

There is good reason for this.

If you bump the jar with the ring on it it is more likely to break the seal with the ring on than if you take it off.

 

And the ring could hold water in it, and rust the lid.

 

And sometimes *stuff* gets under the ring and if stored it gets yicky and the ring gets *stuck* on the jar and then you have a greater chance of damaging the jar trying to get the ring off. (And then there's the fact that you can reuse them.)

 

I run a butterknife around the inside of the jar to remove bubbles-but I like the idea of the chopstick. Might try that. You don't really want to *stir* too much as it adds smaller bubbles into your product.

[Leia]

I don't store any of my canned items with the rings on. I always take them off the day after processing. The ring serves no purpose other then to keep the lid on while processing, IMHO.

 

Also saves having to buy more rings. The rings stay rust-free and the only thing you have to buy is new lids, which is much cheaper than buying rings AND lids!!

 

 

Shawna