Need Help ! ? !

[Centexan]

I hope Violet or Darleen can help me ...I have been doing a lot of pressure canning the last few years...no water bath recently. Yesterday I canned 14 quarts of the prettiest, huge apples I've ever seen. But, there's a problem. Two of the jars look as if they have lost some of the syrup and all the jars and inside the canner (I used the pressure canner as a water bath) were sticky. This morning all the jar lids were concave and sealed well, but they don't have the usual sound when tapped on. Even tho I sliced and packed the fruit in very well, it is floating....could the fact that the apples are up in the neck of the jar, against the lid make the difference in the sound? Anyways, do you think these jars of fruit are alright to store, or should I put them in the freezer in bags? Thanks for your help!! Soooon!!??

[Violet]

That will make a difference in the sound. You did a raw pack ? That is what it sounds like to me. Apples do not can well raw. They shrink down terribly and will float. They are safe, just not pretty. If you will do a hot pack then they willl be better, as they are "preshrunk".

Be sure to use up the ones that have the liquid down first. They may possibly come unsealed if syrup is stuck under the lids. Just check them carefully.

You got siphoninig. Do you allow the jars to sit in the canner the extra 5 min. required after the processing time is up ? In a BWB you remove the lid, then set timer another 5 min. before removing the jars. That helps with the problem, too.

 

In a pressure canned food, the wait time is 10 min. You let the pressure drop, remove the weight, leave the lid on, and set the timer another 10 min. before opening and removing the lid and jars.

[Centexan]

Violet -- Thanks so much! No, I cooked the apples the required five minutes in the syrup and hot packed them....what I did wrong was not wait to take them out of the water bath when they were finished. Why am I always in such a hurry....I just wasn't thinking. I couldn't understand why my floor was sticky, too....I must have caused those two jars to leak out the syrup when I took them out too soon. I'm always going around "with my tail on fire", trying to do too many things at once....and have a great-grandchild on my shirttails lots of the time. From now on, I'm going to set aside time for my canning where I won't have any interruptions. The apples look nice, only they are floating about an inch above the bottom.

 

Thanks, again