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View Full Version : new to water bath canning & i have a question



chad
7th September 2010, 12:44 PM
i made a bunch of salsa yesterday. i put the hot salsa in the jars + headed out to process them in a water bath. before i even got to put them in, it appears as if the lids on 4 or 5 them popped in and sealed. what do you do if this happens? just proceed as normal, or do you need to pop the cap up again before you process them?

this is weirding me out, as now i am wondering if this happened to others i didn't notice and i'm going to get botulism or something.

what do you do if the seal pops in before you even process the jars?

SLV^GLD
7th September 2010, 01:59 PM
Keep rockin the cook, chad. If you put hot liquid in and it cooled then the lids might pop down. When you heat them up the lids will pop back up. Even if they stay down the important thing is to get the thermal mass up to critical temperatures. Once that is achieved the important thing is to keep them sealed from air infiltration.

chad
7th September 2010, 02:08 PM
okay, thanks! i popped them in the bath and processed them as normal, the cap is still down 24 hours later, so i assume they are good to go.

Heimdhal
7th September 2010, 02:24 PM
First be sure that your recipe can be water bath canned and doesnt need to be PRESSURE canned. The whole point of pressure canning is to bring the temps higher than regular boiling water (212) thus killing pathogens such as botulinum (sp) which produce botchulism, which can kill you, easily.


Make sure theres a significant amount of acid in your recipe, as most tomato product and combinations are supposed to be pressure canned, IIRC.


As far as them popping down, as SLV said, its cause of putting a hot product in the jars. Just put them in the canner and process them regularly, nothing to worry about on that end. If the lids are puffed up or "click" some time after they've cooled, THEN I would worry. ;)

chad
7th September 2010, 02:41 PM
First be sure that your recipe can be water bath canned and doesnt need to be PRESSURE canned. The whole point of pressure canning is to bring the temps higher than regular boiling water (212) thus killing pathogens such as botulinum (sp) which produce botchulism, which can kill you, easily.


Make sure theres a significant amount of acid in your recipe, as most tomato product and combinations are supposed to be pressure canned, IIRC.


As far as them popping down, as SLV said, its cause of putting a hot product in the jars. Just put them in the canner and process them regularly, nothing to worry about on that end. If the lids are puffed up or "click" some time after they've cooled, THEN I would worry. ;)


yeah, i hear you. i read up on tomatoes about 20 times before i did it. the recipe said to put 1 cup of 5% vinegar in there, and then it would be okay for bath canning. i am doing this for the first time, and i'm totally freaked ut about getting food poisoning.

my neighbor runs a farm and has, literally, truck loads of produce that he said i can just have. it seems a shame not to take it, so i have been caning like an m-fer since around noon on friday. ;D

Heimdhal
7th September 2010, 02:52 PM
First be sure that your recipe can be water bath canned and doesnt need to be PRESSURE canned. The whole point of pressure canning is to bring the temps higher than regular boiling water (212) thus killing pathogens such as botulinum (sp) which produce botchulism, which can kill you, easily.


Make sure theres a significant amount of acid in your recipe, as most tomato product and combinations are supposed to be pressure canned, IIRC.


As far as them popping down, as SLV said, its cause of putting a hot product in the jars. Just put them in the canner and process them regularly, nothing to worry about on that end. If the lids are puffed up or "click" some time after they've cooled, THEN I would worry. ;)


yeah, i hear you. i read up on tomatoes about 20 times before i did it. the recipe said to put 1 cup of 5% vinegar in there, and then it would be okay for bath canning. i am doing this for the first time, and i'm totally freaked ut about getting food poisoning.

my neighbor runs a farm and has, literally, truck loads of produce that he said i can just have. it seems a shame not to take it, so i have been caning like an m-fer since around noon on friday. ;D


Should be alright then. I know tomatos can be one of those finky things. I wouldnt be too freaked out though, just cautious.

If you plan on canning more, its definitley worth investing in even a small pressure canne, like the All American's. Very handy to have around, great for what you're looking to do and is a bonus if S ever HTF in a big, no power, sort of way. Especialy if your neighbor is going to be giving you stuff on a regular basis. ;)


I would suggest as well, for just starting out and using a water bath method, canning things like jellies and jams is a great way to learn the ins and outs, since they're a low risk, water bath-able product.

chad
7th September 2010, 02:57 PM
that's actually what i did first. we have about 1/3 of an acre of blackberry bushes, and i picked + froze about 5 gallons of berries in july. been making jam out of the the past week to practice.

i live right by the presto factory in northern wisconsin, and if i go there to the outlet, i can get a presto 32 quart pressure canner for around $60 or so, so i'll probably do that next. ;D

Heimdhal
7th September 2010, 04:03 PM
that's actually what i did first. we have about 1/3 of an acre of blackberry bushes, and i picked + froze about 5 gallons of berries in july. been making jam out of the the past week to practice.

i live right by the presto factory in northern wisconsin, and if i go there to the outlet, i can get a presto 32 quart pressure canner for around $60 or so, so i'll probably do that next. ;D


I feel then, as a fellow GSUS'er and Canner, it is my duty to be the guinea pig for your jam. Please, send me 5 pints at once so I may taste them on your behalf and let you know how they are. Im only thinking about you, Chad. ;D ;D