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Bookswithtea
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We are headed out to strawberry pick this afternoon. I bought sure jell for lower sugar jams and full pint jars. I have never done this before and I'm a bit nervous!
The recipe in the box has a recipe/directions for 1/2 pint jars.
How am I supposed to know how long to process the jars in a boiling water canner with a different sized jar? Should I return them and get the smaller ones?
Also, do I need to have a canning rack in my canner? I've got a 22 qt. pressure canner that is old but in great shape, but there's no rack.
Sigh...I am feeling rather stupid about this now...
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mary
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hi books!
process times for 1/2 and full pint jars are the same, so follow the directions that came with your sure gel.
yes, you should have a rack inside your canner. in a pinch, you can fold a towel and lay it at the bottom of a water bath and it will act as a rack. the point is just to keep the jars for touching and cracking and to be raised up a bit.
i'm so jealous - strawberry jam, yum!
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Sarah
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With some jams you don't have to process in a water bath at all. You put the super hot jam into sterile hot jars, heat the lids (beforehand) and turn upside down for at least 30 or more minutes. The lids seal right up. If a jar doesn't seal, put it in the fridge to use first.
You should have about 1/4" headspace (as I recall) and you wipe the edge of the jar to ensure a good seal.
I've done this way dozens of times and it really works, but be sure to do what the pkg. tells you.
Never double recipes  . . .
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Sarah
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Rereading my direction. . .they don't make sense:
You heat the lids in hot water on the stove. Pour the cooked HOT jam into sterile jars (I use the dishwasher). Wipe the rim of the lid and place lid on and screw the ring on.
Turn upside down for 30 minutes or more (several hours sometimes before they seal).
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Bookswithtea
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mary wrote:
hi books!
process times for 1/2 and full pint jars are the same, so follow the directions that came with your sure gel.
yes, you should have a rack inside your canner. in a pinch, you can fold a towel and lay it at the bottom of a water bath and it will act as a rack. the point is just to keep the jars for touching and cracking and to be raised up a bit.
i'm so jealous - strawberry jam, yum! |
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I have a plate that has holes in it that sits at the bottom of the canner (actually, there are two of them). Is it supposed to have a stick in the center to pull the whole thing out with? I don't know what else these would be.
I'm glad to hear the processing times are the same!
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Bookswithtea
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Sarah wrote:
Rereading my direction. . .they don't make sense:
You heat the lids in hot water on the stove. Pour the cooked HOT jam into sterile jars (I use the dishwasher). Wipe the rim of the lid and place lid on and screw the ring on.
Turn upside down for 30 minutes or more (several hours sometimes before they seal). |
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I saw those directions on the pamphlet that came in the box of pectin. I wasn't sure what to make of them...Is this just as safe as a water bath?
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Sarah
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Books-
It is my limited understanding that the processing is to cook the food that is in the jar and since jam is precooked and your supplies are sterilized it should be the same. For example, if you can peaches you are putting raw peaches into jars and then processing them to cook it. The jam has to be super hot when you put it in.
We have had no problem. But we don't keep the jars for years, they are consumed within several months.
You would need to make sure the lids do seal, though. When you push on top on it, it shouldn't move up and down.
My MIL has used this method for 25 years.
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mary
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you should have no problem using sarah's directions. that's generally the way i make jam. if you do get a jar that doesn't seal, you can water bath it. i rarely use my pressure cooker/canner, and never use it for jam. and yes, that piece on the bottom with holes will work as your rack. i always pull my jars out with a gadget that is in the canning section. it's like a tongs for jars, kwim?
i bought strawberries and pectin today just so i could make some jam!
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JodieLyn
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processing is to heat food hot enough to destroy any bacteria and spores in the food.. uncooked foods take longer.. that's why some need a pressure canner vs just the water bath.. you can't get them hot enough under normal conditions.. you need the pressure to super heat them.
On the inversion method for jam.. This is the one I use because the sugar solution is already very hot.. it doesn't really need to be heated further. What I do (and I believe it's pretty close to the enclosed directions) is to set the rings on the jars.. and then gently tighten them down.. let them set a minute to be sure the rubber part of the lid is soft and then tighten them down.. and flip.. you only keep them inverted for FIVE MINUTES. Otherwise the jam solidifies at the top and may interfer with the seal. So you flip them rightside up after 5 minutes and let cool.. being sure they're sealed before you put them away.
You want to be VERY sure that your rings are not cross threaded or when you flip the jars you could have hot jam pouring over your hand.
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hylabrook1
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I thought part of processing food in the canner was so that a vacuum is created inside the jar, leaving no air on which some bacteria could feed. Of course, this is useless against botulism, which grows only in airless conditions. But if you've been really clean and sterilized everything, that isn't a real concern. (Botulism, that is).
I know lots of people do the method of inverting jars of hot jam to seal their jars, but I just wanted to share that the US Department of Agriculture recommends that they be processed in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes for half pints and pints. Our county fair does not accept entries that have not been sealed in this way (although I don't think that they could exactly tell how the jar got sealed, unless it had been sealed with parafin).
Peace,
Nancy
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Bookswithtea
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Thank you all so much for all the information. I've got 7 gallon sized buckets full of non-sprayed strawberries waiting to be processed tomorrow. I'm so excited!
This is one of those homey things I've always wanted to do but was too chicken to try, in the past. I figure jam is the easiest thing to start with.
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chicken lady
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Books have fun you are picking a SUPER easy project to begin canning! I never water bath my jams, nor did my mother, we all lived to tell the tale......
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Sarah
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hylabrook1 wrote:
| I thought part of processing food in the canner was so that a vacuum is created inside the jar, leaving no air on which some bacteria could feed. Nancy |
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This is what dh explained to me over the kitchen table the other night after this thread was started.
You need to create a vacuum to seal the jars and kill the spores/bacteria. There are several great ways to do this!
Hope it all turned out!!!!
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hylabrook1
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Sarah -
Are you saying that if the jar seals that means there is a vacuum inside, regardless of how you got the jar to seal (whether by processing in the canner or by the inversion method)? That makes sense.
Peace,
Nancy
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Sarah
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Nancy-
I've gotten myself deep into this topic and I sound like an expert and I am so NOT. I even got the inversions time wrong  .
That is the way I understand it. It the jar seals there is a vacuum.
But dh, who is the scientist in the family says you also have to consider spores/bacteria. Some can live anaerobically. (sp?).
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Bookswithtea
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Well, that was an experience! 
Turns out we picked way too many strawberries. We filled 12 pints, 12 1/2pints, 1 quart (I didn't can this one, just put it in the fridge), 2 strawberry pies and I still have too many to eat before they go bad. I think I'll be freezing strawberries today.
I do have a question. My canner is HUGE and I underestimated how long it would take to get the water to boiling. The first batch sat in the water probably 20 minutes before it reached boiling and we could start our 10 minute count.
The second time, dh tried to use the pressure thingy on top (a bit of metal) to get it to heat up faster. We weren't as careful as we should have been with removing the lid, and it went POOF (everyone is ok...just scarey) and we lost half the water! So the second set of jars waited on the counter with lids on them, upright, for almost 45 minutes, before the water was boiling again, and every single one of them sealed on the counter while we were waiting! In fact, by the time it was ready, I had another batch ready to go so I just processed them all together. By the time I made the 1/2 pint batch, I was a bit more confident about the whole thing and those jars went in right on time. phew!
So did I do something wrong by processing already sealed jars, or having them in hot water for 20 minutes before the water even came to a boil?
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Books,
The canning books all say to go ahead and re-process if you've not gotten the correct time/seal. So.....it would not be a problem that they sat in the water until it boiled, as long as you kept them boiling for the stated time after it began to boil. Also, processing the already sealed jars would safe gaurd against any bacteria growing. I say you did a great job for your first time! Enjoy the fruits of your labor 
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Maturemomg
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Directions taht coem with Sure-Jell should be accurate.
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mary
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wow, you did pick a lot of berries! my 2 quarts made 9 pints. i have the same trouble with my pressure canner - it takes forever to boil and so i either start it boiling when i crush the berries or i don't bother to use it at all and just just the inversion method.
there is no problem with reprocessing sealed jars.
so, what'll you can next?
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Bookswithtea
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mary wrote:
wow, you did pick a lot of berries! my 2 quarts made 9 pints. i have the same trouble with my pressure canner - it takes forever to boil and so i either start it boiling when i crush the berries or i don't bother to use it at all and just just the inversion method.
there is no problem with reprocessing sealed jars.
so, what'll you can next? |
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Are you kidding? I felt like I needed a day to recover!
No, seriously, I am hoping to can peaches this August, and in the fall, I want to can apples and applesauce. If dh's garden is successful, we may can some tomatoes, too. Last year we froze the applesauce. It was fun but it took up too much room in my freezer. I'm determined to plan for once a month cooking this fall so I'm going to need that space in my deep freeze.
I think all these things can be canned water bath style...is that right? I'm much more nervous about pressure canning than I am water bath canning.
Thanks so much, everyone! I couldn't have done it without you all.
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Topic: can you help me with a canning question?
