Preserving Your Harvest

[muddy75]

Why vinegar? I never heard that before

I got it from a YouTube video
I figured antibacterial??

 

[tripletfeb]

I got it from a YouTube video
I figured antibacterial??

I would think the pressure canning process sterilizes everything all at once. I just run my jars through the dishwasher on the sterilize cycle then when I'm ready to put them in the canner, I just wipe the rims so the lids can seal properly

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Question for those good at pressure canning: what is causing the liquid to boil out of some of our jars and how can we prevent it?

I've pressured canned.
What is it your pressure canning that is boiling over?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Don't need the vinegar.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I use the vinegar because it is habit when I can meat based items. Vinegar will remove any fat and grease better than just water according to extention recommendation.
I wish I knew what causes the liquid to escape. I have had that happen. Luckily the jars sealed. Just made sure to use those first as a precaution.

 

[muddy75]

I've pressured canned.
What is it your pressure canning that is boiling over?

A few of the jars boil some of the liquid out so they don’t appear full

 

[wyoDreamer]

AS for the loss of liquid, I found this interesting site that explains some of the causes:
https://www.healthycanning.com/loss...r; 4 Lid related; 5 Water-bath canning issues.

This is part of the text:
1. SIPHONING
Siphoning technically means liquid being drawn out, but in home canning circles the term seems to be often used as a catchphrase to include liquid being pushed out as well.

If you overfill jars and leave insufficient headspace, you can end up with excess headspace because food will expand during processing (even if it shrinks back afterwards) and if there is insufficient room, while doing so it will push water out to make room for its expansion.

Siphoning can also be caused by fluctuating pressure.

FLUCTUATING PRESSURE
Fluctuating pressure can cause liquid loss.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation teaches,”Changes in pressure during processing may result in a loss of liquid from jars.” [5]
Patti Griffith from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension writes,

When pressure is released too frequently or constantly, liquid is pulled from the jars inside. This is a common problem in jars canned in a weighted-gauge canner. If the jars stay sealed after they are cooled, the product inside is safe to use even though the liquid is down. Pulled liquid may keep some jars from sealing because the residue on the jar rim will prevent a complete seal.” [6]
Note that she warns specifically against having the pressure so high on a weighted-gauge canner that the device is always struggling to release the excess pressure. Presto, a manufacturer of pressure canners, also says liquid loss can be owing to this: “Pressure regulator on the weighted gauge canner rocked vigorously during processing. Always maintain a slow, steady rocking motion.” [7]
Lowering the pressure too quickly after processing can cause siphoning. Wait until the pressure is at absolute 0 before removing the counter-weight or petcock. Presto says that even “bumping the pressure regulator before pressure has completely dropped” can cause siphoning. [8]
2. IMPROPER COOL-DOWN PROCEDURE
Cooling the jars too quickly after processing can cause liquid loss.

After a pressure canner has returned to absolutely zero, remove the weight and let the machine rest as is for 5 to 10 minutes (opinion varies whether it should be 5 or 10 minutes.) Then after removing lid, let the jars rest undisturbed for a final 10 minutes before removing.

Not allowing jars a bit of time like this to re-acclimate to the real world can cause liquid to escape from the jars.

For water bathing, after the processing time is up, turn off the heat, remove the cover and let the jars rest as they are in the water for 5 minutes before removing.

3. HIDDEN AIR IN THE JAR MAKING ITSELF KNOWN AND RISING TO THE TOP OF THE JAR
Raw food has a lot of air in it. The volume of food you have put in a jar before processing might actually only be ¾ food and ¼ air trapped inside the food. During processing, this air will escape from the food and rise to the top of the jar.

The Presto manual notes the following: “Failure to precook food before packing in jars thus allowing shrinkage to occur in the jar. It is especially important to preheat fruit.” [9] Note that the Presto people don’t like cold packs, and in their manual don’t even give you the cold-pack option for fruit as the NCHFP does; Presto gives only hot pack choice. Note as well that the Ball Blue Book [10] and the Bernardin Guide [11] emphasize that the hot pack is always preferred, too.

Starchy foods such as beans can absorb water, making it seem as though it has disappeared. This is less of a problem if you use hot pack for these types of food, which is the generally the recommended pack type, anyway.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I got 17 bags of 2 1/2 cups each of sweet corn to freeze today.
Even though it's less than we got last year, I'm extremely thankful for the harvest.
View attachment 3198507

Wow! Now thats somethin'!!!

 

[CedarLane]

AS for the loss of liquid, I found this interesting site that explains some of the causes:
https://www.healthycanning.com/loss-of-liquid-during-home-canning/#:~:text=There are several possible causes, experts say: 1,jar; 4 Lid related; 5 Water-bath canning issues.

This is part of the text:
1. SIPHONING
Siphoning technically means liquid being drawn out, but in home canning circles the term seems to be often used as a catchphrase to include liquid being pushed out as well.

If you overfill jars and leave insufficient headspace, you can end up with excess headspace because food will expand during processing (even if it shrinks back afterwards) and if there is insufficient room, while doing so it will push water out to make room for its expansion.

Siphoning can also be caused by fluctuating pressure.

FLUCTUATING PRESSURE
Fluctuating pressure can cause liquid loss.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation teaches,”Changes in pressure during processing may result in a loss of liquid from jars.” [5]
Patti Griffith from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension writes,

When pressure is released too frequently or constantly, liquid is pulled from the jars inside. This is a common problem in jars canned in a weighted-gauge canner. If the jars stay sealed after they are cooled, the product inside is safe to use even though the liquid is down. Pulled liquid may keep some jars from sealing because the residue on the jar rim will prevent a complete seal.” [6]
Note that she warns specifically against having the pressure so high on a weighted-gauge canner that the device is always struggling to release the excess pressure. Presto, a manufacturer of pressure canners, also says liquid loss can be owing to this: “Pressure regulator on the weighted gauge canner rocked vigorously during processing. Always maintain a slow, steady rocking motion.” [7]
Lowering the pressure too quickly after processing can cause siphoning. Wait until the pressure is at absolute 0 before removing the counter-weight or petcock. Presto says that even “bumping the pressure regulator before pressure has completely dropped” can cause siphoning. [8]
2. IMPROPER COOL-DOWN PROCEDURE
Cooling the jars too quickly after processing can cause liquid loss.

After a pressure canner has returned to absolutely zero, remove the weight and let the machine rest as is for 5 to 10 minutes (opinion varies whether it should be 5 or 10 minutes.) Then after removing lid, let the jars rest undisturbed for a final 10 minutes before removing.

Not allowing jars a bit of time like this to re-acclimate to the real world can cause liquid to escape from the jars.

For water bathing, after the processing time is up, turn off the heat, remove the cover and let the jars rest as they are in the water for 5 minutes before removing.

3. HIDDEN AIR IN THE JAR MAKING ITSELF KNOWN AND RISING TO THE TOP OF THE JAR
Raw food has a lot of air in it. The volume of food you have put in a jar before processing might actually only be ¾ food and ¼ air trapped inside the food. During processing, this air will escape from the food and rise to the top of the jar.

The Presto manual notes the following: “Failure to precook food before packing in jars thus allowing shrinkage to occur in the jar. It is especially important to preheat fruit.” [9] Note that the Presto people don’t like cold packs, and in their manual don’t even give you the cold-pack option for fruit as the NCHFP does; Presto gives only hot pack choice. Note as well that the Ball Blue Book [10] and the Bernardin Guide [11] emphasize that the hot pack is always preferred, too.

Starchy foods such as beans can absorb water, making it seem as though it has disappeared. This is less of a problem if you use hot pack for these types of food, which is the generally the recommended pack type, anyway.

Very Informative!

In my experience I have the most issues with liquid loss when I try to "rush" things.

Now when canning fruit, I always turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars sit in the water (or steam canner) for at least 10 (preferably 15) minutes before I take them out of the canner. Otherwise it seems the jars really bubble and boil after taking them out.

Also I've learned to "take my time" when removing my jars from the pressure canner. I even set my timer. After the pressure indicator on my Presto canner goes down, I set the timer for 10 minutes, then take off the weighted jiggler and set the timer for another 10 minutes. I usually then wait another 10 minutes before removing from canner. I admit that this is longer than the books say I need wait (technically I shouldn't have to wait the 10 min. before taking off the weight), but it seems every time I try to skip one of these steps I have a problem.

Occasionally I do have issues with loss of liquid during the actual canning process even when following the above steps and assume I must have not had the lids on tight enough or something. (Unfortunately, it seems like it happens most often when canning chicken or something greasy like that.)

 

[BReeder!]

WOW! This thread has exploded! I've not been on BYC much lately just because I've been SO busy. But it is great to see so many people swapping information, ideas and recipes.

I have a lot of overgrown zucchini right now. I think zucchini pickles and relish may be in the future. Has anybody ever canned baba ganoush? I'm tempted to make a zucchini version of baba if I can process it for shelf storage.