Canning question

[chickiemom3]

I canned pears three days ago and it didn't go very well. I apparently filled the jars too much and there were some air bubbles hiding. We ended up losing a lot of the liquid from the jars during the water bath canning process. Once the jars came out of the canner (quart and pint), all sealed but two jars. I researched the issue and have a pretty good idea how to correct in the future, but my concern is the jars that sealed. Several are down an inch or two of liquid. Are they still good? If that much liquid was escaping during the canning process, I'm concerned the seal could be contaminated. Also, one jar appears to have fruit touching the lid inside (I can post pictures of it would help). I would greatly appreciate any advice from experienced canners. Ive only done whole fruit for two years and have not had this happen before. Jam is so easy compared to this!!

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm far from experienced. My reading says that you should either reprocess them or put them in the fridge and plan on using them up fairly soon. I can smell the pear cobbler or pear crisp... can almost taste it. Or perhaps make some pear sauce???

I have 5 bags of pears on my deck from a fallen limb from my MIL's tree. They are quite green. I'm hoping they will ripen so I can make some pear sauce.

I make my jam with Pomona's pectin. It is a 2 step process but just about as easy as making jello. My last batch of raspberry jam, I only used 1.5 cups of sugar to make 10 cups of jam. You only need to use as much sweetener (of any kind)as you want. The Pomona's is a citrus based pectin that relies on Calcium instead of sugar to complete the set. Each box of pectin comes with enough pectin and enough calcium to make up to 11 pt.s of jam.

 

[chickiemom3]

I think I passed the reprocessing time frame Pear sauce sounds pretty good though. How long do you think they would last in the fridge? And do you think the jars that did not lose liquid are ok? I'm so stressed! I hate to waste so much work.

 

[guineapeeps]

I think I passed the reprocessing time frame Pear sauce sounds pretty good though. How long do you think they would last in the fridge? And do you think the jars that did not lose liquid are ok? I'm so stressed! I hate to waste so much work.

You are right about passing the reprocessing time....it should be done within 24 hours, so that's not a safe option anymore. The biggest thing I would worry about with improper seal is botulism, as that is the most dangerous. Have you thought of freezing the pears? You could either transfer it to plastic freezer containers or freezer bags like you would do with freezer jam. The jars that lost the liquid are not necessarily bad. It just spends on whether they sealed properly and how much liquid they lost. (I've hear if they lose half the liquid or more, then you they are not safe to store on the shelf. If you decide they are not good to store and to put them in the fridge, I would try to use/eat them within about 5 days.
Here is a good article about liquid loss in canning. This site has some great info on canning all types of stuff:

http://www.pickyourown.org/canning-problems-loss-of-liquid.php

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks for that link. I'm still working the kinks out of pressure canning my beans. I have 23 pints done from this season, and found an other 5 pints from last season that I didn't know I had. I think I'll do one more batch, and then, if there are more to be done, they will be turned into dilly beans.

 

[chickiemom3]

I've used Pick Your Own before but of course thought I knew enough this time to not need to refer to a website (lesson learned--I never know enough). I typically freeze green beans, but in our house the first batches get turned into dilly beans to make sure we have enough! Then the leftovers make it to the freezer. Thank you both for your replies.