Question about canning- bringing water to a boil

[mirime]

Today, I canned two pint jars of whole-berry cranberry sauce, but it was only enough product to fill one jar full and the other a little over half full. The half-full jar kept floating in the canner so I had to weigh it down with an empty jar filled with water. Unfortunately, this fell over during the 10-minutes processing time, allowing the jar to float again. However, I did get a good seal on the jar, so I hope it'll be alright. It only has to last on the shelf until Thanksgiving anyway. This just means one less thing I have to do on Thanksgiving Day.

I didn't realise you could can a 1/2 jar of something...because of the headspace requirement.

I'm a new canner and am still trying to figure out everything!

 

[Dace]

I also thought that you could not can a half jar....can someone confirm?

Thanks for all of the info. I assumed that it was not recommended to boil the jars (pre-filling) simply because they could fall over in the boiling water and chip...but I suppose that if they are filled with water they are not likely to fall over.

I will pay more attention to getting the water up to a boil before filling my jars.

Thanks everyone

 

[patandchickens]

You can try to can less-than-fully-filled jars, especially of jams and very acidic pickles, if you really want. However it is not recommended, because you have an increased chance of the jar not sealing properly. Also of course it is a big nuisance because of the flotation thing, both in terms of ensuring it stays submerged enough to be processed hot enough *and* because you particularly do not want jars breaking in the canner, what a mess that is!, especially if you were going to do another batch of something right away in the same waterbath.

I don't process partial jars, myself. I put whatever fraction-of-a-jar overrun I may have into a hot clean mug in the fridge with a lid over it, which for jellies etc is generally good for 3+ months, or I freeze it, or for pickles you could just put it in a hot clean lidded jar for the fridge and eat 'em within a few weeks. The aggravation and question-marks involved in processing unfilled jars are just not worth it to me.

However *with jams and very acidic pickles* I don't see it as being unreasonable to try, if you feel so inclined and don't mind dealing with whatever happens. (Whereas I would suggest not doing it with any *other* sort of canning project, where whatever happens could make you or whoever else eats the food sick or dead).

JMHO,

Pat

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Does everyone cover their canning when they are just water bath canning? I never cover mine, but I suppose it would help keep heat in. But then again if it is boiling open or closed shouldn't matter right?

 

[nccountrygirl]

I cover mine.

 

[Cassandra]

I cover mine to keep as much heat and humidity out of my house! (not that it helps much) LOL

Cassandra

 

[blurose]

I totally agree with Pat on the canning of a partially filled jar issue, but my cranberry sauce could actually be considered a "jam" as it is equal parts sugar and fruit, and ends up the consistancy of jam when finished. I cover my canner both before and during processing. It just makes sense to me that a covered canner would use less energy to keep the water boiling, although I'm not sure how that would actually impact when using an electric stove. :/ It is a proven fact that a covered pot will come up to a boil faster than an uncovered one.

 

[patandchickens]

Golly, I can't imagine canning without a lid on the water bath. It gets way too steamy and hot in the kitchen with the lid ON!

Also, yes it will take longer to get things back to the boil; also you will lose more water to evaporation, which is an issue a) if you have hard water that leaves annoying deposits on your jars to wipe off (the more evaporates, the worse the deposits will be) and b) you need to keep 1-2" of water on top of your jars, and although older directions often blithely say "keep another pot of water boiling to add as needed" I prefer not to have to if at all possible. Guess it's that 'lazy' thing again <g>

Pat

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Guess I will starting covering mine then and see if it makes a difference.

However as far as your heat in the kitchen issue, nothing like a really god exhaust fan to help with that.

 

[averytds]

I always put partial fills in the fridge. It placates the scavengers (DH & DKs) so they'll leave my freshly sealed jars alone. I've never thought about processing them. Why waste a lid and space in the canner.

As for sterilizing jars, I rarely do. It is only necessary if you are waterbathing for less than 10min. I don't have my Ball book here, but I can guarantee boiling of empty jars is allowed and recommended to sterilize. Just usually not necessary as most recipes are processed for 10min or more. You aren't supposed to bring to a boil until after the jars are all in.

Last I heard dishwasher doesn't count. I have never heard of using the oven. I will definitely look into it, but as I sterilize so infrequently, it's not that big of a deal. Unless you are just trying to keep your jars hot for hot packing. I think it's supposed to cut down the risk of breakage while filling.

Here's links to USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation on sterilizing jars.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general/recomm_jars_lids.html

http://www.foodsaving.com/G1PrinciplesOfHomeCanning.pdf

I refer to these two the most when I have questions. HTH.