I’m a canning newbie (year 2). I had a 50% fail rate on my seals for a batch of chicken stock. I also had a bad fail rate last chicken stock batch, which I attributed to too much fat left in the stock interfering with the seal.
This time, I chilled the stock overnight, skimmed the fat, reheated and filled, let the pressure canner naturally release, left the cans in the canner for 10 minutes after opening. But still, 50% fail rate over two batches – 5 quarts and 5 pints.
I asked my only slightly more knowledgeable father about this and he replied, “did you retighten the lids after pulling them?” I’d never seen this instruction before, but it makes sense.
Tips?
by Silver_Filamentary
6 Comments
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No I don’t tighten them. Let the gauge drop to zero, wait ten minutes, take off the weight, wait another ten minutes, slowly lift the lid off, if you hear hissing, wait another couple minutes. Once lid is removed, wait a minute or two and then remove jars. Also be diligent about wiping your rims with vinegar.
You do not re-tighten the rings after pressure canning. Something else is causing the seals to fail.
Maybe a bad batch of lids?
couple things that could be contributing.
you look like you have a large amount of headspace. are you measuring your headspace correctly?
additionally siphoning can happen if your heat fluctuates, which could put food between the seal and the rim, which could cause a seal to fail.
Make sure your tightening fingertip tight when you first tighten them. too tight can cause a faulty seal as well as too loose.
Those look to have a lot more fat on top than what mine do.
Only with tattler reusable lids