To start, I plan on putting these in the fridge or eating right away because I'm sure they aren't safe.
I've never had this happen before, have you?
Following the Ball recipe for apple slices in light syrup, I packed the jars, debubbled, wiped the lids and sealed. Followed the water bath canning process and when I went to take the jars out, the rack I set on top was ascew and the jars floating.
What the heck?
by Sadyania
8 Comments
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Too much water in the pot?
How far off the bottom are the 2 in the middle ? Looks like they’re almost laying on the rack. Did you have at least an inch of water above the jars? If they were filled properly then they obviously siphoned, but not sure why.
Did you hot pack or cold pack your apples? They’re notorious for having lots of air in them so maybe they just deceptively made your jars later than they should have been? I would definitely fridge them and eat them soon. It’s so strange some of the issues that come up. you’re like wait what?
I could be wrong on this but I suspect there may have been a ton of air in the apples (which are notorious for that). I can’t find the Ball recipe for this but I assume it’s similar to the Bernardin and NCHFP ones. Did you simmer them for the full 5 minutes? I did stewed rhubarb this year and the first batch (I did a tiny batch of just 2 pints to start) I had a floater. When I did a full batch later none floated. I wonder if it was because with a bigger batch it took longer to bring the food to a boil when cooking it, so it got a little more air cooked out of it before putting it in the jars? This is speculation…but all I can think of right now.
I always try to get my canner full of jars. Even if I have to can some water. For me this has helped with the floating apple problem. I’m getting ready to do some apples soon so I’m glad you shared! They seem to stay down better with a full canner load! I’ll be sure to cook mine well too!
Ok, hear me out. More jars. You fill in the space with empty jars filled with water and then you double stack the jars to make them push the first layer of jars down.
Just needed to thank you for unlocking a new fear for me. 50 ways for your canner load to fail playing in my head over here now.