misc Canning woes

HellfireFarm

HellfireFarm

eXtreme Business
I'm trying to can some beef stock and having a bit of trouble. Per Ball, quarts should be (pressure) processed for 20 minutes at 10lb with 1" headroom. I've now done that twice starting with a total of 6. First attempt 2 sealed, second attempt only 1 sealed. I have never done stock before but I have successfully canned soup before. Any ideas where I might be going wrong?

Process is: hot fill, cover, place in canner with a couple inches water, cover, heat until steam starts coming out pressure vent, let it go 10 minutes then add the weight. Wait for it to start "chittering" and then start the timer. After 20 minutes remove from heat and allow to cool, then open and remove jars. Let sit undisturbed to cool.
 
sounds like you are doing the proper process.

New flat lids? not recycled?
clean the top of the jar prior to putting the flat lids on?

Contact FreshPreserving/Ball 🤷


Only other thing is that it might need longer processing to get the quarts up to temp. Was the broth hot or cold at the start of processing? I do see where it is Hot Fill...

Is ELEVATION an issue?
 
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new lids right out of the box, cleaned, yeah I can't see anything I'm doing wrong. Elevation 220ft so that's not a problem.

I'm wondering if it's possible to overprocess stock. There's certainly nothing in it that would overcook! Maybe I'll try bumping the pressure or increasing processing time. Might also look into Ball's customer service if I can't figure anything else out.
 
Check the top edges of your jars. I had two in the last year with very slight imperfections on the top edge, barely visible but could be felt running my finger around the top. They would not seal. I also found that the PUR brand of jars that ACE Hardware and others were selling are shit, the tops of the jars are also bad. I only got 2 of twelve of those to seal.
 
Yes , always check the jar lips for nicks. In the process of opening jars the lip can get nicked from prying the lid off. Then when the jar is reused it won't seal. There's also been problems with lids especially during covid and all that. I try to use Ball lids when I can find them , or Harvest. The worst lids seemed to have been Walmart's brand (Mainstay).
 
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@HellfireFarm, I ran across THIS and remembered this thread. Don't know if it'll help or not. Just fyi.
 

Why did my canning lids buckle?​

When your lid buckles, it is frustrating, but there is a pretty clear-cut reason for this. Buckled lids are always a result of steam (or product, in the case of over-filling) attempting unsuccessfully to escape from the canning jar during the water bath or pressure canning process. This is most frequently caused by the lid being held too tightly to the rim of the jar by the ring/band.

When we started canning in 1970 & working as a Motorcycle mechanic my hands were very strong, so I twisted the lids on very tight.
No real problems until the mid 80s when our lids started buckling & not sealing. We could see they were made thinner than our
lids we still had on hand.

We wrote Ball a letter & got a nice reply, saying Old ladies were having trouble tightening the lids enough to get a good seal.
Thinner lids do not seal as well & will rust through sooner than the quality lids they once made.
 
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