Jar Breakage During Hot Water Bath

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Had to throw out my last batch of Green Tomato Pickles out. Had real bad bitter taste. Still not real sure what happened. Think I got some bad vinegar. I finally got some more green tomatoes. Really hard to find anymore. Had enough for 4 pints. One broke soon after putting into the hot water bath. I had a rack in it. This seems to happen all the time. Really sucks when doing small batch. I guess its thermal shock? Veggies were room temp in jars than poured boiling brine into them.

 

[voyager 663rd]

My jars are still too hot coming from sterilizing water to dish rack to drain then fill with....product. Glass is still too hot when I put the lids on to "can". Veg can be room temp BUT my brine and jars are always HOT when poured.

Definitely thermal shock.

 

[indaswamp]

It is good practice for both jars and food to be preserved to be hot. The time in the hot water bath is not only for sealing the jars-it is also about pasteurization, so if you put the product in cold, you are not getting the pasteurization time required for whatever you are preserving...

 

[voyager 663rd]

Never had HOT pickles when canning. It was sufficient for the brine/jar to be hot. Just my experience.

I would think it would be awfully difficult to stuff hot pickles in a jar prior to brine.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

It is good practice for both jars and food to be preserved to be hot. The time in the hot water bath is not only for sealing the jars-it is also about pasteurization, so if you put the product in cold, you are not getting the pasteurization time required for whatever you are preserving...

Seems all my pickling recipes I have tells you to put the cukes or other vegies in without cooking in jars? I do keep them in the fridge.

 

[indaswamp]

Refrigerator Pickles....my mistake. Different process...

 

[voyager 663rd]

Indeed--dinosaur pickles/refrigerator pickles. Brine them on Friday. Eat them on Saturday. Better on Sunday. etc etc

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

This is what i am making. I love them with my fish. Is a Texas thing.

 

[indaswamp]

When I do any glass jar canning, I always put the jars in the over @200*F for 2 hours. This sterilizes the jars. I pull them out, add ingredient, lid then in the water bath...

 

[DougE]

When I do any glass jar canning, I always put the jars in the over @200*F for 2 hours. This sterilizes the jars. I pull them out, add ingredient, lid then in the water bath...

How I've always done it. Hot jars, hot brine, veggies at room temp. Also, just use your fingertips to screw the bands down, back it off and do the same. The jars have to be able to vent so if you screw them down too tight, the jars will break because they can't vent.

The headspace allows the contents of the jar to expand and the air to vent during processing, leaving you with jars full to the top when done.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

How I've always done it. Hot jars, hot brine, veggies at room temp. Also, just use your fingertips to screw the bands down, back it off and do the same. The jars have to be able to vent so if you screw them too tight, the jars will break because they can't vent.

That may be it. I screw lids on pretty tight. Thanks

 

[DougE]

That may be it. I screw lids on pretty tight. Thanks

Snug with the fingertips, don't tighten them down by grabbing them with your whole hand. They just need to be snug, not reefed down upon.

 

[indaswamp]

The jars have to be able to vent

Yep. Bingo!

 

[voyager 663rd]

And after they cool, loosen the rings so they are NOT tight at all. Make sure the button is down though/otherwise it's not sealed and you're going to have a feast now.

Not sure if it can be "boiled" a second time though as mine have always "popped".

Absolutely love that sound as the they cool: pop....pop...pop...

 

[bill ace 350]

Pressure canned jars do not need prior sterilization.

The same is true for water bath canning if the processing time at a full boil is >=10 minutes at sea level.


I run my jars through the dishwasher prior to using, but no actual sterilization processing.

I do warm the jars prior to adding warm/hot food or liquids.

 

[DougE]

I do warm the jars prior to adding warm/hot food or liquids.

That's a key point! The jars and their contents should not be cold, going into the canner. Warm to the touch is good, even warmer is better, so as not to thermally shock the jar.

 

[indaswamp]

Great info in this thread....

 

[Fueling Around]

I have never lost a jar using hot jar and hot liquid when going into a hot water bath.
Never tried a cold pack into a warm water bath.

Great point on not over tightening the bands (rings) Doug DougE .
I remove the rings after the canning bath and dry so they don't rust.

That is a very rewarding sound of the smuck pop voyager 663rd

My Roma tomatoes are producing well this year. I hope to get a break after wheat harvest to can a couple dozen pints

 

[DougE]

I have never lost a jar using hot jar and hot liquid when going into a hot water bath.
Never tried a cold pack into a warm water bath.

I may be off on this, but my understanding of cold pack would be slicing up a bunch of peppers, cukes, or what have you, packing them into pre-heated jars, and topping the jars off with hot brine.

On the other hand, hot pack would be along the lines of making a batch of marinara and filing the pre-heated jars with the hot sauce.

 

[DougE]

"Cold Pack" doesn't mean you're filling the jars with refrigerated contents and putting the cold jars into the bath. It's more like the main ingredients are packed raw after slicing and topped with hot liquid.