# trying water bath jam, lids not popping



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Is it normal for lids to take a really long time to pop on water bath canning?

I'm probably over an hour now and they aren't making the pops I always hear on pressure canning food, but when I checked lids, a couple of them pressed down and stayed down.

is that all "normal"?


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

I don't know what is normal but I do know that when you pressure can that you're dealing with a higher temperature so the differential between the temp on the inside of the jar and room environment is greater than with water bath canning. I suspect that the suddenness of the seal is what makes the pop where a more gradual sealing, due to lower temperature differential, will make for a quieter pop. This is just my guess so don't take it to the bank.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

New to this,but will bump you up for answers.


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

Mine sometimes take forever! Or so it seems when you are use to pressure canning.

My mom says to take jars out of bath as soon as you can, that the temp change can help them seal. Now is this the truth or just mom's opinion? I don't know... But I listen to my mom.

Did they ever seal? I want to say sometimes mine have taken a good hour or little more to seal.


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## oif_ghost_tod (Sep 25, 2012)

I read somewhere that its best to just set the jars out of the waterbath canner onto a towel, then cover with another towel to protect them and leave them there overnight. Don't fidget, don't check them, just leave them, for like 12 hrs. Any that haven't popped in the morning can be re-canned using a new lid and same time as original, but if it doesn't work the second time you hafta just put it in the fridge and eat it within 2 weeks.
I do this and only have had one jar of Marmalade not 'pop' by morning...its ok because it got eaten in like two sittings on homemade bread.
Also I have learned that proper head space (1/4" to 1/2") is necessary for best results.


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## MsSage (Mar 3, 2012)

When I make apple butter ( havent made any other jam yet) All I did was put the HOT butter in the jar put the lid one and put them on a towel. Did not move them till morning. All but one had sealed. I opened the last one 2 years later and it was still good.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

When I do mine, I normally start with boiling hot jars, boiling hot lids and boiling hot food (apple-sauce, tomato-sauce, chilli, soup, etc).

I take my first jar out of the heat, fill it quickly, slap the lid into place and toss it directly into the water-bath. I repeat till all the food is out of the cooking pot and all the jars are in the water bath with the water just barely caressing the bottom of the sealing rings ...

From there, I place the jars on a towel on the counter (so that they do not slide around or get knocked easily) with about 2" air-space between the jars. Normally, I will start hearing the first one pop within 15 to 20 minutes.

When I make my *Christmas Southern Oranges*, I normally start with a clean store-bought Jam-jar and lid, stuff it with freshly washed and partially oven-dried mandarin oranges (oranges are between 300°F and 350°F) and then pour room-temperature Southern Comfort over the oranges till there is no significant air gap - place the lid on quickly and it will self-seal within 15 minutes and I do not water-bath that one. It will reside in the far reaches of my fridge for one year at which time I pop the seal and enjoy. I only make one jar each Christmas when the good Japanese Mandarin oranges are freshest.


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

Don't boil your lids Naekid...mama said not to  just good heating will do, mama said


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

DJgang said:


> Don't boil your lids Naekid...mama said not to  just good heating will do, mama said


Ok .. I'll turn the heat down some when I am doin' the lids. I call it "boiling" due to the bubbles forming at the bottom of the pan, but, it isn't a hard-boil like when doing eggs, more like a soft-boil like when making a good pot of oatmeal :factor10: or Cream of Wheat :yummy:


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

When water bathing, when the time is up, kill the heat and let them sit for a few minutes before removing them from the water.

I'm assuming the jars were hot, lids were hot, and the food was hot? Did you wipe off the sealing rim on the jar with a damp paper towel to make sure there was no food debris on the sealing surface?

Rings go on finger tight, no tighter.

Never press down on the lid, it can give you a false reading if you do that.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

yep, jars were hot, lids were hot and I wiped the jar rims with paper towel and vinegar. 

The Ball book said check the lids so thats why I pushed on them to see if they had popped down, and when I pressed on them, even very gently they pushed down and stayed down.

I'm going to try and open one and see if it had an airtight seal.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

The jar made a very nice POP sound when I pulled the lid up, and the jam tastes pretty good! 

maybe I got lucky this time, but in the future I'll probably hold off on checking the lids like that.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

DJgang said:


> Don't boil your lids Naekid...mama said not to  just good heating will do, mama said


I do not boil my lids either. I use a pair of metal tongs and hold the lid down in the boiled water for about 5-10 seconds and then place on the jar and do the ring the same way. I am always afraid that boiling the lids will harm the rubber gasket. IMHO.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

A lot of times they just do not make the popping sound at all but when you check them after they have cooled they are sealed.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

Freyadog said:


> I do not boil my lids either. I use a pair of metal tongs and hold the lid down in the boiled water for about 5-10 seconds and then place on the jar and do the ring the same way. I am always afraid that boiling the lids will harm the rubber gasket. IMHO.


The temperature in a pressure canner is above boiling temperature and the lids are in that pressure canner for longer.

I do boil my lids but as soon as the water begins to boil I turn down the dial. The boiling, as I understand it, is just one additional line of defense to try to kill any critters that may be surviving on the lid in the moments before transfer and also to soften the rubber rings.

I can't see how it hurts the lids to be boiled even for an hour considering where they are going after you take them out of the water.


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