Canning ..eating the results or not as the case may be.

As most of you know I've been playing on the fringes of canning in glass containers under pressure and hot water bath ( HWB ) bottling in the same said glass jars.

The results of the clip over KILNER jars shown below are not good .. as well as having nine jars out of 24 not being able to make a seal despite several being immediately re canned under pressure or in the HWB , I've also experienced another two failures .




Having read in the Weck website last night that they would not try and develop a clip over sealing lid for preserving jars because they could hide the fact that a seal had failed and that Botulism could grow as a result .   I followed their advice & that of several members concerning their Mason jars and released all external pressure on the seal . In my case by releasing the  clip over clamps to allow the jars to be un restrained on their lid seals .

A few minutes ago I went into the spare room where I'm storing the finished jars in a large  built in floor to ceiling  double door cupboard with some very heavy shelving in it and could smell a strong vinegar smell . On opening the cupboard doors I saw two jars with the lids raised up .

Yep you got it ....
The jars as like as not hadn't been sealed properly for about two months since the day they were put up & had gone rotten enough to make the gas to break the lid seal once the clip down restraint was taken off  .

I'm even more disappointed now,  for that's another sweet pickled apple cucumber jar that's wasted and another jar of our gentle red & green sweet pickle chutney has died as well .

All contents were put down the toilet flushed and the pan bleached . The jars were then  hot water rinsed , bleached and  put in the glass recycling bin  . The sink also got a dose of bleach and boiling water.

Lets hope these Weck jars turn out much better when I get to using them .

How disappointing to have all your hard work go down the drain!  Hopefully the new jars will work out well for you.

I'm so sorry that your jars did not seal well. I can remember my grandparents using the clip over jars( I may have a few here that I keep candy in) but, they quit using them in favor of the 2 piece lid and ring jars. I was too young to remember if they had jar failures.
We (in the US) used to have Mason jar company. It was bought by someone (maybe Kilner?) Now all we have is the Ball company. They have been 'farming out' to another country, to make some of their jars. They are of less quality. I feel that we are going backwards , in favor of profit for the stockholders.
The home canning industry will get fixed, I hope in the near future.
Jo

Plantoid, That stinks about your loss with the kilner jars... They would be perfectly fine for storing seeds and dry goods. Congrats on your sparkly new Christmas canner!   
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Some interesting facts. 

A mason jar is actually a type of jar, specifically used for preserving food. It was not the name of a manufacturer but the inventor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_jar

There are many glass works still in production in the USA, Ball & Kerr (Jarden conglomerate) and Corning, etc. http://www.gpi.org/
Bail wire (lightning jars) or Kilner closures are not recommended for canning anymore. They are perfectly good for dry storage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_canning

I'm so sorry you've had so many failures with your first canning attempts.

Please be persistent.  Hopefully your new jars will help.

Gloria

littlejo wrote:I'm so sorry that your jars did not seal well. I can remember my grandparents using the clip over jars( I may have a few here that I keep candy in) but, they quit using them in favor of the 2 piece lid and ring jars. I was too young to remember if they had jar failures.
We (in the US) used to have Mason jar company. It was bought by someone (maybe Kilner?)  Now all we have is the Ball company. They have been 'farming out' to another country, to make some of their jars. They are of less quality. I feel that we are going backwards , in favor of profit for the stockholders.
The home canning industry will get fixed, I hope in the near future.
Jo

.

 I think that Kilner LTD 1824 -1844 were the first heavy glass preserving jar for pressure and hot water bath canning initially with glass lids like WECK

 It seems Mason came into the game around 1858 manufacturing almost identical jars possibly under licence from Kilner

 Weck seem to have come up with their novel unique original design of their own violation but for the life of me at present I can't seem to find out when . The original Weck jar   was a purchased patent from a chemist who used a glass jar with glass or iron lid , a rubber seal and rock as the weight  in 1892.
 It seems that Weck actually started producing the modified jars several year earlier in partnership with the chemist before he purchased the patent of him. .



There were several other preserving jar makers as well but they have all gone to the wall over the years . 


I did a bit of internet research wrt Mason and Kilner as well as WECK

 Surprise surprise !  I get the impression that MASON jars & KILNER jars  Kilner are closely related to a company called RAYWARE 

It seems so , as the lids and rings of the better non clip over  jars are inter changeable apparently ,  if what I've read on a few sites that sell rings the compatible lids & retainers is correct.

 I've settled for the Weck jars for I only have to renew the seals when reusing the jars , the jar glass is are  almost 1/4 inch thick on the jar walls,  the lip and glass lids are even thicker.
The stainless steel lid clamps should see me die before a heck of a long time before they do.

I've started showing Munchkin what I'm doing .. she seems mildly interested .. ... This might be the start of the family heirlooms passed down for six or seven generations.

plantoid wrote:
All contents were put down the toilet flushed and the pan bleached . The jars were then  hot water rinsed , bleached and  put in the glass recycling bin  . The sink also got a dose of bleach and boiling water.

Good for you!  It's so important that folks understand how important it is to dispose of bad canned food properly.  I've only had one qt of beans that were suspect when I opened them and out they went along with the jar.  As much as I wanted to put them into the compost pile, that was not an option.

Here's a good page on what to do:
http://foodinjars.com/2011/10/canning-101-how-to-get-rid-of-canned-goods-gone-bad/

CC

Fairly newbie on canning here. Why did the glass container have to be discarded? Was it damaged? I understand pouring the food into the toilet and not the compost pile and I understand soaking countertops, sink, and pot in bleach solution, but don't understand why that wouldn't work with the glass jar. Educate me.

Kay

The contents shouldn't even go into the toilet at my house, even though it's a septic system.   Everything went into baggies and into the trash.  

My reason to not save the jar was 1) it was a great place to contain the bad food thereby avoiding splash over, etc, and 2) what if one molecule of botulism was left behind on it, maybe in a tiny air bubble?   I had food poisoning once to the point of passing out and awakening to EMTs...not fun.  Our lives are worth more than the buck it costs for a new jar.

CC

From everything I have read, throwing the jars is to keep from dumping and possibly splattering the contaminated food onto skin and more surfaces that would need to be sterilized. Also, I would do it just in case there is a hairline crack, bubble, or imperfection in the glass.

GG