Tuna Canning Problem - Help!!

Mark Mc · 08-27-2003, 07:22 AM

I've been canning tuna for several years & never had any problems except for a couple broken jars. Now this last batch was an almost total disaster, with non-sealing lids. In the first batch, 5 jars failed to seal. I had left the cooker to cool overnight, and at mid-day the next day I opened it up to find 4 1/2 pint jars and one pint jar failed. I thought maybe because the garage had warmed back up, the smaller mass of the 1/2 pint jars heated up a litte too much?

I did a second, partial batch last night. This morning I opened it up to find all the jars had failed.

All the lids were new from the small boxes, bought at Bi-Mart. I'm very meticulous about checking the rims for burrs, and cleaning the rims with a wet paper towell to ensure they are perfectly clean & smooth. I heat the lids up in hot water first. In the second batch, I even put the jars in the canner first, then put the warm lids on to ensure I didn't move the lids.

I'm pulling my hair out as I did it the same way I always have with no problems before. Only things I can think of are (1) maybe a batch of bad lids from the same manufacturing run, (2) remove the jars from the canner sooner to get faster cooling.

Any ideas would be appreciated. In the meantime, I have some free catfood available.

[ 08-27-2003, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: skein ]

Mr. Fisherman · 08-27-2003, 07:40 AM

Mark, in my wifes canning book it calls for cooling the pot quickly. Maybe you didn't get a good seal because you let it sit and cool gradually.
Try another batch and get the pressure off of it and get the jars out so they cool quicker. It might be the ticket....

Mello-Yello · 08-27-2003, 08:13 AM

Hey Mark,
Have you had your pressure guage checked lately? Could be it's reading a lot higher than your actual pressure. They say if it reads more than one psi off, it needs replaced. Mine reads 1 lb. high, so I have to run it at 11 psi.

If you've had success before, then something has changed. Either how you are doing it, or your equipment.

M-Y

Threemuch · 08-27-2003, 08:19 AM

Wow, that's BAD! I have canned hundreds and never had a problem, and usually let the canner sit until cool to remove the jars, so I don't think that is the problem. I have also pulled them hot, and that works too, although sometimes the lid indicator doesn't suck down until the can cools in the box.

I would guess that you are overpacking the jars. That is the usual cause of any failure. One inch of head space. Fill voids with water.

Lids are cheap and I would definitely go get some new lids, and unless you have had success with these jars before, I would just go buy a whole new set of jars and lids and try those.

Mark Mc · 08-27-2003, 09:00 AM

Thanks for the replies so far....

Mello, I use the weight as the primary indicator, making sure it "spittles" about 3-4 times per minute. This keeps the gauge at about 11 psi. But perhaps I should get the gage checked or replaced anyway..

Kurt, I am keeping plenty of head space in the jars. But I am not necessarily "filling" all the voids. In the past, putting too much water in the jars has tended to lead to overspillage, which is only a problem in that you have to clean the outsides of the jars because of the smell & stickiness.

What is the physics here....if there is too much air space in the jar relative to the solid mass & water, it is less able to pull a vacuum?

Ray... When I started out canning I always pulled them out as soon as the pressure came down (by itself) to atmosphere. And I never had ONE bad seal this way, only a few broken jars (probably due to over packing). So maybe I do need to go back to that method. It's just weird because plenty of people leave them in the canner for hours or overnight without a problem.

Thanks again....keep the ideas coming. I can't tell you how awful & disgusting it felt to dump out all that fish this morning. I don't want to feel that again.

Mr. Fisherman · 08-27-2003, 09:26 AM

MARK! :shocked: Tell me you didn't dump it out :shocked: !
It is still good and can even be re-canned. I usually just put it in the fridge and eat it first.
Chase those cats away and makea salad or something...

Mark Mc · 08-27-2003, 09:48 AM

Ray, if I had removed the fish immediately after reducing pressure, I would have kept it for eating. But in this case it had been out all night. Yes, it's a little tiny hole for an air path. But I just don't want to take a chance on getting sick.

Wang · 08-30-2003, 08:45 AM

Ive been canning tuna for 2 years and the only jars that havent sealed are the Kerr brand lids. When I use the Ball brand I havent had not one fail yet. On the Kerr brand lids I seem to throw away a couple lids every dozen or so. I wont even but them know. A couple nights ago I had a tuna that needed canning and had to go to 5 different stores to get what I wanted. Bi-mart carries both brands of lids.

I leave plenty of head space, maybe even more than needed. I add nothing in my jar except straight tuna. I push out as much air as I can with a rubber spatula. Im very anal about sterilization and checking every lid and jar for potential problems. Lids are cheap, so if I throw away a few lids its no big deal.

duckcall · 08-30-2003, 10:01 AM

We let pressure drop on its own, then let it set a couple of minutes and then remove lid/jars. Never had a problem. The idea I beleive is to get the temperature change to seal the jars in a timely manner, not overnight.

Capin' Dan · 08-30-2003, 09:26 PM

I just had this happen to me this week also. I called Kerr and complained, I suspected that they have started making cheaper rings or lids. Here is their reply,

When sealing the rings on the jars use just the fingers not the palm of the hand and do not torque it really tight just do it finger tight. I did this and am now about 20 jars with not problems. Make sure that when venting the pressure cooker. If this continues please call Kerr and complain as I think that they are making cheaper rings that are failing.

Dan!

Nofish · 08-31-2003, 03:22 PM

Mark,
I am thinking this might have to do with either your pressure gauge or a leaking seal on your cooker. In California, you can bring your pressure cooker into the UC Cooperative Extension ag office for free testing. I believe Oregon has a similar program. I would start there, especially if you have never had this problem before. Good luck...Bob

Sea Jypzee · 08-31-2003, 03:40 PM

A couple of things that have been said, and one important thing.

Quote:

Mark, in my wifes canning book it calls for cooling the pot quickly. Maybe you didn't get a good seal because you let it sit and cool gradually.
Try another batch and get the pressure off of it and get the jars out so they cool quicker. It might be the ticket....

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">What ever you do, do NOT let the pressure off quickly. Let the cooker cool on its own until the pressure valve releases on its own. IF you do a rapid depressurization, you would risk major problems, and boiling out all liquid in the jars.

As for letting it cool gradually over night, this would not cause a problem. The jars should seal long before it gets down to a temp where it's cool anyway. I've done it both ways and never had a problem. Sometimes if I have a batch that finishes late into the evening, I'll just leave the jars in there till morning, though I prefer not to do this on the off chance of a jar not sealing and leaving it sit out overnight without refrigeration.

Quote:

I just had this happen to me this week also. I called Kerr and complained, I suspected that they have started making cheaper rings or lids. Here is their reply,

When sealing the rings on the jars use just the fingers not the palm of the hand and do not torque it really tight just do it finger tight. I did this and am now about 20 jars with not problems. Make sure that when venting the pressure cooker. If this continues please call Kerr and complain as I think that they are making cheaper rings that are failing.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">I am inclined to suspect this may be more of what's happened. Perhaps you put the rings on too tight? They should be only 'finger' tight when you put them in the canner.

I've canned tuna for about 6 years straight. I do get an occasional jar that doesn't seal, and either I just re-clean the rim and put a new seal on it, or I put it in the fridge, and use it within a couple of days.

Miss B Haven · 09-03-2003, 08:18 PM

I had 3 jars from my first effort that didn't seal. Put them in the fridge and then took them down to the boat for eating. After being in the boat fridge for a couple days the lids were tight with no flex at all. They seemed to have sealed after being chilled???? :whazzup:

Kinda scary that they were not sealed at first and then seemed to seal up. I'd hate to have that happen if they had been out at roomn temp for a while.

WildHawg · 09-04-2003, 05:38 AM

Some suggestions...take them for what they are worth.
As tempting as it is at 12 midnight, we always wait for the pressure in the canner to return to zero (appr. 30 mins.), then immediately remove and set on a wooden cutting board to cool with an inch or so space between each jar. If you set them directly on a surface that is more heat conductive, you risk breaking the jars--always use a towel or wood.
By leaving them in the canner, you are actually cooking them longer as they will not cool as quickly. This cooling is what helps create the seal.
Another consideration is that the jars are still stacked in the canner: this could somehow make it more difficult for the jars to seal as well.
Just do EXACTLY as the Ball Bluebook says--remove after the pressure has dropped, and place on a poor heat conducting surface and you should be fine if you've followed all other directions.
I've used both Kerr and Ball (my wife prefers Ball, but I don't care) and have had only 1 non-sealing jar out of hundreds of jars of salmon and TUNA!
I'm sorry about your misfortune. Good luck next batch.
Charlie.

FishBowl · 09-10-2003, 04:07 PM

Mark
I have a friends who's wife owns a little restarant and she was able to get me some 1/2 pint jars that have re-usable lids. I did 120 half pints last week and only had one jar not seal, and that was because the lid was dented and I didn't notice before hand. I got them for $5 a case and think I could get more if you need them. Just a thought. I have used the ball jars that BiMart sells and didn't have very good results, the lids didn't fit right and didn't seal. I lost most of my dilly beans last year from that, even though I didn't have to pressure cook those.
Good luck Tim

Mark Mc · 09-10-2003, 07:50 PM

Thanks for all the replies folks.... Last Sunday I did two batches for a total of 34 jars and each one came out perfect. I think I'm "back to normal" in the canning department. Now let's go chase some more fish!

Miss B Haven · 09-10-2003, 08:13 PM

I love this board. Never would have dawned on me that yhou could get the lids to tight prior to canning. Well....D-oh! [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] If you don't let the pressure out how do you build a vacuum on cooling? :whazzup:
Learn something every time I read this board!

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] :smile: :grin: