1a. Yes
1b. No - taking the lid off will result in a small drop in pressure/temperature that could cause seal failures, and you're also likely to burn yourself with the steam while removing the jars (assuming you can even tell which jars are the ones you want to remove).
2. Yes

There's no reason why you can't process different products with the same processing time simultaneously. I would not place jars with a lesser processing time in the same canner with those having a longer processing time because I think attempting to remove those jars while the water is at a full boil is fraught with risk, not to mention those jars would not benefit from the recommended wait time at the end of processing.

You may reuse the water.

Carol

Deleting duplicate - I hit the Back button and it reposted!

This post was edited by ajsmama on Wed, Sep 18, 13 at 21:58

If you are doing pints, you probably are canning them for 10-25 minutes, depending on the recipe, right?

It's not that big a deal to just do two separate batches, putting the second one in as soon as you pull the first one out.

For many foods it's also not that big a deal do have them in there for longer than required. Jam, for example: If I had one kind that wanted 10 minutes and one that wanted 15, and I didn't want to wait to do separate loads, I would just stick them all in for 15. Don't do this with things that are easily overcooked, like maybe pickles ;).

I process several different items together. usually just different flavors. So yes to all.

I only change water if I get some siphoning from previous batch. No need to waste water.

BTW, permanent marker will stay even thru the boiling water. I mark the lids.

I mark the ones with different flavorings too, but it's hard to see through boiling water & steam (esp. when you wear glasses)! That's more for when I take them out ;-)

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and practical advice. It's wonderful having such a resource given I don't even know all the reliable places to look for information, other than the Ball Home Preserving book and online with nchfp and the usda. There is a lot of BAD information out there!

May I ask another question? I just finished my second time making curried fruit from the Ball Home Preserving Book. Both times I have WAY too much syrup. Is it necessary to use all a syrup or brine? I have had this occur with some other recipes also. Having opened some of the first batch of curried fruit, there is ample syrup and none appears to have been lost in processing. Again, many thanks!!

Recipe page 86 BBB (Ball Blue Book) current edition/page 168 in Ball Complete Book.

While it is normal to have a small amount of liquid left over I would suspect you might be over-packing the jars with fruit. Is your jar count matching the recipe? All the air bubbles removed?

Some variation can be expected depending on how you cut the fruit. Smaller cuts compact in jars so less liquid fits and more is left over, bigger cuts allow for more liquid to fit in the jars.

As long as the fruit is freely moving in the jars and each piece is surrounded by liquid so the heat can penetrate properly it should be fine. If the fruit is not freely moving in the jars then you may need to spread the fruit out into an additional jar so more liquid can fit.

Dave

If you have leftover syrup and can foresee using it with winter fruits or perhaps as a sauce or baste (with rice?) then you could can some plain if there's enough left over.

Some recipes, for whatever reason, seem to either run routinely short or have excess. Try Dave's recommendations first but if you still have too much, consider this alternative.

Carol

I usually have leftover brine when I do pickles and I can the brine for use on next batch. I reheat the canned brine before adding to pickling cukes. I love having the brine ready, then when the cukes are ready, so am I. I do this with pickled beet brine also.