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Tomato Headspace

purplepetals
11 years ago

Last week I tried pressure canning for the first time on 20 lbs of romas (quartered & boiled for 10 mins first and hot packed in quarts). I followed the presto guidelines for processing at a mile high (I'm in Denver). I have a weighted gauge canner and processed at 15 lbs. All jars sealed, though the water in the canner was a bit pink after processing. I thought I did everything right but just today realized that on my quart jars, what I had originally thought to be 1/2 inch headspace is actually closer to 1 inch. Thus, I packed the jars with an inch of headspace instead of 1/2. Besides learning the lesson that I need to use a ruler next time when I pack jars, do I need to chuck this batch of tomatoes or are they still shelf stable? Am I being paranoid?

On a similar note, today I packed salsa in pint jars and did the same thing with the 1 inch of space (yes this is how I figured out I was packing with 1 inch of space...after they'd gone into the canner). Should I reprocess all of these jars? Thanks in advance for your help! :)

Comments (5)

  • digdirt2
    11 years ago

    Nope you are fine and so are they.

    In fact you may have used the correct headspace to begin with but after processing either a) some of the liquid was absorbed by the food and so dropped the headspace level or b) you had a bit of siphoning (liquid sucked out of the jars) happen. And if the water in the canner was discolored at all then it was siphoning.

    Siphoning has several possible causes and is somewhat common for those new to pressure canning until you get used to adjusting the stove heat and learn to avoid the pressure fluctuations that happen when you play with the heat overly much or too often and learn to properly cool down and time the weight and lid removal (see steps linked below and note 10 min. wait between the weight removal and the lid removal).

    Siphoning can and should be eliminated for best results but it takes a bit of practice. :) We often recommend a few practice runs with jars of colored water until you get to the point that the water is as clean in the PC when done as it was when you started.

    Welcome to pressure canning by the way!

    Dave

    Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Steps to using Pressure Canners

  • JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)
    11 years ago

    When I can crushed tomatoes, the last jar is juice. It doesn't change it's headspace like the jars with pulp. I've come to the conclusion that the tomatoes shrink with cooking.

  • purplepetals
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for following up! I think I posed my question in a confusing manner. What happened was that I followed the BBB diagram for measuring headspace by the ridges on the jar. I have the most recent BBB and use ball jars so thought that just at the top of the big ridge was the 1/2 inch mark. Filled all the jars to that point. Then yesterday I got out the ruler and actually measured an empty jar after I got all the jars in the canner, and it looks as though that ridge on my jars is closer to 1 inch from the top of the jar. So I think that I actually packed the jars with about 1 inch headspace. The tomatoes, post-processing, have a headspace down a bit to about the top of the neck of the jar, so yes, siphoning must have happened as well.

    All jars are still sealed...i'm just wondering if that inch headspace messed up the batch. At any rate, I'm still having fun with this crazy loud device so we can chalk that one up to learning experiences if need be!

  • digdirt2
    11 years ago

    No they are fine to shelve and store. The worst that can happen is the food on the top may darken. Next time you will know better. :)

    Glad you have the BBB. Much better resource than the canner manual.

    dave

  • purplepetals
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you! I feel better. Still learning an acceptable level of cautIon with pressure canning. Canning is an exact science but you know....humans just aren't always perfectly exact, despite our best efforts. :)

    Very glad to have found this forum; I know I'll have more questions!

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