Jelly didnt seal
 

We made grape jelly 2 weeks ago and the jars didn't seal. The wife's method
is to turn the jars over for 5 minutes after putting the caps and lids on,
and then setting them upright. This year they didn't "ping". Will the
jelly be OK since they haven't been opened, or can we HWB them now? If we
HWB, do we have to replace the lids or will these work since they are still
pretty new? Thanks. Dwayne

"Dwayne" ) writes:
> We made grape jelly 2 weeks ago and the jars didn't seal. The wife's method
> is to turn the jars over for 5 minutes after putting the caps and lids on,
> and then setting them upright. This year they didn't "ping". Will the
> jelly be OK since they haven't been opened, or can we HWB them now? If we
> HWB, do we have to replace the lids or will these work since they are still
> pretty new? Thanks. Dwayne

The lids are held on by the vacuumn created when the hot air under the lid
cools and contracts. I do not upturn the jars after pouring. I doubt
simple reheating of the filled jars will create a vacuum now. You could
just keep them in the 'fridge where they will keep for a year or so at
least. When I make jam and jelly I pour some into old jam jars for
personal consumption over the comming year and keep those in the 'fridge.
The ones I put away in the basement or give away are poured into the
sealed jars. I check the lids to make sure the seals look good and there
are no paint chips or rust. You could empty the jars, reheat the jelly in
a little water to the jelling stage, pour back into the cleaned jars, and
this time do not invert the filled jars. They should seal okay.

I sterliize the empty jars by putting the upside down in a large pot with
a couple of inches of water in the bottom. When the water comes to a boil
the heat is turned down to simmer and let the jars steam. If I start the
jars at the same time I start boiling the fruit juice the jars are sterile
when the juice is ready to pour. I got this method of sterilizing the jars
from an old Agriculture Canada booklet on making home preserves.



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In article >, "Dwayne"
> wrote:

> We made grape jelly 2 weeks ago and the jars didn't seal. The wife's
> method is to turn the jars over for 5 minutes after putting the caps
> and lids on, and then setting them upright. This year they didn't
> "ping". Will the jelly be OK since they haven't been opened, or can
> we HWB them now? If we HWB, do we have to replace the lids or will
> these work since they are still pretty new? Thanks. Dwayne

Dwayne, I'd empty them, heat the jelly and re-jar it to hot jars, use
new lids (why take another chance?), don't screw the rings beyond
fingertip tight, and BWB for 5 minutes. You might lose some cosmetic
value. See how much time she would have saved if she'd just
waterbath-ed it to start with? "-)

If you want to just leave them alone and have the fridge space, stick
them in there - they'll likely be fine.

Good luck.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 9-26-05

Dwayne, There is only one purpose in jar inversion as a method of
canning acidified foods; it is the hopes that trapped yeast and mold
spores will be pasteurized by the heat of the product. In no way will a
greater vacuum seal be found by turning the jar upside down or not.
This method always has a weak seal. CC

Thanks to everyone who replied. I went through all the jelly we did and
found 4 more, for a total of 6 that didn't seal. We will just find a place
in the refrigerator for them.

Dwayne

"Dwayne" > wrote in message
...
> We made grape jelly 2 weeks ago and the jars didn't seal. The wife's
> method is to turn the jars over for 5 minutes after putting the caps and
> lids on, and then setting them upright. This year they didn't "ping".
> Will the jelly be OK since they haven't been opened, or can we HWB them
> now? If we HWB, do we have to replace the lids or will these work since
> they are still pretty new? Thanks. Dwayne
>

Dwayne wrote:
> Thanks to everyone who replied. I went through all the jelly we did and
> found 4 more, for a total of 6 that didn't seal. We will just find a place
> in the refrigerator for them.
>
> Dwayne
>
> "Dwayne" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>We made grape jelly 2 weeks ago and the jars didn't seal. The wife's
>>method is to turn the jars over for 5 minutes after putting the caps and
>>lids on, and then setting them upright. This year they didn't "ping".
>>Will the jelly be OK since they haven't been opened, or can we HWB them
>>now? If we HWB, do we have to replace the lids or will these work since
>>they are still pretty new? Thanks. Dwayne
>>


I'm showing up late to this party, but I'd dump all the jars back into a
big saucepan and bring the jelly to a boil. Meanwhile, put the lids in
a little pan of simmering water to clean and rejuvinate the rubber seals
-- I'm a cheapskate, OK? Pour the hot jelly back into the jars, leaving
1/4" headspace, put the lids back on, and process for 10 minutes (10
instead of 5 because I didn't wash and sterilize the jars because they
still had jelly stuck to them and I didn't want to waste it)

Best regards,
Bob