Did some strawberry jam using Bells No Sugar Pectin. I did it by the
book (so to speak) leaving 1/2 inch space. Somehow some of the jam
leaked into the canning water. They all sealed (one I had to reprocess
but then again Im always having to reprocess one no matter what jam I
make lol).

My question is even though they are sealed, should I still throw
caution in the wind from a health standpoint because of seepage or
will they be ok?

Anyone else have this problem?

"Mike" wondered:
> Did some strawberry jam using Bells No Sugar Pectin. I did it by the
> book (so to speak) leaving 1/2 inch space. Somehow some of the jam
> leaked into the canning water. They all sealed (one I had to reprocess
> but then again Im always having to reprocess one no matter what jam I
> make lol).
>
> My question is even though they are sealed, should I still throw
> caution in the wind from a health standpoint because of seepage or
> will they be ok?
>
> Anyone else have this problem?

This happens to me at least one jar a season. A leaky jar cannot be trusted.
This doesn't mean you have to throw it away, however.

The jar(s) that leaked will give themselves away as they cool because they
will have dense sticky mass around the seals (the other jars in the canner
with the leaker may be sticky too, but the won't have actual jam seeping out
under the rings). The seals may snap down as the leaking jars cool, but
because of the goop an airtight seal cannot be relied on. Refrigerate these
jars and eat them up first!

Pennyaline wrote:

> "Mike" wondered:
> > Did some strawberry jam using Bells No Sugar Pectin. I did it by the
> > book (so to speak) leaving 1/2 inch space. Somehow some of the jam
> > leaked into the canning water. They all sealed (one I had to reprocess
> > but then again Im always having to reprocess one no matter what jam I
> > make lol).
> >
> > My question is even though they are sealed, should I still throw
> > caution in the wind from a health standpoint because of seepage or
> > will they be ok?
> >
> > Anyone else have this problem?
>
> This happens to me at least one jar a season. A leaky jar cannot be trusted.
> This doesn't mean you have to throw it away, however.
>
> The jar(s) that leaked will give themselves away as they cool because they
> will have dense sticky mass around the seals (the other jars in the canner
> with the leaker may be sticky too, but the won't have actual jam seeping out
> under the rings). The seals may snap down as the leaking jars cool, but
> because of the goop an airtight seal cannot be relied on. Refrigerate these
> jars and eat them up first!

If you're at a higher altitude our Agents advise to increase the headspace a
bit. Our air isn't so dense. Or maybe it's just me.
Edrena

"The Joneses"
> If you're at a higher altitude our Agents advise to increase the headspace
a
> bit. Our air isn't so dense. Or maybe it's just me.

That's interesting. I'm at 3500-4000 feet, and all we have to increase is
processing time. Headspace remains the same.

<that's according to USU, but Colorado at Denver (1 mile up) doesn't change
the headspace either>

> This happens to me at least one jar a season. A leaky jar cannot be trusted.
> This doesn't mean you have to throw it away, however.
>
> The jar(s) that leaked will give themselves away as they cool because they
> will have dense sticky mass around the seals (the other jars in the canner
> with the leaker may be sticky too, but the won't have actual jam seeping out
> under the rings). The seals may snap down as the leaking jars cool, but
> because of the goop an airtight seal cannot be relied on. Refrigerate these
> jars and eat them up first!

Thanks for the info.

This is the first time this has happened in the many years (ok...only
five) that I started learning to can and preserving food. I did
regular strawberry jam with no problems just before these.

Off to the frig these go.

Take care Mike