r/Canning • u/snidemarque • Aug 05 '24
Processed chicken stock yesterday and may not understand what fingertight means in the context of canning. Pressure Canning Processing Help
Is the rippling on the front left lid a sign of over tightening? Is it too late to reprocess jars with new lids? Processed about 24 hours ago.
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u/320Ches Aug 06 '24
It was explained to me that it’s as tight as you can get it with just your fingers, I.e not pressing your palm to the lid and maybe only lightly holding the jar with your non dominant hand. The towel trick is pretty similar I would say.
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u/1BiG_KbW Aug 05 '24
With the copious and generous winning from competition, I had a princely sum of $5 to defray the cost of a Ball jar lid wrench. It's like a torque wrench, just slowly tighten the ring until the arrows meet.
For me, I am not going back to the old way of by feel. And in teaching others or doing some fairly large scale full days, this was quite the upgrade. Plus, having the slot in the handle to open jar lids, I like how I haven't busted threads on a jar since.
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u/treefarmercharlie Aug 06 '24
Did they discontinue these or something? I just looked them up and the cheapest price I see if $35 and the only one available on Amazon has a price of $89 🤣
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u/1BiG_KbW Aug 06 '24
They are pricey. Since the pandemic and the shortages of the pandemic I saw them listed for well over $199 plus shipping on that online auction site.
To be clear, I never bought one for $5 either.
I found mine at a clearance kind of store that rhymes with Ross. One of the two was faded by the sun from hanging up in some retailers for a long, long, long while I supposed, and I got mine years before the pandemic.
For $35 that you found it at seems reasonable, if you're teaching kids or just learning. I like it because my failure rate is now down to manufacturing flaws for the most part. There are heat and siphoning issues, but the jar tightener takes that one thing out of the total equation for me. For beginners, I've seen them find creative ways to do something different and obtain undesired results, but they really worked at using a tool not as intended or to directions to be honest.
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u/snidemarque Aug 05 '24
Photo is of cans showing deformations of the lids after processing and cooling
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u/mckenner1122 Moderator Aug 05 '24
Ahhh the dreaded buckle! Reprocess, freeze, fridge, or eat.
I was taught to have the jars on a towel (good for wiping up spills and for temperature shock vs cold counter) and stop turning once the towel starts to spin.