Thanks all for your responses. My sister bought these lids that you press down to see if they sealed (Klik-it),and these were the only ones that didn't seal properly. Needless to say we will not be using this brand again. We decided to reprocess using the same brand of lid (Ball) that has served us so well in the past. Making jam has become a tradition and tribute to our mother who passed away three years ago. She made many types of preserves and taught us all how to can. As we can, great memories of her fill the room just like the smell of the berries.

A 100% vinegar brine would be safe but anything less than that sitting un-refrigerated for 4 days presents some listeria risk. Even with a 100% brine, I wouldn't re-process any pickle because texture and color would suffer. I'd enter a fresh jar. If they don't sample you just take it home. If the judges do sample the odds of winning with a fresh jar will be much better. Carol

There are two sizes of the FS canning jar attachments. One is meant for regular mouth canning jars, and the other is for the larger mouth canning jars. Yes, they use the exact same lids used in home canning. The lids are placed on top of the jar, and the attachment is pushed down over it to make a seal between a rubber ring and the glass bead just below the threads of the jars. Once air is pulled out, and you pull off the vacuum hose from the attachment, a tiny 'slug' of air, blasts into the small vacuum hole and the lid is forced down onto the jar and seals it. You remove the attachement then and rinse off the jar if its wet. The seal is very strong and is usually far better than a regular canning process would do. As mentoned, The FS vacuum pump is NOT powerful enough to be safely used as an alternative to regular canning processing. Besides that, if the very small vacuum pump inside the FS gets any trace of moisture in it, it can cause damage to the FS machine. I use a much higher powered piston type vacuum pump and also have a water/moisture trap on the vacuum line. The pump I have quickly goes down to 30 inches, which is sufficient for a decent vacuum. I also vacuum seal dried herbs like dill weed. It remains very fragrent and bright green color, even after 2 years of storage.

1/4-inch headroom isn't sufficient and may have increased the likelihood of leaking. I haven't BWB quarts in some time but I do remember how difficult it can be to remove jars without some tipping or tilting, not to mention the risk of slippage. Yes, it's possible to have liquid seep from a jar and still get a good seal. All you can do is observe within the 24-hour period as jars cool. If they stay sealed, you should be OK. That being said, if there's any doubt or discomfort, I would refrigerate. I'm not understanding why it's difficult to tell whether the lids have sealed. Generally that's pretty easy. Carol