Siphoning...my near-perfect streak just ended!

8 years ago

It happens to all of us sooner or later. I followed the correct process and still had siphoning.

I canned 18 pints of collard greens last night, double stacked in my 23 qt presto canner with a rack between jars.

As I like my collards cooked in pork stock, I follow the soup guidelines of 50% solids and 50% liquid. I prepared the greens according to procedure and added them to the pork stock and heated according to directions.

Greens were not packed too tightly, and the jars were filled only half full with the solids to follow the rule before adding the stock. I removed air bubbles, wiped rims, adhered to the 1" headspace. I'm careful about regulating the pressure with tiny increments.

I followed all the venting time, processing time, cooldown time. The ONLY thing I'm aware of is after one hour elapsed (more than enough for my canner's return to zero pressure), I nudged the weight to verify pressure was zero ( I also have a gauge on this one, which I use to double check before I test the weight), and got a slight hiss, indicating pressure not at zero. I waited another 15 minutes before testing/removing the weight. I waited another 10 minutes before removing the lid.

I knew immediately there was siphoning due to the strong smell of the canned food and discoloration of the water. I carefully removed the jars and let them cool overnight. All of my jars sealed, but there is substantial liquid loss.

Almost all of my greens are still submerged in the stock because of the proportion of solids to liquids to begin with, and I know the product is safe because of the way I followed procedures, but it's still aggravating!

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
8 years ago
It can be frustrating I know. Greens were well wilted before jarring? If not they soak up a fair amount of liquid. Most all the ribs removed? If not they soak up a lot of the liquid. And most common - any heat adjustments done during the processing? That alone triggers siphoning more than anything else IME and needs to be avoided even if it means processing them at a somewhat higher pressure.

Dave
pqtex
Original Author
8 years ago
I'm positive it was siphoning and not absorption because the "juice" was in the canner water. Yep, I do cut out the center ribs completely, and they were boiled the full 5 minutes. I'm careful about the adjustments because I learned my lesson about that early on! I have an electric stove with the special canning element. I don't know if my stove or the element is having issues, but I've noticed that it seems to be running higher than usual when canning, even with lower settings than my norm. The result of that has been that I've been rocking those weights a little harder than usual because I want to avoid the adjustments as much as possible.

On average, after venting, how long should it take to bring a 23 quart canner up to full pressure? Does the load of the canner have an effect on that? I had it double stacked this time...full load. It seems that the canner was up to pressure a little faster than usual, but that may be my imagination because I'm analyzing it so much.

Thanks for your help, as always.
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digdirt2
8 years ago
On average, after venting, how long should it take to bring a 23 quart canner up to full pressure? Does the load of the canner have an effect on that?

Can't quote an average. Too many variables. But yes,volume load in the canner is one of them. Best guesstimate on a 23 would be about 6-8 mins to reach pressure IME (electric stove set on med high with 7 qt jars and 3" of water to start with).

Dave
pqtex
Original Author
8 years ago
Gosh, I don't think my canner has ever gotten up to pressure that fast, but I've never timed that part of it, either. Opened up the collards today...yum yum! I've sure received my money's worth on my Presto harvest gold 12 quart canner purchased about 1978, and my 23 quart Presto that I bought a few years ago. I never dreamed I would enjoy something so much that involved so much hard work! :-)
annie1992
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
pqtex, enjoy those greens. I seem to nearly always get siphoning to some degree with greens, whether it is kale or collards and no matter how carefully I pack, wilt, vent, adjust temperature, etc. They might not be as pretty but they sure do taste good!

Since we moved last year and I have a different cooktop with a higher BTU burner, I've had to adjust to the times and temperatures when canning and that didn't help either, but I'm slowly adapting.

Happy Canning!

Annie
pqtex
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! That makes me feel better. They turned out very good. The funny thing is that I only recently canned beans for the first time. I've read all the comments that losing liquid or absorption was a common problem, and they came out perfect! All three batches of different recipes or bean types. Of course, I'd paid attention to the comments about not putting too many beans in the jar!

Siphoning...my near-perfect streak just ended!

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Siphoning...my near-perfect streak just ended!

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