# Ball Canning jar FAILURES



## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

Wondering if anyone else is having this problem? I bought 4+ cases of Ball wide mouth pints and quarts this year to can. Had one drop a bottom when doing pickles in August - cheapy Mainstays jars from Walmart treated the same, filled the same, during that SAME canning day were fine. Chalked it up to bad luck.

Today, so frustrated. We picked the tomatoes green in freezing temps for 2 hours 1 night - got 468. All but a few have ripened and so I saved up this last bushel or so to make some spaghetti sauce. I temper the jars then fill with our tap water which runs 130F (on purpose) and I keep them in a deep pan of hot water while getting each one in the canner. Since I only had enough for 4 quarts, I used 2 Mainstays qts :empty"- prepared the same way- and then hot tap water put in and they fill up the canner. I don;t line them up; I do 1 at time refreshing the hot water in them as they wait their turn to be filled 

Well as I put the first sauce-filled expensive quart in, it was fine. Then as I was doing the next one I hear the fatal 'crack'. So empty the entire canner, grateful I hadn't put the 2nd one in yet so only really lost 1 full quart. 

Fill it up, wait for it to boil (having put the sauce in the jar back into the pot and on the stove to keep it simmering till the canner was ready). Wash everything and repeat.

You guessed it. Within 5 minutes same deadly sound on the Ball jar. It broke same as the other in the same places. Now I only have 1.75 quarts left. I am freezing it. So done here. Empty sauce out, re wash all the same stuff plus the greasy messy hot canner. Grrrrrr.

So I email Ball as this is 1/4 of my jars from the box.

They email back. They say 'my fault, failure to temper, yada yada yada"

I call. They are sending "coupons" who knows how much but there were the costly widemouths.

I kept trying to get thru to the person on the phone that in EACH canning episode, the Mainstay Walmart cheapo jars did not break. Placed same, tempered same and in the pickle case, filled same. ONLY the Ball. SHe fails to register that this is likely a product defect. Finally she says that maybe Walmart mishandled the case. 

Will let you know what they send. GRRRRRHHHH.


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## happycat47111 (Nov 23, 2013)

I'm so sorry! That's beyond frustrating. 

I'm new to canning, so I don't know how common failures are. But I lost a Ball widemouth quart jar (also obtained at Walmart) earlier this year doing up peaches. I thought it wasn't that uncommon. It was while the water bath was processing, and the break seemed to originate in the logo. I don't know if this helps or not&#8230;. Like I said, I thought having a loss wasn't that uncommon.


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Thankfully, happycat, having a jar break in the canner is quite rare. I am 65, have been canning for probably 35-40 years and I can only remember two jars that broke in the canner. (That is not counting the one a few years ago, that was caused by a dumb move on my part!)


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I wouldn't think that hot water at 130 deg. is hot enough to not have thermal shock. I put my empty jars and water in the canner, turn the jars upside down, and turn on the heat. My jars are so hot that they are hard to pick up bare handed.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

I heat my jars in the dishwasher. I think the temp is around 185* I know its hot enough i can barely take them out (one at a time) without feeling like my fingerprints will be embedded in the glass.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I've had breakages twice, I think both temperature issues on my part. Once when I had to grab another jar and just washed and tempered it with hot tap water and the other time when the jars ended up in boiling water for a bit rather than simmering. 

I place the jars in the canner with water in them to keep them in place. Bring the canner to a simmer. They are too hot to touch. I just fill two at a time usually to keep them nice and hot. 

I agree that tap water may not be hot enough.


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## anahatalotus (Oct 25, 2012)

I had this happen with a ball jar today. I don't think it was temp because I handled it the same way as the other five jars...
I think it might have and a hairline fracture in the glass that ruptured when the heat expanded the food. It was an odd crack in the shape of a Y.
I also think tap water is not hot enough and steam the jars before filling with hot food, or after filling with raw pack to heat up enought to put in the pressure cooker. However I've never measured the temp, just figure when it's too hot to hold without a potholder or welding glove it's not going to crack when it goes in the kettle or cooker! Perhaps that's a bit overkill tho, lol.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Just curious, are these Ball jars made here in the USA or in China or Mexico?


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I don't think the hot tap water is hot enough to temper them when you're putting them in boiling water. I'd put them IN the waterbath canner, submerge them in the water, and bring to a boil. Then, you can take one out of the canner, fill, and put back in (you'll have to take water out since the full jars will make the canner over flow). This way the jars are as hot as the boiling water is when you put them back in the canner. 

Or, sometimes I was mine then put them in the oven and then turn it on to about 200*. Then I just take them out of the oven (with the jar lifter) when I'm ready to fill them.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2014)

MDKatie said:


> I don't think the hot tap water is hot enough to temper them when you're putting them in boiling water. I'd put them IN the waterbath canner, submerge them in the water, and bring to a boil. Then, you can take one out of the canner, fill, and put back in (you'll have to take water out since the full jars will make the canner over flow). This way the jars are as hot as the boiling water is when you put them back in the canner.
> 
> Or, sometimes I was mine then put them in the oven and then turn it on to about 200*. Then I just take them out of the oven (with the jar lifter) when I'm ready to fill them.



That's what I do, with the water bath... Bring them to a boil, turn the fire off and let the coast while I finish doing whatever, and they're still screaming hot when I am ready for them. Then I take them out, one at a time, with an old jar lifter tongs thing because they're way too hot to handle! Set them on a towel beside my simmering jar-contents-pot, and Load them up, wipe them off, slap on a lid, and set them back in the canning basket... Next one, same song.


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

light rain said:


> Just curious, are these Ball jars made here in the USA or in China or Mexico?


Their site says USA made for 125 years.


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

Well, the jury is back. They sent me only 2 coupons that cannot be combined for $5 each.

The coupon will not equal the cheaper price of the so far better performing "Mainstays" brand from Walmart (and Target has some jars too that are generic). 

I appreciate all the comments and *will *change to keep jars even hotter. But since I have been using the same methods on both companie's jars and only 1 keeps breaking, I think I will go forward with the less expensive jars.


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

It really makes one wonder. For me, I'm having breakage on the Mainstay jars, and not the older Balls.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

Funny you started this. I was thinking of starting a thread on this topic. I have had several jars bust out the bottom lately and it is getting really frustrating.

In the pressure canner and the water bath canner. All new Ball jars. I thought maybe I was tighting the lids too much and the pressure could not release. So, I loosened them a little... well then my jars did not seal.GRRR!

I think in total so far this year I have had ~9 blowouts(all quart jars). Haven't had any problem with the pint jars.

Made sure the jars were hot when I filled and then stuck them strait into the canner. If you figure out whatâs going on please post.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I will say I have been having lid failures with the new ball lids, I wouldn't be surprised if they had cheapened their jars as well. Not sure I've used any new ones this year although I have bought them. I have always like Kerr jars better, even though Jarden bought them out.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Vosey said:


> I will say I have been having lid failures with the new ball lids, I wouldn't be surprised if they had cheapened their jars as well. Not sure I've used any new ones this year although I have bought them. I have always like Kerr jars better, even though Jarden bought them out.


I like the older kerr jars better, but haven't seen any new ones. I assumed that since they and ball are owned by same company the jars would be made to same specs.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

I had 2 new ball jars break this year. Both were on the bottom. I had a third new jar that after tightening the band and as I was putting it in the hot water bath that the band and lid came off. I took it out grabbed an old band and everything tightened down fine. Figured it was a bad band, so that band got thrown into the recycling container.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Dixie Bee Acres said:


> I like the older kerr jars better, but haven't seen any new ones. I assumed that since they and ball are owned by same company the jars would be made to same specs.


Our local grocery store has Kerr, I swear they are better but it might be all in my mind  The lids are definitely the same.


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

sniper69 said:


> I had 2 new ball jars break this year. Both were on the bottom. I had a third new jar that after tightening the band and as I was putting it in the hot water bath that the band and lid came off. I took it out grabbed an old band and everything tightened down fine. Figured it was a bad band, so that band got thrown into the recycling container.


Mine also broke on the bottom (all 3 new) and I have had problems with lids/bands also.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I read somewhere that if a jar breaks at the bottom (a crack all the way around) that it's thermal shock.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

For me, I've never had a canning jar break until the ones this year (and they were new jars). It could've been thermal shock, or it could've been faulty jars. I just find it strange that one jar would crack out of a dozen jars - when all jars were treated the same way...


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

Several years ago I had many jars break, they were my mothers jars that she had for 25+ years and my sisters jars that had over 15+ years on them and may have been used when she got them. I got mad and tossed all the old jars out and bough new, now I break maybe one or two a year, but I blame how they are handled, some of the family likes to sit them on the floor and they get kicked once in a while, I wish they would take better care. If I raw pack, I put warm water (100 degrees +-) into the pressure canner and set the cold jars in, the jar and water heat together on the stove. If I hot pack, I slowly put the hot stuff a little at a time in the jar to heat the jar some and put them in warm water. I change the water every canner full so I don't use the extra hot water in the pressure canner from the last batch.


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