# canning question



## Pancake Man (Jan 22, 2010)

Good Morning to All.....Headspace of 1/4, 1/2, or 1 inch is recommended...Is that space essential or is 2 or 3 inch headspace ok????? Thanking u n advance......


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## Old Swampgirl (Sep 28, 2008)

It's essential!


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## paintlady (May 10, 2007)

It is definitely essential or your jars won't seal properly.


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## upnorthlady (Oct 16, 2009)

Why would you want that much headspace? If you have a jar that doesn't have much in it, and you'll have that kind of headspace, then just put a used lid on it and put it in the fridge to use up real quick. Otherwise, the recommended spaces are important for a proper seal. Sometimes while filling up jars, I end up with the last jar of something not quite being full enough to can, so I just use it up as soon as possible and I don't "can" it.


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## Merit (Jul 15, 2009)

And is it clearly obvious that something didn't seal properly? (canned chunked pumkins. They 'melted down' more than expected & I have the 2" headspace. All appear to be properly vacuum sealed, and four months later still appear to be that way. Throw them out?)


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## Cinelu (Jan 1, 2009)

No, don't throw them out, they're fine to consume, unless the seal is broken. When you open the jar, be sure to smell the contents to make sure there is no "off" odor, and cook the contents properly prior to consumption.

Cindy


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## Pancake Man (Jan 22, 2010)

Good Morning to All......I sometimes leave EXTRA headspace, no reason....The Bean Soup I canned yesterday sealed fine, with 1 inch headspace, but it is now about 2 inch headspace....Seems Ok.....I found one in the pantry yeaterday I am certain was sealed when put away, but the seal was broken.....Threw it away.....I have eaten home canned goods that were 8, 10, or 12 years old. good seal, no problem....I will be more aware of headspace in the future....More to can today....Tks for the replies and advice....Never to old to learn...


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

A tip about bean dishes. If the bean mixture is not "soupy" enough, the seal will break in storage, many times. Make sure there is AT LEAST 1/3 liquid in the jar before sealing.

Many times you will notice that there is less liquid in the jar after processing even if there is no indication of liquid leaking during processing. The beans absorb the liquid. I had a heck of a time getting baked beans to seal (or keep the seal) until I started making them much more soupy than I previously did.

Make sure you rehydrate the beans for at least 12 hours before canning them also.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Pancake Man said:


> I sometimes leave EXTRA headspace, no reason.


The processing times and pressure required is based on a certain amount of headspace. If you leave, say, 3" headspace when it should be 1", you will not have a good seal because there will still be air in the jar. The process can only vent a small amount of air and if leaving too much air in the jar, the food will spoil. This is not the same as leaving 1" headspace and the jar leaked during processing and the level of liquid is 2" down in the jar.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I think there is a big difference between the head space you leave BEFORE you can to what you end up with after everything is done.

Like suitcase sally pointed out. I try hard to leave a very uniform head space in all jars, but I always end up with a varying amount of space when I take them out of the canner. If they seal up fine, I don't worry about it - it should still be a vacum seal and that is very different than leaving air in the jar.

Now, I will add to say I don't have a wide variance - if that happened I'd be looking over my process to see what might need to be changed. 

Cathy


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## Pancake Man (Jan 22, 2010)

Suitcase Sally and Macybaby.....tks for the replies....My bean soup is half beans and half liquid.....No seal problems...The throw away I mentioned was a Pinto I use in my chili.....Hardly no liquid at all...So, a little a liquid is the key...


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

There will be times when the beans absorb the liquid and the beans will be nearly dry. This is not a problem unless the seal breaks. As I said, I keep a close eye on my beans.


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## Pancake Man (Jan 22, 2010)

Suitcase Sally, the one I threw out was Pinto's I use in chili....There was hardly any liquid....Never thought about them soaking it up....I canned 21 Q of bean soup yesterday, half beans and half liquid....5 did not seal....No biggie....Will replace lids and re-do today......Many times have had to re-do.....Never give it a second thought.....


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## NCLee (Aug 4, 2009)

Strange..... I've canned quarts 3/4 full of things like diced tomatoes and venison stew meat without having any sealing problems for years. The canner always exhausts enough air to create the vacuum to seal the lids. 

OTOH, I've had problems with beans and peas, from time to time, because they absorbed more water than expected. Now, for those, I leave a more than the 1" headspace for beans and bring just the water up to 1" level in the jars. Seems to work better in terms of the jars staying sealed and less darkening of the beans because they're no longer above the water level in the sealed jars. 

BTW, have a couple of 3/4 full jars on venison in the pantry that were canned over a year ago and the seal is still holding fine. 

FWIW.
Lee


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## Pancake Man (Jan 22, 2010)

NCLee, as I posted earlier I sometimes leave 2 or 3 inches headspace...No reason....No problem with seals.....Do you re-do those that don't seal???? I am very careful with the process, although some do not seal.....Have eatin home canned goods for 60 years, had more belly ache from cold pizza and warm beer......


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

If I do a load of 20 pints and several don't seal, I re-do them. If it's just 1 or 2 jars, I have them for supper within a day or so.


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## NCLee (Aug 4, 2009)

When I'm canning if I have a jar or 2 that doesn't seal, I just put in the refrigerator and use within a day or so. Or, depending on what it is, may transfer to a freezer container and freeze. 

I don't like to re-process for a couple of reasons. Most of the time I don't have enough to run at least a half canner load. And, I don't like to double process, especially the things that can take an hour and a half. Three hours at 240 degrees is a long time, especially for things that take far less time to cook from scratch for a meal. That much heat for that long negatively affects some of the nutrients in the foods. 

Just my 2-cents.
Lee


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