# How long to wait for the POP of jar seal??



## meanwhile

This is my first canning experience in 37 years!! Pepper jelly. I thought several of the jars did not seal but just now I thought I heard another POP and one of the ones I had set aside did seem to seal?

How do I know for sure? And, how long to wait?? Maybe I am too excited and need to just wait longer? Will the seals even seal several hours later?

Thank you.


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## Chixarecute

I believe the BBB says up to 24 hours. A good friend who is also a master preserver says that if it doesn't seal in the first hour or two, plan on eating it or reprocessing.


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## meanwhile

Ok thanks - several that I thought did not seal have now popped and seem to be sealed. I am going to put them in refrigerator or freezer just to be sure. This was my first effort at canning so I am excited but I will be careful with it just in case. Thank you.


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## judylou

Yes with small jelly jars they should all seal within 1-2 hours. Large quart jars can sometimes take 12-16 but if you wait 24 hours it is then too late to reprocess them if necessary.


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## meanwhile

All of the jars sealed except for one. That one was in the batch that I did not water bath. It was the batch that I just turned upside down for a while. I am putting it in refrigerator to eat this week. The rest of that batch - the no water bath processing - will be frozen. The rest should be good for the shelf since they did seal. 

Thank you everyone.


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## ladytoysdream

Hi. I am not sure if I am reading your post correctly but..........
the jars you want to freeze...did you allow some room in the jar 
for expansion when it is frozen ? If not, I would think you are going
to find some cracked/broken jars in the freezer.


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## suitcase_sally

I agree with the above. If it DID seal, freezing it will pop the seal.


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## suitcase_sally

meanwhile said:


> How do I know for sure? Thank you.


Gently try to pry the lid off. If it holds fast, it's ok. Also, you can tap the top of the lid. If it's a tinny sound, it has sealed. If it's a dull thud it's not. Try tapping on one that you KNOW has sealed and then tap on one that hasn't been processed (you can just put water in a jar and put a lid on it for this) and you will hear the difference.


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## Terri

If you handle a hot jar you can break the new seal: do not get too nosy yet! Leave them alone until they are cool!


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## Terri

meanwhile said:


> All of the jars sealed except for one. That one was in the batch that I did not water bath. It was the batch that I just turned upside down for a while. I am putting it in refrigerator to eat this week. The rest of that batch - the no water bath processing - will be frozen. The rest should be good for the shelf since they did seal.
> 
> Thank you everyone.


Jelly expands when frozen. Expanding jelly can easily break the jars.


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## meanwhile

Only one jar did not seal. The rest are sealed good. I did leave about 1.5 inch at the top of each jar to allow for expansion when frozen. Can I freeze them in a sealed jar? Or should I pop the seal and then freeze them?

I was only going to freeze the jars that I did not water bath. Those jars are sealed but just to be safe, it seems safer to freeze those.

Thank you.


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