# Water Bath Canning: Question about Timing



## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

This is my first year of Homesteading. I have been doing quite a bit of water bath canning, but I have a question.... 

If I am doing a whole series of different types of foods, is it OK to fill the jars and leave them for several hours before putting them into the waterbath? The reason I am asking is that it would be more efficient to get everything into jars and run larger batches of water bath-ing. I have been so nervous about doing everything right that I have gone directly from in the can to the bath, but this method is wasting time and gas.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> is it OK to fill the jars and leave them for several hours before putting them into the waterbath?


No I'm sorry but it is not considered safe. The reason is that the processing times are computed based on the food being hot when it goes into the BWB. If it is allowed to sit on the counter and cool first then the processing time is invalid. It would take much longer to bring cooled jars of food back up to temperature before the actual process timing could begin. See what I mean?

An example: 2 quart jars of canned tomatoes, 1 was packed boiling hot from the pot or had boiling water poured over the tomatoes in the jar and goes into the BWB immediately and is processed for 45 mins, (depending on the recipe used). The other quart has been sitting on the counter cooling and any bacteria it may contain can still grow. When it goes into the pot it has already cooled by as much 50-60 degrees or more so if processed for the same 45 mins. it would be only 1/2 processed and unsafe for shelf storage.

Thus the preferred method is from pot to jar to canner. But I don't understand how that would be wasting time and gas EXCEPT that it is new to you. For experienced canners it is an assembly line process that actually goes rather quickly and saves both time and gas. So perhaps it is your methods or organization that we can help you with? They take time and practice to perfect. 




> I am doing a whole series of different types of foods


I hope you know what can be done in a BWB and what must be pressure canned? If not clear then you may want to do some reading here for all the basics: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

Hope this helps and be sure to let us know if you have any questions.


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

THanks for the reply - it makes perfect sense, and I am quite sure that my organization leaves a lot to be desired. LOL. 

I am aware of the different foods that can be water bathed vs pressure... Since it is my first year, I started easy and have just been canning tomatoes, pickles, jams, jellies and fruit butters. I blanched, vacuum sealed and froze all my beans, carrots and peas. Next year I will add pressure canning to my skill set.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I use a smaller stock pot when I have smaller quantities of jars to can. I bought a metal trivet that fits right in my small one and I can BWB four pints or 7 half pints at a time. I end up using it most when I've got a few more jars than will fit in my canner. I use my pressure canner for BWB too, my old BWB canner now gets used to hold peelings - it does that much better than it ever worked at boiling water.


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

Macybaby said:


> I use a smaller stock pot when I have smaller quantities of jars to can. I bought a metal trivet that fits right in my small one and I can BWB four pints or 7 half pints at a time. I end up using it most when I've got a few more jars than will fit in my canner.


I never even thought of that... great idea. I guess that is the kind of knowledge that comes with experience. ;P


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

For BWB, you can use any pot that is the right size, you only need to use something to keep the jars off the bottom, but even a piece of towel will do that. I knew what size circle I was looking for so just kept looking around at different stores until I found the perfect sized trivet. I had no idea what I might find, but if it could handle boiling water, was round with holes, I measured it! I found some racks for outdoor grills that would have been perfect but I could not get one in the size I wanted.


Cathy


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## Jill (May 14, 2002)

cake cooling racks fit my stock pot too.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

Head Roller,
I know how you feel about wasting time only processing a few jars. A few weeks ago I put up Jalapeno Jelly, Blueberry Jam and Pear Jelly all on the same day. None of the recipes produced more than 4 half pints and I could process all of them together in one BWB - But, that ment that I took 20 minutes to make the Jalapeno Jelly then put it aside while I took 20 minutes to make the Blueberry and put that aside while I took 20 minutes to make the Pear jelly...........yep, I decided to process them all at once. Even though the Jalapeno Jelly sat for 40 minutes before putting it in my BWB. I know, :nono: it is not recommended BUT I'm not nearly as worried about Jelly as I would be about other home canned goods so I decided that the risk was pretty small. DON'T TAKE THIS AS A RECOMMENDATION TO DO THE SAME, I'M ONLY TELLING YOU WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO DO.

I don't see where any amount of organization skills or experience would make any difference. AND processing in a smaller pot still means your stove is on for 2,3, or 4 times longer than if all of your jelly is processed at the same time. Plus lack of burner space (at least on my stove) means not being able to make any jelly while the BWB is on. 

Please don't put yourself down for your lack of experience and please don't take any criticism of your organizational skills to heart. I've been canning since John Travolta was dancing Night Fever in a tight white leasure suit and I still don't have all of the answers..........


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

coalroadcabin said:


> Head Roller,
> I know how you feel about wasting time only processing a few jars. A few weeks ago I put up Jalapeno Jelly, Blueberry Jam and Pear Jelly all on the same day. None of the recipes produced more than 4 half pints and I could process all of them together in one BWB - But, that ment that I took 20 minutes to make the Jalapeno Jelly then put it aside while I took 20 minutes to make the Blueberry and put that aside while I took 20 minutes to make the Pear jelly...........yep, I decided to process them all at once. Even though the Jalapeno Jelly sat for 40 minutes before putting it in my BWB. I know, :nono: it is not recommended BUT I'm not nearly as worried about Jelly as I would be about other home canned goods so I decided that the risk was pretty small. DON'T TAKE THIS AS A RECOMMENDATION TO DO THE SAME, I'M ONLY TELLING YOU WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO DO.
> 
> I don't see where any amount of organization skills or experience would make any difference. AND processing in a smaller pot still means your stove is on for 2,3, or 4 times longer than if all of your jelly is processed at the same time. Plus lack of burner space (at least on my stove) means not being able to make any jelly while the BWB is on.
> ...


That is the exact time/energy wasting issue I was referring to... thanks..  I think that I have picked up some valuable information from this thread, however.. including the smaller pots and the fact that things like tomatoes that are not necessarily hot when you set them up, could be fudged a bit. I also agree that things like Jams and Jellies do not have the same food safety issues that other items would.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

This is another reason why I love my canning hotplate. I can put the canner on that and still have my cooktop for everything else. 

So I'll make a batch of jam and put it in the "ready to go" canner, and the jam is processed and out before the next batch is ready to go. 

Now I really hate not having a full batch of something that takes 90 minutes in the pressure canner. Add the venting and cool down times, and we are talking about some serious time lost!

I think one thing I would do differently if I was trying to set it up to can different batches at the same time is to leave the jam in the kettle so it would stay warmer and then wait until I had all three batches done before putting them into hot jars. You can always heat up the jam if it cools down too much. 

My Granny never even processed her jam, she just poured hot wax over the top and that was that. If it got a bit of mold on the top, we just scraped it off and ate the rest. 

Cathy


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Agree with Cathy. The simple solution is to not put it in the jars until you have everything ready. Make jam #1 and set it aside in the pot. Make jam #2 and set it aside and so on. Then reheat, jar, and into the caner. No delays and no cooling down.

You can even put things into the fridge while making another batch if more time is required. Then just re-heat it and put in the jars.

While I agree that jams and jellies are low risk anyway compared to most other foods, the habit of "it doesn't go into the jar until it is ready to go into the BWB" is a good one to get into.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

Macybaby said:


> This is another reason why I love my canning hotplate. I can put the canner on that and still have my cooktop for everything else.
> 
> So I'll make a batch of jam and put it in the "ready to go" canner, and the jam is processed and out before the next batch is ready to go.
> 
> ...


I wish I had one of those hotplates!! Unfortunately, I have only about 4 feet of counterspace in my kitchen so no where to put it - plus they're kind of expensive aren't they? 
I'd love to have more than 2 big heavy pots too but the cost of good cookware is outrageous and until I find a good deal on ebay or craigslist - I'm stuck with only two pots that are suitable to make jellies  So I'm stuck with either processing multiple bwb's with only 2 or 3 half pints in them or do what I do now - put the jelly in the jars and store them in my microwave while I prep the rest. When I pressure can, I just resign myself to waiting on each batch to process and cool down so I can do the next batch. Makes for some late night canning marathons but that's the only thing I can do!

My grandma always just used wax too.......some folks still do. :shocked:


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

judylou said:


> ........................
> You can even put things into the fridge while making another batch if more time is required. Then just re-heat it and put in the jars.
> ............................


Interesting idea to store in the fridge.........I assume you are talking about a short period of time? Or could you store in fridge and process the next day - say 12 to 18 hours later? Also, will that affect the quality of the jam or jelly if you let it gel then re-heat and process? One final question, would this also work for fruit butters and conserves? Thanks


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

judylou said:


> While I agree that jams and jellies are low risk anyway compared to most other foods, the habit of "it doesn't go into the jar until it is ready to go into the BWB" is a good one to get into.


BWB is only good for jellied products and pickles (at least for me) Since I haven't used any pickle recipes that made less than 5-6 pints & I don't think I'd ever try to process more than one type of pickle per canning session anyway I guess the jar>BWB rule, while a good habit, just isn't high on my radar screen. 

Pressure Canning is a whole 'nother ball of wax!


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

When I got my induction cooktop, I had to get new stockpots as most of mine would not work (stainless, but not metallic) 

I found some great ones at Walmart. They have flat, heavy bottoms and are perfect. The 30 qt one was only $49. They had several smaller sizes too. I was so surprised to fine one at Walmart that would work on my stove. There was NO WAY I was going to pay hundreds of dollars for a stock pot!

Here is another pot you could consider, the 20 qt would work for BWB for pints. Some of the review mention doing just that with this size. It is aluminum, so that does liimit it's uses.

Steamer Pot

I have never left Jam or Jelly more than a half hour before processing, but I have left fruit butters and conserves in the fridge overnight and just heated them back up. That was last year and no one ever complained about the final product.


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

I have been using the burner on our grill - in the "outdoor kitchen" for all my canning. It has a super high BTU and keeps the "heat" out of the house. I am thinking about picking up another outdoor stove with 2-4 burners for next year. We just remodeled our house and I had gas run outside as well as inside. It may have been one of the best last-minute decisions we made!!


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

headroller,
Canning on our outdoor gas grill burner made perfect sense to me, so I asked our local extension office about doing that and was told that it wasn't recommended. I couldn't get a good answer as to why they didn't think it was a good idea. :shrug: Of course, I was asking about pressure canning not bwb.


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

I cannot imagine why they would say that..... coming from a bureaucracy however, I am sure that they simply are not allowed to recommend much of anything for fear of a lawsuit down the road.... sadly these are the times in which we live.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Using an outdoor burner didn't work well for me. I live in an area were we have winds all the time. If it's less than 25mph, we consider it "light". I even tried using it in the machine shed with the garage door only open about a foot, and still had trouble. I did purchase a regulator, and had trouble getting the flame low enough and still stay lit. 

With my BWB Canner (the granite ware one) I could not get the flame low enough and the water boiled over and put the flame out. 

The other problem I had was by the time I was ready to open the pressure canner, the outside temp was about 40 degrees. I'm not sure if that would cause problems, but it was another reason I gave canning up canning where the breeze could get at me.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> I cannot imagine why they would say that..... coming from a bureaucracy however, I am sure that they simply are not allowed to recommend much of anything for fear of a lawsuit down the road.... sadly these are the times in which we live.
> Reply With Quote


I promised myself that I wouldn't respond to this comment. 

So I won't.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

thanks for the info macybaby. I have a regular bwb canner plus a stock pot to use for a bwb but I lack good heavy bottom sauce pots that are tall enough so that the jelly can boil without boiling over the top. I inherited a couple of nice ones years ago but haven't wanted to shell out 75 bucks for a third - I'm keeping an eye out on ebay though. 

If putting the jelly and fruit butter in the fridge works then that will be a great option for me. I can do up a batch of jelly (or fruit butter), put it in the fridge, wash my good jelly pot and do another batch, etc.....sounds like a great solution to me! 


head roller, 
I do know that in the event that my electricity goes off while I have a canner load on the stove - I will certainly move my canner to the outdoor grill to try to finish processing it rather than waste a canner load of food. It may not be the recommended method but it would be worth trying in an emergency!


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I made a batch of apple/maple (no pectin added) in my 8 qt pot and let that sit while I made a batch of cinnamon-anise (uses apple juice) with liquid pectin added in my 6 qt pot. 

The second batch didn't take long to make, and the first had cooled down to about 190 deg.

I put the anise in 4 oz jars and the Apple/maple in 8 oz jars, and the timer is telling me it's time to take them out of the canner now (and go to bed)!

I got some of my nicer mid-size stockpots at a kitchen outlet store. Paid about $25 a piece for them. I love having nice stockpots. Thought my old range wasn't that good until I finally got decent pots and pans - made a huge difference with a glass top stove.


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## lisa's garden (Apr 1, 2010)

Just a quick note about letting things cool and then put them into a hot BWB. Your jars can crack from the temp difference. This happened to me once when someone interrupted my canning...can't remember the situation, but I had to leave the kitchen for what I thought would be a few minutes, so I left my jars of hot pepper pickles on the counter top before putting them into the canner. They were cooled off too much when I got back, but I put them in the boiling water anyway and ended up with a bunch of broken jars. So I never allow anything to cool and then put it in hot water. The temp difference can cause your jars to break, ruining your jars and your food.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> BWB is only good for jellied products and pickles (at least for me)


Many also do tomatoes, salsa, applesauce, canned peaches and other fruits, pie fillings, pickled peppers, etc. etc. So unlike jams and jellies, the temperature variance if allowed to sit and cool with those products can be a real safety issue.

Interim refrigeration, then reheating and filling the jars when ready to process, is always safer than just letting the filled jars sit on the counter waiting for processing.


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## coalroadcabin (Jun 16, 2004)

judylou said:


> Many also do tomatoes, salsa, applesauce, canned peaches and other fruits, pie fillings, pickled peppers, etc. etc. So unlike jams and jellies, the temperature variance if allowed to sit and cool with those products can be a real safety issue.
> 
> Interim refrigeration, then reheating and filling the jars when ready to process, is always safer than just letting the filled jars sit on the counter waiting for processing.


I understand - which is why I mentioned that for me, bwb is only good for jellied and pickled products. Mostly for my peace of mind.........I just couldn't bring myself to trust salsa or apples, etc that were only processed in a bwb - no matter what I read, I just can't convince myself that it's perfectly safe! (One of my many phobias, I guess  )

I can't imagine why anyone would have to let jars of foods other than pickles or jellies sit while you made more to fill up a canner? Jellied products are the only items I've ever canned where most of the recipes can't be doubled or tripled so that a canner full of product is produced at one time. You don't get good consistant results when you double or triple jellies and jams so you have to follow the recipe to the letter and most of the jellied recipes I have found produce less than a canner load. 

With salsa, tomatoes, apples, peaches, etc you just put up the amount you have and process it. Whether it is a canner load or less than a canner load............guess I'm confused


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

My problem with those other items, I usually end up with MORE than I can put in the canner, so I've got a few pints left over. I just tossed about 6 pints of assorted "left overs" that I fully intended to use up, but it didn't happen. Does not help that DH has been workign out of town and I work full time so right now, no one is home to eat (I spend all my free time canning LOL!).

At least with BWB, you can always grab a second kettle, it's the pressure canned stuff that drives me nuts!


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

coalroadcabin said:


> headroller,
> Canning on our outdoor gas grill burner made perfect sense to me, so I asked our local extension office about doing that and was told that it wasn't recommended. I couldn't get a good answer as to why they didn't think it was a good idea. :shrug: Of course, I was asking about pressure canning not bwb.





Head Roller said:


> I cannot imagine why they would say that..... coming from a bureaucracy however, I am sure that they simply are not allowed to recommend much of anything for fear of a lawsuit down the road.... sadly these are the times in which we live.


This is from another post http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=366098


_Its for people that do not have the common sence to use an adjustable regulator. Most "turkey fryer" burners are on or off. If you get an adjustable regulator and or a needle valve to fine adjust your flame, it is great. I have always used gas burners. It allows me to can outside or even inside at a lower height. ( Stoves can be a bit on the high side when handling large amounts of very hot water) 
I get my adjustable regulators from ACE Hardware._


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