Why 12-24 Hours

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Rockergirl

Assistant Cook
Joined
Aug 31, 2022
Messages
46
Location
Raleigh
Why do you have to wait at least 12 hours before you touch your jars after you finish canning, even if the lids "ping" and the jars feel totally cool? Will I ruin the food if I move the jars around sooner?
 
I'm so surprised that none of you have heard of this before that I think you must have misunderstood the question. From the National Center for Home Food Preservation: https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_bw_canners.html#gsc.tab=0

Let the jars sit undisturbed while they cool, from 12 to 24 hours. Do*not*tighten ring bands on the lids or push down on the center of the flat metal lid until the jar is completely cooled.

The reason is to allow the jars to cool completely at room temperature without possibly bumping them against something that could break the seal. I have a tray ready lined with a towel and when the processing time is up, I wait five minutes and move the jars to the tray. Now I can move the tray to an out-of-the-way place so they can sit undisturbed for at least 12 hours.
 
Nope, never saw that before. We have always waited for and counted the pops, then let them cool for several hours, but nowhere near 12-24, then lightly tightened the rings, then stored.
 
I do sorta both,
wait till the bubbling has stopped,
then onto a towel lined tray, wait for pops,
once popped I remove ring,
usually I move to another space/room out of the kitchen,
and then when cool enough wipe down jars with damp cloth.

All this is done very carefully so as not to knock against each other. When fully cooled I boxed and moved to the storage pantry. As this was in the basement, it was usually done the next day - only because I didn't feel like trooping up and down with boxes.

I've done the above as it is purely common sense! If I was told it was waaaay before I started canning for myself and I don't remember it. But back in the day, my mom and grandma were using the glass lidded, rubber gasket type of jars. Not the metal lids and rings we use today.
 
I'm so surprised that none of you have heard of this before that I think you must have misunderstood the question. From the National Center for Home Food Preservation: https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_bw_canners.html#gsc.tab=0



The reason is to allow the jars to cool completely at room temperature without possibly bumping them against something that could break the seal. I have a tray ready lined with a towel and when the processing time is up, I wait five minutes and move the jars to the tray. Now I can move the tray to an out-of-the-way place so they can sit undisturbed for at least 12 hours.

Well, I've read these guidelines for decades now and leave the jars on a towel where I placed them fresh out of the canner, overnight, and don't touch them until the next morning.
 
I vaguely remember reading not to move the jars until fully cool. But, I haven't done any canning in decades. If I decide to can something (and I am thinking about it), I will carefully read and re-read the instructions.

I have a slightly different, but related question. How long do you wait for the "ping"? I remember occasionally having to reprocess something because it didn't fully seal the first go. I don't remember waiting until the next day, but it was a long time ago.
 
Sometimes you hear some right away. But I've often heard them ping later in the evening when I finished canning late afternoon.

They don't all ping at the same time. Pretty close but not always.
 
Sometimes you hear some right away. But I've often heard them ping later in the evening when I finished canning late afternoon.

They don't all ping at the same time. Pretty close but not always.

Yeah, sometimes there can be hours between. I'm just wondering how long you should wait before deciding that it needs to be reprocessed.
 
It would depend on how many did not. If only a couple did not, then just put those in the fridge for immediate use. If bunches of them do not ping, then time to redo.

How long do you wait? If you can hold the jar in your hand and it feels barely warm or room temp. No one can put a time on it.:ermm:
 
If I'm canning more than one batch in a day, I don't put the jars on the towel next to the canner. I put them on a towel away from the work area. That leaves room on the towel next to the canner for the second batch.
I let them cool to room temperature. This takes exactly as much time as doing enough canning for the day, then getting some sleep. lol

Then I take off the lids, wash the jars, or box the jars. I lift the jars briefly by the lids, to make sure they are securely sealed.
Tattler (reusable lids) don't ping. (I use about 1000 of those, and then metal lids.)

I store jars w/o rings so if they become unsealed it will be obvious.
Our pantry is more humid than the rest of the house, so the rings would rust much more in the pantry.
(https://www.healthycanning.com/store-your-home-canned-food-without-the-canning-rings/)

I don't stack jars directly on other jar's lids. We put boards over a layer of jars, then put jars on top of the boards. (really only when we have a hundred of one kind of thing and then more to put on top)
 
Taxlady - I read that you should check them at 12 hours and if they didn't ping at that point, you should reprocess them (or put in the fridge). I can't remember where I read this but it was all part of the 12-24 hour rule that I had read....
 

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