Lids blowing off jars in the canner
I have been canning for over 30 years and had an incident last week that I have never encountered. I made a big batch of turkey soup and was canning quart jars in my pressure canner and heard a funny sound about mid-way through the process. When we opened the canner, one of the lids had blown off, ring and all, coating everything inside with soup. I used the new lids and prepared them the way the box instructs, not boiling but simmering. The jar seems undamaged; it was one that I have canned in multiple times before. I am mystified. Have you ever heard of this happening, and what do you think caused it? The other 6 jars were fine.
Cheryl
Virginia Beach, Virginia
This has happened a couple of times to me too. One of two things has happened. Either you didn’t tighten the ring firmly tight enough (the ring vibrated during processing, loosening it so it came off) or you have a bad ring. I always toss a ring if this happens, just because. I have tons of rings! This is just another of these things that can happen during canning. I’ve found it’s usually been a highly liquid food such as broth or soup that blew the lid. It’s annoying but nothing to worry about. — Jackie
GMO corn and alfalfa
Do you feed Non-GMO corn and alfalfa? Around here (Modesto, CA), the farmers are growing GMO corn and GMO alfalfa.
Brenda Scobey-Mizar
Modesto, California
Well, no and yes. Unfortunately, little non-GMO field corn is out there. And even some that isn’t GMO on purpose is contaminated by GMO pollen blowing in the wind for up to two miles, from neighboring GMO fields. That’s depressing. We do grow some of our own corn for our livestock, but not nearly enough as we don’t have enough open fields to do so. We’re definitely NOT happy about the GMO corn! No, we don’t feed GMO alfalfa. Our hay is mostly clover, birdsfoot trefoil, and grass mixed — which is non-GMO. — Jackie
