Hi there. I'm posting this on both this board and the food board, since I wasn't sure which was the correct place. I've saved most of the extras from my garden by freezing with my handy vacuum sealer, but this year I'm learning to can, which I haven't done since I was a child and "helped" my grandmother. Last night I canned pears, following the instructions to the letter. All the lids popped and the contents appear like those in photos, but when I removed the rings, they felt the tiniest bit sticky, as did the threads around the top of the jar. Again, the seal is apparently fine, but I really, really don't want to have bad surprises when the jars are opened. Is this stickiness normal and simply a result of boiling something in sugar syrup? Thanks for reading!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Momdidit,

I had to pause trying to understand your routine...about the "removing" the rings.
You have canned the pears, applied the ring to the jar, then screwed the lid tight. They popped...like they are supposed to.

From this I believe the stickiness was from how you poured the sugar syrup into the jar before you applied the ring and the lid and tightened them before they popped.
If this was accomplished by pouring with a ladle then its possible drips from it hit the top of the jar and when you added the rings and the lid, a slight stickiness resulted and when you went to wipe them down you felt this.

We all are anxious about whether air gets into the jar from any leakage of the seal but I'm sure your canning was correct and there is no reason for your safety concerns.

Many people do a further "bath" after canning to ensure such seal. I don't believe you need do this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Loonie,

Don't worry about the stickiness. It is just from the juice. I have that happen all the time when I do jams & jellies. Just wipe off the sticky, store them & then enjoy. I always leave the rings on til I'm ready to use the product.

Thank you both. I carefully wiped the jars before placing the lid, but wouldn't it be possible, since when you put the jars into the water they're not yet sealed and the ring isn't tight, that the heat could cause a bit of the syrup to ooze out before it seals? I used a proper canning funnel to add the pears to the jar and there was very little dripping involved. I had a reply on the other board and she also said to leave the ring on, so I think I'll do that with the next batch of whatever. Do you leave the rings as-is or do you finish tightening them before storing the finished product? These pears had better taste really good this winter!

Oh sure, the heat could cause the contents of the jars to bubble up & out a bit. After the lids pop & cool, that's when I wipe off the sticky & give the rings another turn to tighten. Not a lot, just enough to snug it up. You're doing fine.

Mgt is absolutely correct. This happens to me on sweet pickles a lot.....even though I wipe around the jars before sealing, and then do the boiling water sealing bath. Not to worry.

The only time you should worry is if your lid doesn't pop, and when you touch it in the center it is springy. Then you know that you don't have a tight seal. Food is fine, you can eat immediately or put in fridge for a bit later, OR, you can re-seal. That's a lot of trouble, but it can be done.

Congrats on your canning efforts....pears are gonna be yummy this winter!

edited to add: I often remove the rings after the jars are cool and I'm sure of the seal. This is because I use them over and over.

ve

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vera ellen,

Thank you. I'm beginning to feel better about it. Maybe. A little. I'm going to leave the rings on the next batch. I have plenty of rings and when they do come off I'll save them for next year. Thank you all for the encouragement!

I save the rings also from year to year...just have to buy new lids cuz once the seal is broken they're done.

A funnel....to put the pears into the jar. Now that's another thing I don't do. With a ladle spoon each half or quarter pear is given to the jar and then the 45% sugar syrup is poured over them. This is how I thought the drips might have made contact with the top of the jar.

As long as it works is the key!