Usually if I’ve had problems it was because of an irregularity on the jar–a crack or chip, or not getting it completely clean before placing the lid. Are you pressure canning?
Katy
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Yes, this happened while pressure canning. We do reuse older jars, but she usually checks for any irregularities on the jar lid before we use it. She also makes sure the jar rim is clean before the lid goes on.
I notice that she packs the jars pretty tight with the beans. But I don’t know if that’s a cause. I have been running the burner at a slightly lower setting, as I thought we were processing them at too high a heat- they looked a bit too brown. In the past the burner was on 8 (out of 10), but the last few runs its been on 7. Still hot enough to blow steam thru the vent. Our canner uses the bobber, and not a gauge.
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Need to leave that 1/2" minimum head space. I know some items call for 1" head space. Other than that who knows. Sometimes it just happens. It’s disheartening but even worse if you lift a jar out of the canner and all the contents and the bottom of the jar stay behind! I’ve had that happen occasionally.
I have both kinds of canners…when I started I felt like I needed the gauge but now I’m very comfortable with the rocker. I don’t pressure can much anymore. I miss it.
Katy
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I had that happen yesterday on some pickles, that had sealed then the button popped up. I usually leave them where I can see them for awhile before putting them away.
The best time to trouble shoot is right then. Slowly lift the lid and see if food or a small seasoning speck is lodged where seal and jar meet. Good advice not to pack too full or heat too fast as these are temptations when there is soo much harvest to get done.
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Did 14 jars of peach jam last night, found a jar of apple butter from last year I didn’t realize I had. Also have put up several quarts of tomatoes and tomato juice.
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Since a few jars of beans didn’t seal, we had some for supper the other night. They were OK, but they seemed to taste a bit burned. Our other batches we’ve done this year seem to have that burnt look to them as well.
What could be causing this? We only process them 25 minutes, but there’s the usual venting for 10 minutes, the time between venting and when the bobber starts ticking. And there’s the cool down/depressurization stage, which takes about 45 minutes. Total time on the burner is about 1.5 hours. None of these stages can be avoided, so I don’t know why they seem to be getting burned.
Before we put the jars in the canner, we add water to the 3qt line, which is about 3in from the bottom. When we take the lid off after the pressure lock there is still water in the bottom of the canner, so that’s not a problem.
I will say say that the burner element that we sit the cooker on burned out, and had to be replaced. So, maybe the burner was heating erratically, and overcooked the beans?? Any comments?
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I’m not going to go into great detail but it doesn’t matter how hot the burner is. Water boils at 212.
Adding 5, 10,etc pressure will raise the temperature to 230, 240, etc. It will never go higher.
More heat than you need will simply make the water boil and steam faster but will not raise the temp of the cook.
You don’t set the jars on the actual bottom do you? that would be bad. They should have a rack or something to lift them off them bottom.
Edit: If they are actually setting on the bottom then the heat will be conducted through the glass and could potentially raise the temperature and cause issues.
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What pressure are you using?
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The only things that I can think of are (1) perhaps something you are adding to the jar is affecting the flavor, or (2) it’s a characteristic of the bean, or, (3) you may be bringing up the temp too fast. Yes, water boils at 212 but conduction from burner to pot to rack to jar to beans may produce a hot spot at very high temps. Did any of the beans appear burnt or discolored?
Some time ago I put some additive to either keep color to improve crispness (can’t remember, but it was for canning) that produced an off taste in the end product - don’t think it was a ‘burnt’ flavor.
If it is a characteristic of the bean you should be able to produce it by just boiling them in a pot.
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Do you use well water IN the jars? We do but we have pretty good water.
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Thanks for all the replies.
To answer @Daemon2525, we cold pack the beans, namely fill the jar with beans, add a teaspoon of salt, and pour boiling water onto the beans, leaving an inch of headspace.
We put the jars on the supplied rack, which keeps them about half an inch above the bottom.
We use tap water in the jars, it’s not really hard/soft, but does seem to have a high chlorine content. We run our tap water thru a two-stage filter for drinking. My wife doesn’t always use it, but I do, as I don’t like that Cl taste in my water.
@k8tpayaso, we can all our stuff that needs high pressure processing at 10lb.
@JustAnne4, the only thing we add is some salt, and hot water. We processed two types of beans, half-runners, and pole beans, and they seem to look the same. We’re not growing any bush beans.
Our pickles, are obviously not pressure canned, and taste alright.
Our beans from previous years taste alright, maybe it’s just the wonky burner that caused the issues?
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I’m not going to argue but I think that I could can them on your wonky burner, an oak fire or charcoal and not make a difference. It must be something else. Just my opinion. 
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True. We’ll try the pole beans and see how they taste.
Do any of you guys use the hot pack method, that is, blanch them in hot water a bit before putting them in the jars?
The burner element cost $30 to replace. Earlier this week it was the Jeep’s throttle sensor, and now this. Things are falling apart around here! I had to replace the truck’s power steering pulley a couple weeks ago.
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Ine more question…do you vent the canner until pure steam?
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We put the lid on, turn up the heat a little, and wait for a steady stream of steam. Usually takes about 10 minutes to get to that state. After it vents for 10 more minutes, we put on the bobber.
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I don’t know…never had that problem. And I always canned at a higher pressure for less time (which I don’t see recommended anymore).
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45 minutes after the canning seems like very long to me. The beans might be overcooked. I usually get impatient and put the pressure canner in the sink and let the cold water pore on the lid. The pot depressurizes in several minutes and I very carefully take the jars out.
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Well, after the processing time is up, we turn off the burner, but they do sit in there in that hot water in the jar and cooker. Even after we take them out they’re still boiling inside the jar.
I’d worry about the jars breaking if the canner were cooled down that fast by letting cold water pour on it. I don’t even think the canner would fit in our sink anyways.
I don’t know, we’ll be canning some corn and more beans next week. We’ll see what happens then.
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Try taking some to your ag extension. I’ve gotten quick and helpful answers from mine. They’ve either seen it before or are interested in figuring it out. Bringing along some cookies helps too.
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Frog Jam and Monkey Butter. Looking forward to seeing the grands reaction when I offer these two options instead of regular jelly to go with peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The oldest granddaughter has already cautioned me about pranking them because sometimes the grands pick out your nursing home.
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