Canning Chicken Soup - Won't Seal! Help.

[DraftLady]

I made a huge batch of chicken soup yesterday and started canning.  Quart jars.  1 in head space.  10 lbs.  ya-da, ya-da.  First batch I got 3 to seal out of 4.  No worries.  Happens sometimes.  Next batch 2 out of 4.  Now I'm wondering.  Next batch - same thing - 2 out of 4.  I quit at 10:30 last night and put up what I had left in the fridge.  I just did the last 3 quarts.  1 of 3 sealed.  I'm just starting the last 2 AGAIN.  This is ridiculous.  I have canned meat before and never had this problem.  I'm letting the canner vent before I put the weight on.  I'm letting it get up to 10 lbs before I start my time.  I checked how I'm putting the lids on - just to set them - not tight, not loose.  I've cleaned off the mouth of the jar.  I don't know what else to do.  Is there something missing here?
Draftlady

[Meg]

Could it be the consistency of the soup?

Maybe if it froths up a bit the some of the soup gets bubbled to the top of the jar and escapes with the venting gasses..... and therefore a residue gets left to prevent the seal on cooling?

Just a thought. 

[DraftLady]

Just plain old chicken soup - no thickening added.  Just broth, vegetables and chicken.  Got me puzzled.  But then again, I'm at the age when I go to do this again - I won't have the problem.  I will have remembered what I'm not doing now   .  Just maddening though. 

Draftlady

[cygnus]

Did you skim most of the fat off first?  More than just a thin layer of fat on the top can force its way out of the jar and slime the top under the ring, and prevent a seal. 

If you haven't skimmed it, put the broth into the fridge for a few hours before you try it again, and lift off the extra fat, then try again, making sure you wipe the jar rims with a hot wet towel before putting the ring down.

good luck!

[pamela]

check the canning lids for defects and the jar lips as well.
sounds like you do plenty of canning so you probably already have, but it could be a package of defective jar lids.

[pamplemousse]

And do you warm up the lids before you use them, but not too much?

I used to get more seal failures when I literally overcooked the lids.

[pamela]

good point pamplemousse.
since she's pressure canning the soup, she really wouldn't need to sterilize the lids anyway.
just rinse them off good don't you think?

[pamplemousse]

I agree that there's no need to sterilize, but I still warm up the lids before any kind of canning.

Here's what I do:  take a 4 cup measuring cup filled with water, microwave for five minutes (a good boil), add the lids one by one, alternating up/down.  I do this so they have at least 3-4 minutes in the hot water.

Sometimes the quantity of jars are off, and I come up a lid short, so I add a new lid the hot water, and it doesn't get warmed up.  That's usually the jar that doesn't seal for me, not always.

[Hope@ZeroKelvin]

You probably have a bad bunch of lids.

I think you should warm them up to a good simmer but not boil them. 

Perhaps you just need more headspace?

[DraftLady]

Thank you, thank you everyone.  I think I figured out the problem all due to your help.  I said chicken soup - it's really game bird- quail, pheasant, etc.  There is additional grease in that kind of meat.  I think I was packing the jars to much - too little headspace - and the grease was boiling up and under the lids.  Once I left additional headspace - everything seemed to work ok.  Don't worry the grease isn't bad - the flavor is to die for!  Thank you all again for your help. 

Draftlady