You can pack food hot or raw in jars. Hot-packed food is heated
thoroughly before it is packed into jars. Raw-packed food is placed raw
in jars. Watery and soft foods such as tomatoes are pressed gently to
make their own juice.
Air, a poor conductor of heat, should be removed from the jar. Remove
air bubbles by gently moving the blade of a plastic spatula or plastic
knife around the jar--being careful that the food is not broken. Add
more boiling liquid if necessary to get a proper fill.
When filling jars, you will find the jar-filling funnel easy to manage.
This makes it possible to avoid spills of seeds, bits of food, or sirup
that could prevent sealing. But even when using a funnel you still need
to wipe the jar rim.
[Illustration: Heating beans thoroughly before placing them in jars.
Here, cut beans are covered with water to be followed by five
minutes of boiling.]
Prepare the lids and sealing of jar according to the manufacturer's
directions. When using a flat metal lid, place the composition side on
the rim of the jar. Add the ring band and screw it down until firm, but
not hard enough to cut through the sealing compound. The lid will have
enough "give" to let air escape during processing. This is called
venting and means heating to remove air from jars.
When using porcelain-lined zinc caps, fit the wet rubber ring on the jar
shoulder, but do not stretch it more than necessary. Screw the cap
firmly and turn it back ¼ inch.
Use a jar lifter or tongs and place the filled jars on the rack in the
canner. Fill and place jars in the canner one at a time to keep jars as
hot as possible while filling the canner.