Saturday, August 29, 2009

Lesson learned: do not add cold jars to a hot canner...

I had chicken stock simmering all night, and today needed to get it strained, chilled (to remove the fat) and canned. My mind must have been somewhere else entirely, I had turned the stove on to heat up the water in the pressure canner while I filled jars with cold stock...then when I added the first jar in- CRACK!

I freaked out and checked to see what cracked before it hit me that the water was hot, the glass jar was cold, bad combo. I've never had a jar crack on me. So I carefully lifted it out with the jar lifter and ot my surprise the whole bottom of the jar fell off in one piece! LOL



So I ended up with a bottomless jar and a canner of stock-y hot water. Kinda cool actually. The edge where the glass cracked isnt even sharp surpriseingly enough. I'm saving the jar to use as a cloche in springtime. Now I'm curious to replicate cracking just the bottom off of big clear wine jugs and such to make my own glass cloches for plants.

Later while waiting for one batch of stock to cool and the next batch to warm up so I could put them in the canner I noticed how much the color changes after being in the pressure canner. I hope I'm not "burning" the stock in the process, I'll have to wait till I open one to taste and compare to some fresh stuff that I have frozen into cubes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I broke the bottom off of a glass a couple of weeks back. I was filling the sink with hot water (water going into the glass), and then changer to cold. When I went to pick up the glass it top lifted, but the bottom remained. Just like you say, a clean break. My husband (a glass blower) says it has to do with the fact that the glass expands ever so slightly when heated and contracts when cooled and if you do it too soon, then it cracks.

Thomas said...

Interesting how the color changed! Have you had a chance to taste it?

Cindy said...

the darker one tasted a bit ...stronger? More intense? I was worried it would taste burned but it doesnt, it just tastes stronger.