I believe the time starts when the boil starts. I did what you did a few years ago. I reprocessed them and they preserved fine. The one thing I noticed was they were a tiny bit softer than I was expecting. I really suck at making good pickles. :(

Lol praxxus55712
all the jars have sealed can i do it right away, (the jars have cooled) do i take the lids off to unseal them and then put back on or just leave them sealed and reprocess them, thanks for your help! this is my 2nd year at trying to make dill pickles.ugg i would like to reprocess them now as i have cucumber relish in the works for tomorrow.

oh my i need to slow down! i took all the lids off and put new lids on and i will just reprocess them. thank you.

I think you misread the BBB instructions. When you lower the jars into the water that will reduce the temperature. You need to be sure the water is at a boil before you start timing. Refer to the instructions at the link below.

To re-process, you have to "start over." That means get the pickles and brine out of the jars. Discard the used lids. Get the jars clean and hot, fresh lids hot, and re-heat the brine. Re-pack the cucumbers, seal the jars as you did the first time and process.

I assume Mrs. Wages calls for the 10-minute processing time. The Ball recipe is 15 minutes.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Using Boiling Water Canners

How many jars are we talking about? Would it be possible for you to just stick them in the fridge and leave them there till eaten?

The issue is one of balancing safety with quality. Technically no, they are not processed correctly although I have to wonder what was wrong with your stove that it can't return water to boiling within 10 mins? You will need to solve that problem for future canning.

But if you reprocess them now they are going to most likely go soft as it will be excessive processing and the quality will decline. For that reason, if they were mine, I would not reprocess then, just stick them in the fridge..

They are "probably" safe as it because the Mrs. Wages mixes contain sufficient citric acid in them and if you can keep them in the fridge then yes, they will be safe as is. But if you MUST shelf store them, then re-process them.

This time I would suggest a modified processing. You won't be able to have the water in the pot boiling or the jars will break unless they are sill quite hot. So set them in the water, crank up the stove, bring the water to full boil and boil for 5 mins. then turn off the heat and leave the jars in the water for an additional 5 mins. before removing them.

For future reference, timing starts once the water returns to a full boil as praxxus said.

Hope this helps.

Dave

We were all posting at the same time so now we have probably completely confused you. Sorry about that.

Please note that Carols instructions are the correct ones and mine were "just what I would do" in this particular case.

But also for future reference, stick with one set of instructions to avoid confusing yourself. Mrs. Wages instructions are different from the BBB - safe but different - so you should choose one or the other rather than trying to "combine" instructions. OK?

Dave

How old is your Blue Book? I seem to remember old advice that said when processing dills, the timing did start when the jars were lowered into the water, not when it returned to the boil.

However, I think that was in the old (1st edition) of Putting Food By, which is now outdated.

My newest Blue Book (2003), says to process dills normally, that is to start timing after the water returns to the boil.

Sharon

Maybe you're thinking of low-temp pasteurization which is possible with some pickle recipes.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Low-Temperature Pasteurization

My brand new (2010) BBB on page 46 under getting started second paragraph state "Processing procedures for fermented cucumbers and fresh pack dills are slightly different than the usual boiling-water method. Bring the water to a rolling boil before lowering jars into canner. Start to count the processing time as soon as the filled jars are lowered into the boiling water. Process for the length of time specified by the tested recipe you are following."

Linda Lou has mentioned that previously. I forgot.

I wonder if that applies to the Mrs. Wages recipes as well?

Carol