basically my question is...is it a problem if the jar prematurely sealed before going into the BWB

No, it happens. Pre-processing pings are a sign that the jar had begun to cool some and tried to seal itself. It is best to avoid letting it happen if possible but it does happen to all of us now and then and as long as you quickly followed up with the proper processing, it will be fine. ;)

BUT do NOT save/store jars that sealed this way without processing them. It isn't a safe seal and BWB processing is for more safety factors than just sealing the jars. So if a jar pings before the BWB processing, you still have to do the processing on it. OK?

Dave

PS: and welcome to the forum. Glad you came out of the lurker closet. :^)

I see this all the time while I am filling and capping jars prior to putting a batch in the canner. The most obvious is the way the lid sinks down slightly and the small 'embossed' button in the middle will be sunken (indented) in even slightly more. Thats what makes the ping sound. Its quite easy to see what jar is going under vacuum when you see the whole lid sink in slightly. As to a bottom rack, be sure the jars are up from the bottom by about an inch, and the water covers the the tops of the jars by about 2 inches. If your planning on doing a lot more home canning, it may be wise to look for a bigger pot and lift out rack that can hold the whole batch of jars at once. Even though they are quite heavy once loaded with filled jars, these racks have handles that will allow you to lift out the whole batch at once. There is also the invaluable tongs that grab a single jar just under the glass bead near the tops. Here, my rack is also a bit wide between the wires, so I added a cut down round piece of aluminum. It was bought at Home Depot and comes in a 2'x4' sheet with small triangles punched in it. The small triangular punched holes allow for more heat to move though. The aluminum sheet is thin enough where you can use a good pair of scissors to cut it into a round. Since adding that disk on top of my wire rack, the jars are quite sturdy and will not easily tip.

Let the apple rings age a while, and they are great when served as is, or over ice cream, or even as part of a fresh fruit mixed salad. I still have a small jar of brandied cheeries my dad made many years ago. It was canned in a small instant coffee jar with plastic cover. Because of all the brandy and its constant refrigeration, it will never spoil. Might make some ice cream with the cherries and some chocolate chips.

Whew, I'm glad to hear my jars are good and safe. I wasn't worried for the jars I keep myself, but when I give gifts I want to be 110% sure. I did tip one jar lifting it out of the pot and it lost a bunch of liquid, so I threw that one in the fridge and I'll try it soon. Can't wait to taste them. Over ice cream sounds perfect.

Gingin99,
It may be that your rings are not snugged down enough. The jars shouldn't leak if they are tipped coming out of the canner or elsewhere.

I normally tighten the lids my fingers just past the point of resistance, so I think I'm tightening it enough. In this case I actually dropped the jar (not just knocked over)back into the canner and when I straightened it before lifting it out again, it started bubbling out at one side of the lid. I think perhaps the fall was hard enough to dent the ring or otherwise knock the lid loose and the combination of that and the boiling liquid inside the jar forced some liquid out. That's just my guess though. I lost about half the liquid in the jar.

Now that jar - the one that dropped - isn't safe to keep and too much time has passed to re-process it.

You didn't say but I assume all the jars in your original question were processed anyway even tho they had pinged before going into the BWB? That is a crucial point for safety.

Dave