you all be careful

[bookwormom]

in canning we by necessity have to deal with plenty of hot water. so easy for accidents to happen. I was going to put my latest picking of pickles into a crock and ferment them. It was a real nice crock, too, with a big lip to hold water and a lid to set in it, making an instant seal. I scalded the crock and later proceeded to empty it into a bucket. to make a long story short, it was too slippery and the handles really not very handy, I could not hold it and dropped it, it broke, scalded my feet, one jagged shard cut my foot. I had let the water cool some, so it is not bad, it hurts like a sunburn. the loss of my crock is a real loss. It was about two gallon size, have no idea how I could replace it.

[Deberosa]

Yes, and never fill jars with them anywhere near your body. My mother was injured very badly many years ago canning tomatoes. She would dip them out of the pot and ladle them into a jar she held with a mit. The bottom came out of one jar just as she filled it - it was defective! The round circle that broke from the jar hit her thigh, cutting it but then the hot tomatoes followed. She was wearing polyester shorts common in that day and the polyester melted onto her skin. As she peeled them off her skin came with it. It took many months to heal and was extremely painful!

Be very careful - bad things can happen when you least expect it. Put the jar on a plate on the counter and fill it that way!

[TNDadx4]

Thanks for the head up regarding this. I had my first experience canning tomatoes with my youngest son last night. From the way things went, it was plain to see that we were novices...lol We had water everywhere and I learned that I did not have the right tongs for the job.

On the plus side, my son likes boiling, peeling and coring the tomatoes :)

It was a really cool experience, but scary at the same time as we chipped one of the jars (yes, we disgarded it)

Anyway, thanks again for the warnings!