Canned applesauce turned brown

I am stumped! Canned Applesauce, like I have done for years, on Sunday, October 12, 124 quarts! Had to be out of state till October 19, one week. Today I am taking off the rings and washing the jars to put in the cellar. About half of the jars have darkened about a quarter of the way down from the top. The jars are sealed! The taste is the same. We used the same kind of apples from the same orchard. What could be causing this darkness to grow down the sauce? I pressured all jars the same as always, 5 lbs for 10 minutes. What could be wrong?

Debbie Kinzer
Salem, South Carolina

Often darkening is caused from air bubbles being trapped in the applesauce. This would be my best guess. Often when we get in a hurry, we skip the “remove air bubbles” step, figuring we don’t see any so what the heck. I wouldn’t worry about this but next time, remove air bubbles with a chopstick or wooden spoon handle. It happens more often in quarts than pints. — Jackie

Canning greens

This is a two part question. You have touched on the first part on answers to others but I am going to re-phrase it again as it might be part of the second question. We grew a great crop of greens this year (no aphids) so I thought I would can about a dozen quarts. It had been quite a few years since I had canned greens so I was very careful with my process (as usual). I waited till the steam cleared (about 5+ min) before placing the weight on the pot (10lb.) I waited till the weight started jiggling, then slowly turned down the heat till it was jiggling every 5 sec or so. Then removed the top after the pressure had neutralized. The greens were wet but there was very little water in the jars. I processed the jars for 1 hour and 30 minutes. I don’t remember that much water being blown out of the jars. Second question. We use an old Mirro canner. 30 years I guess. So old the bottom is no longer flat. It has never let us down. Don’t love the idea of spending the money but I will buy the All American you suggest if you think the old Mirro has just worn out. It has a new gasket.

Duncan Murrow
Valdese, North Carolina

Two common reasons you lose liquid out of jars are: the pressure varied during the processing and there were air bubbles in the liquid, trapped before putting the lids on the jars. Do be sure that steam vents strongly (a steady stream of steam) for 5-10 minutes before putting the weight on. It will vent faster when very hot food has been packed rather than say raw corn with boiling water poured in the jars, which results in a lukewarm batch of jars to heat up.

If the bottom of your canner is pitted, it is usually fine. But if it’s gotten warped (usually from insufficient water having boiled dry during canning), it’s time to replace it. — Jackie