Lime pickle - how high to fill jars

jonny2510

I've just made a batch of lime pickle, and have made about 4 jars worth.

I thoroughly washed and rinsed the jars, and the heated them in an oven at approx 130 oC for 15 mins.

I then poured the heated lime pickle into the jars.

3 of the jars I filled to approx 2 mm away from the rim of the jars (i.e. right up near the lid).

The final jar had approx a 1cm gap between the lid and the pickle.

Is there any problem that I've filled the other jars so high. I filled them so high to minimise the amount of air in there to (hopefully) make the pickle last longer in storage? Now I'm worried they may break, or that I've done somethig wrong. When I buy jars from the supermarket they're not usually that high [other than the cordial we bought from Tescos tonight, but that's a different story ]

I assume as the jars cool down they may shrink a bit, but then if that's the case, so should the contents ???

The recipe states to leave the pickles for one week at room temperature, before storing. Shall I store the not quite as full jar (once the week at room temperature is up) in the fridge, and use that one first, because of the air in the top.

Sorry if the questions are a bit obvious, it's the first time I've ever made anything that went in a jar?

floyd

I have never made lime pickle but chutneys are OK filled quite high as long as they don't actually touch the lid. The contents tend to settle on cooling so the space gets bigger and if you used metal lids make sure there is no 'give' in the lid when you press it after the pickle has cooled down.
If I have any jars that have a bigger than usual space I put them in the fridge and use first as you suggested
Will have a quick look in my books and see what they say

jonny2510

many thanks.

Why mustn't it touch the lid. Is it in case of a reaction with it?

jonny2510

well the jars seemed ok this morning, so fingers crossed!

floyd

Sorry, missed your last post. I believe its just to stop any vinegar reacting with the lid although this isn't so much of a problem these days as most lids have a plastic liner built into them.

I found this comment on another site about how much space to leave at the top when sealing jars http://www.vegetableexpert.co.uk/how-can-vegetables-from-your-garden.html
"Some foods expand more when cooked, so headspace varies. In general, allow a 1-inch (25 mm) headspace for low-acid foods, ½ an inch (12.5 mm) for acidic foods and a ¼ of an inch (6.25 mm) for juices, preserves and pickles."

jonny2510

floyd wrote: »

Sorry, missed your last post. I believe its just to stop any vinegar reacting with the lid although this isn't so much of a problem these days as most lids have a plastic liner built into them.

Thanks for that.

I "think" they all had plastic liners, so will keep my fingers crossed!

I suppose if I do notice a reaction when I come to open each jar, I should hopefully be able to spoon out the top few cm and eat the rest of each jar.

I don't really want to open them to remove some until then.