I have been a canning fool this season. I've canned relishes, juices, salsas, jalapenos, pickles, jams, dilly beans, waterless green beans, leeks, and of course tomatoes. I've been using regular lids and also Tattler lids. This is my first year canning and I am self taught through books mostly and an occasional tip from an experienced canner friend.

I had quite the canning accident in September though, and thought I'd take the time to share. I was canning whole peeled tomatoes in juice. I pressure canned them since my GA Cooperative Extension book "So Easy To Preserve" advises 25 min at 10 pounds pressure vs the 85 min in a boiling bath canner. All good so far. Here's where my problem comes in. My tattler box says: Tighten bands immediately upon removal from the canner. I had read that over the summer, so all this time, I have been tightening ALL bands upon removal from the canner. I've done A LOT of canning with no troubles until... it finally bit me with the tomatoes. The jar I removed from the pressure canner was bubbling and nearly running over (this jar had a regular ball lid on it) and the minute I just touched that band, the lid and band popped off and sprayed my face and neck with nearly the full quart of boiling tomatoes and juice.

I would say that I was second and possibly third degree burned. I self treated at home using an Amish Burn & Wound Ointment. It wasn't pretty...for quite a while. But I'm glad I didn't go to the ER to get debrided. No thanks. I applied the ointment thick, cleansing face, neck and arm (all areas with burns) three times a day. I waited a day before peeling off the dead skin. Still applying the ointment thickly. Its amazing stuff, main ingredient being Honey. I was doing well until I mowed lawn and got some grass/debris in my bandage on an arm sore. It started to look infected so I finally went to a doctor and got an oral antibiotic (keflex). The doctor told me to continue with the ointment. A month later, I have minimal scarring. And I am in hopes that in a year, you won't even be able to tell it ever happened.

Not that I'm advising self-treatment of serious burns, that's just what I did mainly because I'm uninsured and frugal. But I am advising DON'T TOUCH THE LIDS OR BANDS OF JARS FRESHLY OUT OF THE CANNER!! The kicker too, was that there was a jar with a tattler lid that was left in the canner while I was flushing my face, neck and arms with water... and the thing sealed up just fine without being tightened. I love my tattlers, its not their fault since it wasn't a tattler that blew off the jar. It was purely my error. May it not be yours!

Morning after



Self-Peeled



A month later... healed up nicely and smiling again



Here's the burn ointment I used
http://www.betterthangreens.com/B-W-Oin ... -8-oz/437/

Ouch Glad your doin better

HOLY CRAP !!

I hope you are ok

Wow! You were very lucky! Glad it wasn't any worse than it was. Glad your ok.

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Thanks! As with any burn, it did seem to get worse before it got better. My youngest didn't really want to hug me with my freaky face and "goop" on. :P But all is well now, and I'm back on the canning horse!

your post was truncated on the right side of the screen for me but I got the gist of it. Good to see you are recovering, hope this doesn't scare you from doing more canning. How could this have been prevented?

My view is truncated too. I don't know how to fix it. Johnny? A little help?

The only way to prevent this kind of mishap is DON'T TOUCH THE BANDS/CAPS ON JARS FRESHLY OUT OF THE CANNER. Remove from the canner, and don't mess with them for at least 12 hrs. Some let them sit for 24 hrs before even moving them from their first resting spot. They either will seal or not seal... you don't have to touch them to be sure they are sealing. I've heard from old timers who say they remember their mothers taking things out of the pressure canner with a towel held up to protect themselves while removing jars. They also didn't have jar lifters back then and would remove those hot jars with just a potholder/towel.

Try now, should work.

I'm glad you are doing so well. Thanks for the timely information. Be careful and keep on canning!

Wow! I usually let them have a good start at cooling down in the canner. I got my Tattler lids this summer, but haven't started to use them yet.
I think your face healed up VERY well with the "goop"! Glad you are ok now!