Bethzaring,
Thanks so much for your time to respond. I did as you suggested and learned nothing new. I should note I've been pressure canning meat for 20 years. This has never happened before, so I'm in new territory.
Let me try again to explain myself;
As my thread headline suggests, the lid/cap/ring---all in one, were/are inferior. This single/fused design is doomed to fail in this pressure canning application, as:
1) The lid can only be as tightly secured as the cap; being all one unit.
2) It then becomes critical that the screw of the cap and the threads of the jar meet and work in perfect conjunction.
3) Once the rubber seal is vaccum indented (sealed), it is useless a second time and the whole unit must be tossed.
Once packed, The lid/cap/ring---all in one sealer was twisted snug onto the jar and all were inserted into the canner. All subsequent/recommended procedures were followed as I've always done successfully (with reliable 2 part rings/lids)
The canner was removed from the heat and allowed to cool before the weight was removed (note: no pressure escaped/remained in the canner).
Sometime later I cracked the canner cover to find between 2 and 4 of every 6 jars to have lost moisture and, having excessive headroom. Boiling had forced moisture out of the unsecured lid, apparently due to a failure of my initial lid tightening or simple design flaw.
When it became possible to remove all the jars (still quite hot), the lid/cap/ring---all in one was noticeably loose...had become unthreaded, would have leaked had the jar been turned upside down. I even smashed one of the first jars by trying to pick it out of the canner by the lid/cap/ring---all in one which was virtually unattached.
It was at THIS point that I re-tightened the lid/cap/ring---all in one and let the jars cool overnight. I never heard a "pop" which I love to hear,but attribute that to the poor design of the lid. It does seem slightly indented as it sits on the cooled/re-tightened jar and the jars themselves are near impossible to open by hand these many hours later.
I own and use a vacuum sealing bag tool. All indications lean towards the food remaining quite safe, unrefrigerated, even on the shelf, once the air has been sucked out. I THINK that is what happened hereAFTER a full cook.
My inclination is to believe the food was fully cooked at 15psi and the seal allowed to establish occur, but only after being removed from the canner.
Here is where I am more ignorant than anywhere else. Is the food in these re-tightened/sealed jars shelf safe or do they need to be tossed/refrigerated or frozen?
This meat will never be eaten without another full heating. Does that, as it seems to indicate on the WWW, take care of any botulism risks?
Please accept my apology for the longest forum reply I've ever written. I am confused, concerned and curious.
Kevin