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The loosely packed is so that the water will be able to fill in all the spaces and conduct the heat uniformly. So, you can pack it down a bit, just so you can get the water down there.

Okey-dokey. I certainly will next time ;)

Hmmm, Broiler, frier, stewer (small, medium, large) My Buff Orpingtons were pretty large, I got about 2 1/2 - would get more with broilers. I do press it down a bit rather than just super loose filling.

....dunno....generic supermarket chicken. I won't know all the chicken varieties until I start raising some ;)

Remember not to rush the cool down... Most seal failures occur from trying to cool it too fast. - Strangely, don’t leave them in after pressure gets down to zero (like overnight if you were tired from a long day canning.) Many seals will fail if you do. (I have no clue as to why and have not seen experts have a really good explanation, except that it does.)

You have no idea how helpful you are! I was actually going to do just that - leave it in the pressure canner to cool since my son wanted to go 4-wheeling this afternoon. He ended up taking longer to get down stairs, and I had time to take 'em out before we left. That was lucky! I'm wondering if I have a failed seal anyway, because the inside of the canner smells like chicken.

How again do I test a seal? I know the part about pushing on the top of the lid. It's the sides of the lid I'm not clear on. If I push too hard, I'll disengage it even if it had a good seal to start with..?

>>>How again do I test a seal?<<<

If the center is not sucked down, it has not sealed. If you just push down a bit on the center of the lid, it should not pop like a childs clicker (remember those little froggy things?).

The pushing a bit on the side comes tomorrow when you take the rings off. Then wash the jars and dry them - then onto the shelf!

I really doubt that the leakage into the cooker came from a failed seal. Remember, it had to vent some of that bubbling air out of the jar to create a vacuum. It is normal to get a bit of aroma and juice in the canner - particularly if you don’t leave right amount of headspace. Most likely if you have a failed seal, it will be because there was something on the rim, jar was overfilled or grease (fat) kept it from making a good seal.

RELAX... Listen for the ping chorus... (should have already heard it by now.)