Canning

[cntrlwagdnr]

Actually it's a very good guide, but there are plenty of others on line - they all say the same things. The canning supply manufacturers have a vested interest in making sure you don't poison yourself, so they are very accurate. Any canning needs to be done carefully. Pressure canning is not immune to failures either. We do both. That being said, pressure canning is more complex but takes less time. Not as much difference as you might expect, because you have to wait for the pressure to come down. Plus they are potentially dangerous pieces of equipment so you need to keep them in tip top condition. I agree on the over spice or salt issue, but that's a user error and not due to the method. I even can my sauerkraut.

 

[Durgan]

I know nobody pressure canning or seriously canning. I still think the instructions are silly and not up to date. My opinion.For example I seldom see anybody using a colander if ever. There are few forms on canning about the same number on fermenting. In UK almost unknown.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Do you have the latest edition? Lot of updates from the old versions - of which we have 3.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

My mom would can in the oven. sterilize jars in boiling water, and lids. Fill the jars, put them in the oven for whatever the canning for oven directions there was.

 

[Durgan]

Do you have the latest edition? Lot of updates from the old versions - of which we have 3.

When I first started canning seriously , I naturally read all the literature. The essence of pressure canning is to have the ingredients reach 240F (115C) for about three minutes. This kills all harmful bugs.

Now the problem. It is difficult to measure in home environment.But we know at 15PSI the temperature of 240F is reached. But what about the solid ingredients in a jar? Some parts might or will be insulated and not be subjected to 240F.

My solution is to make all the ingredients the same texture by homogenizing so more than likely all parts will reach 240F. So for perfect safety I chose 15 PSI for 15 minutes. And experimented on myself. I have safely ingested over 3000 liter jars of the homogenized slurry/juice with no sickness. Proof enough. The 15 PSI at 15 minutes is probably gross overkill.

Pressure cooking or pressure canning wrecks food to some degree, certainly if overdone which is highly likely. My slurry/juice is all essentially the same and is not repulsive in anyway in my experince.

 

[skinyea]

so far I have 36 quarts of varies tomatoes pressure canned over last few days.
did 18 pints of tomato soup also
just did 18 pints of sweet corn and 18 pints of green beans.

just picked 23 pounds of assorted tomatos and will do these tomorrow.

thank you all for guiding me through this.

 

[Durgan]

so far I have 36 quarts of varies tomatoes pressure canned over last few days.
did 18 pints of tomato soup also
just did 18 pints of sweet corn and 18 pints of green beans.

just picked 23 pounds of assorted tomatos and will do these tomorrow.

thank you all for guiding me through this.

How about some pictures. Some detail writing would be appreciated.

 

[skinyea]

Not sure how to put pictures on here will take some if i figure it out i will do so what do you men by detail writing

 

[Durgan]

Not sure how to put pictures on here will take some if i figure it out i will do so what do you men by detail writing

Just describe your method. Don't feel under pressure. I am deeply interested, since you did so many.

 

[skinyea]

Just describe your method. Don't feel under pressure. I am deeply interested, since you did so many.

1st attempt

tomato(mostly) soup. ingredients various types of ripe tomato's green zebra, Rutgers, beef steak,roma, a few Cherokees. jalapenos, a few green peppers and a few yellow onions and salt. everything from garden except onions. I used all of the tomato's except core.

baked everything in oven for 30 minutes at 375. used ninja to blend all together afterwords. made 21 pints of soup. only had room for 9 in the presto. set aside the rest for 2nd batch and lunch. ordered 2nd rack the same day.

started the canning process. goal was to do 15 psi for 25 minutes waited for 30 minutes after steam came out of vent, put weight on no pressure built. realized i didnt put the gage on tight enough. steam was coming out of it. turned stove off set 45 minute timer. after 45 minutes i didnt feel good about taking lid off. waited another 30 minutes. took lid off. it was fine. tightened gage. started process all over again. steam came out of vent, waited 30 min. put weight on. pressure went up to 5psi in about 25 minutes. i had my stove on at 8. didnt turn it down fast enough and before I knew it ,I was at 18 psi. turned it down to low and went to 12 psi. figured it out and got it at a steady 15 psi. left it for 30 minutes just because i was nervous that the up and down screwed things up. turned stove off and set 45 minute timer. after 45 minutes my wife freaked out and asked for another 45 minutes so it wouldnt blow up in our face, after the additional 45 minutes took off lid. took jars out and put on rack. heard pops

2nd attempt
much much smoother. same day as 1st attempt. 9 pints of the same tomato soup. gauge tightened no steam coming out. waited for 30 minutes of steam coming out of vent, put weight on. psi went to 5 in about 25 minutes. i had stove set at 8. turned it down to 6 then. pressure built to 10. tune it down to 5. pressure built to 15. kept it at 6 for a bit and then turned it down to 4. kept a constant pressure of 15/16 kept it at this for 25 minutes. turned stove off. after 1 our took out jars. put on rack. heard pops.

went to bed. woke up next morning and freaked out due to a filmy film on most of jars. researched and realized my well water was to blame. soaked jars in water and vinager. all good.

ps this is the longest message I have typed since school.

 

[Durgan]

Interesting! What pressure canner do you have. I am unfamiliar with any that go above 15 PSI? Send a URL?

I re-read from the start and I think you have the same canner, Presto, that I have. The weight sets the pressure. It will be 15 PSI. I consider the gauge redundant and it serves no purpose. Simply removing the weight and no steam coming out means the pressure is at atmosphere' Then it is safe to remove the canner lid. I only use 15 PSI and completely ignore the gauge.



















what

 

[skinyea]

Interesting! What pressure canner do you have. I am unfamiliar with any that go above 15 PSI? Send a URL?

I re-read from the start and I think you have the same canner, Presto, that I have. The weight sets the pressure. It will be 15 PSI. I consider the gauge redundant and it serves no purpose. Simply removing the weight and no steam coming out means the pressure is at atmosphere' Then it is safe to remove the canner lid. I only use 15 PSI and completely ignore the gauge.



















what

so whether the gage says 18 or 15 all is good? that kinda makes since as the 3rd 4th and 5th time I thought I nailed the temp cause it stayed at 15 psi the entire time.

this is definitely addicting. I can wait for my next day off to do more.

 

[Durgan]

The safety plug blows at about 20 PSI. I am referring to the small orifice with a ring gasket in the periphery of the lid. This can happen if the bubbler hole gets blocked when cooking something loose like beans or grains. I avoid this since I use a colander with the side handles removed to keep loose stuff out of the water and steam cook. This means the loose material cannot bubble up. Highly unlikely in canning more common in cooking.

The object of pressure canning is to insure the jar contents all reach 240F for about 15 minutes. The 15 minutes is overkill but insurance. The temperature of 240 F is automatic when the pressure is 15PSI. The operator controls the time.

Large chunks of material can get insulated and may not reach 240F. I insure all reach this temperature by slurry/juicing meaning all the material is the same and more likely to not have any insulation.

I might add the older Presto did not have a pressure gauge. Then some grad student made those silly timing charts without the brain in gear. All the manufacturers reproduced that what I call nonsense. Pressure cooking any plant material basically ruins the structure, so why not slurry/juice and accept from the beginning. Hence my pressure of 15PSI (240F) for 15 minutes.

 

[skinyea]

thanks for your knowledge. last question presto 23qt instructions say to pressure cook pints of corn for 55 minutes. I did. tasted it for 1st time today. it is good. but tastes overcooked. can i do it less?

 

[Durgan]

Corn is a special case. If you don't slurry/juice the kernels, it is impossible to insure all kernels get to 240F.

I remove the kernels from the cob and cook and slurry/juice and pressure can normally.

10 August 2017 Corn Juice
Posted on August 10, 2017 by Durgan
http://durgan.org/2017/August 2017/10 August 2017 Corn Juice/HTML/ 10 August 2017 Corn Juice
Eighty four cobs of corn were purchased and processed into pressure canned juice for long term off season storage. Corn cost $7.00 per dozen. The kernels were cut of the cobs yielding about ten pounds of corn. The corn was placed in a cooking pot with ten liters of water and boiled until soft about 20 minutes, then beat into a slurry. The slurry was put through a 2mm mesh food mill and the residue was put through a Champion Juicer to extract maximum nutrients. The processed juice was pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes. Fourteen one liter jars of juice was obtained from the 84 corn, about 5 cobs of corn per liter or slightly less than a pound of kernels.