Canning

[vette-kid]

What you have ordered is neither

 

[Durgan]

Pressure Canning (My Method)
Posted on August 26, 2015 by Durgan
My Method of Pressure canning.
Only plant material is pressure canned.The produce to be canned for long term storage at room temperature is:
Washed,cut into smaller pieces, added to a large cooking pot, covered with water to make a drinkable texture. Cooked until soft, about 20 minutes. When soft, blended into a homogeneous slurry with a hand blender.The slurry is then strained through a food mill or screen usually about 2mm mesh.The residue from the food mill or screen is usually put through a Champion Juicer to recover the maximum nutrients. This product usually a small amount makes a fine soup base or can be mixed with the food mill juice.

The juice obtained is them placed in liter jars,which are placed in the pressure canner. The pressure canner, a Presto, handles 7 one liter jars per batch.The canner is set for about 50 minutes, without the rocking weight in place until steam pours vigorously out the vent. This usually takes about 30 minutes or more.Then the weight is installed and when it starts to rock indicating 15 PSI, the 15 minute timing commences.At the end of the timing interval, heat is turned off and the pressure cooker is allowed to cool naturally.Lids are checked for seal and any not sealed are re-pressure canned with a new lid, or the jar of produce is used within a few days.I reuse the lids if not damaged and the failure rate is similar to using new lids each time, very minimal.

Water in the pressure canner is 3 liters. The gasket surface is lightly oiled by running the finger over the surface with kitchen vegetable oil. This extends the life of the gasket to years before replacement is required.The lid of the pressure canner should never be used like the lid on a normal pot. Such will overheat the gasket and dry it out, and will necessitate early replacement.

The chosen, 15 PSI and 15 minutes, is justified as being an overkill method and the product is not considered, since it is of the same overall homogeneous texture in every case due to being blended into a slurry.

I have processed over 2000 liter jars of virtually most food produce and ingested all with no spoilage or ill effects. Use the method at you discretion.

With pressure canning the jars only need be washed to remove dried material. They do not have to be boiled in water, since the high pressure temperature effectively sterilizes.

 

[skinyea]

That device you bought is a fancy water bath not pressure. The only pressure canner that I have years of experience with the PRESTO 23 quart canner. It is polished aluminium. Used correctly even the gasket lasts a long time.

Pressure cooker or pressure canner are the same except for size. I use the device as a cooker seldom but do use it for some things. For pressure canner you need a pot that goes to 15 PSI meaning it is sealed with a gasket. It need not be fancy. PRESTO is perfect IMO

http://durgan.org/2016/July%202016/8%20July%202016%20Vegetable%20Juice/HTML/dsc_01258%20july%202016%20vegetable%20juice_std.jpg

 

[skinyea]

Presto 01370 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker would this work

 

[Durgan]

https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/PRESTO-01781-23-Quart-Pressure-Canner/dp/B0000BYCFU This is the only one I would buy,

The one you list it doesn't give dimensions. I also dislike the release mechanism. I have no idea what they are trying to pull.

A cooker may not be high enough to take jars. Meaning cooker versus canner. They are identical except for size.

 

[Chuck]

Presto 01370 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker would this work

No, it wont. Here are the two that I have. The Mirro 92122A and the Presto 01781. They are a little bit different but the one I prefer to use is the Mirro because it slightly easier to set and maintain pressure but I think the Presto is the better product, but that is just my opinion. The Presto will process a couple of more pint Mason jars, 20, but the quart jars remain the same at 7. You can use these two canners for water bath canning also. At this time it appears that everyone is starting to can food so any type of canner will probably be hard to find, but spending the extra money for a larger canner, IMO, is the only thing to do. You can do anything with a small canner as you can with a large one but the time involved in cooking multiple batches of food is GREATLY reduced when using a large canner. You have not only cooking time but you also have a cooling time, a time that is used to cool and lower pressure so as to remove the lid.

 

[skinyea]

https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/PRESTO-01781-23-Quart-Pressure-Canner/dp/B0000BYCFU just ordered this.

I very much appreciate everyones help.

 

[Durgan]

I do seven liter jars at one time continuously until a batch of whatever is to be processed is finished. I consider the whole process to be rather simple and not messy. I do the cooking out doors and use pails for moving the material. I strain indoors with the food processor device and mechanical strainer for the residue. Before the season is finished there is about 400 liters, which I drink normally one or two daily. I never do water bath.

I live in the bit of Ontario that is in the Great Lakes area and can grow or purchase almost every plant grown in season. My 3000 square food garden produces far more than I can utilize. It is even hard to give away. Competition is severe pizza and big macs, and pressed chicken,

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

You can can just about anything without a pressure canner - it just takes longer. There were no pressure cookers years ago! Get a copy of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. I'm sure Kerr and Mason also do one.

 

[Durgan]

I consider the suppliers of jars guide to be a very inhibitor on canning. The practice is not so common due to their distributed advice. A pressure canner used properly makes a variety of safe food with little effort, far better than what is produced commercially.

Water bath canning has to be done carefully to some degree to prevent contamination. Many foods done water bath are not particularly desirable meaning they are unappitizing or over spiced with salt, vinegar and sugar.

 

[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.