Pressure Canner arrived

[bill ace 350]

23qt Presto arrived.
Today i will pressure can some water!
want to see what temps/times are required to achieve and maintain the proper PSI.

 

[bauchjw]

Good luck!

 

[thirdeye]

What are your options for a heat source? Some are much better than others.

Flats are in such short supply I would just fill jars with water and do your experiment. Make sure you read all instructions including venting the canner, I typically go a little longer on the venting as it's very important to the process. If you are using tap water, adding some vinegar will reduce any mineral deposits on the jars and bands. My canner is large enough to double deck small jars, so when I can a load of fish or pizza sauce, I buy distilled water

 

[Brokenhandle]

Have fun and good luck! Happiness canning lol!

Ryan

 

[thirdeye]

Two more tips.... only tighten the bands 'finger tight', the flats need to be able to vent air before the sealing process. There are actually three tests which can verify a proper seal on your jars. I made a short video that shows all of them. This will come in handy down the road.

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like a fun new toy!
Al

 

[pushok2018]

Congrats on new canner! I bought the same one about a year ago - since then canned a bunch of cubed and grinded beef, chicken, fish, souses.... This is really nice unit for the price and I like it. Originally I wanted to buy All-American canner but couldn't justify the price for what I do....

 

[bill ace 350]

What are your options for a heat source? Some are much better than others.

Flats are in such short supply I would just fill jars with water and do your experiment. Make sure you read all instructions including venting the canner, I typically go a little longer on the venting as it's very important to the process. If you are using tap water, adding some vinegar will reduce any mineral deposits on the jars and bands. My canner is large enough to double deck small jars, so when I can a load of fish or pizza sauce, I buy distilled water

Using glass top GE range.
I am using distilled water as well, my wayet from the well is very hard.

Going with no jars in the canner, just 4 cups water for the test run. just started it.

 

[bill ace 350]

Congrats on new canner! I bought the same one about a year ago - since then canned a bunch of cubed and grinded beef, chicken, fish, souses.... This is really nice unit for the price and I like it. Originally I wanted to buy All-American canner but couldn't justify the price for what I do....

Yup. looked at the other canners as well, couldn't justify the American either.
Hoping to can lots of venison this season.

 

[thirdeye]

Using glass top GE range.
I am using distilled water as well, my wayet from the well is very hard.

Going with no jars in the canner, just 4 cups water for the test run. just started it.

This test won't tell you much because you need the mass of 7 or 8 jars full of water to simulate food. Without that all you are doing is building up pressure in an empty vessel. Plus when canning you will use more than 4 cups of water.

Glass top stoves are not a good choice because they cycle on and off, and some manufacturers will not recommend canners because of the weight of a full canner, water, jars and contents. The glass top will also get VERY hot, which is not good either.

Electric coil stoves also cycle but not as bad. A gas stove is almost perfect, but an ideal set-up is a outdoor propane stove, like a turkey fryer burner. They are larger in diameter and once you are up to pressure the burner will be barely on. Once everything is up to temp canners are easy to maintain with a small flame. A couple of years ago I upgraded from a 20 year old Brinkman burner to a Camp Chef. It's much higher and I can use the second burner for stock or hot water. Even a Coleman camping stove will work as long as it is a good fit for the burner.

 

[bill ace 350]

still lots to figure out.
As far as the test run, using Presto's method printed in the user manual.

 

[thirdeye]

still lots to figure out.
As far as the test run, using Presto's method printed in the user manual.

One thing you can do while learning the nuances of working with pressure and temperature is to use your new canner as a pressure cooker for finishing roasts and or making broth. Take a pork butt for example.... you can cut it into large chunks, smoke it for a few hours (or bake it in the oven to get some color) then add to the canner (using your trivet) along with some broth and maybe some onions or garlic and process the meat for say 40 minutes at 12 to 15 PSI. You are just cooking, so your times and pressures can vary.

When the time is up, use natural release just like you would when canning, and when pressure finally drops, check the doneness. If you want it more tender, replace the lid and it will come back to pressure in a short time. Process 10 or 15 more minutes, and check it again. Now you have pullable meat at a fraction of the time. It's great for Mexican food, sandwiches etc. You can also cook a corned beef, whole chickens and the like. You will also get fantastic broth. Instead of a steam finish or braising, I finish all of my pastrami in a pressure cooker. These are in the 4# range.



A real treat I enjoy is buying a family pack of pork neck bones and smoking them for a couple of hours. Then I pressure finish them with some pork broth for 30 minutes or until tender. The end result is some delicious pulled meat and fantastic broth.