Home canning pressure cookers

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Heck Ghrit, you are olde enough to have blown up Casey Jones's locomotive boiler.

 

Ok, so the take away here is :
Get thee a pressure cooker
Read the USDA or Blue Bell canning guide (RTFM).
Don't blow yourself up by replacing the pressure bleed with a bolt, nut and a couple of washer.

Ok, I got it.

 

Or...you could get the pressure cooker...
Grow some kale....
Go to the ocean beach...
Can some kale at sea level and time it...
Climb a mountain...
Can some kale at high altitude and time it...
Prove someone right and someone wrong...

Results:
Canned kale, live forever but despise dinner time.

 

Take away: life is too short to hate dinner time. Throw away kale.

 

Ok, guess I can't sit and watch any more. Tac is correct but Ghrit is half right. The missing piece of info here is the difference between gauge pressure and absolute pressure.

The pressure temperature relationship that Ghrit is discussing would be right when measuring absolute pressure. But a pressure cooker and the little weight actually function on a gauge pressure relationship because the ambient air pressure will push down on the cross-sectional area of the hole in the weight that the pressure inside the cooker pushes up against to raise the weight and control the pressure. Gauge pressure is equal to the absolute pressure minus whatever the ambient air pressure is (absolute). At sea level this is about 14.7 psi if I remember correctly. So go up in altitude and the ambient pressure decreases and even though the cooker still appears to have 10 psi which is gauge pressure, the absolute pressure inside actually decreased and hence the temperature for boiling will decrease too.

AT

 

I don't know the mathematics of it but cooking at a high elevation sucks. I learned here that the only way I would ever cook a bean is via pressure cooker. I can open a box of cake mix and follow the instructions 100% and the cake will fail. I have learned everything needs to be tweaked in order to come out correct. I have drawn the conclusion from this topic that canning will be an issue and I should avoid it.

 

Thanks for the feedback.
Ordered one of these 8 quart stainless steel cookers.
If it proves out may pick up a larger cooker focused on canning.

 

I like my electric pressure cooker. Get home from night shift, put a bag of dry beans and 8 cups liquid in the cooker. Set the pressure time and go to bed. It heats up to pressure, stays at pressure for programmed time, and then releases pressure and keeps warm. When I wake up I just brown up some ground beef and onion, add some seasoning and tomato. Chile!

Dry beans take a long time watching and stirring in regular cooking. Now it takes care of itself while I am sleeping.

 

Ooooh......just remembered that I have a pressure cooker on my wish list at Amazon! Wonder how many spy satellites I have watching me??

 

You probably know but some people don't, the default setting for a wish list on Amazon is "public" - so anybody can see it. You can go into the settings and set it to "private" so no one but yourself, Amazon and God will know your amazon desires (wait, that sounds wrong.)

AT

 

Was given an "antique" cooker last year. When we can we use four so we can keep a "production line" system going.

 

If you get serious about this here is an American company that seems to make a HD aluminium canner.

Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry



Only ALL-AMERICAN Pressure Canner/Cookers feature an exclusive, precision machined "metal-to-metal" sealing system. Positive action clamping locks align the cover to the base, forming a steam-tight seal. Since the seal does not use a gasket, the cover can be easily opened and closed. ALL-AMERICAN Pressure Canner/Cookers make it easy to can fish, meat, vegetables and fruits - it's the only method the USDA recommends for low-acid foods. All models feature a readable pressure guage for accurate pressure control and an easy-to-read, 8.5 x 11" Instruction and Recipe Book. **We do not recommend cooking beans, lentils, etc. in our pressure cooker. **ALL-AMERICAN Pressure Cooker/Canners are NOT suitable for glass/flat top ranges and are for home use only.

FEATURES
• Sturdy Bakelite top handle
• Easy-to-read geared steam guage
• 5, 10 and 15 pound pressure regulator weight
• Smooth, easy-to-clean satin finish
• Easy on-off cover
• Exclusive metal-to-metal seal - no gaskets to crack, burn, replace or clean
• Positive action clamping wing nuts permit easy opening and closing
• Double thickness edges for additional protection on these points of heaviest wear
• Automatic overpressure release



They retail here.

All American Pressure Canner

Or here:
Amazon.com: All-American 41-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner: Kitchen & Dining

 

How come most canners say you can't use them on glass top stoves. Anyone know why not?

 

I have seen a couple of different answers. One, that I'm not sure that I accept, is that due to the fluctuating heat of a ceramic top range, the temperature required for bacteria elimination may not be reached in the canning process. The other that I've seen is that ceramic ranges will not reach the temperature required for using a pressure cooker, due to the sensor in the range top which protects the cooktop from overheating and breaking. I've also seen responses from other folks who say that they have used a pressure cooker on a ceramic top with no problems. We haven't tried it on ours yet.

 

I was picking up some jar lids today and struck up a conversation with an older lady (80's) who has been canning all her life.
Canning she says helped her family get through the depression and food rationing during WW II. Among the advice she offered was that in recent years lids have at times been in short supply she likes to have a stock on hand.

Great lady her husband has passed and served in the Pacific in WW II she still is sharp drives and cans. She is part of our as they say greatest generation.

 

Are you aware of "Tattler" reusable canning lids? They are worth looking into. There also have been posts here about them.

 

Yes I search on canning lids yesterday and was going to ask about them, Thanks

 

im not 100% sure if this is th reason but some of the glass tops have to have special pots and pans because of the special feature you can touch it and not get burned,,,...
it is very likely im wrong!!

 

pressure cookers have a very large footprint. it is likely, that on a flat surface, you would trap too much heat, and damage the heating element. this could lead to liability problems. JMHO.