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Pressure Canning...How-To?

fineexampl

fineexampl

So i bought this at Walmart tonight.
http://www.amazon.com/Mirro-8qt-Pre...?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1225688186&sr=1-68
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Now, this is what i can afford, so don't gang up and freak out that there's no pressure regulator.

I do have a PH meter i have yet to try out, so i'll get that out of the way.

My question is, how can i safely can using a standard 8qt pressure cooker? Is it doable to just boil away at full steam or let it boil an extra 10 minutes on top of the standard 15min to be safe? I don't want to kill anyone here. I just want to make a safe sauce i can mail to my friends and buyers.

I know AJ is familiar with this, i hope he chimes in. I'm looking for the basics here. I only HAVE the basics. Once i get some $$ coming in i'll invest in a better pressure cooker, but hey man it's lean times over here.

So let's get this ball rolling and we'll all learn from my mistakes. I will include photos of my progress to help out for posterity.

My plans will be to keep a boiling water bath on my back burner for jars/bottles. A hot water bath on the other rear burner for lids. I'll be boiling sauce on the main burner and bottle em up hot. Once filled i plan on switching over to the pressure cooker, loading up, filling with water, closing up, and letting boil 20 min from when steam spews out. Think i'll be okay with that?? Am i on the right track?
 
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good deal fine...my first pressure cooker this year was a presto from walmart without a gauge...you want to void the cooker of air so don't put the weight on until the water has been boiling and venting for about 10 minutes...then put the weight on...start your timing of 10 minutes once the pressure relief weight on top starts venting steam, then turn the heat down so you won't overpressure the cooker...it is a PITA but you have to do this with any pressure cooker IMO...I cook on an electric stove and have found that once the pressure gets high enough to start venting, I can turn the heat down to about 4 and it will be hot enough...definitely read the instructions....seems I read that pressure cooking at 10 psig gives you a temperature of about 240F (~105C)...

you are spot on with the water bath for the jars, you want them in boiling water at least 10 minutes before filling...don't boil the lids, just heat them up in a pan of water...if you boil them it makes the sealer on the lid too pliable and you won't get a seal that will last...
 
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Yeah right on! I guess all my reading was paying off after all. The booklet did list the 10psi and my next plan was figuring out the formula somehow, but 240F is more than good.

And i didn't get one with the pot, but i ordered a rack from All American off ebay.

Now here's a question not asked:
Can you pressure can woozy bottles with plastic lids? I've noticed i can stand well over a dozen upright in this 8qt pot.
 
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Potawie is probably right for woozies...the caps probably would melt...

Pressure cooking no only kills the baddies but it also voids the "head space" of air which keeps spoilage down...hot water bath canning is probably better for woozies...I haven't done any yet so I am guessing...
 
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Looks as though i'll either have to learn hot water bath a bit better or experiment and hope for no explosions. :P

I suppose i could use swing top bottles though, if all else failed.
 
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I'm no woozie expert but I don't believe a water bath is needed for sauces. Just bring your sauce up to temp(?) and fill your sterilized jar(hot-pack). I think you have to turn the jars upside-down for a while when hot to sterilize the inside of the lid.
 
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POTAWIE said:
I'm no woozie expert but I don't believe a water bath is needed for sauces. Just bring your sauce up to temp(?) and fill your sterilized jar(hot-pack). I think you have to turn the jars upside-down for a while when hot to sterilize the inside of the lid.
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You are correct sir.... Heat to 190-195degF for 15 minutes. Hot Fill the woozies, invert, repeat.... I leave them inverted until I am done bottling then flip them over.

MAKE SURE THE CAPS HAVE A PLASTISOL LINER (the little white thing). IF not, then the bottels will not seal at all.

Also, make sure the PH of the sauce is below 4.2, preferrably in the 3.6 range.....
 
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POTAWIE said:
I'm no woozie expert but I don't believe a water bath is needed for sauces. Just bring your sauce up to temp(?) and fill your sterilized jar(hot-pack). I think you have to turn the jars upside-down for a while when hot to sterilize the inside of the lid.
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i agree !

thats the way i make my great grandmother's tomatoe sauce... big pot of sauce, boil it for a period of time, then jar it in sterilized bottles... the heat is enough to create a vaccume leaving you a perfect sealed bottle of sauce..
 
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Hotpeppa said:
i agree !

thats the way i make my great grandmother's tomatoe sauce... big pot of sauce, boil it for a period of time, then jar it in sterilized bottles... the heat is enough to create a vaccume leaving you a perfect sealed bottle of sauce..
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This was how i did my first batch and water bathed...just because. So far no botulism.

Thanks for all the techniques guys. I had a hard time finding answers to all my questions in one place and i kept having conflicting methods. I think this thread kind of centralizes things. :D
 
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Same here, and had i had all the info sooner i would have jarred some of the sauce i made the other night. I guess i'll have to make more.

Tomato sauce that is!

So...would i need to add vinegar to a tomato sauce or would the acid from the maters and the pressure canning be sufficient?
 
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Woozies: Beth at Peppermania, who sells these things, recommends a hot water bath, not canning. But she states she has not tried canning.

Pressure canning - no need to fill the canner with water, probably a bad idea. I asked my mom, who has 50+ years of experience, and she said to fill it about 1/3 of the way, and that is with the rack and jars in it.

Lids: I bring the water to a boil and drop the lids in for about a minute. That's what all the books say to do and it works great, though there is no proof the lid will seal.

Jars: Always wipe the top and sides completely clean of any sauce, seeds, water, whatever. Otherwise, no seal.

Canning time: I use a canner that has a weight on the top. I can set it to 5, 10 or 15 pounds. I use 10 pounds and let the jars sit in the canner for 10 minutes AFTER the weight starts to jingle.

Testing: After the jars have been removed from the water, placed on a rack or shelf to cool, press down on the middle. If it pops, the jar did not seal and it either has to be redone or refrigerated.

Low acid foods: One explosion that still has not been explained notwithstanding, I can tomato juice and ketchup in 2-liter plastic Mt. Dew Bottles. Been doing this for years and years. Simply bring the juice to a boil, let it boil for a few minutes, pour it into the bottles and seal.

Not including juice or ketchup, I have canned probably 200 quarts or pints of whole tomatoes, salsa, dill pickles, beets and potatoes over the last three years. Mom did nearly double that for just green beans in one year!

Rings: Unless you are like mom who use to can 42-56 quarts a night, you don't need more than 14-16 of them. Let them sit on overnight, take them off and reuse them. Just buy the lids.

HTH,

Mike
 
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I'm glad this thread was started too...I just ordered 36 5 oz woozies today and some shrink wrap too...what am I going to make?...who the hell knows, but it will be made with the paste/concentrate I am making now...I promise it will be on the warm side....
 
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I don't think any big sauce makers use a water bath or pressure cooker for sauces since hot packing is easier and safe, but for salsas and pickles etc. its a different story.
 
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POTAWIE said:
I don't think any big sauce makers use a water bath or pressure cooker for sauces since hot packing is easier and safe, but for salsas and pickles etc. its a different story.
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As long as your salsa has a low enough PH, and you are using lids with the plastisol lining, you can hot pack salsa as well.....

Now i'm far from a biggie in the industry, but do know a lot of manufacturers, and no one that I know uses a pressure cooker.

Just my 2c....
 
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