I recently shared Part 1 of a series on how to can food safely using a water bath canner. Today, I’m going to do Part 2 of the series, How to Pressure Can food.
Water bath canning is wonderful for things like jams, jellies, and tomatoes. It’s great for any food that is high in acid, vinegar or sugar content. But, while it is possible to do low acid food like carrots and green beans in a water bath canner, it’s very time consuming and requires that you babysit the canner and have hot water ready to add to the canner in case the level drops too low. For example, green beans can be done in a water bath, but they require almost 90 minutes of cooking time at a rolling boil. In comparison, green beans in the pressure canner take 20 minutes once the canner reaches pressure.
Steps:
1. Clean the jars with hot soapy water (or run them through the dishwasher) and check the rim for chips. Use any chipped or cracked jars for dry goods storage or throw them away. Add clean water to the pressure canner. My Presto 23 qt. Pressure canner requires 3 quarts of water whether I am doing pints or quarts.
2. You don’t need to sterilize your jars for pressure canning, but I try to have my jars the same temperature as my food. If I am packing cold/room temperature food into my canner, then I want my jars at room temperature. If I am packing hot food into the jars, I use my dishwasher and keep the jars in the hot dishwasher until I am ready to fill them.
3. You should also heat the jar lids 5 minutes by placing them in hot water, which helps to soften the rings. You don’t have to boil the jar lids, though.
4. Unless your recipe needs tons of time to cook, start heating your water when you start cooking or blanching the food for the jars.
5. Fill the jars leaving the head space specified in the recipe. “Head space” is the amount of space above the food at the top of the jar. Too much space and the jar may not seal correctly and too little may cause food to push out during boiling. If there are any solids in the jar, you should remove air pockets by running a plastic knife or a bubbling tool around the inside of the jar. Then add more liquid if needed.
6. Use a damp cloth to wipe the rim of the jar. I normally use vinegar instead of water for this. Do another check to make sure that the jar rims don’t have any knicks or chips in them. If they do, don’t use the jar for canning food. Put on a flat lid that has been kept in hot, not boiling, water, then add a ring. Tighten the ring to finger tight ONLY. Do not over-tighten the ring or it may affect how well your jar seals.
7. Load jars into the canner. I like to use a “jar lifter”. This keeps you from getting too close to the boiling water and gives a firm grip on a hot jar. Don’t tilt your jars since tilting could cause food to spill into the sealing area of the lid. The one I linked is my favorite because it has a coating to keep it cool rather than plastic handles that can come off the lifter.
8. After you load the jars, pour a dash of vinegar into the water. I usually dump the vinegar that I’ve used for wiping the rims of the jars. This helps prevent the canner from developing a dark ring inside and helps keep hard water stains off the outside of the jars.
9. Put the lid on the canner and start heating it up. Do not place the weight on the vent yet! Let the canner heat until steam starts coming out of the vent, then time 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, put the weight on the vent.
10. Once the weight starts rocking, start timing for the recommended time. You may need to lower the heat under your pressure canner until the weight is only rocking a few times a minute. Don’t lower the heat fast. I usually drop 1 notch at a time and give a few minutes between adjustments. You want the weight to rock gently. If the weight stops rocking completely, you need to raise the temperature and reset your timer to the beginning.
11. When the recommended time is complete, turn off the heat and walk away from the canner. Do not remove the weight or the lid. Just leave the canner alone.
12. The pop-up valve will drop to let you know that the pressure has dropped inside the canner. You should now remove the weight from the vent and let the canner sit for another 5 minutes. There should not be any steam or hissing from the canner. After 5 minutes, remove the lid from the canner. Be careful to open the lid away from your face. The water and steam are very hot and can burn you.
13. After you open the canner, you can use a jar lifter to remove jars and place them on a towel to cool at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Leave about an inch of air space around each jar. Be careful not to tilt the jars while moving them. I love listening to the ping, ping, ping, as the jars seal. They can seal immediately or, more commonly, as they cool down. Lay a towel over the jars to make sure they don’t get any drafts.
14. Don’t move your jars. Check for seals after 12 to 24 hours by gently pushing down the center of lid, it should concave slightly and make no noise. If any jars fail to seal, put them in the refrigerator and use them within a month. Once the jars have all sealed, remove the rings, wash all the jars, and store them in your pantry.
15. Check each jar before opening. If any seal has come undone or you notice any signs of spoilage, do not eat the food! Botulism does not have a smell or taste, and it is very rare, but it is very deadly.
Links to more information are here. The Centers for Disease Control reported 145 cases of botulism caused by home-canned food over 18 years (1996-2014), which means that most people ARE following the guidelines to prepare food properly.
