On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:15:30 -0500, "Marie Dodge"
> wrote:
>
>"Isabella Woodhouse" > wrote in message
...
>> In article >,
>> "Marie Dodge" > wrote:
>>
>>> "Isabella Woodhouse" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>
>>> > I'm so glad you posted--- thank you. 
While I've done a lot of
>>> > canning and preserving, I have only little experience (a few years ago)
>>> > with pressure canning and, basically, what I recall is that BWB seemed
>>> > so much easier and less time-consuming than pressure canning. OTOH, I
>>> > was horribly sick at the time (celiac) but now, after recovering for a
>>> > couple years, I am very much better and getting back into my groove
>>> > again. So I need to relearn the process I guess.
>>>
>>> Just make sure you don't follow old rules of canning. A lot has changed
>>> over
>>> the past 10 years where safety is concerned.
>>
>> I do have the most recent BBB but I'm pretty sure it's at least a couple
>> years old. Recently I looked on their web site to see if there was a
>> newer one but it did not have one more recent than mine (the one with
>> the cheesecake on the front).
>>
>>> > We're all electric, no gas service at all. I have a glass-top range
>>> > and
>>> > I do recall that adjusting the pressure was difficult. I may well have
>>> > heated on too high a range setting and then overcorrected to bring down
>>> > the pressure. I recall doing peaches (halves) and that the jars lost
>>> > half their liquid so I had to just open them all. Never had anything
>>> > like that happen with BWB. The canner is a Presto with a dial gauge.
>>>
>>> Peaches are better done in a BWB. If the jars "drained" you let the
>>> pressure drop too quickly or the pressure went up and down.
>>
>> The manual that came with my 23 quart Presto lists pressure canning as
>> the first method for peaches, so I assumed it was the preferred method.
>> Silly me. Yes, it was very difficult on my electric range. Like I told
>> George, it's been awhile but I seem to recall the pressure going up too
>> high very fast and that maybe I over-corrected for fear of a disaster.
>> I was just starting to get up the courage to try it again but maybe it's
>> just too difficult on a glass-top. My range (here when we moved in)
>> takes forever to cool down. For normal cooking, I am always removing
>> pans from the burners to get the temperature down more quickly. Can't
>> do that with a pressure canner.
>>
>> My plan has been to replace the range with induction in the future...
>> when the prices are a bit better and when they finally have a decent
>> zoneless unit (zoneless meaning that you can put your pans anywhere on
>> the cooktop, not just on designated circles. I just got a 10 qt Fagor
>> pressure cooker/canner that will do 4 pints on induction. But I'm not
>> aware of any other induction pressure canner. Maybe I should just try
>> pressure canning in that instead. Maybe smaller would be easier.
>> However, it has only two settings: 8 PSI and 15 PSI. No weight and no
>> dial gauge. Agh... I'm so discouraged.
>>
>>> > We have an outdoor grill with a 15,000 BTU side burner so I was
>>> > thinking
>>> > maybe I could try using that for pressure canning. But, since it gets
>>> > pretty hot here and it's very sunny out there, it would likely take a
>>> > lot longer for the canner to cool down out there unless I got it into
>>> > the house. But I fear that would be way too much moving around.
>>> > Right?
>>>
>>> As soon as the pressure drops to zero remove the weight, wait another 5
>>> mins
>>> and open the top - away from you so you don't get a blast of steam in the
>>> face. If the cans are still bubbling let the sit in the canner another 5
>>> to
>>> 10 mins, then remove.
>>
>> Thanks. I really appreciate the advice and, as you can tell, I need it
>> badly.
>>
>>> > My canner only has a plate with holes on the bottom--- no lift-out
>>> > rack.
>>>
>>> Use a jar lifter. They work real well.
>>
>> I have a jar lifter. My concern was that the jars seem to rattle around
>> inside the canner with nothing to keep them from bumping into each other
>> and breaking.
>>
>>> > In the past, all our BWB canners had a rack that held all the jars and
>>> > you would lift the entire thing out. I was worried about the jars
>>> > falling into each other and rattling around. I wondered if maybe that
>>> > was why my peaches did not turn out. It was disconcerting.
>>>
>>> See above. BWB peaches, pears, apples, jams and jellies.
>>
>> Was hoping to make some jam since the plum trees are bearing well for
>> the first time. But the japanese beetles seem to be getting so many of
>> them already. So much work... for nothing. 
>>
>> Isabella
>
>Don't get discouraged. Read the book that came with your canner. Make sure
>you don't miss anything. Canning is easy and fun once you get the hang of
>it. Another thing, Presto doesn't supply the 3-piece weight you need to can
>many foods if you live less than 1000 ft above sea level. The weight they
>give you with the canner is a 15 lb weight. You need the one that cans at 5
>or 10 or 15 lbs pressure. You can pressure can fruit but it comes out better
>in a water bather. You need to spray your tree for the beetles. Google
>"three piece weight Presto" and order one now unless you're over 1000 ft.
>
Yes, read your manual for the operation of the pressure canner, but
don't rely on it for the current information on canning. Remember the
pressure canner pressure cans and the instruction books usually only
cover that process. Read the BBB and The University of Georgia site
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ for current information and alternate
processes and recipes.
BTW I prefer to load and unload the canner with the jar lifter rather
than loading the rack and putting that in. Trying to lift a rack with
7 quarts of food into either a canner or BWB doesn't work for me. I
am not tall enough and don't have enough upper body strength to left
the rack and keep it straight. I can't be assured that the rack will
stay anchored on the top until I get it loaded. And again keeping it
straight while immersing the jars can be a problem. Do what works for
you.