Today I am trying my hand at pressure canning for the first time. I have been water bath canning

L

luisa_calif

Well-known member
for nearly 50 years and both my sisters are laughing at me. I'm just afraid the darn thing will explode or something. What tipped me over the edge is that I have NO room in any of my freezers and I have 9 quarts of spaghetti gravy (sauce to you East Coast Italians) to preserve.

 
Repeat this mantra: Pressure canners are good, Pressure canners are safe. . .

Good, because they shelf stabilize food, no freezer, no drying, no sugaring, no pickling. Safe because modern pressure canners are built with a special seal that will fail before anything drastic happens.

Remember, pressure canners are tools. Educate yourself about your tool. Have a good book that covers pressure canning ("The Ball Blue Book", "So Easy To Preserve"). Figure out what your altitude adjustment is and write it on the inside front cover of the book so you always have it. Just as one wouldn't drive a car without proper instructions, nor fly a plane without learning how from lessons, a person needs to learn about and follow proper USDA instructions for pressure canning.

Always have the instructions with you, always review and refer to them (never rely on memory, always have the book as back up) every time you pressure can, always *follow the instructions* (!!!!!), NEVER take shortcuts of any sort, and you will always have a safe and happy pressure canning experience.

Right now I am canning a full load (18 pints) of pork shoulder in chunks; it should be done in about half an hour. I am looking forward to making bbq pork sandwiches, pork ragu, pork curry, pork stew, pork tacos, pork burritos--all gooooood stuff.

The last pressure canner batch I did was a full load of chunk, boneless, skinless, chicken leg meat. It is very chicken-y and delicious and beats anything I can buy at the store.

You can do it. Keep telling yourself that you can do it! Learn and put it to use!

I hope you have many years of delicious pressure canning!

BTW, I have been considering getting a smaller pressure canner, one that might do 8--9 pints on one rack. This is because, like you, my freezer is full and I always have a LOT of spaghetti sauce (your "gravy") sauce leftover. It sure would be nice to be able to crack open a pint of the stuff for my husband in-between cooking the big batches fresh!

 
It's been cooling 1 hour (we went out to dinner so I wouldn't just sit and watch it cool -

like watching paint dry). When we got home I took off the cocky weight thingie but can't get the lid off. It's still pretty hot so I'm hoping I can remove it in another hour or so.
ETA
Got lid off, one appears not to have sealed but it still may. The product is quite a bit darker than I'm used to and smells more "cooked" so I may revert to freezing the rest.

 
I was underwhelmed at my first attempt with peach jam (same reason, no freezer room)

There is absolutely no comparison between the still-fresh taste of freezer peach jam and the dark canned version.

I'm not sure what spaghetti sauce would do...doesn't seem like the freshness issue would be as much for me since I start with canned sauce/puree/crushed/paste tomatoes.

 
I am so scared of pressure canning..... I grew up being scared when my mom was making her corn.

We had to leave the kitchen, but listen to the lil thing making noise on the stove....

Good luck!!!

Just for my own edification, why would you switch or try pressure canning if you have been doing the water bath? Is there a benefit with time? consistency with the jam/jelly, etc..... Just curious.....

 
I've only canned high acid things like jams, tomatoes. This time I was doing meat sauce so

it Has to be pressure canned.

 
Pressure canning is really nice for broth or stock & soup.

I keep thinking about buying one. I run out of freezer space. Would be nice to come home on a cold night & heat up homemade soup or stew in a minute without having to thaw it. you could make a great big kettle of chicken stock a couple of times a year. I'm a stock and broth snob. I hate store bought.

 
I've heard it makes the best stock. Extracts tons of flavor from the ingredients. Quick too!

 
I joined the epi site originally to ask about microwave pressure canners. I had 2 and was devoted

to them, but read that they were unsafe when I inquired about buying new gaskets for them. I was so nervous but years later am still tempted to use them. THe whole concept is so brilliant. That was about 2003.

I canned all kinds of sauces every Fall and never had a problem with anything going bad. It was a 10 minute process.

I could make a dinner and almost instantly can the leftovers. The benefit is being able to do just one jar on the spot.

I never did get rid of them and brought the canners along with me. I sure understand the nervousness. I keep eyeing them and would love to reinitiate them. If anyone knows of a new version, I'd love to know about it.

 
I have only had darkened home-canned jam. . .

when I have over cooked it and/or forgot to add some vitamin C or Fruit Fresh.

And one needs to only Boiling-Water Bath process jam for about 10 minutes.

 
And you pressure canned it using your altitude adjustment for pressure AND . . .

you timed the LENGTH of your canning to the item in your sauce that requires the LONGEST time, right? Since it was a meat sauce, you should have canned it for the meat, which should have taken the longest canning time.

BUT if you used a USDA recipe, you would need to can it for whatever time the recipe told you.

 
Home canned meat, chicken or beef stock is GREAT; I use it in A LOT of stuff. . .

and I save all of my chicken/meat bones for making stock, I think I have done at least 2-3 batches and canned them up as stock this past year.

 
Thank you. I had never read about their being questionable in terms of the canning process. But I

guess I just have to do it, throw them out. I spose I could feel fortunate that I didn't have any problem with them.

Grumble grumble.

 
You could still use them to pressure cook things, like stuff for dinner. . .

Pressure cookers are great for beans, pot roasts, stews and the like.

 
Ooh, OHH, you have a sealer for metals cans?

Cool! I have read about the metal can sealing process, but have never talked to anyone/met anyone who actually has used it.

As for fish, I have only pressure canned tuna and tuna bellies--I WISH I had access to good, fresh, wild salmon! And I still remember that quart jar of canned moose I got from my boyfriend (now husband) that his grandmother in Alaska had canned; it was great!

 
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