Letter Re: Cooking & Canning Beans and Meat

Letter Re: Cooking & Canning Beans and Meat

Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for all of your efforts to share such useful information that can be used in our daily lives and in the times ahead!   I would like to compliment Marie H. for sharing much useful information on pressure canning beans and meat. However, there is one bit of information that scares me big time: using a tongs to remove the pressure regulating weight to decrease the pressure quickly. Even the thought of doing this sends shivers down my spine.   As a multi-generational food producer and processor, with 2 decades of pressure canning experience, I’d never, ever consider such a thing. First, not one food processing book I’ve ever seen recommends dumping the pressure quickly. On the contrary, they warn against it and recommend the the pressure canner be allowed to cool and lose pressure by removing it from the heating unit. Second, from personal experience, removing the weight at low pressure creates a geyser of scalding steam. I’ve never tried it at high pressure. This high temperature steam would be incredibly dangerous.   

Even if it could be done without injury, the extreme change in pressure makes if far more likely to have a canning jar break or the lids to fail. The liquid inside the canning jar will boil violently with the fast change in pressure possibly warping the lid if it is tight, getting food particles under the seal causing it to fail or if you are lucky, just force a portion of the liquid out from under the canning lid.    My family and friends all use two or more pressure canners during canning season. That way, as pressure canner is processing, the second one is being filled. Then when the first one is taken off the stove to allow to cool, the second one is allowed to cool. We have been known to pressure can 60 or more jars in a longgggggg day using this method.   I’ve used  Presto brand pressure canners for years with no problems other than replacing the rubber gasket on occasion. I like the tall ones as I can get 18 pints in them at one time using a second shelf above the first layer of pints.    May your Light continue to shine! Steven S.

James:
I can, that is “jar”, quite a bit, using the boiling water bath, as well as a pressure cooker.   Based on experience, watching my mother as a child, I personally find it easier and safer to wear heavy duty Bluette latex loves with cloth-linings, for handling the hot jars.  I rarely use the canning lift tool.  Just reach in the boiling water with gloved hands and grab the jars.  And for washing jars, they decrease the likelihood of a broken jar cutting my hands.  And always, always, no matter what the temperature is in the summer, wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants, and real shoes [not sandals] to be safer from scalding splashes. My local True Value hardware is my source for Bluettes.  My the local food cop sells the Atlas brand — a similar glove.

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