Canning experts please - I need some advice

Sanderson, usually when the recipe calls for a number other than 5, 10, 15 it is for the canners with the dial type gauge instead of the weight.  Like this picture shows both the gauge and the weight.  Hope this helps.
 http://www.healthycanning.com/pressure-canners-dial-gauge-or-weighted-gauge

sanderson wrote:I'm ready to can my frozen summer tomatoes. I have used the water bath with success in 2015 but I haven't tried out the pressure canning part until just now. Right now I'm just getting to know it using just water, no jars. The Pressure Regulator is 15 psi but the recipes that came with it call for 11 psi. I have to turn the gas flames almost to off to get it down to 11 psi. Is this normal? That is, the have to turn the burner way, way down?

Yes, that's pretty normal, Sanderson. I start off heating on high then as I get towards my 11 lbs, I start turning down the heat. (Electric) By the time I'm finished, I'm in the medium-low range.

Thank you, Marie. I forgot you were out of town. I weighed 4 1-gallon bags at 14.5 lbs. There are 2 more bags I can't get to.

How do you keep pickles and peppers from becoming mushy in a water bath?  I can make refrigerator pickles and peppers and keep them wonderfully crunchy, but every time I put them in the water bath for 20 minutes , they are basically inedible due to being so mushy. 
Should I drop the water bath time down to 10 or even 5 minutes?
I have tried simply boiling the brine and pouring it in very hot in hopes that I could get a good seal, but that is hit or miss . ( more miss than hit )

There is a product called Mrs. Wages Pickle Crisp. I've heard many good results with that. Also, putting them in ice water for a half hour or so before canning.

You do NOT want to cut down on the processing time. That opens you up to all sorts of nasty things... Less so since it's a pickling process, but is it worth the risk of food poisoning?

Remind me if I don't get back to you on this. I'm not a pickler myself, but I've got lots of research material here. Let me see what I can find... May take a couple of days, so pm me...

What kind of a recipe are you using? I've never seen a recipe for pickles call for this much time.

You can buy some stuff called "pickle crisp" which should keep them crisp, unless you've cooked for too long.

I use Mrs Wages mix, and this turns out well every time.

Rule of thumb: if the pickles--cukes, peppers--zucchini,etc are raw, then process for at least 10 minutes. This gives the water bath canner time to kill off the germs that may have been on the veggies. I do 10 minutes for all.

Do not put jars in canner, then get the water hot! I've seen this on the net. This will cook for too long.
I use a jar lifter, which is very helpful in getting jars in and out of hot water.

Also, do not leave the jars in the water, after they are thru processing. (A couple minutes to let it stop boiling is ok)  use a jar lifter to get  them  out of there. I've seen this too. Supposedly keeps pickles under juice. Oh well.

I really think cooking too long is the problem.

Jo

Does anyone else have this problem with discoloration of the canner?  Mine is aluminum and after using it as a pressure canner, it really turned dark.

The color change is normal and won't affect food. If this bothers you, it did me at first, take some white vineagar, maybe a cup, and fill canner up to dark level with water. Either boil the h___ out of it, or if it doesn;t work too well you'll  have to add some pressure to get the coloring off. Or just learn to ignore it. Doing this after each canning season is a pain, and I don't know if using distilled water would help, but that would be a pain also.
Jo

My All American canner booklet advises that the discolouration of the aluminium pan is harmless


 It can be removed by boiling a table spoon of vinegar per quart of water used  to fill the pan above the discolouration or  two level table spoons of cream of tartar  per quart of water .

 Or
By scrubbing it away with an aluminium food grade metal cleaner .
Or
A soap impregnated steel wool pan scrubber.

Don't leave the cleaning solution in / on  the pan for days at a time  as it may cause pitting of the aluminium .
Only  store the cooker pan away when it is totally dry  ,      Whatever you do  .......  Don't leave it damp / sweating or store it with the lid on .

You can invert the lid & let it rest upside down on the top of the pan once both are parts bone dry .  Don't store the weights or any disimilar metals inside the pan either or di-electric corrosion will start to take place where the different metals touch  & leave you with a pitted pan .

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess there are Stainless Steel models but I bought this off eBay and it had never been used. Yes, I'm a tightwad.

sanderson wrote:... Yes, I'm a tightwad.

Me too!  

Mine isn't THAT dark, but it did discolor...

Also - found potatoes for .25/lb at Kroger. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? With 40 lbs of potatoes?

How do you prevent the potatoes from getting mushy?

I've never had a problem. Even when dicing them.

I'm planning on doing french fry size this year as well. That way we don't have to wait forever for them to cook & then crisp. One of the recommendations I've seen on one of the fb canning pages is to use a little Pickle Crisp in the jars.... I picked some up last night...

It's interesting to hear that Irish potatoes don't go mushy . but it will I think depend on how old the potatoes are

 


 Recipe from page 36 , it is using new potatoes 

 1one to two & a half inch dia new potatoes . Sscald or steam them till the skins easily peel off ( 4 - 5 min ? )  pack them hot & cover with boiling water  ( I guess the head room should be 1/2 an inch )
 Cap & seal  , vent steam the canner for 10 min then  process :-

A pint @ 35 min
A quart @t 40 min ,
 
Number size jars
#2  process for 35 min
# 2 1/2 process for 40 min
#3 jar also process at 40 min


Take them out the canner as soon as ready .



 I suspect that it's the older Irish potatoes that will be the ones that go mushy .

Plantoid, what are new potatoes?

Baby potatoes about 1-1/2 to 2 inches. Like the little red ones you see in the store.

sanderson wrote:Plantoid, what are new potatoes?

 Newly harvested Irish potatoes from the first early crops of the year .

As a test of freshness you should be able to rub the skins off with your thumb or a nail brush before you boil, them .

 Usually they should be not much  bigger than a medium sized chickens egg .

Thanks, guys.

brianj555 wrote:How do you keep pickles and peppers from becoming mushy in a water bath?  I can make refrigerator pickles and peppers and keep them wonderfully crunchy, but every time I put them in the water bath for 20 minutes , they are basically inedible due to being so mushy. 
Should I drop the water bath time down to 10 or even 5 minutes?
I have tried simply boiling the brine and pouring it in very hot in hopes that I could get a good seal, but that is hit or miss . ( more miss than hit )

Brian, I am no expert at all, just a newbie in the canning department, but the variety of cukes might have something to do with the much factor too.  Are you growing a pickling pickle?  Or a cuke that is more of a thin-skinned eating type?  That could make a difference!  I have grown eating types, but next year plant to put in tome pickling cukes, too.

I spent yesterday canning some of my sweet potatoes, both 1 pint and 1 cup sized jars. One of the 1 cup jars did not seal so I sampled it. Yuck. I microwaved some of the left over raw-ish cubes and they were delicious. I used plain hot water. Is that what made them so bad tasting? Or the fact that the pressure got up to 15 psi mid point in processing? I have plenty left to bake and freeze, thank goodness.

Possibly a combination, Sanderson. It's recommended to use distilled water. I use filtered water... And a light syrup. But the 15 lbs shouldn't make TOO much of a difference if it wasn't up there long...

You could also try dehydrating them...

plantoid wrote:

sanderson wrote:Plantoid, what are new potatoes?

 Newly harvested Irish potatoes from the first early crops of the year .

As a test of freshness you should be able to rub the skins off with your thumb or a nail brush before you boil, them .

 Usually they should be not much  bigger than a medium sized chickens egg .

I love New Potatoes with butter on them.

OK, I got some large cucumbers from a colleague at work today who is overrun with them, apparently (and whose spouse must be the gardener, she knows nothing)   Is that OK that I don’t know what they are?  They have spines, I would guess Marketmore, or Straight 8....

So they are literally about 12” or so long.  Some were pitched.  Too yellow.  I will be generous with the end cleavage.  Want to do garlicky dills in quart jars.  Have the Ball book.  2 questions:

1.  Can I slice them into spears and remove the seed cavity and process like that, I am not a big fan of the seeded area in spears unlesss they are small...

2.  I want to add garlic cloves to the Grandma’s Dill recipe (2 Day).  That is OK, right?  I like garlic and have a ton of it!  Please say yes, or give me a recipe for garlicky dills!!!

I am novice (to say the least!). My first ever canning was a month ago with these.  My cukes ran out of steam, plus we ate a lot of them!  

https://i.servimg.com/u/f62/19/25/77/83/f24aba10.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Check with the USA canning recipes , if they are able to be pressure canned then taking the seeds out should be OK .

 I only sweet white vinegar dill pickle mine and use the open hot water bath canning method to bring them up to " canning heat & pressure preserving levels ".

 However if I want to make a simple cucumber sweet relish they do get pressure canned in small " Weck jars "  as per the approved recipe of the USA food standards agency .