# ? wt. of Pressure Canners



## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Reading the thread about pressure canning on an electric stove got me to thinking about the increased weight of a bigger pressure canner. Not just the weight on an electric burner (circa 1949 Hotpoint) but the weight in general as it relates to my strength. 

Currently I use an All American #7 (dry weight is around 14 lbs.) which I believe translates to the current model 921. Both hold 7 quart jars. 
I would like to move up to the model 930 that holds 14 quart jars. 

So those of you who have a pressure canner that holds 14 quarts could you do me a big favor and weigh your canner dry/empty?

A filled quart jar is between 2.8 lbs. - 3 lbs. on my kitchen scale, so 14 filled quart jars should weigh a max of 42 pounds. 

42 pounds plus the weight of the pressure canner - ? 

Also can someone who bought one of those electrical canning burners please post a link. I wasn't able to find it on ebay.

~~ pelenaka ~~


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I don't have one, but according to the Red Hill store (sells them) the shipping weight is 30 lbs. so I assume the weight to be about 25 lbs.


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## FishOil (Apr 2, 2010)

My #930 weighed 21.5 lbs. I'm not sure that the scale is correct. I do know that when it is full it is all I can do to pick it up if it is on the stove.



FishOil


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## Just Little Me (Aug 9, 2007)

Do not forget to add the weight of the water.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Are you primarily concerned about the weight of the canners, water, and jars on your stove or about you lifting it? 

Why would you need to lift and move a canner full of water and jars of food? Set the canner on the stove, fill another container with water and pour into the canner, add the jars to the heated canner as they are filled, process, lift out the jars and set on counter to cool, when canner and water cools either dump out the water or scoop most of it out with a separate container.

Keep in mind however that one of the very large PCs that hold 14 quarts takes a very long time to return to zero and and to cool down so the time between batches will be much longer than currently.


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

I am primarly concerned about the weight on the electric burner. Sliding it off a a burner onto a cool one not so much. 
When I pressure can it is all I can do to get one canner full done in an evening before I'm too tired to process another one. I generally start one around 7 or 8 p.m. then unload in the morning whike I drink my coffee. 

Thanks for all the info. A 14 quart pressure canner just might be our next big homesteading purchase when the tax refund comes. 

~~ pelenaka ~~


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Just Little Me said:


> Do not forget to add the weight of the water.


The OP was asking about dry/empty weight.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> I generally start one around 7 or 8 p.m. then unload in the morning whike I drink my coffee.


I assume you know that leaving the jars in the canner for hours after processing is completed is not considered safe to do because of the likely hood of contamination of the food in the jars?


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

judylou said:


> I assume you know that leaving the jars in the canner for hours after processing is completed is not considered safe to do because of the likely hood of contamination of the food in the jars?


Perhaps in jars that did not seal---------but assuming that all the jars sealed as they should have, the food will not become contaminated.


Am I missing something here?


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## FishOil (Apr 2, 2010)

Never leave jars in the canner longer than the additionall 10 min. wait after the pressure drops. A thermal loving bacteria starts growing.



FishOil


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

FishOil said:


> Never leave jars in the canner longer than the additionall 10 min. wait after the pressure drops. A thermal loving bacteria starts growing.
> 
> FishOil


But where is the bacteria going to grow? In the water inside the canner? Any bacteria that had been inside the jars would have been killed off during processing.

What am I missing here?


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

From what I gather, the problem is that without the rather rapid cool down that happens when you open the canner, you don't know when the jars sealed. Bacteria could have started growing before the sealed. 

You could experiment by staying up some night and listening for the "pop" as the jars seal to see if most of them seal within an hour of shutting off the canner. 

I don't move my canner off the burner (and I do have electric). The 921 AA takes 35-45 minutes to drop pressure, then I open it and usually during the 10 mn wait period, most of the jars have sealed. The rest usually seal in the next 10 mn after removing them. 

I canned on a propane cooker a few times when I started canning, and I don't remember the cool down time being significantly shorter with being able to shut off the heat immediately instead of having the burner cool down. 

My 16 qt presto takes about 30-35 mn to cool down. 

Cathy


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> Never leave jars in the canner longer than the additionall 10 min. wait after the pressure drops. A thermal loving bacteria starts growing.


Correct. Several varieties of bacteria in fact. There are many bacteria and fungi that require much higher temperature then 240 to be killed.



> But where is the bacteria going to grow?


In the air and the water inside the canner. It is now an ideal environment for them that is dark and warm and the water inside may also now contain food particles/juices that were siphoned out of the jars during processing. It is an ideal growing medium. 



> you don't know when the jars sealed. Bacteria could have started growing before the sealed.


Exactly. You have no way of knowing when the jars sealed or even if they did. You also have no way of knowing how good the seals are or if any of the rims were contaminated with food particles. Seals will often set and release and set again during the processing. Contaminated air and even water, depending on the water level, could have been sucked back into the jars.

Jars should never be left sitting in the pressure canner once the processing and proper cool down phase is completed.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

My Goodness!

Sounds as if, after 40 some years of canning, my family and I are lucky to be alive!


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

LOL same here Tallpines. 
After I turn off the burner, slide the pressure canner over to a cold burner, release the steam, it is at least 3 hours before I can open the canner. 
I see what everyone is saying about jars sealing and resealing several times during processing. I'll just have to set my alarm clock for 3 hours after processing is comepleted.

~~ pelenaka ~~


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> release the steam, it is at least 3 hours before I can open the canner.


Then there is something wrong with your canner. No pressure canner in good working order takes that long to cool down. 45 mins-1 hour is the norm. What brand and model of canner are you working with?

Once your canner has returned to zero is when you "release the steam" by removing the weight. 10 mins later it is ready to open. If you are "slide the pressure canner over to a cold burner, release the steam" removing the weight BEFORE the pressure returns to zero then you are definitely contaminating the food in the jars by creating a reverse vacuum.

See How to Use a Pressure Canner: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/using_press_canners.html


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

I see above you posted that you are currently using an All American #7. My equivalent 921 takes 50 mins. to drop back to zero where the weight can be removed using the standard 3 quarts of water in the canner. Using a great deal more water, which isn't needed, will slow down the cool-down process but only by a few minutes.

Please check that you gauge vent hole and your weight vent hole are not partially plugged up. Food particles, grease, and lime from hard water builds up in those orifices and needs to be cleaned out to allow for proper readings and venting.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Tallpines and pelenaka, I think the people stating that bacteria will start growing in the canner are full of hooey. The canner will reach 240Âº when processing and will sterilize anything in the canner, be it food or water. That is the whole idea of doing it in a pressure canner. (Pressure canners are also used as bandage sterilizers. They will kill anything, including botulism.) Use common sense, people!


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Sally - since several varieties of bacteria have been cultured out of molten lava then clearly many can survive 240 degrees in a pressure canner. Campylobacter and listeria are two of the common ones. Further both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterias have repeatedly been cultured out of the water left in a pressure canner by USDA labs - thus the warnings - and those publications are readily available on their website. 

So while you can choose to ignore the available information if you wish, no one is just making this up and it isn't "hooey" despite what you may think of it personally. Pressure canners will not kill everything even when properly used, not to mention when they are improperly used as most people do. To believe otherwise is misleading. They are not high pressure autoclaves and even some bacteria survive high pressure autoclaving as any hospital or commercial canning operation can tell you.

Further ANY bacteria including clostriium botulinum can survive in a pressure canner IF any oil is contained in the recipe, if any dairy products are contained in the recipe, if the gauge is incorrect and the real safe pressure in not reached, if the proper time is not used, if the contents of the jar have been overpacked and so too dense for proper heat penetration, if the density of the food is higher than normal, if any unapproved thickeners are used in the recipe, and if the amount of the bacteria contained in the food is higher than normal.

So yes, use common sense. Ignore the info if you wish but do not demean its accuracy.


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Pelenaka said:


> release the steam, it is at least 3 hours before I can open the canner. ~~ pelenaka ~~


Why, exactly, are you having to wait 3 hours before you can remove the lid? What is your step by step technique? And why are you releasing the steam after removing the canner from the hot burner?


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

Doesn't releasing the steam immediately upon removing from the heat significantly reduce the processing time? IIRC, the reason you can't use small pressure cookers to can is that they heat up too quickly and lose pressure too quickly thereby shortening the processing time below a safe length. The pressure drop time is part of the processing time.


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## FishOil (Apr 2, 2010)

Releasing the pressure manually instead of letting the canner cool down will result in the loss of liquid from the jars. The liquid will be sucked out of the jars, into the canner and this leads to jars that will not seal and food spoilage.



FishOil


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## chuckhole (Mar 2, 2006)

Reading this thread sure brings back a lot of memories. It makes me wonder how much the DW and I have progressed over the past 20 years of canning. Do we have 20 years of experience or 1 year experience 20 times? I wonder with all the mistakes we still continue to make. It is so easy to get a little carless with cleaning rims, the amount of head space, sterilization of the tools and on and on..........We are still alive, so I guess it hasn't been all that bad.

We have canned on electric range tops, ceramic tops and gas. I can definitely say with all the prejudice in the world that gas is the best. I love the instant heat and you can "see" the flame. We have to use the smaller 21 qt on the ceramic top at home and leave the big All American 930 at our place in the country. That thing is a beast. Our country plas has the gas cook top. My DW says that is one more reason for her to retire and move to the country...........and I would get to see her on the weekends. She is so good to me.


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