# Canner losing water???



## Ali_R (Jul 18, 2011)

I was trying to can crab again and I keep losing water and pressure. I double stacked in my All American canner and the first time I thought I messed up with the burner because all of a sudden I realized I had lost pressure. I took it off and wanted to check inside since I had lost all pressure. There was just a little bit of water in it. I added water back in, up to the rings on the tall 1/2 pint jars. 

Do over.

It happened again! This time by the time the pressure eased and I could open it there was only a thick water on the bottom. Still lots of steam though.

When it's canning it is spitting quite a bit. Why is that? I read that that was normal as you first start to use it when it's new but it has been doing it since I started... canned about 8 or 9 batches in it so far. 

Is it ruined? Why is it doing this? 

What about the crab that was never maintained at pressure a continuous 110 min? Into the fridge with it?

Was it because it was the double layers? The jar height extended above the rim but because the lid is rounded ... the lid still fit.

Help!

Ali


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## akaRach (Sep 29, 2009)

My All American did the same thing the first time I used it, it almost boiled dry!

I cleaned the rims on the lid and the caner itself and reapplied the lubricant (Vaseline) and it has worked great since. I actually just used it for the first time this season today. 

I did notice a little bit of steam escaping around the lid, but nothing like the first time and I actually maintained 10pounds pressure at about a 6 setting on my electric burner stove. Anything higher and I get a steady rattle on the gauge instead of it only going off every few seconds

I think your crab can be canned still, but for sure keep it in the fridge until you can.

PS I don't have the manual for the caner in front of me but I think I remember it saying you could run steel wool around the rims gently to remove any burs that might exist.


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## Ali_R (Jul 18, 2011)

Thank you for that! I am in tears of relief. It is my Dad's and he has only canned one time in it and is ecstatic I have been madly canning for him and now this!!! I thought I broke it! (SO GLAD he's on a business trip!) 

I am schlepping it over to my house to do some practice sessions in it. Re-vaseline... will google re: the steel wool too.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I only had mine sputter out the seal the first time I used it. It was obviously from around the rim, and in three years, has not sputtered from the seal since. If you have a seal issue, a bit of TLC - steal wool and/or Vaseline should do the trick.

Another problem I have read about quite often is people leave them on way to high heat and over the longer cooking times, they loose too much steam from violently rocking weights. The weight should rock gently, I think a "sputter" 3-4 times a minute. I can easily maintain pressure at a heat setting of medium low.


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## goatlady (May 31, 2002)

My pressure canner only needs/calls for about 2-3 INCHES of water in the bottom of the canner no matter the size of the load or jars. Too much water = too much pressure = leakage trying to balance the heat to the pressure to the amount of water.


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## Ali_R (Jul 18, 2011)

For fish it calls for more water. I think because of the longer processing time. 

It is spitting out of the lid. So much so it pools up on the stove top.

I am going to hit it with steel wool and vaseline and see today.

Ali


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

That is way too much out the lid - hopefully you can get it cleaned up so you get nothing sputtering through the rim. This does not sound like a "too much pressure" issue as if that happened, the safety plug would go, followed by blowing the gauge off, the seal on the rim should be able the last thing on an AA to fail. I expect with that much leaking, you had to keep the heat rather high to keep the pressure up. 

There is a possibility the lid/pot got warped or bent. Make sure you tighten it a bit at a time, using working across the lid so it is on level. And then go all the way around one last time to make sure it's TIGHT. You should have a uniform difference around the top, so the lid isn't tipped a bit to one side or the other.


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## Ali_R (Jul 18, 2011)

Macybaby said:


> ... Make sure you tighten it a bit at a time, using working across the lid so it is on level. And then go all the way around one last time to make sure it's TIGHT. You should have a uniform difference around the top, so the lid isn't tipped a bit to one side or the other.


I think this might be part of it too. I have been hesitant to crank down on the knobs. I have been very, very careful to do opposite sides. I haven't focused so much on the lid being level/uniform distance/gap.... Hmmmm I bet that's my problem right there.

How would it warp?


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

warping will be caused if you let it go dry and it really heated up the metal. But for the problem you are having, it would have needed to happen prior to your use. 

It sounds like you may not be cranking it down tight enough, and that would be a very simple fix - on the final tight, you want them about as tight as you can get them. 

When I go to loosen my knobs, I usually put a pot holder over them as I need to use both hands to get them loose. If I don't cover them, I usually get my hand in contact with the hot lid- that is no fun. 

Once in a great while I'll have the lid stick, then I take a wooden spoon and hold it so I can give a jab with the base of the spoon on one of the brackets on the lid, to make the lid turn (so it's a sideways whack, not up or down).


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