Not approved by the FDA but my Grandmom and mom canned like this long before the FDA said you couldn’t, so do what makes you comfortable.
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WHEN CANNING
I teach canning and here are my beginner guidelines.
I got tired of the canning books going the long way around the barn to “explain” things, and then they don’t really give all the info so I came up with my own list of simple to the point guidelines.
Rule of thumb…cold product, cold water; hot product, hot water.
Applies to PC or WB.
PC=Under Pressure
WB= Water Bath/ boiling filled jars submerged completely under boiling water for a specific amount of time. (Must stay completely under boiling water for entire time).
PC: Fill canner with water halfway up the jars.
Heat until the steam starts venting THEN put your weight on. Don’t start counting time until correct pressure is reached.
10# pressure is the SUGGESTED average, but 5# or 15# not going to poison you.
If you don’t have a guage (or a good working one) let your weight be your guage. Once it starts jiggling you have reached propper pressure, then turn heat down till it only jiggles 2-4 times per minute.
This keeps your canner from running out of water too.
Too high a heat even pressuring can cause the liquid in your jars to siphon. (Some siphoning is to be expected).
Weight is less trouble than gauge. Once it starts jiggling your at 10# pressure, then just slowly turn down heat until it jiggles only 2 or 3 times a minute, set your timer and go do other things. If it gets quiet you know the pressure has dropped. Too much heat (pressure stays the same) and your jars siphon too much.
And a pressure canner is just a fancy pot so you can use it for WB.
To keep your jars from being covered with minerals from the water, pc or wb. Add a quarter cup of vinegar to your water.
JAR PREPARATION
Wash jars in hot soapy water and rinse well. If you are wb-ing just get jars and lids hot in boiling water you will be canning in.
With pc-ing, since they get pc-ed anyway, the above is unnecessary. The pressure will kill any bacteria anyway.
REUSING LIDS
If you carefully remove the lid (I use a butter knife to pop the lid off) so it’s not bent you can reuse them.
NOTE
Canners rarely explode, but if they do it’s for 2 reasons. Either a gasket (especially the little over pressure plug in the lid) is plugged or getting old and cracked, or you try to open the canner before all the pressure is released.
Blessings!