Pressure canner questions

[joseph97297]

Have two pressure canners and getting geared up for the season. But have a couple of questions.

First in my great-grandmothers National No. 7.....it has no rack, and I was wondering if my husband could make one from wood and heavy tack cloth (the metal kind). Saw a picture of one somewhere, but not sure if it was for WB or pressure. Also have to order a new gasket for that one.

Other canner is the Sears and Roebuck one we bought at a yard sale. Set it up today and it worked great, but the weighted PSI regulator was a 15 lb not a 10 lb. A lot of the recipes I am using calls for processing at 10lbs. So should I buy a 10 lb weight or is there a way to convert to 15 lbs or will this "over-cook" the food?

Thank you very much and take care

Mandy

[suitcase_sally]

Yes, you can make a home made rack for your canner. Some people just fold up a dish towel and put in the bottom. The purpose of the rack is to hold the jars off the bottom to avoid hot spots.

If the canner only came with a 15 lb. weight it more than likely is a pressure COOKER. (How big is it?)

Here is a website that carries replacement parts for pressure canners:

http://www.pressurecooker-outlet.com/

[joseph97297]

The sears is a canner/cooker, it can hold 6 qt jars easy. The lady we bought it off of said she had misplaced the pieces a few years ago and that was all she had. I saw where I could order a replacement weight, just wondering (and will call on Monday to see) if it is a 10 lb weight.

Thanks for the info on homemade racks, my husband already drew up his "blueprint", geesh, he is always so technical....

Thanks Mandy

[Toads tool]

I place a wash cloth in the bottom of my Pressure cooker, sometimes by eliminating the rack this gives me that extra space needed to be able to get a second row of jars in, doubling my capacity. Chopsticks, popsickle sitcks or a crumpled piece of aluminum foil will also work nicely.

Look in a manual or cookbook and it should tell you how much quicker 15 lbs cooks than 10 pounds. Cut your times likewise.

There's also nothing saying that you have to run a PC at just under the pop-off pressure. You can run them up to pop-off pressure then back off on the heat. The pressure will drop off and not be at 15 lbs..
This would work well for cooking but I wouldn't do it for canning.

[ceresone]

Then, it all depends on elevation-some places, including here, process at 15#