Pressure Canners Still Scare Me
Last night I roasted a chicken for dinner so, as usual, made chicken stock from the bones. Because it was real
ly late, I put the stock in the fridge, saved the meat that came off the bones, and planned to make soup today. First of all, I had to get the pressure canner out and buy new jars. I found that stock in wide mouth jars doesn't really do well - it leaks out all over the canner and makes a mess which is difficult to clean. But maybe it's that the past few times I used the pressure canner, I forgot to let it vent for 10 minutes before putting the little weight on. Anyway, I bought the regular mouth pint jars for the stock. See how big the canner is?
The next step was reheating the stock and putting it in the jars. I had just enough to make 4 pints of stock, which are sitting in the canner in 1.5 inches of water. Then the top goes on. My canner does not have a rubber gasket. It's milled for a perfect fit. The screws are applied 2 at a time, on opposite sides (see below), until it's tight. Then it's heated and when the steam starts to come out, vented for 10 minutes (the step I always forget) and then the weight goes on. 10 pounds. Adjusting the heat to keep it at 10 pounds without a 
lot of rattling of the weight takes time. The stock was processed for 20 minutes, then I turned off the burner. When the pressure went down to zero, I took the lid off, removed the jars, and then replaced them with the jars of soup and started the process again.
For the soup, I took the fat off the stock before I heated it up, and used it to saute leeks, celery, and onions. I added water, carrots, and the chicken meat I'd saved from yesterday, plus salt, pepper, and thyme. This simmered for about 2 hours. It made 2.5 quarts. These were processed for 90 minutes and removed when the pressure dropped back to zero.
ly late, I put the stock in the fridge, saved the meat that came off the bones, and planned to make soup today. First of all, I had to get the pressure canner out and buy new jars. I found that stock in wide mouth jars doesn't really do well - it leaks out all over the canner and makes a mess which is difficult to clean. But maybe it's that the past few times I used the pressure canner, I forgot to let it vent for 10 minutes before putting the little weight on. Anyway, I bought the regular mouth pint jars for the stock. See how big the canner is?
The next step was reheating the stock and putting it in the jars. I had just enough to make 4 pints of stock, which are sitting in the canner in 1.5 inches of water. Then the top goes on. My canner does not have a rubber gasket. It's milled for a perfect fit. The screws are applied 2 at a time, on opposite sides (see below), until it's tight. Then it's heated and when the steam starts to come out, vented for 10 minutes (the step I always forget) and then the weight goes on. 10 pounds. Adjusting the heat to keep it at 10 pounds without a 
lot of rattling of the weight takes time. The stock was processed for 20 minutes, then I turned off the burner. When the pressure went down to zero, I took the lid off, removed the jars, and then replaced them with the jars of soup and started the process again.
For the soup, I took the fat off the stock before I heated it up, and used it to saute leeks, celery, and onions. I added water, carrots, and the chicken meat I'd saved from yesterday, plus salt, pepper, and thyme. This simmered for about 2 hours. It made 2.5 quarts. These were processed for 90 minutes and removed when the pressure dropped back to zero.
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