SKR8PN
Late For Supper
Do any of you ever factor in your altitude when your pressure canning? Reason I am asking is........The Wife was canning some chicken today with our Presto 23 qt canners. Those canners come with a heavy weight, and you have to keep the pressure where it needs to be by playing with the heat. I purchased a couple of the "adjustable" weights because you can set them for 5, 10 or 15 lbs and not have to monitor it as closely. Wife forgot to set the weights for 10lbs of pressure and the canners went to 14-15 lbs(twice!) before she finally realized her mistake. She managed to remove the one ring from each weight without having to remove the weight completely off the canner, which would have dropped the pressure. She NEVER let the pressure get BELOW the 10lbs required.
ANYWAY....she got all flustered and called Presto. When The Wife explained to the lady what had happened, she asked what our altitude was !?!? We are only 1200 ft above sea level, but she tried to tell the wife that IF we were using the adjustable weights, we should have been processing at 15 lbs, NOT the 10 lbs called for in the Ball Canning book. Her reasoning was, the adjustable weights won't maintain the 10 lbs, even though we explained we still use the gauge to double check the pressure. She was adamant that we should have been doing 15lbs instead of 10lbs with these weights and at our altitude. BUT, in the next breath, she said that IF we use the original weigh that came with the canner, we didn't need to worry about adjusting for altitude unless we were 2000 ft or higher. She was VERY confusing and didn't make any sense to me....... 10 lbs is 10 lbs no matter WHAT weight your using.
I told The Wife that I would ask the experts here and get another opinion or three.
ANYWAY....she got all flustered and called Presto. When The Wife explained to the lady what had happened, she asked what our altitude was !?!? We are only 1200 ft above sea level, but she tried to tell the wife that IF we were using the adjustable weights, we should have been processing at 15 lbs, NOT the 10 lbs called for in the Ball Canning book. Her reasoning was, the adjustable weights won't maintain the 10 lbs, even though we explained we still use the gauge to double check the pressure. She was adamant that we should have been doing 15lbs instead of 10lbs with these weights and at our altitude. BUT, in the next breath, she said that IF we use the original weigh that came with the canner, we didn't need to worry about adjusting for altitude unless we were 2000 ft or higher. She was VERY confusing and didn't make any sense to me....... 10 lbs is 10 lbs no matter WHAT weight your using.
I told The Wife that I would ask the experts here and get another opinion or three.
