Do you mean come up to pressure once the weight is put on? Then yes, something is definitely wrong. Even my 23 quart Presto only takes 5 mins. to build up to 10 lbs. once I put the weight on. This is after I have let it actively steam for 10 mins. before putting on the weight as in the guidelines.

Are you going by the gauge or a weight to determine it is at pressure? What brand of PC would help? If you are going by the gauge then the odds are your gauge is shot or needs to be recalibrated. If going by the weight then I'd suspect the heat source is the problem.

What is your heat source - gas or electric? Any chance your burner is working at full tilt?

Dave

If you had steam or water leaking from around the gasket you will never get it to build pressure. Yes, I agree, it needs a new gasket or a new canner.

Thanks, Linda Lou. I have one more question. The jars are sealed. Is it safe to leave them sealed and refrigerate them once they are cool, or should I open them and freeze the beans? I don't think I should reprocess (assuming the local hardware store has a gasket) as I think they will be too overcooked.

I'd freeze them but after cooking that long they are likely safe as is.

But there is still the question of where did all the steam go? Was it leaking out around the gasket where you could see it? If so then it would have been obvious and a new gasket should solve it. But if not then the gauge is bad and it is the gauge that needs to be replaced or the steam vent isn't working for some reason so the weight didn't jiggle. They do get plugged up.

Sorry but this canner sounds like an accident waiting to happen and you are lucky it didn't.

Dave

Dave, there is definitely some steam and water leaking from the gasket area. It was just far worse this time than the last time I used the pressure canner.

When I went to the local hardware store, there was a Mirro 22qt weighted gauge canner on sale, so I took the bait and bought one. I will still look for a new gasket for my old canner though, since there have been times where 2 canners would have been mighty handy!

If your old Mirro has the lid-lock built into one of the handles, turn the lid upside down and jiggle the lock. You will see it operates a vent plug that seals with a little rubber 0-ring gasket. That little gasket may be the one leaking. Best to replace it, along with the lid gasket.

I've been wondering if my Presto canner is supposed to take as long as it does to go through all the steps and come up to pressure. Once I put on the lid and turn on the heat it takes over an hour for the steam to start venting, and after the regulator goes on it can take another hour for the air vent to lock. Once THAT happens, it's another 30+ minutes for it to come up to the 11lbs. pressure most of my recipes call for. It's nearly midnight here and now that my canner has been chugging away for the past several hours, I still have to stay up for another 90 minutes once it comes to pressure.

I've assumed that my electric-coil stove is chiefly to blame, but reading the comments here I wonder if the issue could be the canner itself. I received it new a few years ago and haven't used it very many times so the parts shouldn't be worn out yet. And I cleaned the lid, gasket and air vent just today as it created a "steam lake" on my stove top last night so that I had to turn it off and start over.

Well there is definitely something wrong given your info. It could be a combination of both issues - stove and canner - I suppose but thousands of folks can on an electric coil stove with no problems.

But the canner is definitely not working correctly and shouldn't be used until it is checked out. I can't imagine what would cause a "steam lake" on the stove unless there was serious leaking.

Dave

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I agree with Dave. You may have a dried out gasket, there shouldn't be that much escaping steam OR water loss in your canner. Before we moved, I did can on an electric coil stove with no problems, but I definitely shortened the 'come to pressure' timing (which was no where close to an hour to begin with!) by buying a heavy duty canning burner. Easily interchangeable on the stove I then had, and it worked great for things like stir fry too.

My gaskets were in good shape, and on the electric coil stove I used a heavy duty canning element similar to this one.

Well there was no "steam lake" this time...I think that was caused by the water being overly pumpkin-y (due to boil-off) after processing the first batch, and this in turn gumming up the vent lock and delaying the actual locking. I had cleaned the lid, gasket and vent for re-processing the second batch, and had just a little reside on the lid when the second batch was finished. This morning I took out the gasket (which looks fine to me, and the little one on the vent lock) and cleaned everything thoroughly again before starting the third and final batch. I also changed out the water and started the canner heating while I got the jars prepped. It still took almost an hour (~50 min.) to start venting, but oddly enough once I put on the regulator the vent lock popped up after just 10 minutes. It may have taken less time to come to pressure as well - maybe 20 minutes(?). I still had a fair amount of boil-off in the jars though, even though they all sealed (but 3 of the 7 in the second batch did not). Not quite sure what's causing that; I don't think I overpacked the jars, and I did pretty good this time at keeping the pressure constant.

I have noticed on several occasions that this burner (which is the only one of the four I can use for this) seems inconsistent in the amount of heat it puts out. Sometimes it takes forever for my cast-iron skillet to heat, and sometimes my oil is smoking before I know it. So this could be delaying the time-to-vent (and maybe causing the boil-off before it comes to pressure?), although once I find the "sweet spot" for processing it seems pretty consistent. The idea of a canning element is interesting; we're moving soon so I'm not too concerned about my stove, and the one in my new kitchen will run on LP. But I'll keep the idea in mind should the need arise. Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

With pressure canning it isn't "boil over" but siphoning that happens. Ideally there should be no discoloration of the water when processing is finished, no loss of jar contents. If there is, especially if you are getting enough siphoning to gum up the works, then there is another potentially serious problem.

The most common cause of siphoning is inconsistent pressure/pressure fluctuations during processing either due to poor burner operation or the operator making unwarranted adjustments to the heat level during processing. Or overly rapid cooling once processing is finished. Overfilled jars can contribute to it as well but each food has proscribed fill levels in the instructions.

So what exactly is it you are trying to pressure can? With siphoning you'll find you end up with weak, short-lived seals on the jars due to food trapped between the lids and the jar rims. So be sure to mark those jars for ASAP use.

Causes of siphoning

Dave

And, I'm agreeing with Dave once again ;0) Detailaddict, my goal with canning is water as clean at the end of a load as it was when I began. Most of the time I accomplish that, even with tuna which makes me really happy. No scrubbing jars of cooked on fish oils before storing my tuna in the pantry, a step I don't enjoy.

Siphoning is what I mean...I had 20 quart-sized jars of pumpkin cubes to process, and all but 3 of them seemed to seal ok - although I will check the ones that siphoned in the coming weeks for seal failure. I left the prescribed 1 in. of headspace, although as there was some settling after filling the jars I did top most of them off with a few extra cubes (which likely resulted in fewer filled jars) - though without forcing/packing and still leaving the 1in. above the water line. I don't try to speed up the cooling process beyond turning the burner off and moving the canner off the heat. The only heat adjustments I made during processing was to gradually(!) decrease the pressure if it went over 11lbs, so I'm wondering if the "poor burner operation" is indeed the culprit. This is also the first time I've pressure-canned quart jars, and the pint jars I've canned (e.g., black beans, broth) have not had this issue.

Noted on the clean water, and something I should have corrected sooner, apparently. I consulted my MIL on the topic and she told me that discolored water was ok as long as there weren't chunks of pumpkin floating about that could clog up the vent lock. But things did seem to clear up (literally and figuratively) once I changed the water.

"The only heat adjustments I made during processing was to gradually(!)
decrease the pressure if it went over 11lbs, so I'm wondering if the
"poor burner operation" is indeed the culprit."

It may be the burner in part but it is also likely your adjustments. It doesn't matter if it goes over 11 lbs just let it ride without adjusting. That trying to nail 11 lbs exactly is what gets most into siphoning trouble. ;)

Now obviously if it shoots up to 15 lbs you'll need to turn the heat down but as long as your pressure is over 11 and below 15lbs that is fine.

This is why we always recommend investing in the 3 piece weight set for your canner. Weights are far more accurate than gauges anyway even if you have your gauge checked each year. And with the weight set you just ignore the gauge and aren't tempted to make those adjustments. The weight will rock at 11.5 lbs and you don't have to worry about going over.

BUt with cubed squash also keep in mind that the cubes will swell and expand during processing so a few LESS cubes is better.

Dave

"It doesn't matter if it goes over 11 lbs just let it ride without
adjusting. That trying to nail 11 lbs exactly is what gets most into
siphoning trouble. ;)"

Hmmm...opinions seem to vary on this issue, as elsewhere I've read that while it's safer to "over" than under-process, it's still not good to let the pressure exceed the specified level (i.e., more is not necessarily better). Also that a too-high temperature needs to be bumped down gradually, as it's the initial overshoot and drastic compensation that leads to siphoning. It's quite possible that you're correct, though.

I'm not familiar at all with weight sets, though not opposed to the idea either. I would actually like to get my hands on a good resource that satisfactorily explains the physics of pressure-canning - what is accomplished in each step and how the various recipes are formulated. For me, knowing the "why" is more helpful in troubleshooting than just the 1-2-3.

The main reason for adjusting the heat is that the "sweet spot" where the pressure holds at 11 lbs. is at half the heat level of the setting I use to bring it to boil. If I leave it at this heat level, the pressure overshoots; and if I left it this hot through the whole process the pressure would likely increase to a dangerous level. But if I heated the water at the "sweet spot" level it would probably take 3 hours to reach the venting stage instead of an hour.

The resource you are looking for is NCHFP (see link below). They are the authority on safe and proper home food preservation.

"I've read that while it's safer to "over" than under-process, it's
still not good to let the pressure exceed the specified level (i.e.,
more is not necessarily better). Also that a too-high temperature needs
to be bumped down gradually, as it's the initial overshoot and drastic
compensation that leads to siphoning."

I don't know where you read this but what we are taught in the Master Food Preservation classes is that there is no reason why the pressure cannot somewhat exceed the recommended level as long as it remains within the safe operating limits of the canner. Logically this makes sense as many are required to use much higher pressures anyway due to altitude. So while my altitude may only call for 11 lbs. for green beans others are required to use 15 lbs. Therefore if my pressure rises to 12 or 14 lbs. and the only way I could reduce it was by reducing the heat sharply and causing a great deal of siphoning in the process, it is better to let it run at the higher pressure.

And as we all know siphoning can occur at any stage of processing, not just at the beginning and has other causes besides any "initial overshoot."

The ideal of course is to be able to finely tune and control the heat source to maintain the ideal required setting. However that is often unrealistic. However drastic compensation should always be avoided and with experience one learns how to adjust their heat source to avoid needing to do that. Slightly before the optimal pressure has been reached you can begin to make small decreases in the heat. Then once the proper pressure has been reached you should be very close to your sweet spot. But means very small, staged, minimal reductions. Or one simply purchases the correct weight set for their canner - they are available for all makes and modela - and then simply let the weight maintain the proper setting.

Dave

http://nchfp.uga.edu/

http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_press_canners.html

I just tried to pressure can some green beans and I might have been a bit paranoid, but it seemed like my canner wasn't coming up to pressure fast enough. I may have jumped the gun. It was over 5 minutes. According to what I am reading on here, I didn't let the steam vent stream long enough, I only did 5 minutes and not the 10 I've seen posted here. So my first question would be how long should it take to come to pressure? Then my gauge has a crack would that matter? If I was being paranoid can I try again with the same batch of green beans tonight?

Cindy

How long to get to pressure all depends on your brand, model, and size of pressure canner and how much heat your stove puts out. It can be any where from 10 to 60 minutes. Ideally no more than 10-15 minutes but 5 minutes isn't normally long enough for the average stove and canner. Plus you didn't vent long enough so air was likely still trapped in the canner. Those beans would not be considered safe for shelf storage - freeze them instead.

A crack in the gauge can affect the reading on the dial and such a gauge should not be used as you have no way to know the real pressure for sure.

Can you try again? Sure but not with that gauge. Get a weight set for your brand of canner and then ignore the reading on the gauge.

Dave

I will freeze the beans and order a new gauge. Its an older presto canner and hold 5 quart size jars, my mother in law gave it to me. Thank you for your answer next time I will vent for 10 minutes.

Interesting that this post should come up again the day I try another round of pressure canning...I processed back-to-back-to-back batches of broth, and I have found that a) starting with hot water and hot jar contents yields a quicker ascent to pressure, and b) gradually decreasing the heat while the pressure is approaching 11 lbs helps to keep it from overshooting, without the siphoning.

Help, I have a pressure question too! I used my pressure canner last night and it worked fine but then today it didn’t want to come up to pressure. The little valve under the handle didn’t want to click down. I tapped on it but nothing. Still had steam coming out around the seal. So I took the gauge off opened it and washed the seal, the lid and that little valve. Put it back on, turned the burner on and once it started venting then the handle lock dropped into place. So I let it vent just for a little bit, maybe a couple minutes then put the valve back on. You could hear the canner boiling like crazy. But then it woulDn’t come up to pressure and it keeps leaking around the seal. Like steam and even dripping like crazy. This is why I don’t pressure can!!!!

Sounds as if the exhaust vent the gauge rides on is plugged. Food particles, lime build-up, etc. Otherwise the gauge is faulty and that is why they have to be tested and recalibrated each year.

That is only one of the main reasons we recommend using only weighted canners, not gauge canners. Weighted canners are far more accurate and less problematic. Depending on the brand and model you have weights are probably available for converting it.

Dave