The average family meal planning needs to include meats, vegetables, seafood and poultry for a healthy diet. Therefore, it is vital that you preserve these low acid foods to ensure a well balanced and economical diet in case of an emergency situation. The challenge is that while these foods are easy to preserve, they require special handling in order to minimize the risk of spoilage brought about by certain food borne bacteria. This means that you must process these foods at a temperature of 240 degrees F while canning for the specified time in your recipe. The only way to achieve this temperature is by pressure canning, since the water bath canner only heats to a maximum temperature of 212 degrees F, the boiling point of water. Examples of low acid foods are vegetables, stews, soups, stocks, seafood, meat and poultry. You are also recommended to use pressure canning when combining high acid foods with low acid foods.
Follow the directions in the water bath canner technique until you have prepared the food and are ready to process in the water bath canner. Rather than using the water bath canner, you are going to be using a pressure canner. The following steps should guide you through the rest of the pressure canning procedure:
*Venting air from the pressure canner: Raise the heat setting to high in order to achieve a steady gush of steam from the vent pipe. When this has this achieved, adjust the heat to maintain a moderate flow for ten minutes.
*Sealing and processing: Close the vent pipe with the pressure regulator, and then bring the canner to a rolling boil until desired pressure. Maintain the recommended pressure by adjusting the heat regularly on the dial gauge.
*After processing: Turn off the burner when the specified processing time in your recipe is up, then remove the canner from the heat source. Allow the pressure to drop to zero naturally, with no steam escaping from the canner when the regulator is tilted. The standard time is usually 30 minutes when using pints, and forty-five minutes when using quarts.
*Remove the regulator from the vent pipe when the pressure has dropped, and give the canner ten minutes to cool before uncovering the lid. Use a jar lifter to extract the jars, and set them aside to cool completely without tilting, about 8 to 12 hours. Remove the bands when the jars have cooled. Store in a cool, dry place. When canning using the pressure canning procedure, use the chart below for pressure adjustments, based on your altitude.
Sample Recipe
Easy canned venison (game)
Ingredients
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
Optional: 1 tablespoon of minced green bell pepper
1 pound of cubed lean venison
¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
4 slices onion
Directions
Put the venison cubes in a large bowl and sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Toss to combine, then transfer all the ingredients into canning jars, leaving a headspace of about ½ an inch from the top. Wipe off any residue from the rims using a clean, damp cloth.
Fill pressure canner with water as per manufacturer’s directions and then place the jars in. Cover with lid and bring to a boil without closing the pressure valve. Boil for five minutes and then close the valve. Adjust the pressure using the altitude chart above, based on your altitude, and then maintain this pressure for 75 minutes by reducing the heat. Turn off the heat and give the canner some time to cool and the pressure to drop naturally to zero. Open the canner and lift out the jars, then place on a rack to cool. Refrigerate the unsealed jars and store the properly sealed ones in a cool, dark space.