What is a pressure canner? – A simple and efficient way to preserve food

In daily life with a hectic routine and work life, everyone wants to prepare and store food to last for days so you don’t have to go for grocery or cooking frequently. Well with meat and vegetable this one is quite a difficult task to achieve. Many people use boiling water to sterilize and store food or you can also cook it and preserve it, but that won’t last for more than a week or two in the freezer.

Well, don’t worry we have brought you a very efficient and feasible method of storing your food items safely and in proper condition so that the freshness and taste remain the same. With a pressure canner high pressured steam at a 240 F temperature kills all the bacteria and microorganisms, so that the foods are canned and sterilized to last for weeks or months. You can easily store low acid items that are prone to rotting like beans, meat, tomatoes, or cooked items like soup, purees, or curries.

Here is a complete guide for you so you can better understand what a pressure canner is and it’s working along with a step to step procedure for sterilizing your food with a pressure canner.

What is a pressure canner?

A pressure canner is a steel or aluminum pot that comes with a lid that locks in and has a pressure valve or pipe that is covered with a dial or gauge to apply some weight and a pressure plug to relieve the pressure before you unlock the lid.  A pressure canner is usually similar to the pressure cooker we use for cooking but the heat and pressure handling to sterilize cans containing food is different.

How does a pressure canner work

A pressure canner uses pressurized steam to sterilize the food by killing all the bacteria and microorganisms in it so that the food items are safe to keep in the fridge to be used for a long time. Pressure gauge on the lid is used to vary the temperature by increasing or decreasing the pressure.

As steam is hotter than the boiled water the sterilization of the cans is better and more effective. Pressure canner can heat up to 240 F or more at increased pressure by either the weight or by the burner flame. When the less acidic foods are sealed at this temperature they are good to go for months.

Types of the pressure canner

Based on the regulating system of the pressure on the lid of a pressure canner the pressure canner is divided into two subcategories that are:

1. Pressure canner with dial gauge

Dial gauge pressure canner has a dial on the lid that shows the pressure inside the pressure canner. You can check all the time that either the pressure is at the required PSI or not and alter it by regulating the flame of the burner.

Although the accuracy and maintaining a constant pressure all along is achievable with this type of pressure canner they require complete attention and aren’t self-regulating. So for precision-loving people, these are a good fit but they will take your hour or more for continuous monitoring that you won’t prefer usually.

2. Pressure canner with a weighted gauge

In a weighted gauge canner, you have weight available on the steam valve that applies pressure required from 5, 10, or 15 valves whatever you prefer according to your location altitude. This weight jiggle every minute and release some steam indicating that the pressure canner is at its required pressure and the food is being cooked or sterilized properly.

This kind of pressure canners are self-regulating and maintain the pressure without you watching over. With the ease of no monitoring comes a drawback of limited pressure options that are only 15, 10, or 5 PSI, contrary to the dial gauge in which you can select any intermediate pressure.

As with glass top stoves, canning is to be done with extreme care so weighted gauge canners are the best pressure canner for glass top stove due to proper monitoring and pressure regulation with no increase in pressure even if you are not there.

Benefits of using a pressure canner

You must be thinking now that why on earth you should buy a pressure canner that is not too cheap, plus with all those frozen vegetables and meat available in the market doing so at home is an extra task. Well here are some major advantages that using a pressure canner to can your foods implies. Let’s have look at them:

• Fresh and safe

With a pressure canner, the food is preserved with its original taste and texture, so you will get your meat or soups as fresh and tasty as they were canned.

• Cost friendly

All that frozen food costs you a fortune every month with a somewhat less appetizing taste, while when you pressure can your food at home that saves you a lot of money and is also tastier and healthier

• Store without freezing

Pressure canned food is good to be kept on a shelf or kitchen cupboard and won’t require you to keep them in freezers or cold boxes to prevent them from getting stale.

• Customized as per your taste

For people who are allergic or want to cut some spices or salt from their diet, pressure canning their food is great as they can add whatever ingredient they like and don’t have to read the ingredients table on each frozen product before buying.

Step by step guide for pressure canning

Now while we are now well convinced about buying a pressure canner and what great benefits it has, let us dig into the procedure of pressure canning your vegetables, fruits, soups, or steaks. Follow this step by step easy guide to pressure can your food conveniently and perfectly.

1. Pre heat empty jars

Fill your pressure canner with water and heat it to boil. Well, you must be thinking about how much water in the pressure canner should be filled? , you can only fill 2 -4 inches on the bottom of the pressure canner as it works with steam, not the boiling water.

Heat the jars for 3- 4 minutes and then take them out

2. Fill the food items in the jars tightly

Now fill the jars tight with anything you want to store like beans, peas, soups, or meat so that the container is filled completely

3. Use a spatula to remove any air bubbles

With the help of a rubber spatula moved along the walls of the jar or press down the food a little to remove any air bubbles in the jar.

4. Wipe the rim and lid of the jars

Now wipe the rim and the lid of the jars to remove all moisture and lock them tightly onto the jar that it’s not openable easily.

5. Place in the heated up pressure canner

Now with 2 to 3 inches of simmering water place all your jars to be pressure canned carefully and lock the lid of the pressure canner with no weight on the pressure vent.

6. Let it heat for 10 minutes without a pressure gauge

Without any weight let the water steam up and leave through the vent pipe for 10 minutes

7. Place the gauge and steam for the required time

Once the pressure is created place the regulator and let the jars steamed for a suggested time at the proper pressure to seal the jars completely

8. Depressurize and unlock the lid

Keep in mind to first open the vent pipe to relieve pressure, then remove the weight or dial gauge and then unlock and open the lid.

9. Let the jars cool down

Now let the jars cooled down for 12 to 24 hours outside in the air.

10. Check the lid for proper seal and store

Check with fingertips that either the lid is sealed or not and if there are complete seals then you can safely place them on the shelf or fridge as you like.

What foods are good for pressure canning?

Although any kind of food item can be pressure canned it is more preferable for items that are low in acidic value and can be kept in an acidic preservative like vinegar in pickles. Here is a list of some products that are good to be pressure canned

• Meat and meat stocks/ broth
• Vegetable soups or broths/stocks and beans, tomatoes or potatoes, etc.
• Baked beans or cooked chili
• Pasta or pizza sauce that contains onions, tomatoes, or mushrooms in them
• Any soups or cooked stews

Which items you should avoid using in a pressure canner?

While you aim to pressure can your food here are some items that you should never put in a pressure canner, as they won’t get preserved and also will cause a mess. These items to be avoided are:

• Any kind of dairy products be it milk, yogurt, cream, or butter
• Starchy foods like pasta, spaghetti, or rice
• Eggs and egg dishes
• Thickeners like flour or cornflour
• Coconut or almond milk.

FAQs

1. How much water can you put in a pressure canner?

There are only 2-3 inches at max water requirement in a pressure canner to create steam for canning jars.

2. Is pressure canning better than boiling water?

As steam is more pressurized and hotter than boiling water the process is better and more effective

3. How much a pressure canner cost?

On average, a pressure canner costs a thousand dollars and more depending on the capacity and quality.

Summing it up!

Hopefully, you found this article helpful in getting the know-how about what is a pressure canner and it’s working and canning procedure.

Pressure canning is for sure one of the best way to preserve you low acid content food items so that you can enjoy your favorite vegetables off-season or have a homemade can of soup available after you came back on a chilly evening to the home

Follow our easy guide to can your food to perfection.

Stay connected for more information and guides like this

Best of luck with your first canning session at home!

Today we are going to prepare fresh pasta at home, it seems very cumbersome but it really is not. Today we show you it and we are going to make it very easy, without using any device, so no one will have an excuse to say that you cannot make fresh pasta at home.

The paste always triumphs among the smallest, so if we make fresh pasta at home with them, we will spend a delightful day in every way. Pasta is a staple food and like all cereals form the basis of our diet, it is healthy and nutritious food.

The problem with making fresh pasta at home is that once you try it, you get hooked because everything you make has a special flavor. Do you remember the meat lasagna that we prepared the other day? Be sure to try it with this fresh pasta recipe and you will see how delicious it is.

How to make fresh pasta

Ingredients

• 300 gr of strength flour
• 100 gr of common flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Preparation of fresh pasta

Make fresh pasta at home

In a large bowl. or on the counter directly, we put the two types of flour, we make a hole in the center in which we put the eggs, salt, and oil. Mix a little with the help of a fork, then knead with our hands until we obtain a homogeneous dough that does not stick to our hands.

If you have Thermomix or any other mixer, you just have to put the ingredients and knead.

Once the dough is ready, we wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for a couple of hours. We put flour on the hob, divide the dough into several pieces. With a roller, we stretch each piece very well, if we are going to make lasagna we cut a sheet the size of the mold.

If we prefer to make noodles, we roll the pasta very stretched and floured on both sides. We cut the cylinder into thin slices, unroll and we have a noodle. We let them dry a bit, I use a roller between two doors of a kitchen cupboard.

Once we have cut all the noodles, we put a saucepan with water to boil and we cook them. Once cooked, drain and add to the sauce that we like the most.

Let’s go! Today everyone to prepare fresh pasta at home … Then remember to prepare for example some spaghetti carbonara and tell us how are you …

Smoothies Shakes

Looking for how to make Smoothies and Shakes? You should know that they are the easiest and fastest way to maintain a healthy diet. These provide us with the nutrients and vitamins that our body needs, and help us stay active throughout the week.

So if you follow the tips that we will tell you below, they will be super easy to do and best of all, they are delicious.

Taking shakes and smoothies brings us many benefits to our daily life. Among them we can highlight that: they are a nutritious and healthy food; They are a good option to consume the number of daily fruits and vegetables that our body needs and improve the condition of the skin.

In addition, they help us to hydrate the body; they are very easy to digest; they will help you reach your ideal weight; They are perfect to camouflage those fruits and vegetables that we do not like to consume and contain high vitamins.

Do you have the mixer ready? Learn how to do them with these 5 easy steps.

How to make a smoothie or fruit shake?

Next, we are going to teach you how to make smoothies and fruit shakes in a simple way and in a short time, with which you will achieve delicious and very healthy results.

They are the ideal way to start the day and are also perfect for a snack when the “bug” hits us.

The word Smoothie comes from the English Smooth which means smooth, and they were invented in California in the 60s. In recent years they have become the reference drink thanks to its many benefits.

It is a preparation based on fruits and/or vegetables generally mixed with dairy products such as milk or yogurt and some sweetener such as sugar or honey.

Making Smoothies is very simple, you only need your favorite fruits and vegetables and your  Blender or Smoothie Maker.

How to make Smoothies and Shakes in 5 steps

There are a thousand combinations and varieties, so our recipes are always open to modifications, according to the taste of each one. Let your imagination fly and tell us your best recipe in the comments!

The most recurrent questions in these cases are what should I put in a smoothie? The answer is very simple, basically whatever you want! as long as you follow a few simple rules.

Do not hesitate to use your favorite fruits and vegetables, especially taking advantage of those you have at home, to never waste any food.

Here are the essential steps to get your perfect smoothies and shakes.

Step 1: Choose your liquid foundation

You should always start the recipe with 1-2 cups of your preferred liquid ingredient. There are thousands of options such as plain yogurt or flavored yogurt, natural fruit juice, coconut water or milk in all its varieties (cow, soy, almond, coconut …).

Add it always first in the blender, before entering the fruit, vegetables or ice This will prevent damage to the blades and lengthen its life.

Step 2: Choose your favorite fruits and/or vegetables

Now it is the turn of the fruit and/or vegetables and for this, there are innumerable combinations. The most popular ingredients are Strawberry, Raspberry, Kiwi, Banana, Banana, Watermelon, Melon, Mango, Apple, Avocado, Spinach, etc. Do not hesitate to let your imagination run wild and use your favorite ingredients or others that you find interesting! As for the quantity, it is about trying little by little.

Some fruits such as Watermelon contain more water, so you will have to add little by little until you achieve the desired creamy texture.

Step 3: Add thickeners

Add somebody to your Smoothie and adjust the creaminess based on thickeners to achieve the ideal texture. Depending on the water content of the fruits or vegetables chosen, we will add more or less amount of thickener.

For this, you can use ingredients such as Oats, Peanut Butter or other nuts, seeds ( flax, Chia ”/]…), Coconut, Oats, Ice, Yogurt, Kefir, etc.

Step 4: Sweeteners and Flavorings

Next, it’s time to add that different touch to our shakes. It is always advisable to use seasonal fruits that will be sweeter and cheaper. Even so, many times we will have to correct the degree of sweetness of our preparation.

To this, we can add a sweetener such as honey, Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, Mint, Sugar brown or cane, dates, figs, nutmeg, etc.

If you want your shakes to be healthier, choose fruits that already have a high natural sugar content and that way you will start from a good base.

Step 5: Enhance the nutritional properties

Finally, we have the option of adding ingredients that help us enhance the nutritional properties of our recipes. This part is optional but highly recommended.

Among the ingredients, we can include Royal Jelly, protein powder, flax, sprouts, probiotics, Fish Oil, Cocoa powder, Goji Berries, etc. All these ingredients will turn your Smoothie into a Super Smoothie!

Now you know how to make Smoothies, finally, once all the ingredients have been shaken, you can store it in the fridge and enjoy your rich and healthy Smoothie.

If you also want to learn a couple of tricks to make your Smoothies and thus reach another level, don’t forget to visit Smoothie Tricks, where you will learn all you need.

Do you need more reasons to join the Smoothie trend? Now you know the great nutritional importance they bring you and that they are very easy to prepare and are ready in less than 5 minutes. Get down to work with our simple steps and enjoy the best Smoothies with the whole family!