When steralizing...

CrownMeKing

Active Member
Is moisture suppose to get in the jars? I put aluminum covers on each and pressure cooked for 90min at 15psi and the micropore tape I had over the holes is all melted and the jars have a bunch of moisture in them. They don't looked soaked, can I still use them to innoculate or are they trash? This was my first time using my PC please help trying to do this fast.
 

polyarcturus

Well-Known Member
haha i did it the first time too. first offf you want barely a whisper of steam coming out, if its whiltling and the weight rocking pretty hard you have it turned up to high.

second dont put foil over you jars, this wont really help anything.

also make sure NONE of the metal rings or glass of the jar touches any of the metal on the pot directly.(rag or rack at bottom of pot to hold them off the bottom.

the jars arent trash i would remove the sub, rinse with cold water, and strain, refill the jars remake the lids and do it over again. but no i would not use them as they are.
 

CrownMeKing

Active Member
haha i did it the first time too. first offf you want barely a whisper of steam coming out, if its whiltling and the weight rocking pretty hard you have it turned up to high.

second dont put foil over you jars, this wont really help anything.

also make sure NONE of the metal rings or glass of the jar touches any of the metal on the pot directly.(rag or rack at bottom of pot to hold them off the bottom.

the jars arent trash i would remove the sub, rinse with cold water, and strain, refill the jars remake the lids and do it over again. but no i would not use them as they are.
How do I lower the steam coming out? If it's boiling at 15psi won't the amount of steam basically be the same no matter what? Also you sure I couldn't use them as is? *Ohh and why not use foil.
 

polyarcturus

Well-Known Member
lower the steam? lower the temp.
lets take for example on my stove its take about 15 min to get the steam coming out of my PC on an electric eye at 500 degrees once steam begins to come out i lower to 400 then after about 10 min at 400, i move to 300 then about 10 min later 250-200 for the rest of the time.

same thing with a gas stove with the exception of you can jump larger amounts of degrees as you lower the temp. you say start on high then one you get steam jump to a low temp with no ill effect.
 

CrownMeKing

Active Member
yeah but don't I have to maintain the PC at 15psi. If I lower the temp to minimize the steam the won't the pressure drop as well?
 

polyarcturus

Well-Known Member
yes maintain the PC at 15psi, lower the temp slowly,(15psi is not that much pressure, not very hard to obtain, you could get there on 200 degress, but it would take several hours to get warm enough to be at pressure)
no it shouldnt, because the issue is internal temp, not the temp at the base of the pot. it only take about 200 degrees evenly spread through the pot to obtain 15Ppsi, thats why you start high and work you temps down.(note 200 degrees is probably the lowest setting on all stoves.)
 

Budzilla420

Well-Known Member
When using a PC with a weight, you want the weight to shake/rattle/jiggle or whatever you wanna call it once or twice a minute. Thatll basically let you know your at pressure. In my experience, using a PC with PF style jars is a bad idea, because the pressure will force steam and therefor moisture into the jars. Ive done it a couple times and used the jars and they turned out fine, even with the excess moisture. And definitely always put foil over your jar lids when you PC or steam sterilize, otherwise youll get even more moisture in the jars.
 
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