dave > wrote:
> Hello everyone. I just bought my first pressure canner, tested it
> tonight with just water in it to see how it works, It is a presto 16 Qt.
> and have a few questions.
>
> 1. big yellow warning card came with canner telling you not to use on a
> turkey fryer burner, is this gospel or can you use the gas turkey fryer
> burner with out devastating results?(blowing up)
Probably because some idiot put his canner on the turkey fryer (we call
them crawfish boilers down here in Loosyanna) and walked away with it
roaring like the flames of hades. That would definitely get up to the
highest temperature quickly and probably blow the safeties and possibly
cause lift off.
>
> 2. going to can green peppers tomorrow night, blue book says pints or
> half pints, I would like to use jelly jars (smaller than pints) (the
> right size for my usage) is this ok? would process the same as pints.
Are you talking about the 12 ounce jars? If so you can use them as they
are approved jars. I've never used them in a pressure canner but only in
a boiling water bath kettle.
>
> 3. I did some hot peppers in vinegar and the recipe called for bwb now
> that I saw the blue book calls for pressure canning, but no vinegar
> brine, I am starting to wonder. I got the recipe for the hot peppers off
> the internet (cooks.com) I think. or does the acid in the vinegar negate
> the need to pressure can?
I have put up a lot of peppers over the years and have never pressure
canned them. Looks like that would make them soft. It's far easier to
chop and freeze and keep in the freezer for cooking. For spicing up your
food you can just put them up as shown in the BBB recipe on page 55 in
my copy and that's with vinegar and a boiling water bath for pints and
half-pints at 10 minutes. At that rate you can process the 12 ounce jars
the same way. I wouldn't use anything but approved canning jars though,
no mayo,jelly, or other single use jars. So the answer is yes, the acid
in the vinegar (5% USP) negates the need to pressure can and is a lot
easier to do.
>
> 4. Most canning I plan to do calls for 10 psi. it seems a lot easer to
> control the canner at 15 psi. would there be any harmful effects from
> canning at a higher pressure, and the same processing time as the lower
> pressure?

Negative, if the canner's manual or BBB or one of the other well-known
preserving books calls for 10 psig that's what you need to use. 15 psig
would be to high and would probably turn your peppers into mush. Go here
for approved USDA methods and advice:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

The food scientists at U of GA are good people and you can trust what
they say. They also sell a book called "So Easy to Preserve" that is
well worth the money. Ball also has a new book out called "The Ball Book
of Complete Home Preserving" that is much larger than the old BBB and is
quite good. HTH