How Use A Pressure Canner As A Pressure Cooker
But not ALL of them. There is a distinct difference between a pressure canner and a pressure cooker. As a rule of thumb, whatever word is on the box...use it for that!
Remember, NEVER use a pressure COOKER as a CANNER. They're usually too small to be practical, they aren't designed to be as accurate, your jars may break from being too close to the burner, and tested canning recipes require specific conditions, accounting for larger standard canners.
Meanwhile, only some pressure CANNERS can be used as COOKERS. Most canners are made of metals which react with foods at high temperatures, so you need to check with the manufacturer before attempting to cook food in direct contact with your canner.
In addition, if you DO choose to cook food in your canner, make sure you don't cook things that will bubble or foam much. Only fill the pot about half way; you don't want to clog and gunk up the various valves and vent pipes.
Our friends at Granite•Ware sent along a pair of their new pressure canners, which are pretty unique. They have a hard, anodized surface that makes them nonreactive. THESE canners can be cooked in! We tried both their 12.5 quart pot and their 20 quart pot. For large batches of food, or for big roasts, these are great!
We are including a recipe for Pinto Beans for you to try out. The fine details of recipes in a canner aren't as important as the concepts; foods will cook faster and hotter, and less liquid will evaporate from the food.
How Does Pressure Cooking Work?
- The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) at sea level.
- If you cook beans on a stovetop, or braise a cut of meat, your food will rise in temperature until it reaches 212°F/100°C; then it'll just stay there, cooking, until the water all boils away.
- When you seal that same food in an environment that does not allow moisture to escape, steam builds up. That steam gets hotter and hotter, pressing against the walls of the pot, but since there is no relief it just increases the pressure inside.
- As pressure increases, so does temperature. If you take that pressure cooker up to 15 PSI (pounds per square inch), you've increased the temperature inside to around 250ºF/120°C! That's almost 40 degrees F hotter than the food would be in an open pot!
- If you are using a weighted-gauge pressure cooker (the ones with the gadget on the top that rocks back and forth), it is calibrated to allow little puffs of steam out when the pressure/temperature get to a certain point. That's what the rocking IS...it's little puffs of steam that have forced their way up through the vent pipe, pushing the weighted regulator aside for an instant.
- In that way, a weighted-gauge pressure cooker regulates (ah, THAT's why they call the weight on top a regulator!) what's happening inside. That's why it won't explode, unless you REALLY crank up the heat and leave the house for the day (even then, modern pressure canners and cookers have lots of safety features that shouldn't allow that to happen. Please don't try it.).
- This benefits you in several ways:
- Higher heats, as you can imagine, cook foods faster. Beans may take only 25 minutes instead of 60, for example.
- Certain materials, like connective tissue in meats, don't break down very well at lower temperatures. At higher temperatures (under pressure), they begin to dissolve or denature, making tough cuts of meat less chewy and more tender.
- Flavors can permeate meats and vegetables deeply in a very short time.
- And, most practically, if you forgot you invited friends over for dinner, you can throw together some amazing food quickly; often in less than an hour, from pulling things out of the fridge to serving a meal up!
Things To Remember When Cooking With Pressure
- You're intentionally forcing steam to stay in the pot with a sealed lid, so moisture is not escaping as much as it would in a normal pot with a loose lid.
- Therefore, if you are adapting a recipe, especially with grains, reduce water and liquids by about 15-20%.
- This varies widely, depending on your pot and your foods, so you'll need to experiment, or follow a tested recipe.
- Things are HOT in there! Be careful!
- Your canner or cooker, especially if it is newer, has lots of safety features; there are valves or rubber stoppers that will pop out if something goes wrong.
- However, you should ALWAYS stay near your stove and monitor the heat and the timer.
- When opening the lid of the cooker, tilt it so that it shields you from the steam.
- Do NOT attempt to remove the lid of your cooker until the pressure has dropped completely.
- There is usually a locking pin that will drop down or a dial that will read "0" when the pressure is fully released.
- Some instructions tell you to put the cooker in the sink and run cold water over it. This can warp the metal if you do this too rapidly or too often; usually it's best to just let things come down in place, on the stove. It rarely takes more than 5-8 minutes for the pressure to return to normal after shutting off the heat.
RECIPE: Pinto Beans In A Hurry
Ingredients:
Imperial Units
- 3 Cups Pinto Beans
- 12 cups Water
- 2 Tbs olive Oil
- 1 each Yellow Onion (rough chopped)
- 2 each Bell Pepper (rough chopped)
- 6 each Garlic Cloves (rough chopped)
- 1 cup Sherry or Wine
- 2 Tbs Ground Cumin
- 1 bunch Cilantro (rough chopped)
- 2 each Bay Leaves
- 2 tsp Salt
Metric Units
- 700 ml Pinto Beans
- 2.8 L Water
- 2 Tbs olive Oil
- 1 each Yellow Onion (rough chopped)
- 2 each Bell Pepper (rough chopped)
- 6 each Garlic Cloves (rough chopped)
- 1 cup Sherry or Wine
- 2 Tbs Ground Cumin
- 1 bunch Cilantro (rough chopped)
- 2 each Bay Leaves
- 2 tsp Salt
Directions:
- Remember to clean your cooker and check the vent pipe to make sure it's clear!
- With the lid OFF, put the cooker pot on the stove and turn to high.
- Add the olive oil and saute your onions, peppers, and garlic until onions begin to brown.
- Deglaze the pot with the sherry.
- Add beans, water, cumin, cilantro, bay leaves, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Put the lid on the cooker, locking it on, as per the manufacturer's directions.
- In about 5 minutes, steam should start streaming out of the vent pipe.
- Set a timer for 10 minutes, letting that steam escape in a steady stream.
- Close the vent by adding the regulator with 2 weights on it.
- This will allow the cooker to get up to 15 pounds per square inch (PSI)
- Wait for the regulator to start rocking.
- When it is rocking steadily and constantly, set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Keep an eye on things and turn the heat down just low enough that the regulator keeps rocking.
- When your time is up, turn off the heat and let the cooker cool down on its own.
- This just takes a few minutes, and varies depending on your cooker.
- Once the locking pin has dropped down or (if your cooker has a dial gauge) your gauge reads zero, remove the regulator, then the lid.
- Serve it up!
- Your beans should be nice and tender, but not breaking down.
- If your beans aren't totally cooked, you can repeat the process for a few minutes or boil them as normal, with no lid. Every cooker is different, so make a note that you should add a few minutes on to other recipes in the future.
- Nice job!
Recipe Source: href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdV42RMkDA"Unless indicated otherwise, images, recipes, and other content are Copyright The Mason Jar Suite and Trav Williams. You may print and utilize this information for home and personal purposes. If you wish to republish this recipe, please link to this post or get in touch for other purposes.
- Deglaze the pot with the sherry.
