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Pressure canner water level

 
Pearl Sutton
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I am puzzled. I have been reading stuff about canning, and keep seeing the same answer, but I swear it's not working right.

The instructions always say "put about 2 inches of water in the canner"  Is that the level BEFORE the jars are added or AFTER the jars are added? If I do it before, the jars displace so much water they are close to underwater, or actually under if they are small ones. But everything I read keeps saying it at the beginning of the instructions.

If it's almost totally full of water, can the pressure be anywhere near right? Seems to me two inches on the bottom around the jars is very different than 2 inches that has come up to the shoulders of the jars.

How much water do I need? I have always done it so the level is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the jars, whatever size they are.

:D

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The way I had it explained to me long ago was that too much water isn't a problem unless it reaches the lid of the jars.  If it does, then it's possible to have some exchange between the water in the canner and the contents of your jars, because of pressure differentials before the jars seal tightly.

Too little water is when the canner boils dry during the venting process before you seal it, preventing you from ever getting enough steam pressure.  As far as I know it doesn't matter whether or how much water water versus steam (which are both at more or less the same temperature once your canner is sealed) is touching your jars.

Anything between those is good, or so I was taught.  I tend to go for a couple of inches of water around the base of the jars.

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Ahem. AND if you are canning 2 stacks of pints, is it 2 inches from the bottom of the pot, or from the base of the top layer of jars?

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Dan is correct, to my understanding. Joylynn, that would be the bottom layer of jars, otherwise there could be a liquid exchange, with the jars on the bottom. The steam will be sufficient to can both layers.

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I have made certain that the water level never gets near the top of the jars.  I also make certain there is at least a quart or two of water in the pressure canner (depending upon how long I plan to have the jars under pressure. At 71, I am still alive.

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I agree as well with Carla and Dan.  My canner has a little line near the bottom and I think it's more like an inch from the bottom.  That might be a minimum line though...

After you're done canning, check how much water you lost so that you can adjust in the future or know how close to "running dry" you were.  You will lose more steam with a jiggler weight than with a pressure gauge and the longer/harder it's jiggling, the more steam (and water) you lose.

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It's been a while since I read up on it, but I vaguely remember something saying water should cover the contents of the jars for the recipe to work properly. This was with fish, though. I think the gist was that water transfers heat faster than steam, and the time given to cook it depended on that heat transfer and with the water level too low, it would not heat the contents all the way through. It was also insistent that nothing larger than pints could be safely used due to the center of the jars' contents not getting up to temperature as well.

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Pearl Sutton
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Jordan Holland wrote:It's been a while since I read up on it, but I vaguely remember something saying water should cover the contents of the jars for the recipe to work properly. This was with fish, though. I think the gist was that water transfers heat faster than steam, and the time given to cook it depended on that heat transfer and with the water level too low, it would not heat the contents all the way through. It was also insistent that nothing larger than pints could be safely used due to the center of the jars' contents not getting up to temperature as well.


Jordan: That's solid pack raw fish instructions.  I've seen those before :D

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Pearl, do you have a rack or a tray in the bottom of your pressure cooker? That might make a difference. The rack doesn't need to hold the jars much off the bottom - in one cooker I use, I bought a pizza pan that had holes in it and put it in upside down so the lip holds the jars up about 3/8th inch. Your jars wouldn't be displacing any water below the rack, which might ensure you've got enough of a reservoir that you don't have to worry about it running dry.

I think ugly things might happen if it ran dry!

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Pearl Sutton
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Jay Angler wrote:Pearl, do you have a rack or a tray in the bottom of your pressure cooker?


Yup! And I went back to doing what I know works, so when the jars are in place, there is about 2 inches of water around them. I gave up on the directions on the net. I have been canning a lot lately, and they are all doing fine now. I messed myself up by listening to bad info, perhaps for a different canner than mine.  When I followed directions I had quart jars almost going under water. Pints were totally immersed.  None of that looked right.

:D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
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