Tips on Using a Pressure Cooker for Home Canning

Video Transcript

"The most important element for canning is a pressure cooker. It is so because the way a pressure cooker seals when you put it on your stove. It will build up pressure inside that will mean higher temperature for what is cooking inside. When proper pressure is reached, the little top on the pressure cooker will whistle. You will know at that moment that you have reached the highest temperature that you can get, and it’s higher than what you can get on a normal pot. This is important because we want to get rid of all the bacteria in our food when we’re doing preserve because if we have any bacteria left, it will multiply and grow and, well, ruin our preserve. In normal cooking that is so important because we eat the food immediately. But if we’re going to be keeping something for weeks or months or years, it’s important that we get rid of all the bacteria. The higher temperatures that you can reach with your pressure cooker is going to make that possible. "