Pressure Canned Peppers

This year . . . like most other years . . . I planted a variety of hot peppers in my garden.  

Because peppers are a low acid food they need to be pressure canned.

Obviously, for the best results you need to start out with the freshest, crispest peppers. Select smallish (1 inch to 1 and ¼-inch in diameter) tender, firm, crisp peppers.  Cut out any soft, diseased, spotted and rusty pods.  Figure 1 lb of peppers per pint jar.

A word of caution before you begin.  Unless your a tough warrior babe (i.e knuckleheaded lazy chick) like me, make sure to wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes. Hot peppers can burn your eyes and skin and other . . . uhm . . . parts.  The oil from peppers isn't easily washed away.  My hands and fingers have had an unpleasant . . . but not painful . . . burning sensation the next day after cutting hot peppers without gloves and this was after many hand washing and showering.   You've been warned.


Equipment you will need:

Pressure Canner (I use an All American model 915. An excellent canner, by the way!)
Pint canning jars 
Large spoons and ladles
Lids and Rings
Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
Lid lifter
1 small pot to sanitize the lids
Jar funnel

I've been told you don't need to sanitize the jars before pressure canning; however, I think it's a good practice . . . better to be safe than sorry.


Sanitizing the jars kills any fungus and bacteria to prevent spoilage.  You can use the dishwasher for this if you have an extra hot or sanitize cycle, but you can boil them in the canner while your prepping your beans, which is what I usually do.

If you're using the canner, fill the jars with water and place them in the canner.  Then fill the canner with water  until it is over the tops of the jars and bring to a boil.  You will only need about 3 inches of water for the actual canning process but you can dump out the excess water before you put in your filled jars.  Otherwise, fill the canner about half full and bring to a boil.


Put the lids into the small pot of boiling water for at least several minutes.  

Wash the peppers in fresh, cold water.  

Boil the peppers in water for 3 minutes, then removed the peppers and reserve the water.  Just keep the water simmering and use this water to fill the jars after you've packed them with the peppers.

If you are using small peppers you can leave them whole.  Otherwise, remove stems, cores and seeds; slit them lengthwise to remove the seeds and open them up.

Fill jars loosely, leaving 1-inch of headspace at the top of the jar as this allows for expansion. Flatten whole peppers. Add on teaspoon of 5% white vinegar to each jar. You may add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each pint jar for taste but that's optional. 

Carefully fill each packed jar with water from pot of boiling water that they were cooked in.  Make sure to leave that 1 inch of airspace at the top of each jar.  Put the lids on each jar the put a ring on and screwing it down finger tight.  


Using the jar tongs, put the jars on the rack in the canner. You should have 3 inches of water in the canner.  Add hot tap water to the canner if necessary. 

Once all the jars that will fit are in the canner put on the lid and seal it, but leave the weight off (or valve open).

Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes.  After venting, put the weight on and close any openings to allow the pressure to build to 10 pounds.  Once pressure is up set the timer and process for 35 minutes.  Be sure to maintain the pressure.

Adjustments for Pressure Canner
Altitude in Feet	Dial Gauge Canner	Weighted Gauge Canner
0-1000	10	10
1001-2000	11	15
2001-4000	12	15
4001-6000	13	15
6001-8000	14	15
8000-10,000	15	15

If you live above 1000 feet elevation you need to figure your altitude adjustments canning. As your altitude goes above 1000 feet above sea level the atmospheric pressure is reduced. This causes water to boil at temperatures lower than 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

For safety in water bath canning you must bring the contents of your jar to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. To compensate for the temperature difference you must increase processing time.

The pressure canner is also affected by atmospheric pressures. A pressure canner must reach a temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit in order to stop botulism. To compensate for altitude differences, you must increase the amount of pressure used. The time does not change, only the pressure used.

Once processing time is up, vent the canner to release the pressure.  Make  sure the pressure gauge is down to zero before removing the lid.  Let the pot sit for 10 minutes before opening!

Place the jars in a draft free area and leave undisturbed for at least twelve hours.  At that point, you can remove the rings.  Test to make sure the jars are sealed by pressing down on the middle of the lid.  If isn't sucked down then put the jar in the fridge and use as soon as possible.  Otherwise, place your jars in a cool 
dark place for storage.

Canning beans . . . what happened?

My garden has been offering up a bounty of green beans.  Consequently, I've been canning a lot of beans . . . water pack, dilly beans, spicy pickled beans.  

This is my first year growing and canning beans, so this is all new to me.  I'm not new to canning but I am newish to pressure canning.  I was surprised when I noticed that in some of my jars a lot of the water had boiled out.  Why is that?  

Well . . . it's my own fault.  My impatience and inexperience . . . thankfully the beans sealed up okay and they will keep okay but will probably discolor due to the lack of liquid. 

According to the Presto (manufacturer of pressure canners) FAQ on pressure canning this is what causes jars to lose liquid during processing . . . 

• Jars were packed too solidly with food or were overfilled. Allow 1/2-inch headspace for all fruits and tomatoes, and 1-inch headspace for vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood. This is necessary since food expands during canning.
• Exhaust period was insufficient.


• Pressure regulator on the weighted gauge canner rocked vigorously during processing. It should maintain a slow, steady rocking motion.
• An unsteady heat source or steam leakage caused a fluctuation of pressure during processing.
• Removing or bumping the pressure regulator before pressure has completely dropped. Pressure should always drop of its own accord.
• Uneven pressure from rapid temperature changes or drafts blowing on the canner.

• Lids were not adjusted according to manufacturer’s directions.
• Failure to precook food before packing in jars thus allowing shrinkage to occur in the jar. It is especially important to preheat fruit.
• Failure to allow the canner to remain closed for 10 minutes after pressure has completely dropped.

What I did was the last one . . . I didn't  know that the canner should remain closed for 10 minutes after releasing pressure.  I thought that once the pressure was at zero it was safe to open the canner and remove the jars.  So, now I know better and the next time I can beans they'll be perfect   . . .   I hope.  :)

Cold Packed Canned Green Beans

Canning green beans is just about as easy as growing them.  They are a great starter crop for a new gardener and they are also a good vegetable to learn how to pressure can with.

Green beans . . . water packed . . . must be pressure canned due to their low acidity.  

Green beans can be either hot packed or cold packed.  I prefer cold (raw) packed green beans because I will be using them in recipes and they will be less cooked than if I were to hot pack them.  It's also less work up front.




Equipment you will need:

Pressure Canner (I use an All American model 915. An excellent canner, by the way!)
Pint or quart canning jars (quart jars are more economical but for me pint jars are a good serving size so that's what I use for beans.)
Large spoons and ladles
Lids and Rings
Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
Lid lifter
1 small pot to sanitize the lids
Jar funnel

I've been told you don't need to sanitize the jars before pressure canning; however, I think it's a good practice . . . better to be safe than sorry.


Sanitizing the jars kills any fungus and bacteria to prevent spoilage.  You can use the dishwasher for this if you have an extra hot or sanitize cycle, but you can boil them in the canner while your prepping your beans, which is what I usually do.

If you're using the canner, fill the jars with water and place them in the canner.  Then fill the canner with water  until it is over the tops of the jars and bring to a boil.  You will only need about 3 inches of water for the actual canning process but you can dump out the excess water before you put in your filled jars.  Otherwise, fill the canner about half full and bring to a boil.

Put the lids into the small pot of boiling water for at least several minutes.  

Wash beans in cold water and snap or cut them to the desired size . . . I typically cut mine into 2-inch pieces because they fit nicely into the jar.  



Pack the jars tightly with the raw cut beans.  I add a bit of salt into each of the jars . . . use kosher or canning salt NOT table salt.  


Cover with boiling water leaving 1-inch head space.

After your jars have been filled you will need to remove air bubbles by running a utensil down inside the jar between the jar and the beans  . . . a plastic knife or rubber spatula works well for this.
Wipe the rims of your jars clean then top the jars with the canning lids and rings. 


Place filled jars in a pressure canner.  Bring the water to a boil and put the lid on and lock it down.  Vent the canner for 10 minutes.

After venting, start your timer for the processing time - 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.

Adjustments for Pressure Canner
Altitude in Feet	Dial Gauge Canner	Weighted Gauge Canner
0-1000	10	10
1001-2000	11	15
2001-4000	12	15
4001-6000	13	15
6001-8000	14	15
8000-10,000	15	15

If you live above 1000 feet elevation you need to figure your altitude adjustments canning. As your altitude goes above 1000 feet above sea level the atmospheric pressure is reduced. This causes water to boil at temperatures lower than 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

For safety in water bath canning you must bring the contents of your jar to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. To compensate for the temperature difference you must increase processing time.

The pressure canner is also affected by atmospheric pressures. A pressure canner must reach a temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit in order to stop botulism. To compensate for altitude differences, you must increase the amount of pressure used. The time does not change, only the pressure used.

Once processing time is up, vent the canner to release the pressure.  Make  sure the pressure gauge is down to zero before removing the lid.

Place the jars in a draft free area and leave undisturbed for at least twelve hours.  At that point, you can remove the rings.  Test to make sure the jars are sealed by pressing down on the middle of the lid.  If isn't sucked down then put the jar in the fridge and use as soon as possible.

Otherwise, place your jars in a cool dark place for storage.

Pressure Canning Tomatoes

Now that the tomatoes in my garden are finally getting ripe it's time to start canning them.  I try to can them the day I pick them for the best results.  Obviously, that's not always possible, but I try.

When planning on how many jars you will need based on tomato volume figure 7 large tomatoes will fill one quart jar.

Besides the tomatoes the only other ingredients you will need is lemon juice and salt.  Salt is optional but make sure you don't use iodized table salt . . . you want a salt that doesn't have added ingredients.  




Equipment you will need:


Pressure Canner (I use an AllAmerican model 915). An excellent canner, by the way!
Pint or quart canning jars (quart jars are more economical)
Large spoons and ladles
Lids and Rings
Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
Lid lifter
1 large pot for scalding the tomatoes
1 small pot to sanitize the lids.
Jar funnel




Be sure to sanitize the jars, this removes any fungus and bacteria to prevent spoilage.  You can use the dishwasher for this if you have an extra hot or sanitize cycle, but you can boil them in the canner while your prepping your tomatoes, which is what I usually do.

If you're using the canner, fill the jars with water and place them in the canner.  Then fill the canner with water  until it is over the tops of the jars and bring to a boil.  You will only need about 3 inches of water for the actual canning process but you can dump out the excess water before you put in your filled jars.

Otherwise, fill the canner about half full and bring to a boil.

Put the lids into the small pot of boiling water for at least several minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Put the tomatoes, a few at a time in the boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough) and them put them into a large bowl of ice water.  This will make removing the skins ridiculously easy.


You want to use the freshest tomatoes you can; preferably unbruised and blemish free but that's in an ideal world.  Just be sure to cut out any bruised and discolored flesh when chopping them for the jars.  You definitely do NOT want rotten or mushy tomatoes!

Once you've removed the skins, cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters . . . making sure to remove any tough, bruised or soft parts.

Fill the sanitized jars withing a 1/4 inch of the top with the tomatoes. After the jar is filled, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart jar, 1 per pint jar.  This helps to reduce the odds of spoilage and to retain color and flavor. Then fill to 1/2 inch of the top with either boiling water or boiling tomato juice.  Add a pinch of salt, if desired.


Release any trapped air bubbles by sliding a flat utensil up and down around the inside edge of the jars.

Wipe the lips of the jar with a clean dry cloth or paper towel. Then put the lids and rings on.  Screw on the rings finger tight only.

Dump out any excess water out of the canner leaving about 3 inches of boiling water.  Put the jars in the pressure canner.  Then put the lid on and screw it down.

Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes before putting the weight on.  After venting put the weight on and let the canner build pressure.

For a weighted canner, like mine, process both pints and quarts for 15 minutes at 5 pounds of pressure.  Make sure you read the instructions for YOUR canner before using it.

When the processing time is up.  Vent the canner and remove from the heat.  DO NOT remove the lid until the pressure is down to zero.


Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight).  I normally let them sit for at least 12 hours.   You can then remove the rings if you like to reuse.

Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it.

Personally, I don't recommend reprocessing the jars if they haven't sealed because to tomatoes will be smooshy.

The tomatoes will float over the liquid.  This is normal, so don't panic.  You can reduce the amount of liquid in the jar by packing the tomatoes tighter next time.  But, remember, tomatoes are mostly water so you'll always get that water layer.

Finally, store them in a cool, dark place.  Enjoy them all year!