Still_grateful
Assistant Cook
Good evening all,
I did my first pressure canning last weekend, red potatoes cut up in quart jars. I read the recipe in the Blue Book and consulted the NCHFP site. Also called Ball to confirm about whether leaving the skin on could be done and about adding a bit of onion powder. Watched a bunched of videos online as well; many people in videos did not parboil their potatoes at all.
So here are my dilemmas.
NCHFP said to parboil cut up potatoes for 2 minutes. I did not really boil them (water was nearly a simmer) and I messed up re: parboiling (just dumped the potato pieces in the water without bringing water to a boil first). I used NCHFP’s time and pressure - 40 minutes at 11 psi (blue book was 40 minutes at 10 psi for my altitude).
Used warm-to-hot jars (had them in the oven), hot potatoes, hot water, 1 inch head space (measured by lower “rim” on jar). All jars sealed. Lost some liquid - maybe about an inch in a few jars. Don’t think I tightened the bands tight enough on those.
So being a bit cautious (and not really a cooking expert), I think I need to dump the jars and start over with new potatoes because of not boiling enough or correctly.
Any and all feedback will be appreciated!
Thanks
I did my first pressure canning last weekend, red potatoes cut up in quart jars. I read the recipe in the Blue Book and consulted the NCHFP site. Also called Ball to confirm about whether leaving the skin on could be done and about adding a bit of onion powder. Watched a bunched of videos online as well; many people in videos did not parboil their potatoes at all.
So here are my dilemmas.
NCHFP said to parboil cut up potatoes for 2 minutes. I did not really boil them (water was nearly a simmer) and I messed up re: parboiling (just dumped the potato pieces in the water without bringing water to a boil first). I used NCHFP’s time and pressure - 40 minutes at 11 psi (blue book was 40 minutes at 10 psi for my altitude).
Used warm-to-hot jars (had them in the oven), hot potatoes, hot water, 1 inch head space (measured by lower “rim” on jar). All jars sealed. Lost some liquid - maybe about an inch in a few jars. Don’t think I tightened the bands tight enough on those.
So being a bit cautious (and not really a cooking expert), I think I need to dump the jars and start over with new potatoes because of not boiling enough or correctly.
Any and all feedback will be appreciated!
Thanks