Pressure canning green beans

On Saturday evening, October 4, 2014, DD used a pressure canner/cooker to can Italian green beans that we bought that morning at the Toledo farmers market. She used the 'raw pack method.'

As the water boiled and pressure built, the small metal air vent opened completely and stopped making noise. This photo shows the metal air vent still depressed.

This photo shows the metal air vent opened. The black knob in the middle represented the noisy but gently rocking regulator. The beans required 20 minutes in the sauna.

(If the regulator rocked too vigorously, then that meant too much pressure existed, and the stove top heat should be turned down. We did not experience this.)

After the 20 minutes ended, the stove heat was turned off. Then it took 35 more minutes for the metal air vent to depress or fall back down, which meant that the pressure was gone and the canner was safe to open.

Jars removed from canner when safe. Water inside the jars still percolated. While the jars sat on the counter and cooled a little, the lids made the sound of popping downward.

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