News Release
May 6, 2008

 

Testing pressure cooker, high-altitude adjustments topics at Park County extension workshops

Is it time to test your pressure cooker gauge?  Want to know how to adjust processing times and pounds of pressure for high-altitude canning?

Phyllis Lewis, University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) nutrition/food safety educator, will cover those topics and more in two Park County presentations Wednesday, May 14.

The first workshop is 9:30 a.m. in the EOC room in the basement of the Park County Courthouse in Cody, and the other is 1 p.m. in Powell in the extension meeting room at the Park County Fairgrounds.

Those planning to attend are asked to bring their pressure canner lids with the dial gauges for testing to ensure accuracy. Those with weighted gauges – with the 5-10-15-pound holes –don’t need to be tested; they don’t get out of calibration unless damaged, said Lewis, who also asked attendees to bring the rubber gasket from their canner for evaluation.

Those attending will learn why (and how much) lemon juice or acid should be added to canned tomatoes, as well as how to adjust the times and pounds pressure for high altitude. Lewis will cover what foods to water bath and which ones to pressure can. Selected U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guides will be available.

Those interested in entering canned goods in open or 4-H classes at county and state fairs must meet specific requirements for each class. Judging standards use the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (seven guides), which can be found at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html, or the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, available at retail outlets. Recipe sources must be documented.

More information about canning can be found at the UW CES nutrition Web site http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/cesnutrition/.  Contact a local UW extension office or fair office for detailed entry requirements for 4-H and open class.

For more information, contact UW CES Educator Sandra Frost in Powell at (307) 754-8836 or sfrost1@uwyo.edu.

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Contact: Steven L. Miller
Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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