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replacing a steam/pressure guage


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I'm needing to replace my steam guage (an unfotunate incident has knocked the guage off by 2). Has anyone had to replace theirs before and have any tips and know how to do this? When I first purchased my canner 14 years ago and started canning, it was super-loud and the regulator was rocking like crazy (like a pressure cooker)... and had me scared to death that it was about to blow! I contacted the manufacturer and the guage was indeed off... by at least 5! They had me mail the whole canner to them, they repaired and sent it back. They said it shouldn't start rocking until about 15psi. So I'm wondering how to tell if a new one is measuring accurately... by trial and error I guess?

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Contact the extension office (usually in county seat). They usually have a way to check the gauge for you. In my case, sometimes you had to take it on a certain day (the equipment is shared by more than one office). Leave the lid with them and they can find out if your gauge is accurate.

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ScrubbieLady is right on this one. Our extension office uses a clamp on guage to test. But leave the whole pressure cooker with them. That way you also get a test of the lid seal.

 

And you did right to have it checked/repaired by the manufacturer. There are kits to do the repair, but pressure testing is something I do not like dealing with.

 

Tip: 'Vacuum pans', or 'evaporation pans' or 'condenser pans', are pressure cookers, but with a higher possible pressure. If you find one at an estate sale or the like, they can vary the pressure better, by a dial, not by rocker weights. Mine will do sixty psi. This is the old school way to make condensed soups for canning.

 

Sarah

of the Librum

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If yours will do 60 lb. then that sounds like an autoclave, not for food. What brand is that ? I don't think that is something I can recommend for use.

 

We only deal with standard gauges. I don't know what you mean by a clamp on gauge. It is like a bicycle pump, with a test gauge on it. We pump it up and our calibrated gauge should match the reading on your gauge.

If it is off by more than 2 lb. you must get a new dial gauge. The food processed with it off so far would not be safe to consume.

Even a new gauge MUST be properly tested before it is ever used. They can be off by as much as 4 lb. or so right out of the box.

You only take the lid, not the whole canner. If is is an older Presto or any All American that gauge needs to be removed. It will not fit on our test unit. It will bend our stem on the unit.

Let me know what kind of canner you have. You may be able to leave that broken dial gauge on and get a weight set and use it as a weighted canner.

What comes with the canner is not a weight. It is a counterweight and not meant to regulate the pressure. It only holds the pressure in and you adjust the pressure by the heat on your stove. A true weight will jiggle when it is working properly.

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Violet, we are mixing equipment.

 

My badly expressed point is that a 'vacuum pan' (misnomer!) can be used as a pressure cooker, in a heavy duty industrial sense. I conceed that they are really intended for different uses. But if you can get one... 'Steam King' is the brand name on mine, early fifties.

 

Not to fight with you, but I wonder if you know what an autoclave is. An autoclave pumps/evacs out the air first... It works a vacuum, not with pressure. Not fighting! :bouquet:

 

I do find it interesting that you do not test the whole pan. Here they do as you do with the hand pump, but then they also do a heavy psi test, whole pot, to test the seal. I have seen one with a 'blown' seal. I do not recall that brand, but It was an old hand-me-down model.

 

Ah well.

 

Sarah

of the Librum

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Sarah, I have no idea what they have that does that with the whole pan. We don't have any such critter. I was a volunteer for many years before I got hired at the extension office. We have never had anything like that. Only a small pot with a lid that we heated up, it was a small pressure cooker, with a calibrated dial on it to test the gauges. It was horrid !

The one we use is from Presto and is a foot pump.

I will try to find out what you are talking about. Perhaps you can tell me where you live so I can find more about this.

 

I am sorry if I don't understand the autoclave issue, but I just know that some folks on another board were using an autoclave instead of a pressure canner. It is All American brand and looks just like a pressure canner from the outside.

Also trying to figure out the vacuum pan. I looked it up and it says it is for evaporation pan used for making maple syrup.

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Violet,

 

Um, you can use it for making syrups, but I never have. I use mine for canning/jarring. You can use one for any liquid you want to extract water from, without scorching it. As a girl, mother used one to condense milk or soups, without scorching. She also used it to kill live cultures in what you would call soft yogurts or cheeses.

 

Another use is to 'boat' food. A 'boat' is a unglazed ceramic pan. This boat floats in the vacuum pan, with the food it in. It will positively kill any unwanteds in the food. My youngest loves to put a fish fillet in a pat of butter in the boat. If a food is questionable or suspected to be turning, it could be used to salvage the food, but this practice is now forbidden, especially with fish/meat.

 

I am in Virginia, in an old order Mennonite community, but came here from Iowa. You will find 'communities' often have them as a community property, especially with our Amish brethren. Ours has two, counting mine, which I always bring when we have a canning/jarring marathon amoung the goodwives. I was just fortunate to inherit this one.

 

As to the whole pot pressure test, a portable pressure tank is filled at a compressor to a specific psi. This tank has a hose, with a fitting on the end that attaches/clamps on the nipple. Then they open the valve, with a long stick, If it takes the pressure in the tank it passes.

 

Sarah

of the Librum

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So, that is why your methods are different than what I have trained to do as a Master Food Preserver.

Interesting to hear about this.

The overpressure plug in a canner will blow if anything is wrong with the canner, as one of our members discovered the other day. That is the safety feature built in. We don't feel it a need to test the pot itself. People should check to see if water leaks from the gasket or if the bottom of the pot is warped themselves.

No, I would certainly not suggest trying to salvage meat or fish that was questionable. There is plenty of bacteria that can often make people ill before it shows signs of spoilage. Once you see, smell, or taste spoilage it has been bad for a while already.

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