So my dial gauge presto pressure canner came with a 15 pound regulator. I noticed that recipes give you measurements for weighted canners and dial gauge canners. For example for meat it’s 13psi on a dial gauge or 15 on a weighted gauge. Which do I use if my elevation calls for a 15 gauge. Do I just process according to the jiggle versus watching the dial gauge? The top chart is for dial gauge and bottom is for weighted gauge. Guess I’m just confused as to which indicator to use.
by arigre
6 Comments
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If your presto has both, you can pick (unless you know you dial is out of whack and needs to be recalibrated) for broth it won’t matter. Sometimes there’s a difference in time or pressure # that makes one way a little less mushy food.
If using a weighted gauge instead of a dial gauge, just round up to the nearest 5 lb increment. If dial gauge would be 11 lbs, round up to 15 lbs. If dial gauge would be 9 lbs, round up to 10 lbs. Usually weighted gauges come with a 5,10, and 15 lb weight. Sometimes that is one weight with multiple sides, sometimes it is a series of three weights. But there’s not really any harm in using a higher pressure. You’ll just heat the jars up slightly higher than technically needed.
Can you please tell us your exact elevation and recipe? I saw in the last post you have a beef stew recipe, can you link it?
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The dial gauge is not precies enough. Apart from that it slowly deviates from its calibration, people can also misread the value a little bit. Besides it can stick a little before showing the next mini pressure change. All these lead to some extra safety range. Hence you see a little extra when using a dial gauge.
The weighted gauge is just physics. It won’t wear out over time, it doesn’t change, unless you break something off.