Poink
November 14th, 2009Gasket Troubles
Last night a dreadful thing happened. I had seven pints of chili in the pressure canner, and suddenly, I heard a loud hiss. The gasket wasn’t sealing right.
The pressure began to drop. Not knowing what else to do, I cranked up the heat to raise the pressure, and I kept the chili going for the required time. At the end I could tell some juice had leaked past the jar seals, but they sealed up anyway.
I can’t figure out what’s wrong. The gasket looks fine. When I bought the canner, the manual said to scrub all the oil off everything. The gasket had a lot of grease on it, so I scrubbed it, too. Maybe that was stupid. Maybe the grease helped it seal.
Now I’m experimenting with it. I oiled it with olive oil, and I’m heating the canner. I can’t get a new gasket until Monday.
This morning I heard several “poink” sounds from the kitchen. I figured my canned stuff was opening up. But when I checked all the jars, they looked fine. I really hope I don’t get botulism. I want to have a nice smile at my funeral.
Still have to make pork sausage. Even if I can’t can it, I can get it ready for frying.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Hm. Poink is exactly what a sealing jar sounds like. You might not have any trouble at all.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:05 PM
That “poink” sound is the tattletales on the Ball caps inverting, indicative of a good vacuum.
For lack of a better description, the slightly raised “nipple” in the center of a Ball lid is up until the proper vacuum inside the bottle is achieved. then the atmospheric pressure on the outside pushes it down making that little “poink” sound. Some people push the little nipple down when the bottle starts cooling. If the contents are under vacuum, it stays down.
For future reference, if you pull a jar of canned goods out and the tattletale is raised, its contents are likely to be compromised.
MC
November 14th, 2009 at 1:09 PM
My mother used to can. As I recall, those “poink” sounds are the lids flexing from convex to concave (or is it the other way around?) as things cool. I think–think–that’s a good thing, and I think you should hear that a lot. It’s been a few decades, but I remember my mother thought that sound was reassuring, a sign that everything was going according to plan.
And her stuff never made me sick, so she must have been doing something right.
Very cool, what you’re doing, Steve!
November 14th, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Thing is, they poinked in the morning, and I’m pretty sure they all poinked last night.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:53 AM
If the lids are concave, they are alright.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:10 AM
I’d inspect the jars closely. You could have filled one or two too much and the contents seeped during canning. Check the lids for food particles under the edges that hinder proper sealing. Odds are your gasket is fine, but may not have been situated for optimum sealing. Make sure it’s completely clean and dry before putting it back in place for another use.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:38 PM
If you get botulism they can lock the smile in place, so no worries there.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Maybe Marvin learned how to “Poink”