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ofzeroconcern
Mindflayer

Registered: 04/13/06
Posts: 226
Loc: Aurora
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?)
#7971230 - 02/02/08 11:22 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Okay so I have a 12-quart Mirro pressure cooker, got it on ebay, rubber gasket is there, comes with a 5-10-15 psi "jiggler" I believe you guys call them. I have it on the stove right now (just jar lids inside, no jars or substrate, this is just my practice pc run), and I notice some things already. I already know it should be on the lowest stove setting, is this right? And yes, it is a flame stove, not a hotplate.
1. There's a bit of dripping happening along the rim, is this normal? 2. There was a little bit of steam coming out of the top part, the part the jiggler goes on, then all of a sudden there was a POP! and lots of steam starting shooting out fast, straight up, is this normal? I put the jiggler on 15 on top after this... 3. Should I fear a catastrophic pressure explosion of any kind? Obviously not because there is water and steam escaping from the top and the sides, but should I fear anything? I mean, it was just 40 bucks INCLUDING shipping.
-------------------- "Who can see the future? Those who create it."
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makaveli8x8
Stranger


Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 21,636
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: ofzeroconcern]
#7971315 - 02/02/08 11:50 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I have an All-American
ill tell you how mine works maybe that will help.
Mine has a metal to metal seal, in other words my lid is metal and when i put the lid on all it touches is metal,
yours just has a rubber gasket inbetween i think?
anyways i don't suspect their is much difference other than that
here's how i do a run and what happens:
1.so after i put my lid on and turn my stove to 8 or 9(electric).
2. steam comes out of my little hole(little water droplets sometimes shoot out) once i get a somewhat steady stream of steam i put the weight on it at 15.
3. now my pressure gauge will raise, sometimes around 10-15psi i will hear a somewhat loud pop, im still not sure why...but i think its the weight doing it. then once it passes 15 psi the weight will jiggle and steam will come out under it...this usually leads to a tiny puddle of water under it.
4. yes sometimes my metal to metal seal isn't lined up right and steam will come out of the sides. In "my book" that came with my pressure cooker it says i can put vasoline on my metal seals. This helps ALOT in keeping my steam in.
5. on my pc cooker i have a saftey plug that will blow out at a high psi temp...this reassures me a "little" regarding explosions.
6. yes you should fear an explosion, pc's can be dangerous, you must check them often to be sure your weight doesn't stick, has happened to me once, i walked in and it was inbetween 15-20psi....just be safe and alert
7. oh and once my psi reaches 15psi, i just my stove down to about 5-6 heat until im done...just enough heat to keep her at 15psi.
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  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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ofzeroconcern
Mindflayer

Registered: 04/13/06
Posts: 226
Loc: Aurora
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7971351 - 02/03/08 12:02 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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What do you mean, "stick"? My jiggler can spin pretty easily on there, seems loose.
My model is old and does not have a gauge to tell me how much the pressure inside IS. Just the jiggler http://i19.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/d5/df/ddaf_1.JPG which has three holes, labeled 5, 10 and 15.
And the popping noise, for me, happened when the metal jiggler was not on there. Steam was gently/slowly coming out, then POP! And a high/hard/fast stream of steam was going straight up.
-------------------- "Who can see the future? Those who create it."
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makaveli8x8
Stranger


Registered: 02/28/06
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: ofzeroconcern]
#7971443 - 02/03/08 12:27 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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sounds like maybe something was stuck inside your steam hole, you should check that everytime you put the lid on
also i myself would prefer to have a gauge on their, you might be able to buy one seperate and drill a hole or something and put it on
and yes my jiggler spins very well to, but it can stick i assure you
when it stuck on me all i had to do was tap it and it started spinning again...im not sure what caused it but it wasn't moving and the psi kept going up
you mentioned you have an old model without a gauge..does it have the saftey valve plug? if not i would NOT use it
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  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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makaveli8x8
Stranger


Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 21,636
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7971454 - 02/03/08 12:31 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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oh and you know how much water to put in when pcing right?
--------------------
  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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ofzeroconcern
Mindflayer

Registered: 04/13/06
Posts: 226
Loc: Aurora
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: makaveli8x8]
#7971735 - 02/03/08 02:20 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yes, has a rubber safety gauge.
I put 1 - 3 inches of water, it's a big and deep 12 quart, I can fit 6 jars in (well, I can fit 7 or 8, but I'd rather do 6 at a time), the water does not touch the jars, the top water level is about 2 - 3 inches BELOW the bottoms of the jars.
2 hours of pressure cooking with this much liquid, and there will be about half left, maybe 1/3rd.
From all that water knowledge of my PC, is it too much, too little, or just right?
UPDATE: I just pressure cooked six jars, full of substrate, topped with verm, lids screwed on tight, foil on tight. For a little less than 2 hours. I did not boil it dry, and none of them broke. I am letting it cool now, so everything seemed to go right.
The only POSSIBLE problem that I might run into in the near future is discovering that some of the water got into the jars and oversaturated the substrate. I hope not, I hear this problem isn't TOO common, but I have read about it. I doubt this happened, I'll see once the jars have cooled and I'm ready to inoculate.
Anyway, I think everything is just fine. I would still like to know if I am putting too much or too little water in.
-------------------- "Who can see the future? Those who create it."
Edited by ofzeroconcern (02/03/08 05:00 AM)
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makaveli8x8
Stranger


Registered: 02/28/06
Posts: 21,636
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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Re: Noob pressure cooker question (how to tell if something is wrong?) [Re: ofzeroconcern]
#7973180 - 02/03/08 01:50 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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in my cooker i have a jar rack that i put on the bottom, then i fill it up with water until i have about half an inch covering the bottom of my jars, i just like to be extra safe that i don't run my cooker dry because i have came close a few times when doing big bags where i ran for 2-2.5 hours
the only times i end up with water in the jars is when i use the little half pints or w/e, and/or when i stack jars ontop each other, when i was first starting out with edibles, the biggest mistake i was making was my substrate was to wet...when pressure cooked the grains burst and it leaves a pool of water at the bottom
i was only asking about the water because of that steam problem you haad thought maybe you really over filled it or something
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  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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