- Lill -

Now, what to do if your cooker only reads upto 15 psi. Well this is a bit tricky, but it works. Go ahead and pickup a pressure gauge from the local hardware store(I obtained one from the plumbing dept, I specifically requested on for high temperatures that had a range of 0-60 PSI) Then drill a hole in the lid of your pressure cooke thats the same size to accomidate the pressure gauge. In my case 3/8"(big gauge hehe). Make sure to use a rubber gasket, a washer and a nut on the underneath side, this will seal it and prevent it from letting steam escape. Someone posted previously about replacing the blowout valve with a pressure gauge, VERY UNSAFE. Do not do this. That rubber blowout valve is there to prevent serious injury. OK, now that you have your pressure gauge in place, go ahead and put your cooker on the stove like you normally would. Bring it up to 15 psi. Read the gauge. Now you want to add small amounts of weight to achieve the correct resistance to get upto your desired psi. I used fishing weights(complete set @ Wal-Mart for $4). Since my cooker had 3 settings(5-10-15) I placed the 15 psi setting on, and then on the opposite angled holes placed the weights. Be careful and monitor your pressure gauge while doing this. Start small and work your way up =) Its alot easier to go step by step then to replace your safety blowout valve. I don't reccomend modifying your pressure cooker past about 25 PSI, usually safety blowouts go between 25-30 PSI.

Thats it for this edition of "This New Mushroom" join us again next week when we take a look at filming mushroom pornography =P

any help would be great

1PSI=212F
5PSI=228F
10PSI=240F
15PSI=250F
20PSI=259F
25PSI=267F

Remember, this is at sea level, anything above or below that and those figures are completely different.

does this sound like a good idea for sterillizing?

One thing I would strongly discourage is modifying a pressure cooker by adding weight to the rocker. Some brands will handle it, some won't, some even have instructions from the manufacturer on how to do it. If it isn't okay with the manufacturer, it's pretty foolish to do. I've seen the aftermath of a pressure cooker going off, they are a bomb. Had anyone been present in the kitchen when this cooker went off they would have been disfigured or killed. Just a blown pressure relief can give 3rd degree steam burns in an instant.

Unless you're an Inca living at > 12000 ft., 1 hour @ 15psig is fine for sterilization. Problems with contamination after that are caused by poor technique, not lack of temp/pressure.

DD

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