Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By CHARITY SMITH
Ironwood — Gogebic Community College is offering free testing of dial gauges for pressure canners from 3 to 6 p.m today and again on Monday, in conjunction with the Michigan State University-Extension and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
A pressure gauge used by someone who cans food items like vegetable and meat, must be tested once per year, according to a press release from the college.
“It seems that with COVID and with other things around food safety this year, we have a lot more people who seem to be canning,” said Glen Ackerman-Behr, director of workforce development at GCC.
According to Ackerman-Behr, canning supplies are becoming harder and harder to find both at big box stores and on manufacturing websites, which he says illustrates the increased public desire for home canning this year.
He said that he thinks this is because when people saw the huge decrease in food availability at the stores, during the beginning of the pandemic, they now want to do something to insure they have food.
“They don’t just want to wait and hope and pray things get better,” he said.
“Our concern is that they will take out that canner that’s been on the shelf for 10 years that they haven’t used and think that they can just use it without testing the pressure gauge,” he said, adding people new to canning may not know to test it.
A drive-thru testing operation for the gauges will be set up in the parking lot in front of the Lindquist Student Center to maintain social distancing.
People can bring the lid to their canner, or just the gauge. The test will pressurize the gauge against a master gauge that has been calibrated to find out if the pressure gauge is reading correctly. Test results only take a couple of minutes and the owners will receive written results immediately upon return of their gauge. The document will tell them what to do for their gauge, and about websites and places they can go for further information.
Officials are particularly worried about gauges that are reading low. “Too low of pressure could cause the food to spoil inside the jars,” said Ackerman-Behr.
If a gauge is reading at a pound low, the cooking time can be adjusted accordingly, however if it is 2 pounds or more off then, it is recommended that the gauge be replaced, Ackerman-Behr said.
He said that replacement gauges are usually found at hardware stores and big-box stores, and are usually available on the manufacturers website.
“(Canning) has some complexity involved in it, and it is very regionally specific,” Ackerman-Behr said. “I think it is important for people to understand the elevation effects pressure. You need to know what your elevation is so that you can adjust your pressure accordingly.”
The local elevation, according to Ackerman-Behr, is at 1,500 feet, making the required amount of pressure for low acid foods to be 11 pounds. Ackerman-Behr said he has a passion for canning, which he has been doing for 20 years and loves to see others do it. “I just want them to do it safely,” he said.
He said the duration of cook time varies depending on what it is and recommends that people consult a guide for canning, such as the one provided by the National Center for Home Food Preservation at nchfp.uga.edu/publications.
The MSU-Extension program is also offering classes on food safety and preservation. The course offerings can be found at canr.msu.edu/foodpreservation/index.
