Good advice from Carol above. Don't try to rush any step of the process. Without a gauge you can't really tell when the pressure has bottomed out and it takes only a very small change in the pressure to cause the siphoning. So be sure to give it plenty of time to cool down before even peeking carefully under the weight - any hiss, leave it on longer and wait. And another trick is once you have done all that and the lid is off, look to see if the liquid in the jars is still bubbling. If so let them sit as is till it stops. Then carefully remove the jars. So it should still be safe even though some siphoned out (I assumed it would be since they all sealed properly). That assumption is usually true but not always. There is more to the process than just getting a good seal. Jars that lose too much of their liquid during processing are not long-term storage safe even if they have what appears to be a good seal. They should be used first and ASAP. Their vacuum and seal is weaker just because of the increased air space inside the jar and the food that boiled onto the rim of the jar during the siphoning and any food above the liquid will discolor shortly. Siphoning of the liquid out of the jars isn't something that is "okay". Sure it happens but it is something that we all work hard to prevent as much as possible as it can create problems in storage. So if you think it happened during the processing because you could smell it, then you likely still have some heat control to learn. ;) It just takes time and practice and doing trial runs with jars of colored water as Ken suggested above is the best way to learn. Once you finish a practice run and open the canner to see water that is as clear as it was when it went in, give yourself a great big pat on the back. ;) Dave

Oh oh - treading on thin ice here. ;) Some under-lying assumptions in your post we need to discuss as they just won't fly, ok? First, some in-depth reading at NCHFP will serve you well if for no other reason than to understand that the main purpose of home canning is to safely preserve the basic foods, not complex recipes. Those basic foods can then be used to create your own recipes at preparation time. So with few exceptions, you can the basic ingredients using approved recipes and then combine them when cooking to make things the way you want them, ok? Second, pressure canning is not for everything. Some foods MUST be pressure canned, others can quickly be made unpalatable by pressure canning. And pressure canning does not automatically insure that food is safe. can you "fudge" the recipe somewhat if you process it in a pressure canner instead? You'd have no way to know if your "fudge" was safe, what affect it would have on the density, how much it would change the pH of the food, how those changes would affect the processing time or the shelf life. As I said, just because something is pressure canned it isn't automatically safe. What you can do is find an approved recipe that is as close as possible to what you want, can it using the directions provided, and then make adjustments to taste at the time of serving. I'd like to make things the way we like to have them... I want to use my recipe... This is the most problematic assumption. As mentioned above, that isn't the purpose of home food canning so safety becomes a real issue with this goal. The 'official' guideline is that you cannot safely home can your own recipes. For the same reasons listed above. It is the first thing you learn in a structured home food preservation course. Obviously there are exceptions, things that can be made and canned in their complete form. But only if an approved and tested recipe exists for them. With experience and education in canning safety you learn about which adjustments can be made to recipes. But it isn't something someone new and inexperienced should do because of the high level of risk. I want way more cilantro.. Trust me, no you don't. Cilantro does NOT can and store well. It turns quite bitter during storage and can easily ruin the whole jar. It is one of the things you add AFTER the jar is opened just prior to serving. Many herbs and spices that we love eating fresh intensify and turn unpalatable during shelf storage so they are used sparingly when canning and then increase if needed at prep time. to include corn in mine and sometimes black beans To date, as far as I know, no approved recipe exists that allows either in salsa except adding them at prep time. The required processing for each of those foods is so very different that trying to combine them all at once results in an unpalatable and potentially unsafe product. Salsa is risky enough as is since it is eaten fresh from the jar with no further cooking. So using approved recipes is really important with salsa. I'm sure this will raise more questions for you so please post them but meanwhile some reading at NCHFP is strongly encouraged. ;) Dave

I have 2 Mirros. One of each type of weight, disk style with the 5, 10, 15 lb. holes and the "ball" style that is 5 lb. without any additional pieces, 10 lb. with the bottom piece and 15 lb. with the top added. The ball type does tend to spin and hiss. If it's a straight hiss, turn it down, if nothing, turn it up a bit. I start on HI (this is the equivalent of 10 on my electric coil stove), when I get to about the 8-9 minute mark on the venting, I adjust the burner down just a tiny bit (9/5). When I put the weight on (yes, the ball type is screwed on until it drops...dumbest design ever!), I adjust to 9. Once the weight starts to spin/hiss, I adjust again to 8.5. Sometimes I still need to make another adjustment a few minutes later, but on my stove, never lower than 8. YMMV. The disk is easier, adjustments are the same...done slowly and some time between them. Dave is right....use the 3" of water rather than a measured amount. Deanna

Thanks again for the wealth of knowledge! The forum is so helpful! Our second batch (20 pints of creamed corn) went MUCH smoother. This time we removed the canner from the stove element and it seemed to cool quicker...maybe 20-30 minutes. I followed the instructions at the NCHFP website for cooling: " 9. After the canner is completely depressurized, remove the weight from the vent pipe or open the petcock. Wait 10 minutes; then unfasten the lid and remove it carefully. Lift the lid with the underside away from you so that the steam coming out of the canner does not burn your face. 10. Using a jar lifter, remove the jars one at a time, being careful not to tilt the jars. Carefully place them directly onto a towel or cake cooling rack, leaving at least one inch of space between the jars during cooling. Avoid placing the jars on a cold surface or in a cold draft." Maybe I missed waiting another 10 minutes between removing the canner lid then removing the jars? We had quite a canning day yesterday! We canned 20 pints of creamed corn, 5 quarts and 7 pints of peaches, and 4 half pints of peach butter (had to do something with those extra two pounds of peaches!). The height of the 23 qt presto made for easier HWB quart canning versus my granite ware HWB canner. I have two more questions... 1-when we canned our peaches, we followed the recipe in the ball blue book for peaches canned in syrup. We went with the hot pack method in heavy syrup (50/50 ration of sugar to water). Now that everything is processed, the peach slices have floated to the top of the jar. I know it'll taste the same but it doesn't look as pretty lol. Any recommendations? 2-when using the presto to pressure can, I've waited until the safety button pops up to start timing the ten minutes of continuous steam coming from the vent pipe. Typically there is a funnel shaped flow of continuous steam before the safety button pops up, but I guess I just want to be sure I'm expelling all the air. Is there any harm in doing it this way? Thank you everyone for your expertise! I'm so excited to be canning!