Starting My Pressure Canning Journey

Recently I bought the Instant Pot Max - I have been saving for it for quite some time. I am over-the-moon excited about it! About a week or so ago I decided to give it it's maiden-voyage and can some pinto beans. You can only can 4 pints at a time. But you know what? That's ok with me! Especially since I am just starting out on this pressure canning journey. 1/4 cup of rinsed (but dry) pinto beans, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, and water. 75 mins of pressure canning, and then natural release which takes about an hour. All in all I was ecstatic with the results! So right before bed I decided "Hey, I can put in 4 more pints!" And that's exactly what I did. Then a couple of days later I tried navy beans - which I did 3/4 cup of rinsed (but dry) beans, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, and water. 75 mins of pressure canning and Voila! 4 more pints of beans for the pantry shelves.

To say I am hooked is an understatement. Yesterday I decided I was going to take the leap and do 'raw pack pork'. That was a little more labor intensive since it was a bone-in pork shoulder that I got on sale and there was a lot of fat to remove. I stuffed those little pint jars as much as I could (leaving an inch head space), wiped the rims with vinegar and put on the lids. Set the timer and away they went. About an hour later I came up from the basement (I was working at the time) and noticed my IP Max flashing ALT at me - I was devastated! Did it get to temp? When did it error out? Aaagghh!!

I gathered my wits and researched what to do. Once I reset the canner I found that you can can cooked meat at the same temp & time. So that's what I did. I double checked everything and started over with the pint jars I had in their already. This time I came upstairs every half hour to check it's progress to make sure I didn't ALT again. And thankfully it went through it's entire process and natural released at the end. All four pints sealed and were ready for their resting time.

To say pressure canning is stressful is truthful. Yeah, I know I am "cheating" but that's what I can handle at this moment in life and I am ok with that. I will just keep pluggin along 4 pints at a time. :)