Altitude and Elevation Adjustments for Canning

We live near Denver, Colorado at the elevation of 5,280 (the "mile-high" city!), so when canning, we definitely have to adjust for the elevation. Here's a bit of info to help you.

Water boils when its vapor pressure exceeds the atmospheric pressure, which reduces as the altitude increases. Water will boil and maintain a lower temperature at higher altitudes than at sea level. These lower boiling point temperatures increase the cooking times for any food, they increase the processing time for canning in a water bath and they increase the pressure required to process in a pressure canner.The temperatures and processing times that we publish are from sea level up to an elevation of 1,000 feet. The charts below indicate the adjustments that should be made for each processing method at different elevations.

Source: http://canningusa.com/IfICanYouCan/TechniqueAltitudeAdjustment.htm

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If you don't know your elevation, call your County Extension office. They should be able to tell you.

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Adjustments for Boiling Water Bath Canner:

Altitude in Feet = Increase processing time
1001-3000 = 5 minutes
3001-6000 = 10 minutes
6001-8000 = 15 minutes
8001-10,000 = 20 minutes


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Adjustment for Pressure Canner:

Altitude in feet = Dial Gauge Canner (PSI) = Weighted Gauge Canner
0-1000 = 10 = 10
1001-2000 = 11 = 15
2001-4000 = 12 = 15
4001-6000 = 13 = 15
6001-8000 = 14 = 15
8001-10,000 = 15 = 15


p.s. Sorry - I haven't figured out how to do charts here!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

No problem about the charts. Your instructions are clear enough, with that color coding. Thanks.