How to fill empty places in your Pressure Canner

And now, the same thing for Pressure Canners! To use this chart, find your PC processing time in the right column … and then see what else is in that time group … that you can add into your half-full canner. For example, if you only have three quarts of green beans (that process for 25 minutes at 10/11 PSI) … this chart will tell you that you could fill the rest of your canner with pints of carrots, quarts of chicken/turkey or meat stock, quarts of Mexican tomato sauce, pints of okra, quarts of spaghetti sauce without meat, or several different versions of tomato products … because they all can at 10/11psi at under 1,000 ft above sea level … for 25 minutes

P.S. Don’t miss the note*** on tomatoes at the end!

NCHFP times for your Pressure Canner, grouped by time
food	size jars	time
tomatoes, whole or halved in water, @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	5
********	********	********
apples, sliced	pints or quarts	8
applesauce	pints	8
berries, whole, hot pack	pints or quarts	8
berries, whole, raw pack	pints	8
cherries, whole, hot pack	pints	8
fruit purees	pints or quarts	8
grapefruit and orange sections, hot pack	pints or quarts	8
grapefruit and orange sections, raw pack	pints	8
rhubarb	pints or quarts	8
********	********	********
applesauce	quarts	10
apricots	pints or quarts	10
berries, whole, raw pack	quarts	10
cherries, raw pack	pints or quarts	10
cherries, whole, hot pack	quarts	10
crushed tomatoes @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	10
grapefruit and orange sections, raw pack	quarts	10
nectarines	pints or quarts	10
nut meats	half-pints or pints	10
peaches	pints or quarts	10
pears, halves	pints or quarts	10
plum	pints or quarts	10
standard tomato sauce @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	10
tomato juice @15lbs***	pints or quarts	10
tomato veggie juice @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	10
tomatoes, whole or halved in water, @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	10
tomatoes, whole or halved in water, @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	10
********	********	********
crushed tomatoes @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	15
crushed tomatoes @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	15
standard tomato sauce @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	15
standard tomato sauce @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomato juice @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomato juice @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomato veggie juice @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomato veggie juice @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomatoes, whole or halved in tomato juice, @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomatoes, whole or halved in water, @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomatoes, whole or halved in water, @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	15
tomatoes, whole or halved, raw with no added water, @ 15lbs***	pints or quarts	15
********	********	********
beans, snap and Italian	pints	20
chicken or turkey stock	pints	20
crushed tomatoes @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	20
crushed tomatoes @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	20
meat stock	pints	20
Mexican tomato sauce	pints	20
spaghetti sauce without meat	pints	20
standard tomato sauce @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	20
standard tomato sauce @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	20
tomato juice @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	20
tomato juice at 6lbs***	pints or quarts	20
tomato veggie juice @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	20
tomato veggie juice @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	20
********	********	********
beans, snap and Italian	quarts	25
carrots	pints	25
chicken or turkey stock	quarts	25
meat stock	quarts	25
Mexican tomato sauce	quarts	25
okra	pints	25
spaghetti sauce without meat	quarts	25
tomatoes, whole or halved in tomato juice, @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	25
tomatoes, whole or halved in tomato juice, @10lbs***	pints or quarts	25
tomatoes, whole or halved, raw with no added water, @ 10lbs***	pints or quarts	25
tomatoes, whole or halved, raw with no added water, @ 11lbs***	pints or quarts	25
********	********	********
asparagus	pints	30
beets	pints	30
carrots	quarts	30
tomatoes with okra or zucchini	pints	30
********	********	********
beets	quarts	35
peppers	half-pints or pints	35
potatoes, white	pints	35
tomatoes with okra or zucchini	quarts	35
********	********	********
asparagus	quarts	40
beans, fresh lima	pints	40
okra	quarts	40
peas, English or green	pints or quarts	40
potatoes, white	quarts	40
tomatoes, whole or halved in tomato juice, @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	40
tomatoes, whole or halved in tomato juice, @5lbs***	pints or quarts	40
tomatoes, whole or halved, raw with no added water, @ 5lbs***	pints or quarts	40
tomatoes, whole or halved, raw with no added water, @ 6lbs***	pints or quarts	40
********	********	********
green peanuts	pints	45
mushrooms	half-pints or pints	45
********	********	********
beans, fresh lima	quarts	50
green peanuts	quarts	50
********	********	********
corn, whole kernel	pints	55
pumpkins and winter squash	pints	55
********	********	********
clams	half-pints	60
soups (except seafood)	pints	60
spaghetti sauce with meat	pints	60
succotash	pints	60
********	********	********
beans, baked	pints	65
beans, dry with tomato or molasses sauce	pints	65
chicken or rabbit, with bones	pints	65
potatoes, sweet	pints	65
********	********	********
clams	pints	70
crab meat	half-pints	70
spaghetti sauce with meat	quarts	70
spinach and other greens	pints	70
********	********	********
beans or peas, shelled, dried, all varieties	pints	75
beans, baked	quarts	75
beans, dry with tomato or molasses sauce	quarts	75
chicken or rabbit, with bones	quarts	75
chicken or rabbit, without bones	pints	75
chili con carne	pints	75
meat, ground or chopped	pints	75
meat, strips/cubes/chunks	pints	75
mixed vegetables	pints	75
oysters	half-pints or pints	75
soups (except seafood)	quarts	75
********	********	********
crab meat	pints	80
********	********	********
corn, whole kernel	quarts	85
corn, creamed	pints	85
succotash	quarts	85
********	********	********
beans or peas, shelled, dried, all varieties	quarts	90
chicken or rabbit, without bones	quarts	90
meat, ground or chopped	quarts	90
meat, strips/cubes/chunks	quarts	90
mincemeat pie filling	quarts	90
mixed vegetables	quarts	90
potatoes, sweet	quarts	90
pumpkins and winter squash	quarts	90
spinach and other greens	quarts	90
********	********	********
fish	pints	100
soups (seafood)	pints	100
soups (seafood)	quarts	100
tuna	half-pints or pints	100
********	********	********
fish, smoked	pints	110
********	********	********
fish	quarts	160

——-

Again … never leave a space in a canner again!

***NOTE: As you can see in the chart, there are several tomato recipes which include the required pressure (5/6, 10/11, and 15/16psi) in their description. That’s because–in those cases–the NCHFP figured out three different pressure canner processing times for these products … one for each level of pressure. It also makes including these recipes in this chart tricky, because pressures change per changes in elevation … so you’ve got to be sure to read the individual pages for each of the tomato products to be sure you’re aligning pressures AND times appropriately.

If the pressure indication is either 10 or 11psi–and you’re below 1,000 ft in elevation for a weight-gauge canner or 2,000 ft in elevation for a dial-gauge canner–then it’s the same thing as your standard pressure.

If the pressure indication is either 15 or 16–and you’re above 1,000 ft (or 2,000 ft) in elevation–then the other item(s) in the canner should require (according to the NCHFP charts) that same pressure, too, in order to be compatible. You should NEVER include tomato products that require 15psi for that amount of processing time in a batch that’s running at 10/11 psi. They will NOT can safely at that lowered pressure.

If the pressure indication for your tomatoes is either 5 or 6 psi … there are no other compatible NCHFP processes … so you really can’t substitute them into any other loads 1-to-1. However, if your tomato product isn’t one where texture is an issue–like with tomato juice or crushed tomatoes–your tomatoes will still be “safe” if you process them in a load that’s pressure canning at a higher (10/11psi) pressure than required. You will lose a small percentage of the nutritional value, thanks to canning it at a higher pressure … but the loss will be nominal.