Canned Food Month begins Feb. 1 and the Juneau Cooperative Extension office will kick off the month with a full day of pressure canner gauge testing.
Dial gauges will be tested for free from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at Extension’s district office at 712 W. 12th St, Suite 1.
Juneau agent Sarah Lewis recommends that dial gauges be tested annually for accuracy before the canning season begins. Some gauges may be need to be replaced. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that dial gauges be replaced if they read high or low by more than 2 pounds. Gauges that read inaccurately may result in underprocessed food, which can be a food safety risk.
People may drop off their dial gauge and come back and get it later in the day or peruse Extension publications and the Extension library for a few minutes while they wait. For more information, contact Lewis at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu or at 523-3280.
