PREP Veterinarian tells and shows how she sterilizes surgical instruments

[Old Gray Mare]

Veterinarian tells and shows how she sterilizes surgical instruments using a pressure cooker. The brief talk starts at 7:28 into the video. In the video the vet states that: ".... at 15 PSI for 20 minuets we can reach surgical sterility.". This sounds like something out of MASH. If any of our Medical folk can add or clarify please do so.

Unfortunately it looks like earlier in the video she uses the open kettle method to can some pickles. I don't use this method as the USDA has deemed it dangerous and my experience when I was young using it is that not every jar seals and some jars have weak seals that will will fail. Cleaning up glass from a spaghetti sauce jar that has exploded is not my idea of fun, cleaning up glass from multiple jars is even less.

Food is too precious to waste and health to precious to endanger needlessly. - OGM

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Link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZEahdB_4Ew

 

[Illini Warrior]

Dr Bones (Doom & Bloom) covered this topic a couple of years ago .... https://www.doomandbloom.net/sterilizing-instruments-in-austere-settings/

the doctor references a source for his article - https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/ce-courses/ce397/instrument-reprocessing

 

[Reasonable Rascal]

I can verify that, i.e. the psi and time parameters. As a matter of fact that is what the old Desert Storm-surplus autoclaves produce.

RR

 

[WalknTrot]

Yes - true. An autoclave is nothing more than a BIG pressure cooker.

Pickles, salsas, etc. are generally OK to open kettle can because the acid level is high (vinegar). That's as long as the recipe calls for a high enough acid level. Follow USDA recipes always.

 

[bw]

Unfortunately it looks like earlier in the video she uses the open kettle method to can some pickles. I don't use this method as the USDA has deemed it dangerous and my experience when I was young using it is that not every jar seals and some jars have weak seals that will will fail.

Depends on the acidity of the contents. Some things are safe for water bath canning, some need pressure canning. You have to actually know what you're doing. Once canned, jars should be stored in crates, not loose on shelves. For one thing, in a quake most of those jars will survive. For another, if one bursts the burst will be limited by the crate.

If the seal fails, you should know that in minutes. Eat that one first.

 

[Wildwood]

In the back room of my vet's office is the biggest American canner you've ever seen...at least three times as big as the largest canner they offer for home canning. It hasn't been used in years and I can't imagine what kind of heat source would have handled something that huge.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

I had no idea an autoclave was just a POSH canner. Is there anything special about the wrappings? Would a few layers of cotton toweling suffice?

Depends on the acidity of the contents. Some things are safe for water bath canning, some need pressure canning. You have to actually know what you're doing. Once canned, jars should be stored in crates, not loose on shelves. For one thing, in a quake most of those jars will survive. For another, if one bursts the burst will be limited by the crate.

If the seal fails, you should know that in minutes. Eat that one first.

With the "open kettle" method neither a water bath or pressure canner is used. The contents are heated and poured into canning jars. A lid is slapped on in the hope the heat from the liquid will be enough to from a vacuum and preserve the food. I saw it used with high acid foods like pickles, fruit, jellies, tomato sauce and jams. This method may not kill all the baddies in the jar and still form enough of a vacuum to encourage their growth. If a weak seal forms it may appear to reseal when pressed with new baddies inside. Please do not do this it is dangerous. A water bath canner is relatively easy to improvise for almost anyone with some common sense and canning experience.

Anyone who thinks when in a SHTF scenario they will can up their food based only on some canning book they bought and no actual experience may be in for some serious problems.

 

[Reasonable Rascal]

Linen is more resistant to penetration than cotton towels, and in the end the entire affair is wrapped in plastic to keep out moisture, which is what carries through the microbes we call germs. That said you could use the toweling for short-term applications.

RR