Best pressure canner, dehydrator?

[Britesea]

I agree with you Icu4dzs, by the best quality you can afford. The cheap stuff will actually cost more in the long run because you'll have to replace it several times.

The only time I ever had this rule not work out was when I bought an incredibly ugly pair of pants simply because it was dirt cheap and I desperately needed some pants. Those ugly things lasted FOREVER!

 

[Blaundee]

Ah, yes, a mill is on the "list", but a ways down there... have a bunch of other things I need before that A close friend, who is part of our "group" has a good mill, so I do have acess to one if I should need it before I buy one myself.

 

[BlueReuben]

Hi Blaundee,

There are two types of pressure canners:

Weighted gauge-maintenance free, always correct
Dial gauge-you are supposed to test it each year

Most pressure come equipped with a dial gauge and a weighted gauge.

I have All American 21 qt and Presto 21.5 qt. Most of the time I use Presto as it is lighter and has a flat bottom. I feel more secure placing it on my ceramic stove. Besides, Presto is much cheaper and works as good as All American.
For pressure canning the canner should have at least 20 qt capacity, smaller canners are better suited for pressure cooking.
The reason is that it is much easier to control the pressure (and temperature) in a bigger unit. You control pressure by increasing or decreasing heat supply. It is easier done in a larger canner.

 

[Hinotori]

Not supposed to use pressure canners on a flat top stove because of how the stoves cycle heat. There are worries that the temperature in the canner won't stay steady enough to kill botulism.

We got a propane stove for outside for my canning. It also has the advantage of not heating or steaming the house up when I can. This is what my uncle has used for the last 30+ years. After I set off a fire alarm during a big juice canning session with the steam from the water bath canner, I'm all for outside canning.

 

[Britesea]

I've been campaigning for a "summer kitchen"-- something like an open shed with a propane burner for canning, and a sturdy table that I can bolt my mill, or my oil press, or my meat grinder to the table so they don't "walk" while I'm using them. Shelves to hold all my empty jars, etc.

 

[Hinotori]

My hubby has promised me a canning kitchen when we finally put in a shop. Half the bottom floor will be for his stuff, and half for mine.

 

[k15n1]

Not supposed to use pressure canners on a flat top stove because of how the stoves cycle heat. There are worries that the temperature in the canner won't stay steady enough to kill botulism.

We got a propane stove for outside for my canning. It also has the advantage of not heating or steaming the house up when I can. This is what my uncle has used for the last 30+ years. After I set off a fire alarm during a big juice canning session with the steam from the water bath canner, I'm all for outside canning.

I've never heard of this. Do you have a source?

I've read that there is some danger to the stovetop itself. If you took a stove apart, you would see that there really is nothing more than a sheet of glass-like material. The burners are spring-loaded against the top. The model I looked in did not have any supports at all, no even in the center. So putting a fully-loaded canner on a flat-top stove could certainly be a problem. Personally, I've used an AA-921 without incident on 2 flat-top stoves.

Another issue is heat transfer into a pan. I have a few Revere copper pans that were wedding gifts to my mother. They are very thin and are not flat enough to get even heat transfer from the flat-top stove. Same with cast-iron pans. The cast iron seems OK when cold but my pans deform a tiny bit with heat and start burning in the center. If you have a super-duper canner, especially from All American, this won't be a problem.

So there are some concerns about using a flat-top stove but I've not heard that cycling heat is an issue. Where did you hear/read about it?

 

[ORChick]

I have a Presto 23qt that I bought specifically because I have a flat top stove. The All Americans are not advised for such stoves - they are heavier for one thing, and I think maybe the bottoms aren't as flat? But perhaps I remember that incorrectly. The Presto, anyway, is apparently OK for such stoves. I've only had it for about 3 years, but have had no problems, either with the stove itself, or with getting/keeping pressure. Not all stoves are the same, and perhaps my experience is unusual. I will say that the stove is not new (at least 11 years old, and probably older). I am looking to get a propane burner for outside, and will use it for canning when I do. But I want it for other reasons, and not because of trouble with the flat top stove.
(I have also heard about the cycling on/off thing with flat top stoves, but don't remember where or when. And, as stated, haven't had problems with mine)

 

[Hinotori]

Not supposed to use pressure canners on a flat top stove because of how the stoves cycle heat. There are worries that the temperature in the canner won't stay steady enough to kill botulism.

We got a propane stove for outside for my canning. It also has the advantage of not heating or steaming the house up when I can. This is what my uncle has used for the last 30+ years. After I set off a fire alarm during a big juice canning session with the steam from the water bath canner, I'm all for outside canning.

I've never heard of this. Do you have a source?

I've read that there is some danger to the stovetop itself. If you took a stove apart, you would see that there really is nothing more than a sheet of glass-like material. The burners are spring-loaded against the top. The model I looked in did not have any supports at all, no even in the center. So putting a fully-loaded canner on a flat-top stove could certainly be a problem. Personally, I've used an AA-921 without incident on 2 flat-top stoves.

Another issue is heat transfer into a pan. I have a few Revere copper pans that were wedding gifts to my mother. They are very thin and are not flat enough to get even heat transfer from the flat-top stove. Same with cast-iron pans. The cast iron seems OK when cold but my pans deform a tiny bit with heat and start burning in the center. If you have a super-duper canner, especially from All American, this won't be a problem.

So there are some concerns about using a flat-top stove but I've not heard that cycling heat is an issue. Where did you hear/read about it?

It was on the news here a few weeks ago. Their info came from stove manufactures. I did a search and found a few of mentions about it.

http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/seminole/fcs/documents/HomeCanningonSmoothCooktops.pdf http://burke.ces.ncsu.edu/2012/06/ceramic-cooktop-canning/ http://www.pickyourown.org/cannings4glasstop.htm

 

[Denim Deb]

I've never had a problem canning on mine. But that being said, I'll never buy another one. It's almost impossible to keep clean.