Choosing a pressure canner? ... Got it!

[ORChick]

ORChick no problem! That's why I said take what works for you.

I was shocked that this might be a bigger deal than I was thinking, as in getting stuff and things to make a go of it. But I really do want to do lots of stuff as I learn how, so for me it would be best to batch big. And I live really near a desert believe it or not, so heat in the summer in the kitchen is a big deal! We get 30 C for weeks at a time when the bounty is around to be canned, I'd rather be outside on the porch.

One friend cans lots and says a propane tank lasts for many loads of meat, with a 2 burner. I have a burner on the BBQ too, but it's not very big and close to the edge of the BBQ so not good for a bigger pot either. But it will be great for the hot water to have the lids in I guess.

If you have the flex in your schedule to do a couple hours each day I envy you, I think the load of work all one day will be a bit much, but it's how I will have to do it.

My glass top has the one big one small too, I think it will be a no go due to being the infrared type that is on then off, duration being what setting it's on. I can't see that working well to maintain a pressure. The older ones, and the newer ones stay on apparently, at the adjusted power. That would seem to me to be better.

I've been up there to your BC desert - quite a shock, I can tell you . But then, as a California girl, I was quite surprised to find that Oregon is 2/3 desert as well .

Dirk - is that a 20# propane canister that you use? Wow, if it lasts that long I may need to re-think my whole stratagy.

I was just reading on another thread where someone (farmerchick?) was planning on turkey pot pie for dinner with her canned turkey. This is what I mean about cultures colliding. Turkey pot pie sounds good, and I'm sure is a lovely way to use canned turkey meat - but my DH wouldn't eat it. This isn't something he was used to from his childhood, and he doesn't like that combination cooked in that way. In fact, leftover poultry in any form is a hard sell, so I won't be canning chicken or turkey; there would be no point. I will have to go through the list of things we eat regularly, and see what could be done with canned ingredients. I sort of learned this lesson years ago when we first moved back here from Germany. There I was, still a fairly new wife, and I wanted to stock my cupboards like my mother had done. She always had at least several cans of tuna, so thats what I got too. It took a long time to get through those 6 or 8 cans :/. DH won't eat canned tuna in any form, but I just thought that *everybody* did, and was totally surprised that he would not. Not part of his childhood food memory. But he is quite fond of liver and kidneys - go figure

 

[Neko-chan]

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[ORChick]

So I took the plunge, and ordered the larger Presto - it will take 7 qts or 20 pints; the next one down does 7 qts and only 10 pints, and was only 4 dollars cheaper, so it seemed this was the better choice. I've been going through all my preservation books, as well as several different websites to get ideas that might work for my situation, and have a growing list. We'll see if this works out

 

[AnnaRaven]

We can can together!

I just got my Presto23 last Friday. I've already canned 12 pints of beef stock and have the jars in the dishwasher for a batch of chicken stock today.

Hope you like yours. DO follow the instruction to put 4 cups of water to get a feel for how it works. It was incredibly useful and educational for me to do that.

 

[ORChick]

We can can together!

I just got my Presto23 last Friday. I've already canned 12 pints of beef stock and have the jars in the dishwasher for a batch of chicken stock today.

Hope you like yours. DO follow the instruction to put 4 cups of water to get a feel for how it works. It was incredibly useful and educational for me to do that.

Anna, I also ordered the additional weight gauge, as you did. Glad I saw your post, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of it

 

[ORChick]

The canner arrived today, and I've been busy reading through the booklet. I may get a chance to practice with it a bit tomorrow, but other than that the first day that leaves me lots of time will be Saturday. I think I'll defrost the containers of frozen chicken stock, and see about getting that into jars.
DH's first comment, as it came out of the box, was "That's big! You could pressure cook a whole cat in it!" (We have 5 cats who keep us entertained here)
In the instruction booklet that came with the canner, under *safeguards*, it states: "Do not use this pressure canner for pressure canning with oil." People do this? I suppose somebody must have for them to feel it needful to warn against it

 

[freemotion]

I have one of my Presto's on the stove right now, boiling away, with 20 pints of catfood in it! Woohoo! Go, ORChick!

We are here if you have any questions or need ideas!

 

[ORChick]

I have one of my Presto's on the stove right now, boiling away, with 20 pints of catfood in it! Woohoo! Go, ORChick!

We are here if you have any questions or need ideas!

 

[ORChick]

Today I canned, on my virgin voyage , 18 pints of chicken and goose stock. I found that a good way to differentiate between 2 very similar, but different, things is to use the old (brass colored) lids on one, and the new (silver colored) lids on the other. I would have used regular and wide mouthed jars, but didn't have enough. I also found that advertisers lie! This pot is supposed to fit 20 pints, but how do you get 10 pint jars on one layer? They aren't supposed to touch, are they? These were regular jars; wide mouth would have been even more of an issue. Luckily, all the stock (out of the freezer, plus what I made from Thursday's roast chicken) came out to just about exactly 18 pints. I am now wiped out of pint jars; I think I have 4 left. But 4 dozen quarts, so thats all right .
I thought DH would think I was nuts getting this canner. He (engineer that he is) thinks its kind of neat, and was asking me this evening about whether I could can ...? Or maybe ...? And what are all the little bits and parts that come with it? Etc., etc.

 

[AnnaRaven]

If it's pressure canning, I believe it's fin fore them to touch.