Is canning veggies cost effective?

[Icu4dzs]

I would think if a pressure canner was gonna blow its top, you'd likely get a heads up. Unless of course it was knocked of the stove by accident. What i mean is,if your pressure canner is really cranking, sounds like a roaring jet taking off,i personally would turn the flame down some.I like the sound of a pressure canner with a good head of steam, but not one that sounds overly contained, if you know what i mean.I guess the more you use one, the more you know what sounds about right.IMO, once you get up to crusing speed with a pressure canner, you adjust the heat source, to level off the intensity.I would never keep the flame going/heat source going full tilt once you have a strong head off steam going, thats asking for trouble...! Yes, respect and common sense, not fear...Sometimes accidents do happen, but if you use common sense and guidelines, and get more experience, pressure canning is pretty safe.You have to take care of your canner.You must have a good rubber seal, replace old woren ones. Your canner is only as safe as the condition its in..Steam has to have a unclogged exit and you have to learn when to lower the heat source.Thats my two cents from over 40 yrs off pressure canning..Take some classes on canning if you can, learn the basics, you will gain confidence over time.If you have a gut feeling something is wrong, not right, when your canner is going full steam ahead, turn off he heat sourcea and leave the kitchen, until the canner has calmed and pressure is gone.Assess the situation, ask fellow canners for advice,but don't give into fear.

Here, here! What he said! I agree completely.

That all important sound Kev mentions is just a steady jiggle sound about once per second almost like a clock; or maybe just a tad quicker but nice and regular. Once you get it up to jiggling real well, turn down the heat so it just gives you a steady rythym.

The comments on maintenance of the locks and the seal are absolutely RIGHT ON.

I used to cook fried chicken in a restaurant with 4 pressure cookers going at the same time. I used crisco like shortening inside them. I never had any problem. Like Kev said, you get used to the sound and if it gets just a nice steady rythym, you are there. If the heat gets turned too low the jiggle with slow down and then stop.

Always handle the top and bottom carefully so you don't bend or damage the interlocking parts. You'll notice that all of them have little arrows that you line up before you tighten the lid. Always be absolutely certain that the top is on correctly, that it seals correctly and there is no steam coming from anywhere other than the stem where you put the weight (unless you have a gauge built on to the top) Tightening the top should be realatively smooth. If it isn't, stop and check the alignment of the top to the pot. NEVER FORCE the top. In the immortal words of my departed dad, "If you have to force it, you're doing it wrong!"

Be absolutely certain the pressure relief valve is free and unobstructed. (its that little thing that sticks up after you have had the heat on for a while.) If that doesn't come up, you won't get any pressure but if the pressure gets too great, it will blow out of the top and steam will shoot out of that.

Finally, when the time is up, just turn off the heat and go away. Don't be tempted to fiddle with it. Don't try to bleed off the steam by playing with the weight or attempt to open it untill the relief valve has completely settled in the top and no more tension is noted when you push on it. If it hisses when you touch that relief valve, you won't be able to get it open anyway so don't try!

Hope this helps,
//BT//
Trim sends

 

[AnnaRaven]

The one difference on the pressure canners is:
I have a gas range. I have to slowly lower the temperature notch by notch rather than just "turn it off" or I have "siphoning" (the liquid siphons out of the jars and that messes with the seal). If I turn it down slowly before I turn it off, I have great seals on my jars.

Love my canner! I really REALLY like not having to worry about the power going out or the kids being stupid (not closing the freezer door).

 

[chrissum]

How would a canner work with a glass top stove? Or, does it work?

 

[~gd]

How would a canner work with a glass top stove? Or, does it work?

Works the same as my old electric stove with the coils for burners, did you think it would be different?

 

[FarmerJamie]

How would a canner work with a glass top stove? Or, does it work?

Works the same as my old electric stove with the coils for burners, did you think it would be different?

The glass top stoves, in my experience, suffer from two problems:

1. The heating element is controlled electronically to not get "too hot", so it takes a while to get up to temp and to keep it at temp and its harder to regulate the "cool down". 2. If you use a heavy canner, you always run the risk scratching/cracking/breaking the stove top.

You are able to can with the glass top stove, in my experience, it takes longer and is more stressful.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[freemotion]

You have to make sure your canner is rated for a glass top stove. All American is not. Presto is. The bottom of the canner needs to be flat and it can't be too heavy when loaded.

You have to be very, very careful when moving the canner...don't slide it, and be careful about putting it down on the stove. I canned on a flat top stove until I got my gas stove. I had to stand right next to the canner at all times and fiddle with the heat constantly. Since the control knobs were behind the canner, I burned my arm OFTEN. But I did it. I canned hundreds and hundreds of jars of food on that stove.

Oh, and I also set a timer for 2 minutes if I ever left the kitchen. On that stove, the pressure can suddenly spike...or drop....in 3 minutes.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

In the immortal words of my departed dad, "If you have to force it, you're doing it wrong!"

i thought it was "if you have to force it, go ahead and break it b/c it needs to be fixed anyway?"

(just kidding)

ditto about the glass top stove - the manufacturers are pretty clear about if it does/not work with that kind of stove.

anna - great info about the gas top. i currently use my old style electric but have been thinking about getting a propane unit for outside canning - this is great to know and i would never have thought of it.



Free - so are you having better results with your gas stove? not so much fiddling or just as much?

 

[FarmerChick]

yea I have a glass top stove and yes it cooks different and there are rules (yup rules lol) to using it without harming it.

I like it and don't like it. the control of heat is not the same as gas at all.

my mom's electric range died, she bought a glass stove, used it a week, hated it and returned it and bought another electric range...lol...heck I don't even like elec. that much....I would a gas range. but no gas lines this way

 

[ORChick]

I have a Presto canner, bought earlier this year, and a glass top stove. It works fine. I am careful about moving it - lift, not slide - but don't have any issues with it (other than that I dislike the glass top, and would much rather have gas, but can't, for the foreseeable future anyway - but that is not the canner's fault ). On my stove I don't have any great problems regulating the heat - but then, I've never pressure canned on another stove, and so wouldn't know the difference. I turn it up to high to get it up to pressure, and then turn it down to medium, and a few minutes later down further, as low as possible while still keeping the gauge jiggling. I believe that the instructions say to to move the canner off the heat source when the canning time is up (at least, that is what I do, and I must have read it somewhere), so I just lift it over to a cool corner of the stove to let it gradually release pressure. No problem with siphoning so far - but, other than removing it from the heat source, I don't try to hurry the cooling down in any way.

 

[freemotion]

Free - so are you having better results with your gas stove? not so much fiddling or just as much?

Oh yeah! It is great! The knobs are on the front, and gas heat remains constant, so once the pressure is steady for a few minutes, it pretty much remains there. I love it. I have two favorite burners to can on....one is easy to maintain the pressure but takes longer to get it up to the proper heat, and the other is the "power boil" burner so it gets it venting steam pretty quickly but is too hot to maintain the pressure properly. So if I have both canners going at the same time, I have to stay there and turn the gas on and off on that power burner sometimes....only if it is hot in my kitchen. But that's ok, it is worth it to have 40 pints of stuff bubbling away all at the same time.

Be careful with the outdoor propane units, as the canner is very heavy and if the unit tips over you have a pretty much guaranteed exploding canner. Save for a gas stove and you won't regret it! Another advantage is that you can still cook on top of the stove when the power goes out. I saved for a long time for mine and I'm so glad I did.