Who here cans??

[me&thegals]

Hi--I can! I just traded in my water-bath canners for steam canners and love using about 1/10th the water and much less electricity since they boil so quickly!

I love doing freezer jam, frozen fruit, frozen corn, canned pickles and tomatoes, applesauce and beets. Wow--isn't summer busy? Helps me get excited for those long WI winters...

 

[coopy]

Hi--I can! I just traded in my water-bath canners for steam canners and love using about 1/10th the water and much less electricity since they boil so quickly!

I love doing freezer jam, frozen fruit, frozen corn, canned pickles and tomatoes, applesauce and beets. Wow--isn't summer busy? Helps me get excited for those long WI winters...

Can you tell us more about this steam canner? I have never heard of one. Would love to see a picture of it.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi--I can! I just traded in my water-bath canners for steam canners and love using about 1/10th the water and much less electricity since they boil so quickly!

I love doing freezer jam, frozen fruit, frozen corn, canned pickles and tomatoes, applesauce and beets. Wow--isn't summer busy? Helps me get excited for those long WI winters...

Can you tell us more about this steam canner? I have never heard of one. Would love to see a picture of it.

I think she meant a pressure canner, Coopy. Maybe.....?

I'll have to switch over to pressure more often, if they use less electricity, me&! I was afraid it would turn my tomatoes to mush, though. Do you use it for everything? If so, how does that turn out? Tomatoes still firm or mushy?

 

[me&thegals]

Delighted to. Your best bet might be to Google it, but I will try. To picture it, it is like the whole works is upside down. The bottom portion is about 3" tall. You put in an inch or 2 of water, then a rack, stack your jars on top of the rack (about 7 quarts) and then put the huge (looks like a big inverted pot) lid over the works. So, the bottom is a few inches tall, the "lid" is about 18" tall. The steam is actually hotter than a hot water bath and surrounds all the jars as they cook. It heats up MUCH faster since there's so little water, using way less water and energy. Mine are aluminum and not incredibly expensive. I forget now, but I'm thinking about $30. I got them new but would this time try craigslist or freecycle. I love them! As much canning as I do, they will pay for themselves quickly in saved electricity, plus it's so nice to not hang around SO LONG waiting for pots to boil

me&thegals

ETA: Hi, beekissed. This is NOT a pressure canner. I actually first saw them in seed catalogs and watched them for a while online, trying to learn more. They are very simple and basic, but instead of surrounding jars with boiling water, they surround jars with even-hotter steam. My canned goods look great--just like with a water bath--and have a great sealing rate--no increased "nonsealers"

Okay, here's more. http://www.canningpantry.com/steam-canners.html If you click on steam canners at this link, it will have pix. Also, it talks about the pros and cons of both methods.

Beekissed, I get mushy tomatoes whether I pressure, water or steam can them, even if I freeze them! I was thinking it was my tomatoes. Do you have a way of preserving tomatoes AND their texture? That would be awesome! I planted lots of Amish paste this year since they have awesome texture and taste for eating plain plus seem to have more "meatiness" for preserving...

 

[Beekissed]

Hey, does the lid of this steam system buckle down? If not, could one convert their water bath pan by placing a steam rack in the bottom?

Our tomatoes, while not extremely firm, still do not have the "mushy" texture or feeling of other canned tomatoes that I've seen or tried. Maybe those folks are using a pressure canner instead of the water bath?

This sound extremely interesting, ME&! Thanks for the link, I will have a look! Never heard of such a thing, but, if you tried it, I know its alright!

 

[the simple life]

Hi,
I have seen these steam canners and they remind me of the old baby bottle sterilizers we use to use way back when.
It was the same shape and set up, small bottom,tall top and turn it on and steam them.
I think they are interersting, I was just looking at one the other day in a catalog.

 

[me&thegals]

Hey, does the lid of this steam system buckle down? If not, could one convert their water bath pan by placing a steam rack in the bottom?Hmmm... I'm not sure. I don't think the regular canner would work because the lid is too loose. Maybe if it were weighted down? I guess you could try. If it doesn't work, you could redo it

This sound extremely interesting, ME&! Thanks for the link, I will have a look! Never heard of such a thing, but, if you tried it, I know its alright!

Yikes! Why does that worry me? I know there's some controversy about it--if you can call canning methods controversial--but it makes a lot of sense to me that jars surrounded by steam would be as safe, if not safer, as jars surrounded by somewhat cooler water.

ETA--Wow! I sure can't seem to figure out how to insert my comments between other's quotes. Any suggestions?

 

[Beekissed]

Hit the quote button and paste the areas you want to quote between the "quotes".

Where does your steam escape on those things? I assume they are utilizing the heat of the steam and not the pressurized heat like a pressure cooker, so why the need for a heavy lid?

Man, it would be so much quicker if everyone could just have a mass phone call and talk about these things!!! This is so interesting and I want to know more. I looked at the steamer but it didn't show the fine details of the thing...like how does the steam get out?

 

[coopy]

I'm like you beekissed. I am intrested in the workings of the thing. How long has this thing been around? Wonder why we haven't heard about it before now? I would really like to know more about it.

 

[me&thegals]

Hi--finally back online. I'm so tickled to have gotten some black and red raspberry jam made!

This canner sounds new fangled and complicated, but it's incredibly simple. There are 2 small steam vents, one on each side of the large lid.

Beekissed--you are probably right about the steam working in a regular canner. I'm just trying to work out why these canners have huge lids and small bottoms versus the water bath ones that are vice versa. The way the lid fits into the base is definitely tighter in the steam canner than a regular one, therefore my suggestion to possibly weight the regular canner lid if you want to try steam canning. Plus, on a regular canner a lot of the steam escapes when things really get cooking. On this one, the steam needs to be a constant, unrelieved presence in order for it to work.

I wonder how it would work to try it out steam canning by canning some water? That way no wonderful produce would get ruined if it didn't work...

Let me know if you try it!