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Slaughtered and butchered two of our pigs and we're in the middle of canning sausage. One to go.
Every year the wife grumbles about the old Mirro and not long after we're done I forget.
Would like to get her a new canner. Looking for a decent size one as our pork run alone will be around 60 pints.
Recommendations please, thanks.
you will never regret an "all american" they are the Cadillac of canners and priced accordingly so beware sticker shock, just remember the old saying about crying once. they do not use a gasket to seal and are built like a tank for long years of service. get a bigger one than you think you need, because once you use one you will be doing a lot more canning. the wife has 4 or 5 of the all americans as well as a dozen "others" and all she uses is the all americans, she has 2 of the largest ones they make and uses them on turkey burners and alternates them so one is cooling and being refilled wile the other is canning, she can process a lot of jars like that. she does the same with her medium sized ones. they are not light and once full they are bloody heavy so stove tops are out for the larger ones and definatly no glass top stoves even for the smaller ones.
All American, you'll only cry once. There's a reason they cost what they do. They're built that well and worth every penny. I believe I have the 921 which is 21 quarts. I've found it can't fit quite as many pint jars as it says due to the domed top. The second row of jars can't be placed out near the edges. I wish I had one a little larger. Takes me two days to can a bushel of peaches due to capacity and cool down time. They take a long time to cool down due to their mass.
One word of advice if you buy one. Remember where you placed the weight if you set it down. Took me three days to find one of them this year. Actually my son found it when playing w/ one of his toys. Apparently I set it down on it for some reason [emoji23] A new weight had already been delivered by Amazon in the meantime.
you can get them with a gauge instead of the weight but my wife likes to hear it sputter so she can do other things and still hear when the pressure is right.
another vote for the all american, they are the Cadillac of canners
Another vote for the All American. ours has both the gauge and the weight.
Ive got a presto. may not be a Cadillac but its a good chev. Ive used mine for over 10 years without a problem and a new one can be bought for under a 100 bucks. I also have an old National that was given to me probably over 25 years ago and in all that time ive had to replace the o ring gasket twice. I think they cost about 3 bucks last time I bought one. A canner would have to do some magical things for me to lay out 300 bucks for it and I do ALOT of canning every year. Personaly id rather two good canners then one expensive one.
Awesome...now casboolits is going to cost me money for non gun stuff too lol. I have been toying with the idea of getting a pressure canner for a few years and this topic doesn't help. I do not mean to derail this topic but are you guys referring to the stove top models or the electrical all in one models. You guys seem to have a lot of experience you are pulling from, are any easier to use for beginners?
One thing I have seen people do with the All American canner is pressure fry for broasted chicken. Not recommended but it can be done!
I have both. For canning I mostly use the stove top one. For cooking I use the electric because you can set a time for when you want it to come on and how long you want it to cook and don't have to babysit it. Bowl is Teflon (or some such thing) coated too so clean up is much easier. If I could only have one though it would be a stove top unit.Quote:
Originally Posted by guywitha3006
I second going large or going home. It's a recoverable expense if you expect to can that much sausage and other vittles regularly.
I have an old Presto that suits my needs, though I wouldn't turn down an even bigger one. This is one time I prefer using my electric range in the basement, as it's easier to control the heat.
BDGR
I have an All American that does four quarts. It was inherited, so it’s easy for me to recommend :) It was so old it had the “bomb valve”instead of a jiggler.
I want a full sized one so I can do seven quarts at once. I have the rickety old antique my grandma used, but I think I’m going to bite the bullet and get the big All American. They really are the best of the best.
I have the Presto 01781 23 qt model. I really like it. It can hold 18 pint jars (2 layers). If you plan to do the 2 layer method, get an additional aluminum "pan" to give you something flat to place the second layer on.
David