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Thread: Pressure canner

  1. #21
    Boolit Master Randy Bohannon's Avatar
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    The American pressure cooker does much more than canning, broasted chicken amazing , pot roast Mom never made. The American also has no rubber seal to fail it is friction fit and cooking oil is used to seal, they are worth every penny and your grandkids will be using it.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by PHyrbird View Post
    Bazoo,
    Mother, Step mom, & wife did the canning for decades. I'm not sure about the brands so much but here's what I can help with.
    I think most of the brands were Presto, maybe. Get a good one, tall is better, should handle 7 quart jars (I got boxes of them if you need some), get one with the screw in gauge too (not the weight type, not the ones with the rubber fitting for the gauge)
    Pay attention when processing. These things work by STEAM. If the pressure gets too high it can BLOOIEE. Terrible mess, even if no one gets steam burned. Take ZERO chances with too high pressures, that's why I recommend the gauge.
    Sterilizing is priority one everything needs to be at least blanched B4 processing. utensils should be boiled to death. Never use stuff you can't sterilize, it's asking for a bad case of intestinal problems minimum. Stainless is your friend.
    Get: magnet tool to pick up lids w/o touching while still in hot water.
    jar lifting tongs to lift stuff out of canner while hot, saves time for the next load.
    Lid opening pliers to break loose those bone tight lids after they cool. Less arthritis.
    Vitorio strainer to crank out juices for canning, they're real time savers. A little messy but productive.
    Source: Amish or Mennonite stores. Some online, with caution.
    Meat canning is another level, be very wary of spoilage after 3-6 mo. We did very little of it. That's what a freezer is for. Perhaps jerky is safer.
    The glass jars are sensitive to cracking if quick changes of temps, Inspect B4 use closely, Never set cold in hot canner, Never set hot from canner on cold surface. Very messy, plus glass slivers everywhere. A large cooling rack helps, big enough to handle 2 loads, 14 jars.
    Be very particular about checking lids after storage. Any that "POP' up while sitting are mandatory in the compost.
    Pickled cukes, peppers, onion, cabbage (kraut), are delicious & can keep for years. Tomato juice or any acid type veg keep well too.
    Beans: try the Kentucky Wonders, great flavor after a week in the jar, Blue lake are good too. Black eye peas, limas, can be canned but we usually froze for flavor, yanow.
    Fruits keep well too if in a dark place, some "brown" with storage though.
    Another thing to try is a pressure cooker after you get accustomed to the canner. A lot quicker cooking for stews & steaming foods; again pay attention while processing.
    Modern lids do not need to be placed in simmering water to soften the sealer compound(it was not for sterilizing), follow instructions on the lid box! And pressure canning sterilizes whatever goes in the jar so blanching is usually not required. Try to be clean but once it goes through the canner nothing is alive in the jar if you did it right.

  3. #23
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    USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning https://www.healthycanning.com/wp-co...5-revision.pdf very good reference and some pretty decent recipes!

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy
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    My mother canned everything ,and she used an old canner with the weight on top of a small stem in the center of the lid that served as a pressure regulator. I do remember her having to replace the rubber gasket at least once,but probably more than that. I remember one time that something went wrong,and it blew a plug on the lid .I know it was meant to blow as a safety measure like a fuse,and they evidently sold replacements because I remember Dad putting a new one in the lid. I miss the canned meats the most .Mother would often make homemade noodles,and fix them with canned deer. She canned mostly half runners,and tomatoes. Her,and Dad both liked creamed tomatoes ,but I never cared much for them. I guess my favorite thing Mother would can was sausage..I have not had it for years,but it just seemed way better canned than frozen.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master

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    I have the pressure cooker for chili/small batch canning runs, and the big bastids for fresh caught tuna. I use glass for the day to day, tin cans for the venison/tuna/other longer term items. Tin is the bomb, never breaks, cooks faster at higher pressure, keeps longer, etc. Sure, they are one use, but they really make tuna fishing a breeze.

    We would start cleaning fish, stuffing cans, and be ready when we hit the dock. The wives had the cookers ready to go when we got back in, albeit beat from a hard day. If they/we weren't ready, the canned/sealed tins were put in the fridge and pressure cooked the next day.

    Jams and jellies didn't see tin, they saw glass. Soups/stews leftover from chicken/turkey/whatever were small batch. Heck, lots of stuff only needs hot bath canning, no pressure. My wife always made chili in a crock pot or a slow pot on the stove. My chili (her recipe) is 40 minutes + cool down. We made chili one night, me in CA and her in CO, over the video chat. She was amazed, but went back to the crock pot. Granny taught her, my granny taught me. Ce'st la Vie.
    Common sense Gun Safety . . .

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  6. #26
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    I want an All American, but... retired. I have owned a presto canner for several years and it works fine, purchased from wallyville for 65 bux if I remember correctly.
    There are canners out there, just have to look. I bought a Mirro canner made in march of 87 at the E-town goodwill for 20 bux yesterday... Complete. I have seen many others in thrift stores, but this is the first one that was all there. So I snapped it up.
    I wish my pewter hunt had turned up some items, but the canner made the sting of not finding any a lot better.
    NRA Life 1992
    My avatar is almost a dead ringer for my little buddy Chico. Six pounds of mean that thought he was a Pit Bull. Miss that little guy.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
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    If you have an Ace Hardware in your area, they generally carry gaskets and weights for the Presto and I think Mirro pressure cookers. If you're buying used, check that the bottom of the pan is flat. If rounded, it's been over-pressured, and may not be safe. My grandma's is like that. I still have it, but we don't use it. It sits in the shop on a shelf waiting for me to do something else with it. I may use it as a vacuum pot some day.

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