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I know people can their food but do you perfer a water bath or pressure canner I have heard I should invest in a pressure canner but I have heard scary things.

I know if I want to can some vegtables and meat I need a pressure canner (I would not can meat but maybe soup) So what should I get I have a water canner already should I get a pressure canner?

-- sonneyacres (jtgt12@ntelos.net), January 13, 2002

Answers

If you want to can anything besides fruit, you really do need a pressure canner, I think.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), January 13, 2002.

Get the pressure canner, some acid vegetables like tomatoes you used to be able to can in a water bath safely but we have cross bred the acid out of the tomatoes, (some of them) untill they have to be pressure canned. Get the Ball blue book on canning and folow it to the letter and you can can any thing you wish to. As for the scarey stories if you don't pay attention around hot scalding pressurised things you can get hurt. All so if you stick your hand under a running lawnmower it is not going to be good. We use three pressure canners andhave all three rolling when we are canning. Its fun, its good, do it. David

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), January 13, 2002.

I just used my presure canner for the first time yeasterday. Bought it at a flea market,, had to buy some things for it,, got it checked out,,ect,, canned 7 quarts of turkey meat,, house smells SOOOOOooo good. Going to do some soup stock today,,and some chilli this week. Decideing on canning or drying ground meat. BUt,, its not that difficult,,ot scary. Blue Book is a MUST.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 13, 2002.

I love my pressure canner and use it year around. In the winter I love to make hearty soups and can them up for easy meals in the spring and summer when we are busy putting up gardens and hay. Many things can be canned very sucessfully in it. Why not can meat?? I used to, before we raised our own, buy it on sale and can it up. Cheap cuts of beef canned up is WONDERFUL for fast and easy beef and noodles and other similar dishes. Great convenience food!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.

If you ever ate canned meat you would LOVE it!! Buy a pressure canner well worth the cost to be safe!!

-- Grizz (southerneagle@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.


Diane, care to share any of your canned soup recipes. I'm new to canning and am not sure how you go about canning foods with different ingredients.

-- Deb Foster (DFoster987@aol.com), January 13, 2002.

Deb, I just make my soups the way I like them and then can them, using the time recommended for the longest ingredient. (usually the meat) I always leave an inch of head room as I have had major disasters when I did not.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.

I buy meat when it is on sale or in the family packs and can it, rather than fill up the freezer with it. It's so handy to have the meat all cooked when I want to make something, and saves a lot of time. I have used a pressure cooker for years, and have had no trouble. You just have to follow the dirctions for your particular brand and reasonable care. It helps to have your pressure gauge checked at your extension service occasionally, too.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), January 13, 2002.

I love my pressure canner. Have been canning for about 25 years. Since my oldest son was a baby. It is expensive in the beginning to buy the pressure canner..but it is a one time purchase and pays for itself many times over very quickly. I can soups, meats, and veggies in the pressure canner, and fruits and tomatoes (I add a squirt of lemon juice to each jar just to be on the safe side, even though I grow old types of tomatoes which are not the low acid type) jams, pickles, etc in water bath. The only thing I guess that would be scary about a pressure canner is if you left in for an extended time and let the pressure build too high. I tend to stay in the kitchen and babysit it while I can. I have to adjust the temp to keep mine on the right pressure a little every once in awhile. I ususally bring a stool near the stove and knit or something while canning. I get alot of extra kitchen cleaning done while canning too. Soups are wonderful to can and have on hand!!! I always leave an inch headspace too, and agree with using the time that is for the ingredient needing the longest time (usually the meat) I can up chicken, turkey and beef broth in pint jars for convenience later too. Have fun.....and do try pressure canning. Get a ball blue book, and maybe borrow a canner to try it. Make sure you read the instructions first and keep them handy. As old as my canner is, and as often as I use it, I always keep the instructions stored with the canner and follow them to the letter.

-- Jenny (auntjenny6@aol.com), January 13, 2002.

Don't be scared of pressure canners. If you are buying a new one they can't blow up like the old ones once did. They all have built in pressure releases so it can no longer happen (they are required by law to do so).

You absolutely MUST pressure can vegetables, soups, stews, and meats. A water bath does not get hot enough to kill all the bateria. It is not just sealing the jar...it is killing the bacteria.

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.



My pressure canner came on Friday-I can hardly wait to start canning!

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), January 13, 2002.

A pressure canner is usefull for many things other than canning and well worth the money, it will cook winter squash or potatoes much faster, it will cook an entire boiled dinner in the time it takes water to boil in an open pot, it will cook chicken bones soft enough to eat, thus the bones become free pet food,(I just made doggie chicken and rice last night)I am hopeing to get some smaller sized pressure cookware as soon as the money is available for it! These are great to use and worth every penny.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), January 13, 2002.

Hi! Try checking out just one of the scary stories! It's always someones great aunt's best friends cousin whom had their canner explode! Geeze! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 13, 2002.

I have 4 pressure canners, small, medium, large and huge gonzo size. During canning season, it wasn't unusual for me to have the three largest going at one time. Can't imagine life without the canners.

Just finished canning a very large roast in pints. We are using our canned foods fairly fast and as the jars empty, I fill them with something else. Have canned a good bit of beef, chicken and turkey and am also canning dried beans we buy in bulk. We save chicken, turkey and beef bones and when I have a batch, I make stock and can that, too.

Go ahead, get the Ball Blue Book and get busy canning. Just make it a habit to clean and check the safety release valve and the sealing ring - every single time you use the canner.

One thing I disagree with the Ball Blue Book on is how much to tighten the rings on the lids. It says to do only a quarter turn after you feel it catch, but I tighten the rings more, so I don't end up with the food leaking out of the jars. And every jar seals, every time that way.

I agree with the others - you can never trace down the horror stories that get passed around forever. Pressure canners have safety features now that they didn't years ago. If the seal is good, the release valve is good, the lid is on securely, and you pay attention to the heat under the canner, you should have no problems.

Enjoy!

-- Carol - in Virginia (carollm@rockbridge.net), January 14, 2002.


when you say have a used canner checked out--what is being checked and who should be doing the checking? Thanks, Mary

-- Mary (mlogan298@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.


Mary, every couple of years I take my pressure gauge to the County Extention Office to have it checked to be certain it is working correctly and showing the right pressure. Before each load I wiggle all the little safety valves and be sure the move freely and be sure that the vent hole that the weight goes on is clear.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.

I agree with everyone! Pressure canners are great to have. Water bath canners are ok for jellys and pickles. But if you really want to preserve the harvest or the meat, the pressure canner is a must. You can't beat the flavor of home canned meat! Happy canning!

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.

Well, leave it up to me to be the oddball! I have actually been through a canner explosion when I was a teenager with my mom canning. We were canning peas and evidently a jar busted and let peas clog the pop off valve etc and that thing blew peas and glass all over my sisters, mom and me (and all over the kitchen)! You just don't realize how many peas are in one pint or several pints!!!We all had little round red spots for a week or so!! But, when you fall from a horse, you get right back on so we were canning again the next day (different canner) and have been canning every since.Of course, we were canning the next day also because if we didn't can our garden produce, we didn't eat in the winter. I can everything-try to never keep stuff frozen-just canned. Love the fact that I can go to my pantry and have a good-for-you home grown meal on my table in 20 minutes or so. Advice: I have canned with both the traditional 'gasket' canners and now own one with a metal on metal seal (All American Canners). Will never own a gasket seal one again. I love my metal to metal seal canner. In fact, I own 2 of them jiggling right now with goat meat we butchered yesterday!! Everyone should learn to can food and preserve the harvest. 'Course, now a days, you would have to show half of them how to grow the harvest!! Haha

-- Connie Rabun (trying2bselfsufficient@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.

I had one close call with my canner when I forgot to add the water to it, but I caught the smell of 'something not right' and got it off the heat before the plug melted, lightly sprayed it with a mister until it was cooling to a normal temp. I cleaned it up checked all the parts and still use it today, I like the Mirro weighted guages myself, if they don't make the right "rattle" I know to check on it.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.

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