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Flattop or coil stove for pressure canning?


HighAltitude

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Newbie here! My inexpensive electric coil range is dying (death by pressure canning ), and I need advice from all you wonderful experienced canners.

 

Can you pressure can on a flattop/ceramic/glass stovetop? I'm a clumsy cook with a heavy cast alumimun pressure canner, so I'm leaning toward electric coil again.

 

Is there an electric coil stove that doesn't overheat and melt the wiring and destroy the contacts for elements? My son is getting tired of filing the contacts so the elements will work and my husband doesn't want to change the burned out wiring again.

 

What am I doing wrong? I turn down the high heat to the canners as soon as pressure or boiling (for water bath) takes place.

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I just recently bought a new stove, and I love it --it's a flat top. One of the burners has an extra large heating coil for 14" pans... just the right size for my pressure cooker!

 

I was pretty worried about dropping a full, heavy pan on it too, but am not worried as much now that I've had it for several months. It's soooo much nicer than our old one.

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Please, please, please....be careful with these flat top stoves. There is a post somewhere... Check your manufacturers warranty. I don't think it's the weight that you have to worry about. It's the amount of heat for the amount of time that it requires for canning. Many of these stoves are not covered under warranty if canning. Please, please, check with your manufacturer---

 

Oh, and HI!! Welcome High Altitude andn Urban Fool!! Nice to meet ya--come on up to the Sunporch. Everyone would love to meet ya. Cat is giving away chocolate and cheesecake in the LURKER AMNESTY thread. Please join us.

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I have a flattop and have SCOURED my manual. It does not reference canning, pressure cookers or large pots at all. Mine is a Frigidaire.

 

I start the canner on 8, when the pressure gets to about 8psi, I reduce the heat to 6. A few minutes later the pressure is at 11psi & I drop the heat to about 3.5. There it stays for the remainder of the time.

 

I've canned a lot of meat and beans (90 minutes for quarts) and haven't had any problems.

 

YMMV.

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Thank you so much for your experiences and opinions! I'm still undecided. I searched the Maytag site for "canning" and they say you can can on their flattops provided the bottom diameter of your canner does not exceed the burner diameter by more than 1".

 

Okay, (talking to myself) so is ease of cleaning (I've heard horror stories about burned jam pitting the surface) worth the risk I'd damage the surface?

 

Does anyone have experience with raised coils on one of their electric burners that is especially for canning?

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I have an electric stove, coils.. and the only reason one coil burnt out was .. well, because it is old! I mean like 30 years old.

 

I can on it all of the time. so here is my lame-o suggestion..

 

find an old stove and put it outside? in your outside kitchen your wonderful husband and dear son need to build for you

 

or..

 

get a propane burner (the kind for doing deep fryer chickens.. though I noticed wal-mart (WM) had one that wouldn't work with out some sort of thermocouple attached from burner to pot) so not that kind.. and use it outside.

 

I would not personally want a flat top for canning on.

 

talk with the manufacturers of the ones you are looking at.

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Quote:
well, because it is old! I mean like 30 years old.




Let's see if I can do this. Attached should be a pic. The TOP of this stove looks like mine. Four burners (right front doesn't work) and griddle in the center. All burners must be lit with a match.

118348-a6_1.jpg

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And the BOTTOM looks like this. Two ovens-mine is smaller on the left. Bottom right is a broiler and bottom left is a rotisserie. Dummy me-when we moved in I found the rotisserie thingie that ya put the meat on in a cupboard and thought it went to an old grill-threw it out. Oh well-wouldn't have worked anyhow. Neither does the left oven. Have to keep a piece of metal stuffed against the broiler door, too-or it just falls open. Mine's a 1950's model Kenmore.

 

Oh yeah-can't wait for that summer kitchen-on the project list for this year.

118349-ee_1_b.jpg

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i use my gas stove when doing canning in the house and use the camp chef 2 burner camp stove for outside canning i have an extra propane tank that fits on it and i fill it the week i plan on canning then set up on back porch so that any mess is hoseable and all the heat is outside not in my tiny kitchen i know it is not recommended by alot of people and companies to can on ouside burners but i have not had any problems keeping my heat regulated so that pressure stays up or simmer stays steady while canning this way

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If you can on an electric stove you need a special element so you don't fry your stove. I learned the hard way on this one. You can order them online from different appliance repair places.

Personally, I would not get a flat top stove. They can crack from the weight and the heat of a canner. Some of them have sensors that fluctuate so they don't overheat, but that makes pressure canning difficult. The pressure goes up and down.

That is also true, a canner can only be 1 inch larger than the element part.

My friends smooth top stove got permanently pitted from jelly the first time she used it.

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Excellent posts! I love the idea of a second/outdoor kitchen. While we welcome the heat of canning most days, there are a couple of warm weeks in August when it would be so handy.

 

Thanks for you information on flattops. I think I'm going to try to limp along on my coil range for another canning season and hopefully forever. The appliance repair/parts guy suggested a "canning coil", a reinforced element that sits up a little higher than a regular element. He explained that this allows the built up heat to escape, which is what destroyed the wiring.

 

8" canning coil, $32

new wiring harness, $70

new coil stove, $400

new flattop stove, $600+

 

I think the canning coil with a new wiring harness is a winner.

 

He also pointed out that my black burner overflow pans (came with the stove which came with the house) were a bad idea. Chrome, shiny, or tin-foil covered burner pans were best as they reflect more heat so that the build up of heat is not near the wiring.

 

(Yes, he said covering the drip pans with foil was okay if you put the big hole in the foil.)

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