Darlene

I would just try it with about 2-3 inches in the bottom of the canner. If any steam comes out any place except for the vent, then there's probably a problem. There should be no reason for any steam to be coming out of the sides at all.

 

There's nothing to be afraid of...all you'll be doing is heating up the water so that it will create steam, which will come out one way or another. You're not taking it all the way up to pressure to process anything, so once you see where the steam escapes, you can turn the stove off.

The AA you have, if I'm understanding you correctly, should touch metal to metal all the way around. If there isn't a seal around the lid and the body of the canner, then pressure cannot rise and steam will escape.

 

Yanno Cat, you are being a HUGE pita...lololol

 

I'm gonna take away your keyboard...lol

lol...I'm so glad that SOMEbody understands...lol

Yeppers, 100 minutes for pint jars (1 hour 40 minutes) and 160 minutes for quarts (2 hours 40 minutes).

 

Yes, I've canned seafood before and it's come out awesome, but almost 3 hour processing time is a long time lol.

I don't eat salmon so I don't have any ideas for you...just know that home canning fish takes a long time in the pressure canner...longer than regular meats.

Well, although this ticks off some people, no, canning butter, ghee or any other dairy product is not considered safe home canning practice.

 

I know that's a bummer, and yes, I canned butter in the past AND threw it all out once I read the facts about the dangers. It's not worth me putting my children at risk trying to push an envelope where there are very real risks.

 

What I do, since I want those types of products, is buy them from commercial operations where I can be assured they are safe. In fact, I broke down the cost of buying butter, going through all the process, all the equipment needed (jars, bands, seals, etc) and the cost was within pennies of buying a 12oz can of Red Feather butter. I was shocked myself that there really wasn't that much of a price difference and made me feel a little bit better about not taking the risk of canning it myself.

Lissalue, don't every worry about asking questions, even if they've been asked 100 times before. Each person's safety is paramount around here so we don't mind re-answering questions.

Starch is considered a thickener, therefore is not recommended for use in home canning.

AH...please.

 

I know that y'all are very bonded to them, and I hold great respect for them. Let's not take this off to a side road and harbor any personal feelings.

 

The canning guidelines are scientifically proven to be safe for a reason. Whoever decides to do it differently (whether it be Amish or otherwise) is taking unnecessary risks.

Just as a reminder, here's the National Center for Home Food Preservation's website:

 

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html

Hawthorn, unfortunately, no...it would be considered along the lines of pasta, flours, grains, etc. You can always add it later when you open the jar to heat up.

 

And Ginny? I have no inside information but maybe Violet might have some insight as she works at the County Extension Office and might be privy to more details.

 

Hopefully, as time goes on they may discover more things that can be safely homecanned...I'm sure you're talking about dairy products and/or flour/grain, etc products. The reasons they state what they do however bear out factually, scientifically.

hush Hawthorn...

 

lol

Oh that is so exciting Hawthorn! You are going to absolutely love your AA!

bump

 

You can process 7 quarts/19 pints in the 921 or the 925...there is no difference there. The only difference is the 925 is a little bit bigger, which means a little bit heavier, so that'll be a personal preference.

 

For me, I can't think of any advantage I'd get from the 925 over the 921, but perhaps someone else might have a reason.

 

The Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry pressure canner is a weighted gauge canner just like the "All American" is.

Evergreen, I have the 921 also and it's a great mid sized canner. It'll process 7 quarts or 19 pints which is awesome. If I had to suggest one size from the AA line it would definitely be the 921.

No, no and no Jeepers lolol...

 

No rice, no barley, etc etc etc...but you can always put the rice, barley, etc., in the pot when you go to heat up your quart or pint of soup. That's what I do with my chicken soup. I get a pot, put some dry noodles on the bottom, pour the soup over it, and simmer it on low for about 10 min. This heats up the soup and cooks the noodles and puts any commercially prepared soups to shame.

I've been seeing people mention alot lately, concerns over whether to get a Mirro or Presto or All American canner.

 

Over the years, we've discussed alot about how many of us like the All American canners. They really ARE tanks, and I personally like them for a variety of reasons.

 

My concern however, is that I don't want people to misunderstand. Having a Mirro or Presto canner vs an All American canner is JUST FINE! Just because someone might not have an All American canner doesn't mean that they can't can up a storm, successfully and safely.

 

When I first learned how to can, I had my mom's old Sears canner. We did hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of quarts of tomatoes...I did meats in that canner, etc 7 quarts at a time. I lost that canner in a house fire and when I started to shop around for a new canner, since I'm so ridiculous, I searched for the biggest canner they made, which is how I found the All Americans. I have 2 canners that do 19 quarts/32 pints at a time because that is how *I* can. I never do anything small...it's difficult to lug that thing around empty and virtually impossible to lift it with water...forget trying to move it when it's full.

 

I still have my grandma's canner. I'd hafta go look and see what brand it is, because it's a brand that I've never heard of. It has to be at least 70 years old. One of the handles on the lid broke sometime over the years when my grandmother had it, and my grandfather built an identical handle, but out of wood, as a replacement. Some day I'm going to can in that canner because I'm sentimental, because I know all the years and thousands of jars she processed through it...my mom still talks about how when she was a little girl, helping grandma can with that canner, so I want my generation to put a batch through that canner so that the legacy lives on. Silly, I know, but that's me.

 

So anyway, time is running short. Now is not the time to worry about brands, it's the time to be concerned about accumulating this type of equipment that will serve everyone well for many years to come. If all someone can do is get a used canner that is in good working order, SNATCH IT UP! It doesn't matter...all that matters is that it will hold the pressure and heat to safely can your foods.

 

If anyone ever has questions as to the details surrounding a particular canner, please ask...there are so many of us that having a wealth of experience that we're more than happy to pass forward to others.

First of all, sit down, prop your feet up and relax. Canning is very intimidating to most people when they first CONTEMPLATE it...what removes that concern and fear is actually doing it. We're so blessed to have a wealth of experienced canners who have done this for more years than THEY (not me, I'm too young ) want to admit...lol

 

My mother showed me how to can tomatoes, and that was it. I jumped into the rest all by myself and I have NEVER (thank You Lord) opened a jar that I had canned, and had it be bad or hurt my children. We've taught tons of people here how to can, just on the internet so you're goin gto do just fine.

 

As far as what you have canned, and knowing if it is safe to eat, I'd like to know exactly what it is you canned, how you put it all together, how long you processed it, pressure you used, etc etc etc. If you're talking about things you've just water bath canned, then that would pretty much encompass jams, fruits and such. The same premise applies...how long did you water bath can it, and if the seal hasn't popped up, then you should be ok. When you open the jars, alot of times if they're bad, they'll have a bad smell to them.

 

The reason I trust what I can to not only feed my children, but to give away as gifts or just 'because', is because I follow the guidelines as put out by the National Center for Home Food Preservation. I've read the whole history of canning from the Napoleonic days, through the late 1800's and early 1900's, even up into the 80's and early 90's and saw the things they did that they thought were safe, but actually were not. As with everything in this world, technology, science, etc has all progressed and the knowledge base and understanding about foods, heat, pressure have been studied to the enth degree. If you follow the instructions as laid out by the NCHFP then you can rest assured that your products are safely home canned.

 

Here's their website. Bookmark it and refer to it often...they have all kinds of explainations as to why or why not, the 'rules' are what they are, which will give you a better understanding and foundation with which to build your home canning empire on:

 

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html

 

Strawberry jam was the first adventure I went off on my own with after my mom taught me how to can tomatoes. Now, I literally have a couple of hundred jars of strawberry jam.

 

Anyway, you're in the right place. I've done a few pictorials in the recipe section of Preserving the Harvest, because sometimes seeing something helps it to make more sense. Once to get the hang of it, you'll be flying like the rest of us. Go get your strawberries...you don't need a pressure to make strawberry jam and making jam is a piece of cake!

 

Let us know any questions or concerns you might have and we'll help walk this journey with you.

The processing times on that are even way off...

 

Nonononononononononononono.

Ginny, without seeing the recipe that Ball used to publish as safe, I'd hafta agree with PoGo and can it, minus the flour.

 

Flour interferes with the heat and pressure adequately infiltrating the jars during processing. As with alot of things, sometimes they discover facts they didn't know 10, 20 years ago that take items, that once were thought of as safe for canning, and removing from the approved 'safe list'.

 

There ARE limits with home canning, and as frustrating as it is, it's just the way it is. Like I've said in the past, everyone is responsible for the choices they make, but I personally just can't find peace serving my children home canned products that have known risks to them. That's just me, but it bears mentioning again. I'm not saying you're doing this, I'm just stating for the public viewership, the reasons why I draw hard lines with some things in home canning.

 

I'm really excited for you though! It spurs me on to can more things when someone like you comes in and is hitting it hard...it makes me want to get back into the swing of things and hit it hard again too. I hae a freezer full of chicken I need to thaw out and home can. My sons love to take that, shred it and make all kinds of mexican dishes with it later.

 

Keep the questions coming!

I got mine on ebay cheaper than any site on the net...and for about 1/2 price from what this company normally sells them at on their website. Madagascar vanilla beans are thought to be the best ones to get...plus they're fresher...not dried up like what you get in the grocery stores.

A canner is a canner is a canner, for the most part. Just different bells/whistles/abilities. I started out canning in my mom's 30 year old canner, on a glass top stove. I canned over 1000lbs of tomatoes in that sucker in the beginning. You'll here us talk about the All American canners as being the Cadilliac of canners for a few reasons. They're a heavier gauge metal, they're designed differently. They don't use the rubber seals that the others need (and have to be replaced every couple of years), plus they're a weighted gauge canner vs a dial gauge canner. Dials have to be checked for accurate pressure every year, the weighted gauges do not. The mirros and prestos are coming out with weighted guage canners so if you can get a weighted one, I would suggest that.

 

The instructions on home canning things like meats and other things are very detailed and exact. If you follow the instructions, you can feel at peace over what you have preserved. Looking for things like lids that don't seal after they cool down, etc, are additional ways to check and double check that your jar is done properly. The only thing that will get rid of the nervousness is to just jump in and start. Try a veggie first so that you get the feel of handling the jars and lids and canner. Move forward to the other types of home canning that scare you more later.

 

The reason that so many of us (ok, I'm talking about me here) are so passionate about canning is because it's FUN!!!!! It is alot of work, but it's a job I love doing. Don't be afraid to ask any questions you may need...there's a wealth of experienced canners here who love holding newbies hands and walking them through the process. We all get excited when someone starts out.

 

Good luck!

hush.

 

lol