CrownofThorns said:
I am trying to learn how to can. I want to can our salmon as well as meals, along with veggies and fruit. etc. So from what I have read I need a pressure cooker. I'm looking at pressure cookers online, and I'm trying to find out what would be best for me. I want something that can can as many quarts as possible. I have a wood stove so size won't be a big issue, I don't think. My regular at home stove is a glass top.
No idea on the wood stove, but I would think that regulating temperature would be an issue.
I regularly use both my water bath canner (really just a big stock pot) and pressure canner (handed down from my Mom) on my glass top stove. It's my understanding that "All-American" brand pressure canners aren't rated for glass-top stoves, but that Presto and Mirro brands are (mine's a 1970s Presto and works just fine).
Anyways I have a lots of questions!
I avoid aluminum cooking pans as much as possible, and since I will only be using the cooker for canning, will it matter that it's made from aluminum or should I look for a steel one?
As mentioned by others above, I believe they are all made of aluminum. Your food doesn't come into contact with the metal, so there should be no concerns.
I don't believe it is recommended, because pressure canning would cook it down to mush.
Do I need a water bath canner and a pressure cooker or just one?
If you want to can only high acid foods which includes most fruits, pickles, and tomatoes (usually with the addition of lemon juice for an acidity top-up) you only need a water bath canner. If you want to can low-acid foods which includes most veggies (other than tomatoes), any meats, soup stocks, or prepared "convenience" foods like soups/stews/chilis etc., then you need a pressure canner.
What other smaller supplies do I need? I know I need the racks to keep jars off the bottoms, the clamps to pull the jars out of the water, and the funnels are really handy for preventing spills. Anything else?
Can someone reassure me how safe pressure canning is? Maybe give me a scenario where something could go wrong? I can't believe I am actually getting brave enough to do this possibly on my own. A friend said she'd teach me, but I don't have time right now to do it the way she wants.
I grew up with my Mom and Grandma regularly pressure canning salmon, hamburger and other meats. My Grandma taught my Mom, as she didn't have electricity on her farm until well into the 60s and had to keep things without a fridge or freezer. I inherited my Mom's 18L Presto pressure canner a while back and now I have to say I'm totally hooked on it. Since the winter I've pressure canned ground bison (to add to anything you'd brown hamburger for to make a quick dinner), baked beans, various soups, plain pinto and black beans, chili, and I'm thinking about adding chicken chunks and beef chunks to my cupboard (again for ease in pulling together quick dinners).
It was a little daunting at first, but my first go at it was with plain pinto beans and it went off without a hitch and every jar sealed. To date I've only had one jar of ground bison (out of 4 pressure canner-loads) and one jar of jam (water bath canning) not seal up, we ate the bison in lasagne that evening and the jam went right into the fridge and has since been finished off.
I read, and then re-read the recipes each time I can. I read, and then re-read the canning instructions and pay careful mind to the processing time required plus the adjustment for my higher altitude (I'm at around 3500'). For water bath canning, the altitude adjustment lengthens the processing time. For pressure canning, the altitude adjustment increases the pressure (I process everything at 15lbs pressure).
Canning does take organization. I make sure everything is laid out and ready to go--jars go into the dishwasher for a "quick rinse" cycle (I keep them turned upside down in the cupboard or their boxes after washing them) while I get the canner on the stove and heating up. I wash, cut up, or otherwise prepare the food (for ground meat I brown it in batches and keep it hot in a large roaster in the oven) while the jars rinse and the water heats. Then I pop the jars into the canner to sterilize for 10 minutes, and I ladle some of the boiling water into a metal bowl over the flat lids a few minutes before they are needed. I also keep a tea kettle of boiling water handy to top up the canner or to heat the lids if needed.
When everything is ready to go I take out each jar and fill it, wipe the top rim to ensure it's clean and ready to seal, pop on a lid and screw on a band and then it goes into the canner. Once the canner is loaded I put the lid on and start timing the process once it's back up to a boil (or fully vented for 10 minutes and up to pressure for pressure canning).
While the jars process I clean up and get any dishes used washed and all the counter tops wiped down. I lay out a clean dry kitchen towel to receive the jars (hot jars will shatter if they contact cold water or counter tops). Then I potter around doing other kitcheny things or sit down with a book while everything processes. I leave the jars on the towel on the counter for 24 hours after processing, remove the rings to be washed and put away, and test the seal by pressing down in the middle of the lid and then gently lifting each jar by the edges of the lid.
It's a process I really enjoy, and I love seeing all the jars lined up on the shelves! It's so nice to be continuing a family tradition of putting up food for my family, and wonderful to know exactly what is in each jar of food. I've been water bath canning for years, but adding pressure canning to my repertoire has really opened up options for keeping convenience foods. We've totally stopped buying canned food (started the process 4 years ago when my oldest daughter did a science fair project on plastics--we have very little plastic in our life now, and always make sure that any plastic we do use is one of the "safer" plastics #2, #4, and #5) and my kids love hearing the "pop" as they open a jar of baked bean for beans on toast or a jar of soup to heat up and take for school lunches in a stainless steel thermos. And they love to put together a spaghetti dinner with a jar of home-canned ground bison, a jar of home-canned tomatoes, home grown herbs and spices etc.--we just need to start making our own pasta and it will all truly be from scratch!
My husband is heading out to get our years supply of salmon on Friday and I need to can and smoke what is left of last years before he arrives home.
