Steam canner?

[Marianne]

I've used it in place of a water bath last year, and when I canned before my hiatus. I like it a lot better. Not nearly as messy or hot as water bath canning. I think your food turns out better in a steam canner too.

However, it is not an approved canning method by the USDA. But, I think it works well for high acid foods.

I'd never do a low acid food in it or a boiling water bath.

For the little canning that I've done the past couple of years, I did oven canning. Same thing, not approved, but it works for tomatoes and salsa.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Please tell me how that works???

 

[Marianne]

Please tell me how that works???

Oven canning is slick for high acid foods. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Basically, your hot tomatoes go into sterilized jars, etc, just like regular canning. Put all the jars on a cookie sheet in the oven, leaving plenty of space between them. After 20 minutes, turn the oven off, but leave the jars in there for a few hours or overnight. If any have not sealed, pop them in the frig and use within a few days - that's never happened to me. Just remember that they have to cool down before you hear the familiar pop of sealing lids.

Please do your own google search for oven canning as there are a lot of varying opinions. I finally sided with a scientist who said there is no difference between 250 degrees in water or 250 degrees in air. It's still 250 degrees.

Since the majority of my canning jars are stored and used often in my kitchen, I always consider them clean. So to sterilize, I'll fill them with water and pop them in the microwave. Sure, I have to use a dish towel to handle them because they're stinking hot, but they stay hot while I'm filling other jars.

 

[Hinotori]

I got rid of my crock pot and rice cooker when I got my Instant Pot. I use it at least once a week.

Takes only a few hours instead of over a full day to make really good chicken stock. I try to extract all the collagen from them.

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Hinotori what all do you put in the instant pot for chicken broth? - besides the chicken and water of course.

 

[Hinotori]

Backs would be awesome for it. Best part in my opinion

 

[Beekissed]

Wonder if one of those hot/cold bags would be good for such as that?

 

[Marianne]

I used my crockpot 2 days ago to convert a frozen chicken and rice casserole into hot chicken-n-rice soup. It worked great for this duty. I needed to simmer the cooked thighs and legs to defrost them and cook them enough to pick all the meat off the bones.
I recently bought an Instant Pot. That one is going to take a little time to learn how to use.

Our son bought an Instant Pot for us. Now I'm hooked on the thing. It stays on our countertop 24/7. Last night it had yogurt going. There are lots of recipes online for them.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I bet they would. I usually put a couple of towels on top of my crock pot to help hold the heat in while stuff is cooking. And when I'm doing a night time crock pot session, I will often turn the pot off in the middle of the night, and wrap the pot in a couple towels.

 

[Hinotori]

Well filling a small cooler with hot water and letting it bring the temp up before putting items in helps keep them warm. Just make sure it's a good cooler.