Welcome mivona.
Keela will no doubt help you!
Happy canning.
Pressure Canning
Moderator: Peak Moderation
-
emordnilap
- Posts: 14815
- Joined: 05 Sep 2007, 16:36
- Location: here
Hi Mivona - welcome.
My canner is an All American pressure canner which I bought second hand from an ebay seller in the states. Carriage and a customs tax did add up. I seem to remember it was nearly as much as the canner itself.
Some of the suppliers won't ship beyond USA or Canada so I got mine from a private seller. Total cost for the second hand canner ended up about the same as a new one. Anyway it is great..... I've canned quite a bit with it now.
This one had really good photos in the listing so I could see it was in excellent order. Worst damage was a smoke stained box!
Mine takes 5 Le Parfait jars (either 1 or 1.5 litre size) at a time.
Good luck with finding one!
My canner is an All American pressure canner which I bought second hand from an ebay seller in the states. Carriage and a customs tax did add up. I seem to remember it was nearly as much as the canner itself.
Some of the suppliers won't ship beyond USA or Canada so I got mine from a private seller. Total cost for the second hand canner ended up about the same as a new one. Anyway it is great..... I've canned quite a bit with it now.
This one had really good photos in the listing so I could see it was in excellent order. Worst damage was a smoke stained box!
Mine takes 5 Le Parfait jars (either 1 or 1.5 litre size) at a time.
Good luck with finding one!
-
kenneal - lagger
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14290
- Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
- Contact:
Canning is called bottling over here as bottles are usually used. Might make a difference. Could a pressure cooker be used as they are freely available in the UK but they usually have a rubber seal.
If you have anything with a rubber seal you shouldn't store it closed as the seal will stick, as your canner probably has.
If you have anything with a rubber seal you shouldn't store it closed as the seal will stick, as your canner probably has.
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
I've chatted about this mostly on an American Forum.... hence "canning". Actually most of them are putting stuff in glass jars rather than cans, but the name has stuck.
There are 2 methods of bottling/canning -
Boiling water in a large sauce pan - 1cm depth above jars and boil to kill active bacteria & fungi. This is fine for high acid things like tomato sauce. Not good for low acid as botulism spores still survive and may grow in the low oxygen environment. Toxins produced are .... well.... toxic. If in doubt boiling hard for 10mins after opening can destroy toxins that are undetectable on opening.
Pressure canning - shallower water but increased pressure generates a higher temperature and so kills botulism spores as well as living bacteria & fungi. Pressures and times are important. Also important to take into account elevation as an increased pressure is required to reach required temps at higher elevations. Pressure cookers are not accurate enough to do this.
The above is my understanding (disclaimer) if anyone wants to do all this a good book is essential. I have this one:
http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/Complete-Book-H ... pd_sim_b_1
Highly recommended!
I stored it properly, but it has sealed itself good and proper during its last use. (It currently has some jars inside.) It looks like I am gong to have to take a hacksaw to it.
While I could use a pressure cooker, I don't know if they will be big enough to take jars and I like the idea of having a gauge on it so that I can see what kind of pressure is being maintained.
After my current experience, I am also interested in the All-American, so that I needn't worry about replacing the seal. Keela, from what I understand, the pressure gauge is just indicative on the All-American, with the pressure being maintained by the 5, 10 and 15 lb jiggler weights? As there is no way of getting the gauges re-calibrated in this country, I think that is an important feature
It looks like it will cost about $100 in postage to get one here, not far short of the cost of a new one.
My previous one was 16 quarts, and I can see that the All American does a 15.5 quart cooker, and I may go for that, as I doubt I would have 19 pints/half litres to can at one time. The size of it will be smaller to store as well as slightly cheaper to ship.
Did you get the 21 quart cooker? How do you find it? Are there spares that you are likely to need for their cookers, and if so, have you looked into the cost of the spares?
While I could use a pressure cooker, I don't know if they will be big enough to take jars and I like the idea of having a gauge on it so that I can see what kind of pressure is being maintained.
After my current experience, I am also interested in the All-American, so that I needn't worry about replacing the seal. Keela, from what I understand, the pressure gauge is just indicative on the All-American, with the pressure being maintained by the 5, 10 and 15 lb jiggler weights? As there is no way of getting the gauges re-calibrated in this country, I think that is an important feature
It looks like it will cost about $100 in postage to get one here, not far short of the cost of a new one.
My previous one was 16 quarts, and I can see that the All American does a 15.5 quart cooker, and I may go for that, as I doubt I would have 19 pints/half litres to can at one time. The size of it will be smaller to store as well as slightly cheaper to ship.
Did you get the 21 quart cooker? How do you find it? Are there spares that you are likely to need for their cookers, and if so, have you looked into the cost of the spares?
Mine arrived with some spares in the box. It is the 21 quart one I think.
It does not have a jiggle weight but a pressure dial & I just keep the temp right to keep the pressure right.
It's really easy to clean and use - but I have not yet sourced spare parts, nor have I had the pressure dial recalibrated.
If you are not using american size jars then check the diamensions to make sure the one you buy is tall enough for the jars you will be using. I use Le Parfait jars - the ones with the rubber seals. Americans don't like them for some reason!
It does not have a jiggle weight but a pressure dial & I just keep the temp right to keep the pressure right.
It's really easy to clean and use - but I have not yet sourced spare parts, nor have I had the pressure dial recalibrated.
If you are not using american size jars then check the diamensions to make sure the one you buy is tall enough for the jars you will be using. I use Le Parfait jars - the ones with the rubber seals. Americans don't like them for some reason!
Where would we get the pressure dial recalibrated? I never had mine done, but I hadn't used it for ages (this year I finally had enough stuff ready all at once on the allotment to make it worth getting out). I wouldn't have a clue where to go to get the dial recalibrated.
Is there just one weight to put on the vent tube on your canner? I haven't ever seen an All-American, so I find it hard to work it out. My presto had a pressure gauge, a little pop-up sealer and a single weight. I vented it for about 10 minutes, put the weight onto the tube, the pop-up sealer came up as the pressure increased, and then I watched the gauge until it reached the desired pressure. Some other canners have three weights for 5, 10 and 15 lbs of pressure that then help maintain it, releasing pressure as they"jiggle" - along the lines of a pressure cooker, I guess. They need less careful watching to maintain the pressure, as they self-regulate. At sea-level, I wouldn't worry about the pressure so much, while having a gauge in Colorado was essential with the very high altitude.
I usually can (or bottle!) in pints/half litres, so the height is not such an issue for me, but I think it will be a good idea to have one that could take a litre Parfait. They are such pretty jars! It is pretty much standard to use the rings and flats in the US, though I have some unusual old mason jars which have a glass top and would have used a parfait type ring (without the tab) and a ring - a four-part jar.
I always remember my grandmother having shelves filled with stuff she did in the cool, dark basement. It was so lovely - clear jewel-like jellies, jams, tomatoes, pickles, green beans and sweetcorn.
Is there just one weight to put on the vent tube on your canner? I haven't ever seen an All-American, so I find it hard to work it out. My presto had a pressure gauge, a little pop-up sealer and a single weight. I vented it for about 10 minutes, put the weight onto the tube, the pop-up sealer came up as the pressure increased, and then I watched the gauge until it reached the desired pressure. Some other canners have three weights for 5, 10 and 15 lbs of pressure that then help maintain it, releasing pressure as they"jiggle" - along the lines of a pressure cooker, I guess. They need less careful watching to maintain the pressure, as they self-regulate. At sea-level, I wouldn't worry about the pressure so much, while having a gauge in Colorado was essential with the very high altitude.
I usually can (or bottle!) in pints/half litres, so the height is not such an issue for me, but I think it will be a good idea to have one that could take a litre Parfait. They are such pretty jars! It is pretty much standard to use the rings and flats in the US, though I have some unusual old mason jars which have a glass top and would have used a parfait type ring (without the tab) and a ring - a four-part jar.
I always remember my grandmother having shelves filled with stuff she did in the cool, dark basement. It was so lovely - clear jewel-like jellies, jams, tomatoes, pickles, green beans and sweetcorn.
Sorry but this is going to be such a useless plea for help!
I have been interested in canning / bottling for a couple of years. But every time I read about it I just get more and more confused!
I think I understand that in the UK we don't have as much of a risk of botulism as they do in the US, which is why they have tons of canners over there, and we just don't.
I understand you can do it in a pressure cooker though, as long as you have a pressure guage and thermometer and things, I think.
But I just don't understand it all.
I'm severely disabled, and simply have no chance of lifting a pressure cooker, even if it's empty.
All the complicated bits seem that they will totally overwhelm me.
If I could get a canner and sit it permanently in a place in my kitchen and then just put things in it and let it do its own thing, that would be absolutely ideal for me.
The less fuss the better, because I simply can't cope with doing it physically.
Also I have dyspraxia, which along with all my pain meds means I get confused very easily, so trying to understand this has been horrible.
I've seen though that it's pretty much impossible to get a proper US canner over here, you need to get one sent from America.
Either second hand from ebay, or get a friend to send one.
Has anyone got any make reccomendations, or know of any that are really easy to use, so I could just put things in the jars and put them in and press a button basically, and then leave it to do its own thing!
I really want to use it to save myself a lot of pain and trouble cooking (and money!).
At the moment, I use sauces from jars a lot bought from the supermarket, because I've got so bad with my disability that I can't cook my fresh sauces anymore. Not for a single meal, or even a few meals - I've only got a very, very tiny freezer so I can't freeze much.
And if I cook say a spag bol sauce for a few meals, I then am pretty much stuck eating spag bol all that week, which really bores me. I'm really into good food and like variation.
What I want to be able to do is cook my fresh sauces in huge batches on a good day, put it all into jars that will last a year or so, and put them in the cupboard like I would shop bought jars.
Then I can just grab a jar of the sauce I want for whatever I want to make, and sure, I'm cooking from a jar, but it's real food that I made and I know exactly what went into it, so I know it's going to be healthy.
And it'll save me money that I'm currently spending on expensive jars of pre-made sauce, when I'm disabled and on benefits and can't afford that!
The idea of waking up in the morning and thinking "Oh, today I fancy Italian, so I'll grab a jar from the Italian shelf in my cupboard," or, "today I fancy Indian, so I'll grab a jar from the Indian shelf" is just such a dream to me. It'll make cooking a heck of a lot easier, and help my health out a lot.
Even with jar sauces, they put a lot of rubbish in them sometimes, and if I cook it fresh myself, I can make it taste how I want it, and I know it suits my allergies and intolerances, and has no nasty chemicals.
But will sauces like that last for a year or so if I can get hold of a canner from the US?
I won't be canning meat, so that's no issue (I'm a veggie), I mostly plan to use it for just the sauce, not the protein, so I can fry up some soya mince or quorn to be the main 'meat' for some dishes, or boil a load of lentils / beans, and do the veg mostly fresh if I can, though I think canning veg like chopped carrots and baby new potatoes would be nice as well, oh and parsnips! Also if it's possible to store onion in that form and garlic as I use a lot of those, and it would save me a fortune to do all that veg in season when prices drop a lot.
Would all this stuff last a year?
I guess if I got a canner and it all went well, I'd love to look at making my own jam. That would be really lovely, I've never dared before though!
I know this is long and probably quite rambly! I'm sorry, I really have read and read and read, and the various methods and things just confuse me so much. My dyspraxia can make working to methods and really complicated things seem so hard and my brain just blanks and I don't understand it at all. It's not helped by pain meds!
Thanks in advance everyone!
Nicola
I have been interested in canning / bottling for a couple of years. But every time I read about it I just get more and more confused!
I think I understand that in the UK we don't have as much of a risk of botulism as they do in the US, which is why they have tons of canners over there, and we just don't.
I understand you can do it in a pressure cooker though, as long as you have a pressure guage and thermometer and things, I think.
But I just don't understand it all.
I'm severely disabled, and simply have no chance of lifting a pressure cooker, even if it's empty.
All the complicated bits seem that they will totally overwhelm me.
If I could get a canner and sit it permanently in a place in my kitchen and then just put things in it and let it do its own thing, that would be absolutely ideal for me.
The less fuss the better, because I simply can't cope with doing it physically.
Also I have dyspraxia, which along with all my pain meds means I get confused very easily, so trying to understand this has been horrible.
I've seen though that it's pretty much impossible to get a proper US canner over here, you need to get one sent from America.
Either second hand from ebay, or get a friend to send one.
Has anyone got any make reccomendations, or know of any that are really easy to use, so I could just put things in the jars and put them in and press a button basically, and then leave it to do its own thing!
I really want to use it to save myself a lot of pain and trouble cooking (and money!).
At the moment, I use sauces from jars a lot bought from the supermarket, because I've got so bad with my disability that I can't cook my fresh sauces anymore. Not for a single meal, or even a few meals - I've only got a very, very tiny freezer so I can't freeze much.
And if I cook say a spag bol sauce for a few meals, I then am pretty much stuck eating spag bol all that week, which really bores me. I'm really into good food and like variation.
What I want to be able to do is cook my fresh sauces in huge batches on a good day, put it all into jars that will last a year or so, and put them in the cupboard like I would shop bought jars.
Then I can just grab a jar of the sauce I want for whatever I want to make, and sure, I'm cooking from a jar, but it's real food that I made and I know exactly what went into it, so I know it's going to be healthy.
And it'll save me money that I'm currently spending on expensive jars of pre-made sauce, when I'm disabled and on benefits and can't afford that!
The idea of waking up in the morning and thinking "Oh, today I fancy Italian, so I'll grab a jar from the Italian shelf in my cupboard," or, "today I fancy Indian, so I'll grab a jar from the Indian shelf" is just such a dream to me. It'll make cooking a heck of a lot easier, and help my health out a lot.
Even with jar sauces, they put a lot of rubbish in them sometimes, and if I cook it fresh myself, I can make it taste how I want it, and I know it suits my allergies and intolerances, and has no nasty chemicals.
But will sauces like that last for a year or so if I can get hold of a canner from the US?
I won't be canning meat, so that's no issue (I'm a veggie), I mostly plan to use it for just the sauce, not the protein, so I can fry up some soya mince or quorn to be the main 'meat' for some dishes, or boil a load of lentils / beans, and do the veg mostly fresh if I can, though I think canning veg like chopped carrots and baby new potatoes would be nice as well, oh and parsnips! Also if it's possible to store onion in that form and garlic as I use a lot of those, and it would save me a fortune to do all that veg in season when prices drop a lot.
Would all this stuff last a year?
I guess if I got a canner and it all went well, I'd love to look at making my own jam. That would be really lovely, I've never dared before though!
I know this is long and probably quite rambly! I'm sorry, I really have read and read and read, and the various methods and things just confuse me so much. My dyspraxia can make working to methods and really complicated things seem so hard and my brain just blanks and I don't understand it at all. It's not helped by pain meds!
Thanks in advance everyone!
Nicola
-
Blue Peter
- Posts: 1939
- Joined: 24 Nov 2005, 11:09
- Location: Milton Keynes
Could you try drying rather than canning? You would have to reconstitute and cook, so it wouldn't be as instant as canned stuff, but it would be lighter.
(Though I've never tried drying veg, only fruits, so this suggestion is theoretically- rather than practically-based),
Peter.
(Though I've never tried drying veg, only fruits, so this suggestion is theoretically- rather than practically-based),
Peter.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the seconds to hours?
-
kenneal - lagger
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14290
- Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
- Contact:
My wife does a tomato sauce in jars which last at least a year. She heats the jars, usually jam or mayonnaise jars, and metal lids in the oven to sterilise them, then pours the boiling sauce in and immediately puts the lids on good and tight.
That seems to work as the lids all ping as they cool and when they are opened. The ones which haven't pinged on cooling we use quite soon and the ones which don't ping on opening, very few, we throw away.
Jams are made that way and last us for many years, so why not sauces for a year or so.
That seems to work as the lids all ping as they cool and when they are opened. The ones which haven't pinged on cooling we use quite soon and the ones which don't ping on opening, very few, we throw away.
Jams are made that way and last us for many years, so why not sauces for a year or so.
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
-
Blue Peter
- Posts: 1939
- Joined: 24 Nov 2005, 11:09
- Location: Milton Keynes
I'm not very well up on this, but I think that there is a danger of botulism if the item is not acidic enough and if the temperature is not high enough. Which is why you need the pressure to get the temperature up a bit higher than 100 degrees C,kenneal wrote:Jams are made that way and last us for many years, so why not sauces for a year or so.
Peter.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the seconds to hours?
It's a question of risk. The wrong levels of acidity cause botulism. The key is not to put anything into your tomato sauce other than a bit of salt. No water, no garlic or herbs, no oil. This reduces the risk of incorrect acidity greatly.
Some people bottle as kenneal says, others (like me) use the Bagna Maria technique, others use canning machines. I think that canning machines are the safest, but I've never gotten ill from a bottle of sauce.
Some people bottle as kenneal says, others (like me) use the Bagna Maria technique, others use canning machines. I think that canning machines are the safest, but I've never gotten ill from a bottle of sauce.
-
kenneal - lagger
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14290
- Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
- Contact:
-
hardworkinghippy
- Posts: 568
- Joined: 16 Aug 2007, 02:03
- Location: Bergerac France
- Contact:
If the jars hiss when you open them they're OK - if they don't, don't even give it to your dogs, pigs or even put it on the compost. I put it on the fire.
I've almost finished bottling summer veg. I'll do a few more pickles and we've got a nice stash for the coming year. This is some of it.
I've almost finished bottling summer veg. I'll do a few more pickles and we've got a nice stash for the coming year. This is some of it.
Our blah blah blah blog is HERE