I've been Presto'ed!!! - Plus a Question

[Mouse Kitty]

(Since joining Mrs.S, I've been assimilated Borg-style into lots of things! THANK YOU!)

 

Ok everyone - after about two weeks of research and talking to people, I bought a Presto 23qt pressure canner. Yes, I WILL be buying the All-American (eyeing the 930). My purchase was not dictated by price of the canner so much as what I can use on a glasstop stove.

 

Hubby and I have agreed when the basement is remodeled in the next year or so, there WILL be a *canning-suitable* stove put in the bar/family area.

 

I figure I'll use the Presto canner after I buy the All-American the way my grandmother did - for small batches. To use her words about using her smaller canner instead of her big one when canning a small bit she had not planned to can: "No sense in pulling out the Howitzer to shoot some crows". Yeah, I think it will be like that for me; The All-American for the monster canning marathons, and the Presto for the little bits I get from swapping veggies or someting. Then again, I figure for REALLY big canning jobs, I can use both.

 

Anyone else use more than one canner when canning? I haven't seen that mentioned. Just curious how you juggle it? If I've missed an older thread, can anyone tell me where to find it?

 

Thanks!

[SueC]

 

Congratulations! I am only a beginner so using 2 at once is not quite my speed! But I guess that as we become more proficient we will do more with our canners

[Amishway Homesteaders]

OH

D A R L E N E !

 

someone is calling your name.

[Vic303]

Question: Why can't you use a glasstop stove for canning? DH really wants one, but I resist, only because I know with my cast iron skillets & kids, it will get broken sooner or later.

[Jewlzm]

I hate those glass top stoves!!! I will never own one! Im not sure why you wouldnt be able to use one for canning. But just wanted to give my opinion on those stoves. LOL I know.. Kinda sad really. I dont like having to wait to clean my stove. I like to know what part is hot and what part is not. And I dont like to have special cleaners to clean anything.

 

 

LOL@AH

[HSmom]

I have a glass top stove & I do can on it. It's a Frigidaire & about 5 years olds. NOWHERE in the manual does it say not to. Nowhere. So I do. So far, so good.

 

I do love it over the old nasty drip pans. I never had a clean stove top before. Now I do almost all the time. I actually do -carefully- clean it while it's still hot. If you wad up a wet rag so that your fingers are far away from the hot surface, you can wipe up spills before they cool & harden. I only use the special stuff once every week or two.

 

I also found that I developed an awareness of remembering which burner was still hot. I've only set something inadvertently on a hot spot once - and that was just a couple of months ago. The item I set there was fine, but I burned my fingers taking it off (dummy!).

[Mouse Kitty]

Hi Vic -

 

I'm not an *expert*, but what I was reading over the last few weeks said that alot of the issue with canning on glass top stoves was primarily due to weight and heat distribution.

 

If exceedingly high heats are distributed beyond the are set for the heating element on a glass top stove (very high heat, and very long periods of time) the heat cannot dissipate correctly. The glass across the entire surface of the stove is not the same - the glass over the heating element part is different. Most home cooking does not create a problem even if you use a larger pan than the element - most people don't cook at extreme high heats for extreme extended periods like for canning.

 

The difference is putting something like an All-American 930 or 941 full on the glass that is red hot - for LONG periods.

 

The glass can shatter from extreme weight. I think my husband figured out the 941 (according to website) showed a shipping weight of 40lbs - giving half for packaging, it could weigh 20lbs. The 941 is 41.5 quarts - that's 10 plus gallons of liquid. He figured out the weight of that many gallons of liquid, the weight of possible jars in there, not to mention food items that are heavier than water - well - he ranged anywhere from 65-90 lbs.

 

I could see a glasstop giving way and cracking.

 

Talked to Hotpoint that made my stove, they concurred that weight with extreme high heat and extended periods was the problem.

 

Hope that makes sense. I know some people have had success on glasstops - they might have a better one than the one my builder put in.

 

I must confess that for everyday cooking - I LOVE the glasstop. It's easier to clean - no crumbs to skitter away under elements, laying there burning to a crisp...., no scrubbing drip pans or replacing them. I really DO love it. Except for canning!

 

The reason a Presto canner can be used is because the bottom has a lip-rim that lifts the outer edges of the canner up off the surface - leaving only a smaller core making contact with the glass stove. The presto canner is also maxxed out at 23qts - less than 6 gallons. Max you can fit 7 qt jars in it, or 20 pints.

 

Hope this long post makes sense!

 

I am SO looking forward to this! WOOO HOOO!!

[Mouse Kitty]

<< But I guess that as we become more proficient we will do more with our canners>>

 

Sue - that's my goal! I've done waterbath canning many years ago, but this is my first venture with pressure canning. Or any canning for probably more than a decade.

 

With the help of everyone here, I'm sure we'll be canning everything that isn't nailed down!

[Darlene]

FW ~

 

I canned with my mom's old pressure canner for years on a glass top stove and never had a problem. It only held 7 quarts, but it always canned beautifully.

 

After the house fire when I went all commercial, I upgraded to the big boys (AA 941's). I have many times canned with 2 canners at one time. While it's a little extra work to keep the timing organized, it's not that big a deal, at least to me. I just use 2 timers to start the timing from wherever it's ready.

 

I'm just the type of person that if I'm going to can something, I'm gonna do a ton of it all at once and then be done with it. Thus the 450lbs of peaches, 530lbs of apples, etc.

[Mouse Kitty]

Originally Posted By: Darlene

I'm just the type of person that if I'm going to can something, I'm gonna do a ton of it all at once and then be done with it. Thus the 450lbs of peaches, 530lbs of apples, etc.

That's exactly what I was hoping to hear; that it can be done successfully with some planning. I kind of thought so, but my husband just kind of looked at me nervously - he knows I have a tendency to bite off more than I can sometimes chew. Ahem. (Like now I might be thinking 450lbs and peaches and 530lbs of apples is a perfectly reasonable amount to can in one shot!)



As for the glasstop stove - I have to confess that the builder put in what research on the net has shown to be the *cheapest* glasstop on the market. (We didn't have the house built, so no input from us!)

Let's just say this: My luck isn't good, but it sure as heck is consistent. If I tried to can on it, something tells me I'd be forking out bucks I don't have for a new stove!

[Darlene]

FW you are too cute.

 

And you scare me.

 

You sound a little like me, and there are some REALLY RUDE PEOPLE who don't always think that's a good idea.

 

*pout*

 

rofl!

 

[mommato3boys]

When I was researching which canner to buy I ran into the glass top issue. The sales person at ALL-American and at Lowe's said the same thing. It is the long term heat and weight. I actually want a summer kitchen so that I can set my canner up on a propane fryer base and that way I can control the heat better. My goal is the Big Momma (941) canner from AA. But I have to save up for that one. When I win the lottery I am going to buy two of them (gotta buy the ticket first though huh ) If we get a refund next year from Uncle Sam I may talk hubby in to letting me go ahead and getting one along with a turkey fryer.

 

My mother would always borrow my grandmothers canner and use two at a time. She would get one going let it get through and when it went to cooling she would start the other to going. By the time one finished she had the other unloaded, reloaded and ready to go. It was like clock work.

[SueC]

That makes sense, you can have one processing while you prepare. and there is no questions of which canner needs what time...

 

I like it!

[BiscuitMaker]

Can you can on a propane base and do presure canning, outside????

Waterbath????

[Darlene]

Originally Posted By: BiscuitMaker

Can you can on a propane base and do presure canning, outside????
Waterbath????

Si Senorita.

[Vic303]

Hey everyone, thanks for the glass top data. That will help a lot. I have a 7Q/20P Presto, but don't know if it has the 'lip' on the bottom or not. I've never noticed! Still I will likely only use it for pressure canning, or my big tamale pot for waterbath, neither of which is the size of the Behemoth AA941!

[Cat]

Quote:

Can you can on a propane base and do presure canning, outside????
Waterbath????

The Amish do it all the time. Just make sure there are no dogs or kiddos running around nearby!


I have a cousin who was severely burned at age 4 by falling into a huge pan of chicken that her family was boiling on the floor, *inside*, using the propane stove. (It was cold outside at the time.) They were getting ready to can a bunch of chicken and broth, and doing it all at once.

She fell in bottom first, and suffered through a long series of skin grafts, etc. Thank God she survived, and as she grew no one could tell *outwardly* that she was "different". (The Amish are tough on "different".) But she's never been able to have children, and that's been a hard thing for her.

SAFETY FIRST!!

[Cricket]

FW,

 

Have you used it yet? Any trouble regulating the pressure on your stove?

 

Isn't this exciting!!

[Mouse Kitty]

Originally Posted By: Cricket

FW,

Have you used it yet? Any trouble regulating the pressure on your stove?

Isn't this exciting!!

Drat it, No. The Nefarious real life intervened all weekend. The canner has sat on my counter mocking me every day, taunting me everytime I walk in the kitchen, saying things like:
'Thought you were really gonna give me a work out this weekend, didn't you? You threatened me with the packs of hamburger in your freezer and menacingly showed me your tomato plants... oh yeah - you stacked jars on the counter next to me but here I sit..... You're a canner WANNABE lady!'
Ahem.

I didn't have more than one free hour all weekend just about. I haven't pressure canned anything in over two decades (Just done water bath)- I'm not rushing my first time. And this time, I'm the pilot - not the wingman, as I was for grandma. Hopefully tomorrow night if all goes well! I can't WAIT!

[nana9]

I have 2 canners going at the same time. I have 2 different timers and I assign one to each canner and keep up with the time on them sure gets your canning done quicker when you have a lot to do. Congrats on your canner you will get the hang of it with a little practice.