Anyone ever use a "Back to Basics 400A" steam Canner ?

[Kevin B 123]

I found the back to Basics, 400A, Steam Canner at a resale shop, I paid 1.99.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-400A-S...27502666&sr=8-1

 

Its a shallow pan, a steamer rack that fit into that shallow pan, has a dome-lid, (LOOKS Like a Cake preserver/Keeper). It did NOT come with an instruction book.

 

Have any of you ever used one, or know anything about it?

 

Thanks

[Crazy4Canning]

Steam canners aren't recommended by many of the canning groups. They don't get the jars hot enough to safely cook and seal the product, not to mention, they are VERY unsafe and unstable.

 

My advice is to use the bottom as a saucepan and the top as a flowerpot. Seriously.

 

You paid $1.99 for a saucepan and a flowerpot, I'd call that a good deal.

[Kevin B 123]

LOL, c 4C........

 

 

 

I actually THOUGHT I had purchased a Cake-Keeper, and use it to keep my bread in......

 

 

Thanks so much, I'll look for a water bath set up & a pressure cooker...

 

[Violet]

Ditto on what Crazy has said.

The only ones saying they are safe to use are the people who make them and the ones who sell them. At the extension office we tell everyone to turn them upside down and find a use for them.

 

[Crazy4Canning]

Hey Kevin,

 

you could maybe sell it to a wedding cake shop as a really tall cake-taker

 

Or better YET...white elephant the thing... you could also use it for the holiday jello mold...etc

 

Alright, I'm done...I've had such a LONG day with teenagers I'm just giggling at anything....

[Kevin B 123]

L O L, thanks, c 4 c

 

 

When I saw this thing at the Re-sale shop, I thought it’d make a good bread keeper, and it does a fair enough job, no longer than breads last here. I liked the bottle rack, and thought with holes THAT small, I could use it to steam my ground beef before I put it in chilli. ( I brown the meat after i steam it) ....So I got it.

 

 

I'm using the basket to par-boil/ blanch items, and the basket handles make it so easy to remove the vegetables from the hot water. Today I Blanched potato slices before I dehydrated then, so it is getting double duty, even if I don’t use it to can anything.. The assembly as a whole can easily be a cake keeper!

[HSmom]

So, basically, Kevin...you'll get $2 worth of use out of it. Good job!

 

[Shandy]

I have a friend who told me about these a couple months ago. She was given one by *her* friend, who had been using one for years.

 

She called the extension office, and they said they couldn't recommend them because there hadn't been sufficient testing done on them. When my friend asked why they hadn't tested them, since they are apparently so efficient, the extension lady said that the traditional canners worked just fine and didn't have the danger that the steam did.

 

Unsatisfactory answer.

 

Anyway, ladies have been using them for a long time, and they work quite well for these ladies. No issues with ruined food.

 

However, it does need to be noted that these canners have NOT been tested by professionals, therefore recommendations are not to use them.

 

This would be a good question to bring down to The Edge, Kevin.

[Violet]

Shandy,

I teach food preservation/food safety with my county extension office. There has been research done on these. We have a whole list of reasons they are not safe. It isn't that they have not been researched.

The food does not get as hot inside the jars as in a boiling water bath. Steam doesn't surround the jars like the boiling water does. There are hot and cold spots. Steam burns when you lift the dome off. There is no way to get it off without lifting it straight up. Plus, there are holes in it to vent out steam. The heat goes out those holes. These are just some of the reasons they are not safe to use.

You will find that not all offices have qualified people to answer questions. You will get varying answers. If you really want to know, then email the NCFHFP/Elizabeth Andress. She wrote the USDA guidelines.

I am also happy to help you out.

[Kevin B 123]

Thanks so much c4c, Violet, HSmom, Shandy,

 

Im so glad a asked before trying to use the thing to tar & can with it. I did use it to make a "wet-Proof Box" for a loaf of doung that simply would not rise.........

 

 

I always did like a multi purpose tool

[Crazy4Canning]

What a great sport you are Kevin!