VickiG Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 I have an old National #7 canner I've been afraid to use, partially because I could not find a manual for it. the other day I found out where to order one, and the racks to fit too. I don't have any garden produce to can right now, but would like to start canning meat. The cost for the book and two racks would be about $28. We have some canning jars in the garage to get me started. The canner may or may not work on my glass cooktop, but i have Coleman camp stove we can experiment on. BUT, I'm also wanting a dehydrator. the one I'm looking at is about $65 ..can't buy everything at once, so which direction would you folks suggest? Quote Link to comment
fishermanwife Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 im not a canner yet but I always heard that you werent suppose to use them on a glasstop but I may be wrong Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 In my opinion, pressure canning (as well as boiling water bath canning) are more versatile. You can pressure can meats and broths and as long as you have followed directions and store them properly, you will have your food. You have liquids in them which can be used in the cooking. Canned vegetables and fruits have lots of liquids in them. Dehydrating is useful, too, but if you lose your water source, what do you DO with it? You have to have a liquid to cook it to eat. You would get nutrients from chewing it, but you will quickly dehydrate yourself, too. Just my 2 cents' worth... We have quite a few discussions on glass stove top canning. Just go into the Preserving forum and do a search for "glass" or "glass top". Quote Link to comment
The WE2's Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 I'm a dehydrating fan...and I keep plenty of canned broth to spritz anything I'd need to re-hydrate, and we also have our Berkey to purify water. Fortunately we live in a state that has lots and lots of public water areas (lakes, streams, ponds etc.) so finding water isn't a problem. We also have eight, 55 gallon water barrels for catching water from the metal roof on our homestead property. My sis cans, and is quite experienced at it, but she has a full basement for storage. I just prefer to dehydrate for storage and simplicity. I think you'll find fans of both around these forums! Quote Link to comment
lumabean Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I went with the dehydrator first. For me it was less intimidating than canning to start out with, it cost less, and dried items would take up less space (in our apt. we don't have a lot of extra space). Also, if something happens, we would have to take our things with us - dehydrated items would allow for more to be taken in less space and with less effort. I still want to can though Quote Link to comment
Cat Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I'm glad we can discuss this stuff, not argue about it. Lots of great viewpoints. See, there's no way I can imagine bugging out. So I think "staying put". But it's a great point about being able to carry food out. My cans might get just a *bit* too heavy... Quote Link to comment
VickiG Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Thanks everyone for your advice. I just measured my old canner, and the base is 12 in. in diameter. That rules out using it on my glass cook top, and probably the Coleman camp stove too. I might be better off just buying the 23 qt Presto model that's in my Amazon wish list. To satisfy my dh, we might try boiling water in it on the green wonder. The only other way I can think to use it would be to buy a propane burner or Camp Chef Stove, which would allow us to can outdoors or without electricity, but would cost more cash up front. As for the dehydrator, I've thought about using Facebook to see if any of my friends have one they no longer want..of course, my dh might be mortified. Quote Link to comment
lumabean Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Vicki, since you mentioned facebook, you may have success by looking to see if there is a group in your area that has stuff for sale -- there are two Facebook groups in our area that are sort of like online yard sales. Some of the stuff is outrageously priced, while others are reasonable. There may by chance be someone with one for sale inexpensively. Along those lines, there are also some Yahoo freecycle groups around, there may be one of those in your area. That way you could put what you're looking for via a yahoo account that is more private than your Facebook (which may keep your husband less likely to say anything if no one knows who it is upfront). If I had the room, I'd can up a storm, esp. meat. I just need the space. There is just no way we could shelter in place at this location, we're in an apartment right on a main highway, that would be disastrous. So until we find a place of our own where we could stay throughout a situation, dehydrating has to do (with some smaller scale canning being my goal for the winter). Quote Link to comment
themartianchick Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Thanks everyone for your advice. I just measured my old canner, and the base is 12 in. in diameter. That rules out using it on my glass cook top, and probably the Coleman camp stove too. I might be better off just buying the 23 qt Presto model that's in my Amazon wish list. To satisfy my dh, we might try boiling water in it on the green wonder. The only other way I can think to use it would be to buy a propane burner or Camp Chef Stove, which would allow us to can outdoors or without electricity, but would cost more cash up front. As for the dehydrator, I've thought about using Facebook to see if any of my friends have one they no longer want..of course, my dh might be mortified. You might try a thrift store first. I often see bread machines and once in awhile a dehydrator at our local Salvation Army store. Quote Link to comment
VickiG Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) Vicki, since you mentioned facebook, you may have success by looking to see if there is a group in your area that has stuff for sale -- there are two Facebook groups in our area that are sort of like online yard sales. Some of the stuff is outrageously priced, while others are reasonable. There may by chance be someone with one for sale inexpensively. Along those lines, there are also some Yahoo freecycle groups around, there may be one of those in your area. That way you could put what you're looking for via a yahoo account that is more private than your Facebook (which may keep your husband less likely to say anything if no one knows who it is upfront). If I had the room, I'd can up a storm, esp. meat. I just need the space. There is just no way we could shelter in place at this location, we're in an apartment right on a main highway, that would be disastrous. So until we find a place of our own where we could stay throughout a situation, dehydrating has to do (with some smaller scale canning being my goal for the winter). I'm in the local fb buy and sell group, and I've thought about asking if anyone has some of these things.I don't see anybody requesting items with this group though..it's all stuff to sell..looking closer at them right now. Craigslist is pretty spotty on this stuff. There are three listings for dehydrators that have been there for two weeks. Only one looks remotely like something I'd want, and this person didn't answer my email asking for the brand. They photographed it upside down for some stupid reason. Edited to add: I CAN do an ISO for the local buy, sell, and trade on FB.. just need to figure out the wording. Don't want a Ronco brand, for instance. All I can think to say is: ISO food dehydrator w/fan and adjustable thermostat. Anything else I should say? I'd do another post for the canner, I'd think. Edited September 13, 2012 by VickiG Quote Link to comment
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