pressure canners

[ProudGrandma]

I want one...but I have no idea what size, brand, type....can someone here help me?  I want to can green beans and meat for sure...don't know what else yet....in quart jars.

 

thanks.

[Lady Marmalade]

If you want the best you want the All American canners.  They are really pricey, but will last you a lifetime.  

 

Personally I have a Mirro 22 quart with a weighted gauge.  I am pleased with it, but it did take a bit to get used to it and figuring out exactly how it works.  I highly recommend, whatever you go with, to follow the directions and do a couple of dry runs by "canning" jars of water.  

 

The size I have will can quarts, and I can also can two layers of pint jars- that right there is a huge timesaver.  I can get 16 pint jars in one canner.  

[The Girls' Mom]

Also, be aware that the really big canners may not do as well if you have a smaller electric range. The one I have took forever to reach the correct pressure when we lived in our rental with a smaller electric stove. It does beautifully now on our gas range.

 

I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/All-American-2-Quart-Pressure-Cooker-Canner/dp/B00004S893/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1430663229&sr=8-3&keywords=all+american+pressure+canner

 

I wish I'd gotten the taller one, but other than that, I've been pleased with it.

[Berley]

All American Canners are the BEST!  I have a cheaper one that I bought first.  It is a decent canner but required a good bit of babysitting to keep the pressure right.  After seeing that I would stick with canning, we broke down and paid $300 for an All American double-decker last summer.  SOOOOO worth the extra money!  I can fit 14 quart jars is my All American at once, so it saves a TON of time.

[EndOfOrdinary]

We started with a Presto, 100 dollar canner, from BiMart. We have moved into a house with very little space so until the cellar is put in we are sticking with it. Once the cellar is in then I'm getting an All American.

[ProudGrandma]

so to help me see if it's really worth all of that money...what do you all can with your pressure canner that  you don't/won't/can't in a hot water bath canner??

[Lady Marmalade]

I can a lot of homemade broths and stocks.  So much more convenient to have them shelf stable vs. frozen in the freezer, which is how I used to store those.  That's what I use my pressure canner for the most. 

 

Homemade soups have been wonderful to have on hand.  I love the convenience of canned soup, hate the processed ingredients in them, so I can my own.  That homemade chicken and veggie soup was a lifesaver the week we all had some kind of virus.  I almost always have a few jars of chicken and veggie soup as well as ham and bean soup on the shelf.  This summer I'm eagerly anticipating canning tomato soup from my own tomatoes.  

 

If you want to can beans, corn, carrots, etc. then you want a pressure canner since they are low-acid foods.  I haven't done those yet- I'm not the biggest fan of canned vegetables in the first place, but if I have an abundance in the garden this year, I want to try a year of pressure canning those things.  I usually freeze veggies, but then you have a devastating loss if something happens to the freezer.  I have canned my own quarts of baked beans.  Oh my goodness, those were SO good!

 

I use the Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball for recipes for things to pressure can.  If you have any canning books, flip through them and see how much of those items you would actually make and/or use.  

 

 

[J'swife]

Things that are low acid must be pressure canned. 

[ProudGrandma]

I can a lot of homemade broths and stocks.  So much more convenient to have them shelf stable vs. frozen in the freezer, which is how I used to store those.  That's what I use my pressure canner for the most. 

 

Homemade soups have been wonderful to have on hand.  I love the convenience of canned soup, hate the processed ingredients in them, so I can my own.  That homemade chicken and veggie soup was a lifesaver the week we all had some kind of virus.  I almost always have a few jars of chicken and veggie soup as well as ham and bean soup on the shelf.  This summer I'm eagerly anticipating canning tomato soup from my own tomatoes.  

 

If you want to can beans, corn, carrots, etc. then you want a pressure canner since they are low-acid foods.  I haven't done those yet- I'm not the biggest fan of canned vegetables in the first place, but if I have an abundance in the garden this year, I want to try a year of pressure canning those things.  I usually freeze veggies, but then you have a devastating loss if something happens to the freezer.  I have canned my own quarts of baked beans.  Oh my goodness, those were SO good!

 

I use the Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball for recipes for things to pressure can.  If you have any canning books, flip through them and see how much of those items you would actually make and/or use.  

 I would LOVE your canned soup recipes....I made some tomato soup last year and I didn't like it too much...I will use it as a soup base...so a new recipe is really needed.  thanks.

[skimomma]

I can a lot of homemade broths and stocks.  So much more convenient to have them shelf stable vs. frozen in the freezer, which is how I used to store those.  That's what I use my pressure canner for the most. 

 

Homemade soups have been wonderful to have on hand.  I love the convenience of canned soup, hate the processed ingredients in them, so I can my own.  That homemade chicken and veggie soup was a lifesaver the week we all had some kind of virus.  I almost always have a few jars of chicken and veggie soup as well as ham and bean soup on the shelf.  This summer I'm eagerly anticipating canning tomato soup from my own tomatoes.  

 

If you want to can beans, corn, carrots, etc. then you want a pressure canner since they are low-acid foods.  I haven't done those yet- I'm not the biggest fan of canned vegetables in the first place, but if I have an abundance in the garden this year, I want to try a year of pressure canning those things.  I usually freeze veggies, but then you have a devastating loss if something happens to the freezer.  I have canned my own quarts of baked beans.  Oh my goodness, those were SO good!

 

I use the Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball for recipes for things to pressure can.  If you have any canning books, flip through them and see how much of those items you would actually make and/or use.  

 

I can tons of broth too.  I also used to freeze, but find canning so much better.

 

Do you use canning-specific recipes for soups or do you just use any recipe?  I would love to do this!

 

To the OP - I have an old old OLD Mirro that I found in my mom's basement (so FREE).  I would not have bought one otherwise because while I do can broth with the pressure canner, that is about it.  I water-can everything else.  But now that I have it and have used it for a few years, I would like to expand so in retrospect I should have just bought one years ago.  Firing up that ancient canner the first time was about the most terrifying experience I ever had.  Nothing happened but I was so sure it was going to blow up or something, I used a garbage can lid as a shield.....much to the amusement of my family.

[EndOfOrdinary]

We can stock, so that when I make it I can make a super mega batch. We do hamburger when it is on super sale. The hamburger is great when Dh is in charge of dinner. It becomes instant meat sauce, instant taco meat, instant hamburger helper casserole thing. I used to can soup for Dh to take to work. We like pressure canned salsa better than water canned as the consistency is better since it processes much quicker. Canned corn is delicious and I hate the commercially canned corn. We do sweet corn in the height of the season when it is super cheap, cut it from the cob and can. Refried beans are another easy one to do in mega batches and save yourself all the weirdness they put in the commercial ones. Enchilada sauce is super cheap to make, but really expensive to purchase once you learn how easy it is to make it at home.

[J'swife]

We can stock, so that when I make it I can make a super mega batch. We do hamburger when it is on super sale. The hamburger is great when Dh is in charge of dinner. It becomes instant meat sauce, instant taco meat, instant hamburger helper casserole thing. I used to can soup for Dh to take to work. We like pressure canned salsa better than water canned as the consistency is better since it processes much quicker. Canned corn is delicious and I hate the commercially canned corn. We do sweet corn in the height of the season when it is super cheap, cut it from the cob and can. Refried beans are another easy one to do in mega batches and save yourself all the weirdness they put in the commercial ones. Enchilada sauce is super cheap to make, but really expensive to purchase once you learn how easy it is to make it at home.

 

Refried beans should be done as whole beans and mashed later, they are not safe to mash and then can, as the heat does not penetrate enough.  Please anyone that is canning, make sure that you follow safe recipes, people can become extremely ill if things are not properly canned.

[Lady Marmalade]

I can tons of broth too.  I also used to freeze, but find canning so much better.

 

Do you use canning-specific recipes for soups or do you just use any recipe?  I would love to do this!

 

To the OP - I have an old old OLD Mirro that I found in my mom's basement (so FREE).  I would not have bought one otherwise because while I do can broth with the pressure canner, that is about it.  I water-can everything else.  But now that I have it and have used it for a few years, I would like to expand so in retrospect I should have just bought one years ago.  Firing up that ancient canner the first time was about the most terrifying experience I ever had.  Nothing happened but I was so sure it was going to blow up or something, I used a garbage can lid as a shield.....much to the amusement of my family.

 

Canning specific recipes only.  I've taken a safety course on home canning... I will only ever use approved and tested recipes.  As I mentioned above, I use the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving a lot, also the Ball Blue Book- there are a few recipes in the Blue Book not in their bigger one.   Better Homes and Gardens publications are also quite reliable.   

 

Most home canned soups are pretty basic because you have to be careful what you add for safety reasons.  But then when you open that jar you can doctor it up however you choose.  

 

All that being said, the National Center for Home Preservation gives a basic outline for soup that one could follow and come up with some interesting soups on their own.  I just prefer to follow proven recipes.

 

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/soups.html

[Lady Marmalade]

 I would LOVE your canned soup recipes....I made some tomato soup last year and I didn't like it too much...I will use it as a soup base...so a new recipe is really needed.  thanks.

 

The Ball website is a great resource as well.  :)   I could spend a long time looking at recipes there.  Here is their recipe for Chicken Soup that I use.  

 

Here's the Vegetable Soup.  Man, I really want to make this one! 

 

I haven't made chili yet either, but it's on my list of things I really want to try canning next winter.  This recipe for Hearty Chili is on my list.