Winter Canning

When people think of canning they usually think of summer and fall.

However, winter can be a great time to can too. For one thing…..it’s not so darn HOT while you do it. For another, it helps heat your house while you make and store food or ready to eat meals.

This year, I purchased a new pressure canner. It is an All American 930 and holds 14 quarts at a time. Up until now I have only owned a Presto — which is great and I will be keeping it. However, it only holds 7 quarts.

And though this probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, it is.   When you are canning say, potatoes ,beans, or any other low acid vegetable, which often take a full 90 minutes to pressure can, it is a huge (huge) deal.  Especially when you have lots of them to put up. Beans of course can be dried and stored easily. Potatoes can go into a clamp or basement or cold cellar. Many other veggies though need to be cared for right away. And if you, like me, hate to dig through a freezer, or lose all your food as my mother did this past spring to storms with a power outage, then canning is the way to go.   Beyond that, pressure canning opens up the ability to make your own “meals on the go”. Meats, soups, stews, pre cooked beans, potatoes ready to go in a soup etc. Because face it, we all have days when we run late or are sick or tired and do not feel like cooking.

Previously, with my Presto canner, I was only able to (usually) get 14 jars done in a day.  Because really, I had to do other things in addition so I could only do so much. Beyond that the Presto is a gauge canner and so you have to hover over it to a certain extent and make sure it stay at, or above, the target pressure.  Which means I was limited in even what I could do around the house (anything to engaging would make me forgot to check the gauge!)

NOW though….the world has opened up for me (you can hear chorusing angels here) With my brand spanking new All American not only did I not have to hover since it has a gauge, but also a weight, ( which I realize now that I love love love) but from 9:30 to 3:30 I put up 28 cans of seasoned black beans.  Twenty eight!  That is  two days of canning with my old canner!  And because I could listen to the correct whistling sound the weight would make I could easily do other tasks in other rooms without having to go back and forth checking the gauge or forgetting about it. I think too that the thicker All American didn’t allow for quite the temperature swing that my thinner sided Presto does so I even got to run quickly across to my neighbors and out to get the mail at points.

So now? I highly recommend the All American. The quality on it, and it’s ease of use, is more than worth the money I saved to purchase it.  And though my old Chambers stove doesn’t have room for both the American and the Presto to run at the same time (my “old” much newer 6 burner stove would have) it really doesn’t matter. Eventually though I do hope to have a stove just for canning in the summer in my garage. If I ever get to that point (canning in the garage) I will buy another 6 burner so I could potentially can 21 jars at a time  —oh the thought of it!! :-D

And though I know everyone is not as in love with a Chamber Stove as I am please  take the time to appreciate that old vintage charmer in my pictures. I spent a whole winter taking her apart, cleaning her up, and putting her back together and I do so love her……even if she isn’t as roomy as my “old” stainless steel 6 burner.