My ominus pressure canner

[Deleted]

I keep looking at my pressure canner... it sits there in the closet, ominously looking back at me. I have vauge recolections of gramma using her pressure canner... funny thing, the only detail I can honestly remember is gramma telling me to "get back! stay back in case it blows!" Now I'm no chicken by any stretch, but those words (and her seriousness of them) have stuck with me all these years. So, a couple years ago I land myself a pressure canner. A neighbor lady was going to show me how to use it, but her husband has been having chemo and I didn't feel right about taking her time, so I still haven't mustered the nerve to try it. It doesn't help that I have an electric stove (that I HATE) and I'm nervous that I won't be able to adjust the temp fast enough and BOOM!!! it'll "blow".
I look at it often, wishing I could muster the nerve to forget what Gramma said about it "blowing", and just give it a shot. But ya'll would be suprised how long words can stick with you. lol I do want to master the dang thing, but I can't seem to get the nerve. So... any of you that use a pressure canner...
How often/easily do they actually "blow"? How closley do they have to be watched? I notice that most things have to be in there around an hour (or more)... do I need to stand right there and watch it the entire time?

Kaza

[Kathy]

Is yours a dial or a wobble weight style canner?

You have to watch the dial type much closer but it's not like it will blow if you look away and the temp goes up for a few seconds. ;D

Also if yours is the dial type-you need to take it to the Extension Agent and have it tested and calibrated yearly. Everywhere I've ever lived did it for free but I haven't had a dial type for a while now.

I have the weighted gauge and love it.

Don't let the words scare you out of trying pressure canning. Remember; many improvements in style and materials have taken place since you were a child. If they blew up often you'd hear way more stories of people being burned severely.

I've been using a pressure canner for 30+ yrs (not the same one and I've never had a problem. My mother used a pressure canner also & neither of us ever had one explode.

Pressure cookers from what I know are more likely to get plugged and blow the safety valve. Still they only blow through the valve-it's not like they split or take out a room if they blow.
Of course that's assuming the operator doesn't turn it on high and go outside to garden and forget it on the stove.

[Deleted]

Second-Hand personal experience here. My mother hand a pressure cooker blow up on her when she was a child and it caused severe burns. Not that this should scare you. The cooker did get plugged with food (canning it's in the jars so not the same risk) and the seal was old and didn't fit properly so the hole got plugged and the top flew off (from what Mom remembers). She was in intensive care and all but it wasn't on the news because her family owned the ambulance service and they paid to keep it quiet. She was only 10 or so.

So, in order to keep safe you should keep an eye on it yourself (don't forget about it and send your child to turn off the stove), maintain the seal (if it has one, I'd consider replacing it if it's second hand) and like Kathy said have the gauge tested.

I haven't had the extra $$ to buy one yet, but I want to try it. My grandmother-in-law has been using hers for 50 years with no problems. She is also very diligent about taking care of her things. I don't think that pressure cooking/canning is for the lazy (not insinuating that you are by any means) but I think it's an effective tool. Maybe your grandma's seal was old and she was trying to get by until she could get a new one? Thus the caution?

[Deleted]

And I've been using a pressure canner for a few years, now, too. I got mine second-hand from my neighbor back in Oregon. I had to order new handle pieces for one side that were broken, and of course, a new gasket, although it worked OK with the old one. It leaked a little steam out of the gap was all. Now that I have the new gasket in there, it's tight as a drum.

I grew up with my mom using a pressure cooker, and she always told me to make sure I cooled it off and the pressure was ZERO before I took the lid off or it could pop off and hit me square in the chest or the face. Of course, being the extremely cautious person I am (and was!), that never happened. I used that pressure cooker for a long time before I moved out on my own, and my mom still uses it. It's probably 50 years old now - I know it's older than I am.

As far as watching a pressure canner, I always stay in the general vicinity and check it every couple minutes. Usually, I can get it right on and holding at the pressure I want, now that I'm used to my gas stove, and even though I keep checking it, the pressure's still right on.

Don't worry about the electric stove, Kaza. That's what I learned to use the pressure canner on. As long as you keep an eye on it, it's not going to do anything sudden. And even if you DO forget it and the pressure gets too high, just slide it off the burner - that's just as effective as shutting off the flame on a gas stove.

It's really nothing to be scared of. Once you've used it, you'll wonder why you waited so long! You'll be buying stuff at the store, just so you can bring it home and can it, trust me!

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Thanks guys.... I should muster the nerve to can some chicken or something else that's cheap just to "get my feet wet".

[Deleted]

I did it myself for the first time two summers ago. I, too, was terrified of it blowing up and taking out half the block but everything worked out just fine.

Mine is a pressure gauge but I wish I had gotten a weighted one like Kathy's so I could work on the next batch of food and just listen to the weight jiggle instead of watching the gauge.

Do it! Do it!

/VM

[dirty]

for safety sake get a stock pot and wear it on your head like a helmet while canning. ;D

[Deleted]

lol Dirty!! I have a couple of them stock pots.... hrmmmms.

If I ever get a day off work (where I am not spending the whole thing catching up the house, running to get feed or trimming hooves) I think I am going to try canning something... I'm thinkin chicken, as nothing will be out of the garden for a while yet.

Kaza

[gaiasactuality]

manicmommy said:

My mother hand a pressure cooker blow up on her when she was a child and it caused severe burns.

eeek.... I think I'm sticking with the waterbath way....

[Kathy]

gaiasactuality said:

manicmommy said:

My mother hand a pressure cooker blow up on her when she was a child and it caused severe burns.

eeek.... I think I'm sticking with the waterbath way....

Gaia, pressure cookers usually blow because the pressure release valve gets blocked with food or fats. When you're canning, there's nothing to block the valve so it's much safer.
I'm 55, I've been pressure canning since I was about 10yrs old and I've never had a mishap.
If you have any friends/family that pressure can-wrangle an invitation to go over while they're canning-once you see it being done you'll see just how safe and easy it is.

Btw; Welcome to Phoenix!!

[Deleted]

I USED IT! ;DI DID IT! ;D nothing blew up even!!! ;D ;D Canned green beans... doing more today... hehehe that ol pressure canner is a breeze!! Can't believe I was scared of it....

Kaza

(wow... thought I had posted the pics already... guess not?)

[Deleted]

You GO, girl!



I could have sworn I saw your pictures somewhere, because someone remarked on your bread box

You did a great job, and the beans sure do look pretty!

/Via

[Deleted]

Yeah, it was on the "Great stress reliever" thread I think. It was me who said her breadbox is just like mine.

Great beans, though, and I love seeing the pictures! Doesn't it feel great to be able to put those on your shelf? It's so satisfying to have something from "nothing." (Well, nothing except some seeds, water and labor, but hey, it's still a good trade, isn't it?)

~Lannie