I need a little guidance from the expert canning folks on here. I have some Christmas money to spend and I have decided to buy myself a pressure canner. After looking online at the many types I am unsure of what size/kind to buy! I see many types, sizes as well as some home canning 'systems'. I really like the idea of the electric canning systems as it would allow me to take the unit out of the kitchen on those hot days, yet I have never reviews from anyone actually using one. Does anyone here use them? Apart from the canning systems, I see 10, 22, 30 and 42 quart canners. I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now and would love some input
Netty, I can't speak to the electric ones, perhaps someone else can, but I do have one bit of advice. If you are going to use it for canning, get the largest one you can afford. Pressure canners take a while to come up to pressure, and then have to decompress after the whole process--it can take a while. If you are doing small batches you can spend most of the day standing around and end up with just a few jars. Mine holds 8 qt. or 16 pt. jars, but it is the old-fashioned kind that sits on the stove and the petcock jiggles.
Upon further research, I have discovered that these canning systems are only for water bath recipes. That is NOT what I want, and somehow now the price for those systems ($300+) seems ridiculous to me as you can buy hot water canners for less than $40! OK, so now that I have eliminated the canning systems, I need to figure out how large of a pressure canner I need to buy.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mirro-22-Quar ... r/16817998 This is the one that I have. Well, I have 2 of them. You can, put most shapes of jars, put 7 quarts or using the racks supplied with you can use it for like 16 pints on 2 levels. It uses a giggler rather than a gauge, which I like. That way I can listen to it all the time no matter where I am. This is a good price. There is another one out there, 92122A mirro pressure canner. I think it only takes 5 quarts in it. I would opt for the one without the A if they are going to hold 2 more quarts. That's my input about the subject. :-D
Thanks for your input Barb. I am looking at a very similar one online, a Presto 23 quart canner, with a giggler AND a gauge. Boxing day sales today, I think this is the one I'm going to get.
Thanks Barb! That is the one I ended up buying yesterday and I got a great deal for boxing day. I am excited to try it out!
I can't believe how quickly this arrived! Ordered online from Amazon on Saturday and came in Monday's mail! Merry Christmas to me! ( photo / image / picture from Netty's Garden ) I think I LIKE Amazon
Netty, that is a very handsome canner! You'll get a lot of use out of it, and it looks like it would be easy to clean. Good purchase!
wonderful. Now you are really on your way. Sit down and read IT'S instructions, first thing. Each one is different.....
I hope you are enjoying your pressure cooker...I have one from QVC that I just use for cooking. I don't think I could can in it . It is fast for cooking dinner and I like to try out new recipes. Mine sits on the stove but I have looked at a few that are electric...I will wait until something happens to this one before I purchase another one. My husband likes new recipes so I do alot of experimenting with it.
