Which canning system to buy?

[Badger Matt]

I'm in the market for a canning system for Christmas. I'd like to be able to can some of my figs, okra, peppers, and such. Any suggestions for a system that will last and produces good results using mason jars?

 

[RoninPA]

I would do what I tell customers that come to me to ask about getting into reloading. I tell them to get a copy of the ABC's of Reloading or the newest (actually just about any volume) Lymans Reloading Handbook and read it over beforew buying anything. Get a copy of a good canning manual (Kerr, Ball, even the USDA puts one out and it might be free) and read up about home canning. That should give you a lot of advice on what to lookk for in canning equipment. If you're not doing anything that would need a pressure cooker/canner a good large flat bottom canning pot is the first thing to get. you can find them with the jar lifter included and probably a canning receipe book included. Look at Tractor Supply, Rural King, big box stores, or good country stores (I live in an area with a lot of Amish, and they have stores that will have everything you need).

Almost forgot, the castboolits site (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php) has folks on there that can also offer tips.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Any suggestions for a system that will last and produces good results using mason jars?

The same one that my mother used when I was little.

https://extension.psu.edu/lets-preserve-basics-of-home-canning
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/canning-foods-at-home/
etc., etc., etc.

 

[krw]

My Grandma canned everthing under the sun. Dont know that she had any special equip.

 

[BearBio]

My Grandma canned everthing under the sun. Dont know that she had any special equip.

I agree. I got into canning when we moved to Washington. Do about 15 jars of blackberry jams, a dozen each of pickles, peppers, salsas (red, green, Hatch and enchilada) and LOTs of spaghetti & pizza sauce (about 2 dozen quarts in a good year). It's not rocket science=just do a good water-bath. I had trouble with getting the pectin levels right on jams and marmalades. But if too little, it works great for putting on ice cream or in shakes.

 

[woodsy]

When I or my sis do that, we use a Presto pressure cooker (16 quart size) over some kind of gas stove, which quickly gets up to temp, and then needs to stay there for a reduced time, due to the higher temps reached in a pressure cooker. Really minimizes the threat of bacteria later on.

 

[contender]

I have a pair of pressure canners & use them both at the same time. They are both Presto brand,, and I got one new at Bed, Bath & Beyond several years ago,, and the other one I bought new at a yard sale. They are 2 different sizes.
Get the bigger one.

I do a lot of our home canning & I use the Ball book mentioned above. An excellent guide. I also modify my stuff to my tastes too.
I can all kinds of stuff, and we enjoy it a lot. I did 2 bushels of greasy beans this summer. I also do tomatoes, salsa, pasta sauce, apple butter, jams, peaches, pickles, etc.
If I get enough deer meat,, I'll can some of that as well.

The biggest issue lately has been getting jar lids. I have jars, bands but lids have been scarce. It's easier right now to buy new jars that already have the lids & rings.
I have managed boxes of lids and rings, as well ad wide mouth lids. Regular sized lids,, hard to find.

 

[RSIno1]

Canning "system"??? I don't even think my mom had a book. Just the knowledge her mother passed down to her. I remember going with her to the Ball glass company store in nearby El Monte to get cases of various size jars.

This is from 1970 - I guess in 1969 LBJ had driven up costs of food like Biden is doing today.

But other uses for the Mason home canning jar are certainly not diminishing and this year Ball expects to pro duce more of these containers, and the lids and sealing rings for them, than ever before.

Increasingly higher prices for processed foods, plus a desire by a growing number of housewives to “put up” something more exotic than frozen peas, are spurring a new interest in the way grand mother kept fruits and vegetables all winter.

As an indication of the new attraction of home canning, Ball this year has already sold (at 35 cents a copy) 187,000 of its full‐color home canning recipe books.

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/27/archives/homecanning-boom-ball-bros-jars-sales-surpass-45million.html

 

[Selena]

Buy a canning system? You need a pressure cooker big enough for a pressure bath for the glass jars. Beyond that the only investment is the lids and the jars. Canning with metal cans is more fun though.

 

[crstrode]

Buy a canning system? You need a pressure cooker big enough for a pressure bath for the glass jars. Beyond that the only investment is the lids and the jars. Canning with metal cans is more fun though.

Actually, a pressure cooker is NOT required.

I've canned lots and lots and lots of stuff using nothing more than a big steel pot and mason jars with lids and rings.

That is how my mother and grandmother did it. Good enough for them - good enough for me.

 

[RoninPA]

Buy a canning system? You need a pressure cooker big enough for a pressure bath for the glass jars. Beyond that the only investment is the lids and the jars. Canning with metal cans is more fun though.

Actually, a pressure cooker is NOT required.

I've canned lots and lots and lots of stuff using nothing more than a big steel pot and mason jars with lids and rings.

That is how my mother and grandmother did it. Good enough for them - good enough for me.

Will disagree a slight bit. If I remember correctly, a pressure "canner" (cooker) is needed to put up certain types of food. Can't remember what all it is but I do remember my grandmother, mother and 3 aunts getting together on weekends to "put up" and lot of different foods and using both the water bath and the pressure cooker to process different foods. As kids we were sternly warned to stay away from the pressure valve and never touch it when it was working. As kids we were relegated to husking the corn, peeling the scalded tomatos, cutting up the fruit - all those great jobs that we just loved to do :wink: But come mid winter when we had great canned (or frozen) goods to eat, we forgot about all that (until the next canning session ).

 

[Selena]

Buy a canning system? You need a pressure cooker big enough for a pressure bath for the glass jars. Beyond that the only investment is the lids and the jars. Canning with metal cans is more fun though.

Actually, a pressure cooker is NOT required.

I've canned lots and lots and lots of stuff using nothing more than a big steel pot and mason jars with lids and rings.

That is how my mother and grandmother did it. Good enough for them - good enough for me.

A water bath can successfully preserve many products. However the process works best with high acid foods. Canning meats with just a water bath involves far more risk to the end user of the food than I am willing to accept.

 

[Badger Matt]

Thanks for all the suggestions, and especially the links, folks. I'm looking forward to this little adventure.

 

[BearBio]

Buy a canning system? You need a pressure cooker big enough for a pressure bath for the glass jars. Beyond that the only investment is the lids and the jars. Canning with metal cans is more fun though.

Actually, a pressure cooker is NOT required.

I've canned lots and lots and lots of stuff using nothing more than a big steel pot and mason jars with lids and rings.

That is how my mother and grandmother did it. Good enough for them - good enough for me.

That's all I use but I don't can meat! Smoke fish and cheese. KISS at first!!

 

[Kevin]

We make Jams and Jellies occasionally, like every other year or so.

Didn’t the old timers add aspirin when they were canning meat? Something about the acid helping to preserve meat?

I believe (and could very well be wrong) it was Napoleon who had his chefs develop the fritter, originally with meat, the fried coating kept the meat more stable for transport.

Thank God for the French, otherwise who know what we would be eating.

 

[Thumbcocker]

All American pressure canner. The best ain't cheap but I have one made in 1947 that is a good as ever. No rubber gaskets to go bad.

Home canning is very satisfying and you KNOW what is in those jars.

 

[Selena]

We make Jams and Jellies occasionally, like every other year or so.

Didn’t the old timers add aspirin when they were canning meat? Something about the acid helping to preserve meat?

I believe (and could very well be wrong) it was Napoleon who had his chefs develop the fritter, originally with meat, the fried coating kept the meat more stable for transport.

Thank God for the French, otherwise who know what we would be eating.

I've never heard of using aspirin and I was taught to can by three Depression era grandmothers. Acid content is the reason that so many meats are canned in tomato sauce and fruit juices.

 

[Flyfisher66048]

All American pressure canner. The best ain't cheap but I have one made in 1947 that is a good as ever. No rubber gaskets to go bad.

Home canning is very satisfying and you KNOW what is in those jars.

Agreed! All American Pressure canners are the best if you going to can low acid foods. They will last forever.

 

[powder smoke]

My Grandma canned everthing under the sun. Dont know that she had any special equip.

I think all you'll need is a presure cooker and some knowledge! ps

 

[contender]

As noted, there are a few ways to can foods. Boiling water bath,, (like the pictures above,) is one method,, and for other foods, you can use a pressure cooker,,,, and then a water bath. But most people who do a lot of canning,, of a variety of foods,,, use a pressure canner. A pressure canner is different than a pressure cooker.

Since it's normally just Miss Penny & I here,, I don't put up a lot of stuff in quart jars. I do use a lot of pint jars,, and some pint & half jars,, with the occasional quarts of some stuff. I put up pickled eggs in quarts mostly. So the amounts we use are more proportional to our needs that way. It takes more jars & lids etc,, but never any waste.
In FM's other thread about salsa & cheese,, I chuckled a bit,, as I make & can my own salsa. In fact, I just pulled down some the other day,, and it's much better than most store brands.

And a pressure canner is excellent for canning meats as well. Boiling baths, and cookers are also good,, but I prefer the canners by far.

 

[woodsy]

A pressure canner has MANY other useful options: like making stock (chicken, beef, etc.) in 1/3 the time, cooking corned beef (again, in 1/3 the time), stew of any kind in 1/4 the time, etc., etc. No, I do not work for Presto, been retired for more than ten years. It (a conventional pressure cooker) is just pure genius for what it is suited for. Just stay away from the "Instant Pots".

 

[Daveboone]

We have been canning for a number of years. Done properly, it is a great way of putting up food. There are two basic systems: pressure canning and hot water bath canning. Although anything you hot water can COULD be pressure canned, it isnt necessary. Many foods though MUST be pressure canned. Some folks may be lucky and get away without it , but not a good idea.
Pickles, tomato based goods, etc. are all good candidates for hot water bath processing (canning). They are high in acid, which retards bacteria.
Soups, stews, canned meats, and like (including beans, mushrooms, others) must be pressure canned to be able to get the canning temperature high enough to kill botulism, which is very common and actually present on alot of our food...it is just killed in the cooking. We bought a Presto pressure canner/cooker. Good piece of equipment, and with our hot water canning pot (found at a flea market for five bucks) we can can anything.
Bell (maker of the most common canning jar) publishes what is pretty much the bible for canning and food preservation. easy to find on amazon.
So far this year we have canned up a batch of, Chili, italian saugsage soup, salsa, dill pickles, beef stew, chicken noodle soup, and have Saurbraten next up.

 

[langenc]

Check garage sales for pressure canners/jars. Many canners have quit as their families have left home and much smaller amts of food are needed by MOM/Pa.

 

[powder smoke]

My mom always used a pressure cooker Minced meat was always a favorite, when deer season rolled around!
Those Minced Meat pie with fresh venison were hard to beat! Come to think about it, it's been years since I had any.
Those old recipes are a treasure! ps