Question for you Pressure Canners out there

[tanre]

Doing a fair bit of research and finding both pro's and con's, I figure I would ask your opinion.


Would you purchase a Pressure Canner or a Pressure Cooker?



Personally, I'm comparing a 16qt Pressure Canner vs a 6qt Pressure Cooker



16qt Pressure Canner:
Pro's:Less energy consumption while canning, less time while canning, larger portions of meat being easier to store
Con's: storage space, functionality, stove top heating surface area



6qt Pressure Cooker:
Pro's:Versatility with food prep, storage space.
Con's: more time consuming and less cost effective while canning.



https://www.pressurecooker-outlet.co...ison-Chart.htm

[Jammer]

I've done this a lot.


If you're thinking of canning anything with meat in it, you're looking at 75 minute canning times (90 for quarts). It will take 20 minutes to heat up and 30 minutes to cool off so you're looking at over two hours of clock time for a canner load. If you do your canning after supper (which makes since because it's the quiet, cool part of the day) you can do, at most, two canner loads.



I believe that the USDA recommendations and most other authorities don't recommend using the small pressure cookers for canning. You really do need a gauge or calibrated, adjustable weight, and it's hard to maintain a steady temperature in a small pot.


But yes, they're big, and you need room for the jars/cans whether they're empty or full. I would look into cans for use on a boat. Jars would have to be individually wrapped in tea towels or something.


I've moved away from this and we now freeze meat and low-acid vegetables, and use a water bath canner for jams, jellies, and pickles.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by tanre

Doing a fair bit of research and finding both pro's and con's, I figure I would ask your opinion.


Would you purchase a Pressure Canner or a Pressure Cooker?



Personally, I'm comparing a 16qt Pressure Canner vs a 6qt Pressure Cooker



16qt Pressure Canner:
Pro's:Less energy consumption while canning, less time while canning, larger portions of meat being easier to store
Con's: storage space, functionality, stove top heating surface area



6qt Pressure Cooker:
Pro's:Versatility with food prep, storage space.
Con's: more time consuming and less cost effective while canning.



https://www.pressurecooker-outlet.co...ison-Chart.htm

Once you start using a pressure cooker you'll be amazed.
The question is more which one you would make more use of. I can't be without one, and to me the benefits of a pressure cooker far outweight the ones of a canner.
But get a good second generation one, not the ones with the whistling weights. They are more expesnsive but definetely more efficient.

[Chotu]

They are two completely different tools, even though they are related.

The big one is the right one for canning. Not so practical for cooking.

The small one is the right one for cooking. Not so practical (or safe/recommend) for canning.

Choose based on how you’ll use it. Neither one is appropriate for both uses.

If you’re doing both, you’ll need to get both.

Like Jammer, I moved toward freezing instead of canning for practical purposes and believe it or not, greater independence from land. With freezers and solar, you may possibly not need to get any food preservation supplies for a decade or more. Freezers run for that long without breaking. Solar longer.

Canning will require you to purchase new jar lids each time you use a jar. This can become difficult to do in a doomsday scenario. Even during the initial Covid 19 outbreak this year, it was not possible to purchase the jar lids. This puts a severe limitation on your independence in the face of a disaster or even when in very remote places.

Then, of course, there is the larger amount of propane you’re needing to buy to do the canning too. Another item you’re depending on society to supply.

[ikanode]

My wife and I have moved away from most canning to dehydrating.
- most fruits come out great--but you have to get them dry enough to break.
- many vegetables aren't very good dehydrated--broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and especially the kind of green beans that cook from fresh in about ten minutes. Old fashioned green beans that take a half an hour or more to cook, come out great when dried. My favorite is to grow and dry "Greasy Beans". They need a couple hours of simmering when rehydrating.
- meat other than jerky isn't recommended.

There are several big advantages:
- no glass, we vacuum seal food that will be used within a year
- food shrinks and takes up a lot less room
- you can dehydrate small batches and mix different foods in the same batch--unlike canning.
- don't have to carefully monitor the process

You can start with a cheap round dehydrator from Walmart but they don't give you much capacity or much control. Excalibur is a good brand with several sizes.

A pressure cooker, pressure canner, and dehydrator all have their place.

[Lancerbye]

I have a large canner, an instapot and a vacuum sealer. All are used for different reasons. I like to can salmon in pint jars and can do 16 at a time when the fishing has been good. I will vacuum seal and freeze fish and various meats. Like slabs of salmon or halibut to smoke or bbq later. The Instapot I have used if I only have 4 pints of salmon to can, but mostly use it to cook and make yogurt.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

I have a large canner, an instapot and a vacuum sealer. All are used for different reasons...

Yep. We have a large canner, TWO Instapots, a vacuum sealer, and a dehydrator. I would want all of them on a boat but the dehydrator takes up quite a bit of space, and needs lots of power, so it might not make it.

The big advantage of preserving food in a jar is that it does not require a freezer and YOU get to decide what goes into your food. I am eating food I preserved from five years ago and it tastes great. Surprised I did not eat it sooner.

The lids are easy to buy and stock. They do not cost much nor take up space. While one should not reuse the lids for preserving food, the lids work after many, many usages. I make ice tea at least five days a week. I steep the tea bags in a one quart mason jar. When the time is up, I use an old lid and ring on the jar. After the tea has cooled off the lids still hold a vacuum. I have yet to have an old lid fail to seal.

And as was mentioned on a recent discussion about protecting devices from lightning strikes, our pressure canner would make a perfect Faraday cage.

Later,
Dan

[Seamark]

https://youtu.be/WnL_1zuu_xY
Here's an interesting link from some cruisers canning meat. She uses a pressure cooker not a canner.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

I have a large canner, an instapot and a vacuum sealer. All are used for different reasons. I like to can salmon in pint jars and can do 16 at a time when the fishing has been good. I will vacuum seal and freeze fish and various meats. Like slabs of salmon or halibut to smoke or bbq later. The Instapot I have used if I only have 4 pints of salmon to can, but mostly use it to cook and make yogurt.

But canning salmon aboard in Canada is illegal. In most cases, even a "liveaboard" situation does not change this (for example, if your drivers lic etc has any sort of land-based address).

[Leee]

Re pressure cooking:


They make great stainless steel ones in Portugal which are available throughout Europe. All sizes too. We have used one on the boat for years and have replaced our old-school N. American aluminum ones with them. You can cook acidic foods in the stainless ones.



As for canning, it takes big pots for heat or pressurized heat. We tend to freeze instead.

[Eclectic Always]

Just one thought on pressure canning and canning in general. You want to hew very closely to USDA or other qualified professional advice on recipes and cooking times. Botulism is a very real risk in pressure canning and you do not want to be offshore if it gets you.

Interesting idea from Leee about a stainless canner. I’ve got an aluminum one by All American that I love.

[Chotu]

Botulism is an unfounded fear with modern pressure canning. Same process used by every factory canned good you consume.

The only way to get botulism is to...

A) not use a pressure canner
B) be incapable of following the directions in the usda canning guide.

[Eclectic Always]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Botulism is an unfounded fear with modern pressure canning. Same process used by every factory canned good you consume.

The only way to get botulism is to...

A) not use a pressure canner
B) be incapable of following the directions in the usda canning guide.

Well that’s what I said, right? Follow the directions. No shortcuts.

There are items canned in factories that cannot be safely canned at home. Milk products leap to mind.