My friend, Sheryl, sent me this link last night and it has good info about canning in electric pressure cookers.
This may sound blunt and I don’t mean to be but . . it is what it is! If you want to pressure can veggies or meat (anything low acid that cannot be done in a water bath canner), please have a heart to heart discussion with yourself and decide if it’s something you really want to do because you see the value/benefit in home canned foods. It is a ton of work. It isn’t hard. It isn’t rocket science but it takes time and dedication. Some days when canning, it’s a daylight to dark job, especially if I’m making something like gumbo or beef tips/gravy and they have to be cooked and then canned. Also, it’s hard for me to stick a few jars in a canner and run it for 90 minutes. If I’m going to use that much propane, I want a full canner, which can be 14 quarts in my large canner.
If it’s something that sounds interesting but you’re not willing to invest the money for a quality canner or the amount of time it takes to do it, or to commit to sitting around and watching a canner for several hours (by the time it comes up to pressure, cooks for 90 minutes and then cools down); if you’re not willing to invest in jars and then have a place to store them when they’re empty, or a climate controlled area (not too hot and not cold enough for them to freeze) to store them when filled . . then walk away and forget about it. There’s no crime in NOT canning. It doesn’t make you a better wife/mom/cook because you can. It probably does mean your kitchen is a bit neater through the summer and you have more storage space. Canners have jars and lids and rings stored in every possible spot.
Sometimes I think that when I talk about canning as much as I do, some feel they HAVE to try it also but I think with canning, it takes a 100% desire to do it . . maybe not necessarily because you love canning, but because you love the results.
I’ll say it again . . if you really want to can, there are plenty of resources out there to get you started but if you aren’t that interested in it . . that’s ok too!
Dottie N. says
So very, very true, Judy. I remember a gazillion years ago when I was still working (out of the home, LOL), I would stand in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room LATE at night, resting my eyes while waiting for the next “batch” of whatever to finish processing. LOVED having the canned goods during the “off season”, but it is something that requires a lot of time AND, there’s no right/wrong about whether you should/should not can.
Michelle says
Wow, that’s frightening that the company would advertise their product as safe for pressure canning and then backtrack. Pressure canning is a really wonderful thing, as long as the person doing it understands the risks and does it right.
Thanks for posting the link! After reading your posts, I was tempted by those for cooking dinner in a hurry. Good to know that they won’t be safe for canning.
Mary Jo says
I canned a lot of things when my kids were young, I was a stay at home mom and my yard had enough sunlight for a garden. Now I just buy as much fresh stuff as I can and enjoy whatever I have. I do miss the process and the pleasure of seeing all my hard work sitting there on my shelving waiting to be wonderful meals all winter!
Elaine/MuddlingThrough says
It is a good thing to do if you have the time, energy and resources. However, if you do not have a plentiful supply of really inexpensive fruits and vegetables, it is really not cost effective for most people.
When I was a child, we always had a big garden. We children were not excited about it because it meant work for us, but when winter rolled around and our dad’s seasonal work died down, it surely was a lifesaver to have all those veggies waiting in jars and in the freezer!
JudyL says
I also use it a lot when I get meat on sale and can make things like beef tips and gravy, or smoke a pork shoulder and put it up in pint jars with BBQ sauce. Then, instead of having a to smoke a shoulder, when I want a pulled pork sandwich, I simply open a jar. It is great for those of us with large gardens and fruit trees but it’s also nice for having home cooked meals ready to eat.
Carol says
I think home canned products are the best. When we first moved back to Missouri in 1977 we had a big garden. The garden was my husband’s hobby. At the time we were both working so he helped a lot with the canning. I don’t think anything can give you more pleasure that having your own home canned vegetables in the winter. I haven’t canned for a number of years now but my daughter and her husband are wanting to have a garden and do some canning. Maybe this is the year we’ll get started again. It is a lot of work but gives back 100 per cent satisfaction.
patti says
I think it would be nice when I make a big batch I had hoped the pressure cooker could also be I had hoped the pressure cooker could also be a canner
Teresa says
I only water bath can and know how much work that is. I don’t have an army of kids to feed, as it is only my husband and I and whatever I can sneak into my suitcase when I visit my son. I don’t need to do it for the cost savings, for sure, but there is such a satisfaction of opening a jar of salsa or peaches, knowing you grew it, harvested it and canned it.
TerriS says
I only ever water bath canned and I haven’t done that in years. We had a big garden then, and I did mostly tomatoes, peaches, pears and applesauce. I never got a pressure canner, because we don’t care much for canned vegetables and canned meat, so I couldn’t figure out what I would use it for!! I freeze vegetables and if you do it right, they’re almost like fresh when you cook them, and without the salt you have to use in canning. I think canning is great if you have the time and the desire and like canned food, but for us, the payoff just wasn’t there.