Some of you who have been with me for years and years will remember how hard I tried to figure out a way to get a gas stove into my kitchen in MO. It was a near impossible task because of where the stove was located and us being in the city with their rules and inspections regarding gas lines. This was the canning operation in MO.
Glass Top Canning
When we moved to Texas, having a gas stove, or an easy way to get gas to the stove was a requirement. I was so happy when we found this house with a gas stove. The burners were fairly low BTU .. not a stove for anyone who planned to do a ton of canning, so we replaced the stove with a model with higher BTU burners.
Canning on the Gas Stove
Because the house is so small and the kitchen/family/dining rooms are all open, the noise of the canner, along with the humidity causing all the windows to fog up, was bothering Vince so in March, 2014, we bought this Camp Chef Stove and began canning out on the porch.
Canning on the Porch
Even with the little “wind shields” around the Camp Chef, on that open porch, if the wind gets to blowing like it often does here, the canning operations are pretty much shut down.
Last night when I had all that chicken to get canned, I ended up having to bring the small canner inside for it’s final run (I only did 2 runs in it) and I had to bring the big canner in for it’s final (third run).
I could not believe how long it took on the inside stove for it to get up to pressure. Each burner on the Camp Chef is 30,000 BTU, the most powerful burner on my inside stove is 17,000 BTU. I think the most powerful on the original stove in here was 12,000 BTU. What a difference those extra BTUs make! It takes about 15 minutes to get the big canner up to pressure on the outside stove and it took over an hour inside the house.
One word of caution . . most info I’ve found online says canners should not be used on burners that exceed 12,000 BTU. Here’s where I guess I say “Don’t do as I do!” but after using the Camp Chef for 1-1/2 years and canning probably thousands of jars of food, if I had to give that up and go back to canning inside, I’d probably stop canning . . and you know how much I love canning.
Two other items related to the outdoor canner:
- It sits a little lower so it’s much easier for me (I’m 5’3″) to reach down into the canner and get the jars out. When the canner is on the stove, which sits normal stove height, I’m really having to stretch to get those jars out and sometimes I still bump the vent hood or burn my arm on the canner.
- We have the setup so we can fill our small propane cylinders from the big propane tanks outside so that keeps the cost down. I think my dad said he paid over $22 last time he had a 5 gallon tank filled, or exchanged . . whatever you do these days. We’re paying less than $2 for our propane so filling a tank is less than $10 when we fill them ourselves.
The canning operations was finished at 2 a.m. this morning! I was sitting in my chair, about to fall asleep, waiting for the timer to go off. I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay awake but I did and I’m so glad I did. It was nice to wake up this morning and have all the chicken canned, the kitchen clean and be done with that task!
Diane in CA says
For all the canning you do I’m surprised you haven’t built a canning kitchen addition to your lovely little house.. With your BBQs and camp stove set up, a whole outdoor kitchen looks like it would get a lot of use.. Or at least, some sliding or folding doors for the porch to block the wind would come in handy..
JudyL says
It doesn’t make sense to do it. In 1-1/2 years of canning on the porch, that’s the first time I’ve had to move things inside. I think it seems like I do more canning than I actually do . . I probably don’t average using it once a month except during July and August when the garden is producing.