I don’t have all the canners here with me, and the ones I do have all seem to need something.
The large All American, which I can only use outside on the Camp Chef stove, needed an extra rack for canning two layers of jars. I only had one rack so I had to use the smaller rack out of the Presto canner I have here. Since I did the canning outside in Texas, those racks would get dropped and bent and sometimes, bent to the point that they weren’t flat and couldn’t be used so I ordered a couple of new racks.
I have three All American canners here and one pressure regulator. I kept the regulators in a drawer in the kitchen and . . who knows when I’ll see those again so I ordered a couple of those.
We bought a very old but probably never used All American 910 off Craig’s List in 2014. It had the old petcock assembly instead of a tube and regulator. I think we ordered the parts to change it out but that never happened and some day we’ll find them but I went ahead and ordered new parts so Vince can change that out. That little canner is perfect when I only need to can a few jars at a time. I’ve still used it even with the old assembly but it makes me a bit nervous using it.
When I started to use the large Pesto canner, I noticed the gauge was cracked so that one can’t be used til I get a new gauge and the gauges are backordered everywhere.
Soon, I’ll have everything I need to can a lot of stuff at one time . . except I won’t have anything to can! 🙂
Penny Holliday says
Judy – For canning – perhaps you could purchase fruits & veggies that are seasonal at a local farmers market or even the grocery store! Also the great meat bargains that you always find!
Judy Laquidara says
So far, at the farmers’ market, the quality is great but the price is not low enough for me to buy in bulk for canning. It seems that the prices of almost all food have gone up to the point where it’s rare that I see a price I feel is good enough to buy enough to can. Also, the Aldi in Texas wasn’t nearly as busy as the ones here and I’d often find deals on meat that was getting near the “sell by” date and I would buy that for canning but since I’m not going to the store in person much and since the Aldi stores here are so busy, I have not seen meat marked down at all.
I’ll have the canners and the jars so if I do come across something, I can buy it.
One year we picked a ton of crab apples at a restaurant parking lot and made jelly. I’m hoping to find sour cherries and if I do, I’ll definitely can those for pies and make jam.
We also seem to not eat as much as we once did so we’ll see how it all plays out.
Linda Garcia says
I think it is better to be prepared ahead of time, than scrambling to try to get your canners up to snuff when you have stuff you are wanting to can. Just like other areas of the prepared life! LOL!