October 2nd, 2008 - My new pressure canner
While on vacation, I bought a pressure canner, Presto 23 quart. Coolest thing: It’s made here in WI! Other cool things:
- Can be used for water bath canning, meaning I can get rid of my old one
- Works well on glass stove tops; others are too large (including most water bath ones, like the one I had)
- Can put 2 layers of pints or 3? of half pints–as the site says, 7 qts, 20 pints, 24 half pints
- For small jars, they can’t fall through the wire rack, because it’s not wire, it’s a rack–a mostly solid piece of metal with large holes in it. I would like to have another one for stacking jars, but they say it’s not necessary. I’d have to order it and am not sure I want to pay for shipping for it. Maybe if I need other items in the future I’ll get them all at once.
- It’s also a pressure cooker
I’ve used it for water canning the grapes, peppers, pickles, etc. I’ve pressure cooked beans twice–that’s worked so slickly that we’re thinking about getting a smaller one, since I don’t actually make more than a few cups of beans at a time. I’m sure it would go faster if pressure didn’t have to build in all 23 quarts. In addition, it just barely fits in the sink and is difficult to clean since it’s so large. A smaller cooker would be much handier for beans. Even with the large one, they are done in about 45 minutes, enough time to cook them after getting home from work (or up from naps) in time for dinner. And the same amount of time brown rice takes in the steam cooker. They complement each other nicely. And about the same time to make and cook cornbread in the toaster oven. (You can guess what our dinners have been this week.)
I was rather nervous the first time pressure cooking. I didn’t do it until Eric and I were both home. I watched it like a hawk and wouldn’t let Maggie stay in the kitchen after pressure was hit until it came off the burner. I believe I have actually used a pressure cooker before; I made beans and cornbread quite often down in Kentucky and pressure cooking seems vaguely familiar. The second time, I was much less nervous, and left the kitchen except for checking on it. And Eric wasn’t home. It was a BREEZE! Maggie was quite helpful, too, as she noticed the pressure regulator bopping around when the 15# pressure was hit and came and let me know. She’s going to be a cook one day (and a vet, don’t forget).
If you’ve considered buying a pressure cooker and have things you’d cook in it, I strongly rec’d getting it. It’s not scary at all! And if you can, get a large one and give away your old water bath canner.