Val;

I'm not sure of the make of my canner, but if the

water starts to boil over, then I just scoop out some

water to reduce the water level a little. I have done this

countless time with no ill effect. Also, you don't have

to just use a canner, if you have a larger pot, than you

could use that. Just be sure to put something on the

bottom, you don't want the jars touching the bottom.

Good Luck!

That is a typical problem with those graniteware canners. They just aren't tall enough to conveniently can quarts and maintain a sufficient level of water over.

What you need is a good tall stockpot. Since it's going to be used as a boiling water bath, then it doesn't need to be a high-quality. It doesn't need to be stainless either. It could be aluminum, which is much cheaper.

I don't know how close you are to a city, but restaurant supply stores would carry what you need. You can see an example of the sort of stockpot at the link below.

Another option is to check GoodWill or other secondhand stores but you may not want to wait until one turns up.

Also, if you're planning to get into canning seriously, you might consider a Presto pressure canner, which can also be used for boiling water bath, rather than buying separate items.

Racks can be purchased separately, if you get a stockpot of the right dimension. You can buy a 12 1/4" canning rack. Or, if you pick the right kettle, you can use your existing canning rack. It's also important to know the height available between your rangetop and the hood so that you don't buy a kettle that's too tall.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Surfas Restaurant Supply Stockpot

And it doesn't have to be a violent hard boil either. Too often we set the heat too high under the granite ware canners. ;) But I agree with Carol, a really deep stockpot or a 23 qt pressure canner works better but the PC's aren't cheap.

Dave

The intro pages of the canning books have a cool idea; tie canning bands together with twisties to make a "rack" for the bottom whatever shape and size you need. Scooping out water isn't good, because that puts your jar tops below the water line. Some jars, even quarts, are slightly shorter than others. Of course, there's always pints. Carol has really good suggestions. One of the best pots I have came from Aldi - warehouse grocers, and a set of two pots (8 qt and 12 qt) were $19.95. Heavy bottoms, glass lids, tall. Really really good. Go figure.

Another option is to use pint canning jars. You do need about 2 inches of water above the tops of the jars. Also, you have to keep the jars off the bottom as well. They require a rack of some means to elevate them. Kitchen Krafts offers two sizes a 21 1/2 quart for doing seven quart jars, and a larger 33 quart canner for those who need more space inside. Both are enamaled steel. Forget the electric canners as they are quite slow in getting to a boil. If you have a flat burner stove, you will have to use a propane burner instead. The link provided above is also a good price and is all aluminium. Dont forget the cover! If you buy from that source, the Kitchen Krafts site also offers a stainless steel no rust rack and its easy to lift out the whole seven quart jars. For anyone that has hard water, adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to the canner water will reduce the white coatings high mineral water gives off.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canners

Thanks all!

I've been afraid of trying to buy just a regular (big) pot in case the rack wouldn't fit in it. The suggestion to check Goodwill out is good. We do shop there sometimes, I'll watch for something. I do have a little time as I'm not going to be canning anything more this year.....I think.

I also have Grandma's big pressure canner...I didn't know I could use that for a water bath. I'll have to check and see it it's any taller. She gave me all this stuff because she hasn't used them in years. The pressure cooker was so old I was afraid to use it but a friend helped me track down all the stuff to update and rejuvenate it so it has all new parts. I'm still afraid of it though. I only canned tomato products last year and used the old water bath canner for those. My friend was supposed to come and show me how to use a pressure canner but it didn't happen.

That's a great suggestion about the vinegar too. Even though I have soft water in this house, it left a residue on the jars today.

The canner that ksrogers linked to looks a lot like the one I have now but surely they make them taller now, right? I'm betting Grandma's is 40 or 50 years old.

And I learned something new about the boiling too....I thought it had to be aggressive. So a gentle boil is okay? I don't think that will help with this pot but the info's good to know for the future.

Pints is a good suggestion but I have like 8 cases of quarts and kind of need to use them when possible. I do have pints but I'm kind of saving them.

Anyway....I learned a great deal from this and now I have some ideas on trying to do things a different way. I thought I HAD to have a canner, it's nice to know there are alternatives. Of course I still might actually buy one :-)

Val

The newer Presto pressure canners are wider and shorter than the old ones, which I consider a darned shame.

Carol

I bought a pretty tall stockpot from a big box store, and a round cake rack from the dollar store fits inside perfectly. I can only fit 5 quarts in it but at least there is no boiling over! I have a larger pot that will hold 7 quarts but alas, no lid! I have been keeping an eye out for one at yard sales and thrift stores. I also have a 21qt all american pressure canner but I find there is barely enough height to use it for quart jars, and I have to use it on my BBQ burner because I have a glass top stove.
One of these days I'll have to check out the restaurant supply store... good idea!

I bought my water bath canning pots at Wal*Mart. The older one is narrower than the new one. Both are the same height. I use a gentle boil to water bathe, not a large rolling boil.

You don't need a lid. The lid serves two purposes, 1: It keeps boiling water from splashing on you, 2: it will get the water to a boil faster, or on a small stove allow it to come to a boil at all - as it traps heat escaping. If you need it a half sheet or other flat sheet or large lid works just fine.

Somebody, I think Fagor, makes a pressure canner which will work on a flat surface stove, but since doing any pressure canner on such tops often voids the warranty I wouldn't.

Older pressure canners, I think prior to 1992, shouldn't be used. I have no idea any longer where I picked up that tidbit. Probably that is when UL started certifing them, but that is just a WAG.

You don't need a canning rack. I often use a bake rack, the lids mentioned above will also work, as will a dish towel. I normally use a very large stock pot and don't bother with a rack at all. I have yet to have a jar break. The rack is to keep the jars from bouncing up and down off the bottom as steam forms under them and lifts them. If you use a bare boil this doesn't happen much. You don't need to use a rack between layers of jars in a pressure canner, although I do as I'm not sure I agree with that for physics reasons.

Boiling water is a nominal 212 F. It makes no difference if it is a hard boil or barely boiling. The critical temperature is below 212 F. Changes in barometric pressure are the same thing as changes in altitude and nobody ever tells you to compensate because of low barometric readings.

There are blog posts on canning on the web link although the current one is about kitchen counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Art of The Pig

Pressure COOKERS are NOT the same as a pressure CANNER. The cookers use less pressure and are usually smaller in size. The Presto 23 quart pressure canner is about $85 now and thats from Amazon. I bought one back in May for $79 which was also free shipping. Not a bad deal. If I were to use it as a BWB canner, I would add a rack at the bottom, as the somewhat flat disk these have is a bit thin, and may work well for pressure canning, but for BWB is a bit close to the extreem heat. The 23 quart canner may not hold 7 jars anymore. Some jars are not metric and are slightly larger, so they have avery tight (if at all) fit when you put in 7 quarts. I know my steam canner used to hold 7 quarts, but now I can't fit that many and have to do 6 quarts at a time.

Until 2 years ago I didn't know there was such a thing as a pressure canner. I'd used pressure cookers to make a meal but not a canner. My canning friend actually told me about them so when I asked Grandma for her BWB canner I also asked if she still wanted the pressure canner. She didn't. So now I have both but neither are great I think.

Actually, I'm not sure I'll ever be brave enough to pressure can anything but I HAVE one....and isn't that the most important thing (grin)?

I did check out trying to use my big stock pot and while the jars fit nicely, the rack wouldn't. I also checked out the pressure canner and like you say the thin rack is already in there but.....it's still too short to use as a BWB and not have the water boil out.

I'm thinking that I'll have to take the rack with me to a store and check to see if it will fit into any of the bigger stock pots with lids.

To ntsc: I'm not sure about the lid thing but my book tells me to remove it after the required time and let the jars cool for 5 minutes before removing them. So....I'm thinking a lid is required, no?

Val

Most all current pressure canners and cookers use weights to control the pressure. The Presto mentioned also has a dial gauge, but its usually only for a reference, and can be inaccurate, even if calibrated (none are easy to fix due to being quite cheap). The weights for the Presto are 5, 10, and 15 pounds. There are also safetys for over pressure and one to protect the canner from opening the lid during its pressure cycle. In general, if the canner you have is in good shape and offers weights for the pressure control, as well as having a good rubber gasket seal, you should be able to use it. The disk in these, can be raised up a little by placing some canning jar rings underneath it, so there is water in direct contact with the heat. A lid on a regular BWB canner is very necessary as is one for the pressure canner. I would suggest that you try a 'dry run' with a few quart jars in the canner. Fill them with water, cap and let them be run through the pressure canner. A single practice run can give you many bits of useful info as to heat control and other things. It should never explode if there are vents and a built in safety release.

You open a whole new world of home canning when you pressure can low acid foods. I would expect that the pressure canner can hold quart jars with 2 inches of water above the tops of the jars.
Best of luck!

I can't imagine where the idea that older pressure canners shouldn't be used would come from. AFAIK, nothing came out in 1992 recommending against the use of older canners.

However, if you have an Extension agency in your area it would be a good idea to get your older canner checked out. If it's a Presto, All-American or Mirro you're in luck because parts are easily obtainable.

If you can't get your old canner checked out there are sites online that can run you through a standard checklist.

Pressure cookers don't have less pressure than pressure canners with the exception of dual pressure cookers which offer a higher and lower pressure and some few pressure pans which offer low pressure only (7 lbs. psi) and are not considered true pressure cookers.

Pressure cookers don't offer sufficient volume. They heat up quickly and cool down quickly resulting in a total processing time that's too short to be considered safe.

Carol

You DO need a lid and you DO need something in the bottom of the pot to create a space between jar and pot bottom. And there are many older than 1992 in use today and safely so - especially those that invested in an All American 40 years back. At that cost you aren't about to toss it! ;)

But no, you do not need a violent boil. A boil is a boil is a boil. ;)

Ken's suggestion of some practice runs is a great one. You'll be amazed how doing that can teach and reassure you. As said, just make sure that you have the weights and do not rely on any gauge it may have unless you get it professionally tested first.

Dave

NCHFP - How to use a BWB canner

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to use a pressure canner

From the Ball Blue Book on Boiling Water Canners

" Lid - used to help keep the water boiling during the entire processing period"

Only use given, if your stove will do this without the lid, you don't need it. If it won't a half sheet will do or a large lid. The use is to keep heat from escaping through the open pot.

If the pot is a little too shallow it also keeps hot water from splashing, but that is personal knowledge learned the hard way.

From the link on How to use a pressure canner above.

"Use only canners that have the Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) approval to ensure their safety. "

I can find no reference prior to about 1996 that UL approved canners prior to that. Personally if I had one that I knew worked and was safe I would, but I could not recomend to somebody else that they do so. I have not been able to find any reference to 1992 again, like I said this was a guess (WAG).

UL approved the first pressure cooker in 1923; it's not unreasonable to assume canners fall into the same category given their similarities (a difference in volume not features).

But the prohibition historically makes a great deal of sense since post-WWII when many former munitions makers turned to manufacture of pressure cookers/canners. There are some well-founded horror stories of exploding cookers from that period. Eleven different companies were manufacturing pressure cooker/canners and definitely there are some off-brands to avoid.

Any used pressure cooker should be inspected closely; personally I'd avoid any brand but the big three. For one thing, it's almost impossible to find parts for some of the other brands. (I'm speaking of canners, not pressure cookers where there are many other reliable brands.)

Carol

I second the suggestion of using a solid aluminum stockpot. They are way more solid and long-lasting than the usual blue speckled standard water bath canner. Those things are horrible IMO. Cheap, thin, shallow and rust-prone. And the "wiggled" bottoms are ridiculous for heat transfer on an electric stove. I bought a 24-quart aluminum model from Admiral Craft (Adcraft). Nice thick, solid construction. The 24-quart models generally fit a 7-quart rack nicely. I'm no longer worried about holes rusting thru. But I had to ditch it when I switch to an induction over. The old blue rust bucket didn't work on the induction either. So I had to go get an induction ready 24 quart stockpot. It was expensive, but the performance of the induction stove and the new stockpot are outstanding.

Any pot that will allow your jars to have 1" of water over them and keep a boil will do. I've used my blancher, without strainer, to do only 3 or 4 pints.

I have put jar rings in the bottom or a folded towel.

I have 2 older pressure cookers that have been in use for 50 years and are still working fine. The only problem is not being able to get the pressure gauge tested. For that reason, I purchased a new Presto canner.

I am not at all comfortable with it - can't seem to get the pressure regulated. That could be just because I'm not used to it, yet. When you have been using the same equipment for as long as I have, you just 'know' what do do. The new one is different, but I managed.

There is no way I could rely on a jiggler only, though. I realize some do and I admire them, but I'd be filled with doubt about everything I canned.

Just throwing in my two cents. I got tired of replacing gaskets every few years, so I went to the All American. Now they are expensive new so I found two on ebay that were older,in good condition, just had the gauges. Got advise from this forum (probably from Ken) on switching them over to weights. I left the old gauge on, just for reference. They work great, one is a higher model that I can stack pints to give me twice the capacity.

The 'jiggler' is doing its job, when its controlling excess pressure when it allows steam to escape. If it were not doing that, the water inside has not reached boiling or the heat is too low. Electric stoves are a bit more dificult to regulate temps as they take a few minutes to act on an increase or reduction of heat. It might be helful to run the weighted gauge type canner unfilled (just water only) to see how well it can be controlled by the burners' control. Dial gauges are NOT accurate and can go out of whack in just one single canning batch! Being calibrated, most dial gauges have no provison for that to be performed, but instead use a conversion chat table like: to maintain 10 lbs use 12 lbs on the dial, and for 15 lbs use 19 lbs on the dial, etc. A weight cannot change with age, unless its was damaged or metal was removed, or the vent tube is blocked. All current pressure canners have built in safetys and usually will not allow internal pressures above about 20 lbs. The pressure cookers were not designed for home canning, unless they can conrol pressures over 10 lbs. A cooker/canner offers both options however. I recall my mom having a old prssure cooker many years ago, and it was thrown out after it had expanded and blew off the pressure regulator due to a poor design. I remember it had a big round black knob wit a red button on top that was supposd to rise when it was showing pressure inside. Apparently inside there was metal that rusted and it prevented the red button from rising.
Currently I have a Presto pressure fryer for doing fried chicken. Its old, and has been used just for that purpose as it also has just a weight as the pressure control. In its manual, they state that the jiggling should be very slight, if its too active it can cause the chicken to burn when its touching the bottom of the pot. The pressure frying process takes about 10-12 minutes per batch. Its a method still used by KFC.