Looks interesting if you have a gas range. Mine is electric coil and that much weight and so little space between the pan and the element it would "cook" the top of the range. And, one side would be less vigorously boiling than the other because those usually have one large and one small element. For a gas range there is more space above the actual top of the range so, not a problem, and all the elements are the same size which means even heating. It's interesting if you do a lot of canning at once, and it is tall enough for quarts. Not worth it for 6 or 7 quarts at a time though IMO. Getting jars out would mean using an unsafe method of standing on a stool to reach the jars (unless you are quite tall). Getting the water out could only be done by using a large measuring cup or saucepan, scooping several times, since it would be nigh impossible to lift. To find out how much water to start with, you could fill 15 jars with tap water (or put in previously canned quarts), add tap water as if it was boiling water, take out the jars, and scratch a mark to know how much boiling water to start with when you do real canning.

Agree that it would only have a place in my house if I did huge amounts of BWB processing - which I don't - so i couldn't justify the cost of the gas or the electricity to run it. Not to mention dealing with the weight of it when full of water.

I can easily BWB 7 qts or 14-16 pints in my Presto pressure canner and even more in my AA. Also have a big stockpot that will BWB 7 quarts. So I can easily run 2 canners at the same time if necessary and with the lids set on loosely I don't have a boil over problem. But 80% or the canning we do is pressure canning, not BWB canning.

"Why on earth are they not 2" higher so that you can put quarts in, cover with 1-2" of water and not have tremendous splashover? "

Perhaps you are running your heat too high? Do you turn your heat down once it comes to a full boil? You don't have to have such a violent boil going that you get lots of splash over if the pot lid fits correctly.

Dave

If it is the splash over that is the primary problem and if all you do is BWB canning then why not buy one of the steam canners?

Dave

So far, all I've done is BWB, and quarts are not what I do the most, but I do find the splashing really annoying and requiring a lot of cleanup. I do turn the gas down once it gets to full boil, but perhaps not enough.

Mostly I'd like to can more, quicker. When I do tomato products I often do 60 or so jars...being able to do fewer sessions of 40 minutes each is very appealing. Same for apples.

Perhaps I will just head to our local restaurant supply store, buy a big stockpot that is the same width, but higher and then I will eliminate both the splashing with quarts, as well as be able to doublestack. Can I even triple stack wide mouth half pints or 4 oz jars if I have a rack between each? That would save a lot of time. At the restaurant store they have professional equipment -- half the price of amazon -- and I could get a 15" deep stockpot that fits the standard canning racks.

So you are doing whole or halved tomatoes packed in water? That's the only one with 40 min processing time. And you are doing mostly pints? Have you considered pressure canning them instead? You can easily double stack pints in most pressure canners and the processing time is much shorter.

You can double stack with a rack between. But logistically you can't triple stack if for no other reason then it would be almost impossible to get that many jars of anything ready to go all at one time without many of them cooling too much. That's unless you had a multiple person assembly line going. Hope fully you aren't getting 60 jars all ready to go at one time and then letting them sit on the counter waiting to be processed? Big no-no.

Even if you could get that many ready to go all at the same time then the weight of the pot would be dangerously heavy and the weight on the bottom jars could easily interfere with the vacuum sealing.

The best alternative if I understand your situation correctly is to run 2 canners at about the same time. Wife and I do that quite often but then we've decades of practice working together. I couldn't pull it off by myself.

Dave

I'd like to run two canners at one time, but there is no room on the stove and buying an extra burner would be something more to store.

Everything I process goes directly into the canner with no sitting around. The tomatoes I do are sauces, such as pasta, chili base, salsa, etc. I mostly use Mrs. Wages mixes for tomato products since I really like them, and the processing time on the package is 40 I think. So doing a double batch of salsa, which I put in wide mouth half pint jars, would be a big help. I have double stacked and will not triple stack, per your advice. Even double stacking, I still do about 3 canner loads of just salsa.

I think I may just start using my pressure canner as a BWB canner. If I can double stack pints in there (which is what I use for pasta sauce and chili base), then that will speed things up considerably. And since my graniteware pot will be rusting out soon and I need a big stock pot anyway, I'll replace it with a stockpot that fits the canner rack, but is taller.

I'm getting around to using my pressure canner. It's sitting there waiting. Going to practice first on water and then would like to try a simple soup. What I would really like to can are just plain beans, but it seems like a lot of work before they even get to the canner and beans are pretty cheap.

Can't really help with the Mrs. Wages mix stuff other than to say they are generally considered safe to use assuming the directions are followed exactly. But no formal USDA testing on them exists AFAIK and there seems to be little demand for it. I'll take your word on the processing time they require although it is quite different from most tomato canning recipes in the Ball books and NCHFP. If you are happy with the results, fine.

But I am curious as to why you do so many small jars, so many 1/2 pints? It is an unusual approach for most canners (except for making gift jars) when 2x as much can be accomplished in the same amount of time and with less effort and less equipment costs just by using larger jars. Do the Wages instructions restrict you 1/2 pints only?

Beans are really quite easy. Just put a pound or 2 of dried beans in a pot of hot water before bed to soak over nite and they are ready to bring to a boil in fresh water and can the next day. Soups really have more prep time involved since each ingredient has to be treated separately.

Dave

For pasta sauces I do pints, but for things such as salsas and apple sauce I always do half pints. And for some mustards and other sauces I even do the 4 oz. Just me eating it! It would take me too long to go through a full pint of salsa. I'd rather have just half a pint and then open up a fresh one when needed. Plus, a half pint jar slips nicely into a lunch bag for work and lasts a couple of days. Pints would be big to carry. Mrs. Wages gives directions for pints and quarts I think, but not half pints. That's my doing. Going to try the beans once I calculate out how much (if any) the savings would be over buying canned beans. I'd do those in pints, so they'd be a match for the cans.