I can be a research fanatic when it comes to analyzing the pros and cons of an item before deciding on a purchase. I recently purchased a pressure canner as a birthday present for my wife (which inspired my last post on why they’re so SHTF awesome), so if you’re in the market for a cooker or canner, I’ll tell you where my thinking lead.
The first thing I had to learn was the difference between a cooker and a canner. A canner is essentially a large cooker, big enough to sanitize canning jars. A canner can also cook, but it’s too big for the average evening meal. A smaller cooker is more convenient for an evening meal, but too small to sanitize jars for canning. Dig?
My wife and I are getting more involved with doomsday gardening, so canning was the primary interest in the canner versus cooker debate. We needed a way to process large quantities of garden grub that comes all at once, something besides (or in addition to) the freezer. I also liked the idea that a large canner could also cook (if need be), but that a cooker couldn’t can. Because I believe in spending extra to buy something of quality once, rather than buy junk twice, and because it was a birthday present, I went high-end. I bought her a 21 1/2 quart All-American pressure cooker/canner from Amazon.com (they had the best price with free shipping). Here it is:
The online reviews of this unit were right – quality. This thing is heavy. The cover alone is strong enough to double as a SHTF shield.
The reasons I spent the extra money for this model is that it’s 1) Made in the U.S.A, 2) has a very long reputation of lasting generations, and 3) the manufacturer has spare parts readily available. All-American also makes a 30 quart and a 41 1/2 quart. I had a hard enough time justifying the 21 1/2 quart, so I wasn’t going bigger, but for the more experienced gardener, canner or small-scale food business, a larger model would make more sense. Presto makes a 23 quart cooker that costs about half as much.
I thought a high end canner would be stainless steel, not heavy cast aluminum, but through my SHTF research I soon learned they use aluminum because it distributes heat so much better, which is important when you get into larger canners. Stainless is more common on smaller pressure cookers.
If you’re more interested in a smaller pressure cooker than you are a canner, something for fast meals, I’d recommend the 6 quart stainless steel Presto cooker; in fact, we may get one at some point. All-American doesn’t make smaller pressure cooker, and the Presto in this instance seemed to offer the best cost/quality/practicality ratios.
- Ranger Man
BTW: If you’re going to buy a new cooker, you should also consider the book Canning and Preserving for Dummies …. you know, unless you’re already a canning and preserving smarty pants.
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I’m not sure how I stumbled on your blog but I’ve been enjoying it. I’ve been posting about canning on my blog as well. I use a 60+ year old pressure canner. It works well but required a replacement seal this year. I’ll probably buy another canner like you recommended once I have the funds to do so. My favorite canning book is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ribbon-Preserves-Award-Winning-Marmalades/dp/1557883610/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280543242&sr=1-1 The recipes are great and it will give you an education on canning.
Thanks for stopping by, glad you like the site. I’ll check yours out, too.
Why don’t the idyllic post WW2 mother and daughter canning team have any meat or eggs in those jars? Perhaps they decided to make the meat into jerky. Maybe they just don’t have any to can? Or are the animals still fattening up? More at 11….. LOL
Like the post. I’m trying to convince my wife to freeze or can some of the wax beans. I’ve planted over 100 row feet of them this year (usually plan 1/4 to 1/3 that) at her request. we’ve been eating off of the first set of plantings (about 48 feet) for the past couple of weeks. the second and third set (25 and 20 feet respectively) have just started blossoming. the fourth set (about 32 feet) will probably be starting to blossom in about a week or 2. We picked probably 5 or 6 quart jars worth of bean tonight. All the seeds from the first set of planting were saved from the beans we grew last year. My wife thought last fall that I was a bit weird, but when I reminded her about the fact that all of those plants grew from seeds that I saved last year, she didn’t have anything to say. I tried saving peas, but they were still too moist when I put them in an old peanut jar and started getting a little fuzzy about March. I should have just put them in envelopes like the beans, even though it would have taken about a dozen envelopes to do that. Saved some sunflower seeds too, those grew nicely, and then the pumpkin seeds I planted were purchased 3 years ago, and they’ve grown quite well. Same thing with the turnips and yellow squash (both from last year)
Hey Ranger Man; Been checking out your site for a while now and really like it. You should check into Fagor brand pressure cookers ( I have the Rapida 6qt). I use it for cooking and I make my own dog food with it. I don’t trust pet food companies. I don’t trust people food companies either, for that matter.
You’re doing a kick ass job!
Just wanted to add, All American is the maker of sterilizers to. I saw your canner pic and it is the same as my All American sterilizer I use when I tattoo. Like the blog. We to can meat mostly. Happy new year