Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The New Canner

Its huge, Its Shiny [can you ever resist shiny?] its All American! Its the newest tool at our farm.

 All American Pressure Canner Model 930

I believe I mentioned Ralph ordering this canner in a chicken evaluation post. It arrived and I have to admit it is an intimidating size for  me. I am short, this canner towers above the stove. It is beautiful though and holds a wonderful amount. 14 quarts and 19 pints.

The day after it arrived we did a test pressure up to make sure everything was alright and worked. It did. The pressure came up and held. No leaks and the canner was ready to go.

We had a delay in butchering due to barn repair but yesterday saw me process the first batch of roosters with this canner. It is wonderful. De-boning and preparing the roosters takes the same time for both canners. (We find for us 10 roosters at a time is about right) With the Model 910 though I would have to run 3 batches of quarts to can the meat and even more to can the broth and stock.

I have been cold packing the meat. I did try the hot pack but it just took too long, if all I had to do was hot pack and process the meat that way it might work but I have to be able to help Ralph outside and do other things around the farm. I find the cold pack more flexible.

I start the canning the night before by getting everything ready, I make sure I have enough ice and the stainless bowls I sort the chicken into are clean and ready. I sharpen my knives and have clean towels on hand. I get the jars sterilized but I let them cool. I prefer to put cold chicken into cold jars and then as quickly as I can get them into the canner to cook. I add no salt to the jars.

In the morning Ralph brings the chilled birds up from the shop where we have had them in ice and I get to work. I cut and sort all of them into bowls with ice to keep them cold. 

The backs and rib cages and wing tips go into the big stock pot as I process them and start simmering with a simple mix of celery, carrot and onion. I do not add bouillon, it is mostly salt and will effect the flavor of your cooking later on, you want a clear simple stock. { I do make the occasional batch of Louisiana spiced stock with a bit more heat and spice.} This pot will simmer through the process of canning the meat and then it is ready to can when the batch of canned chicken is done.

I fill the jars with the sorted chicken parts. We do like drumsticks and I can fit 4 or five into a quart which makes us a nice meal. When we eat them I make a simple BBQ sauce and brush some of it over them then heat them in a hot oven until they are warmed up, not as good as roast chicken but still very good. I can thighs and wings in quarts. The breast meat is canned in a mix of pints and quarts. Then I  have a quart of mixed bits of meat, the oysters from the back of the chicken and bits of dark meat when I trim the drumsticks and thighs.

For this first run of canning with the Model 930 I decided to do all quarts to see how it worked and how much time I can save.

It was a resounding success. The initial pressure up took a little longer as it was cold pack and the canner was at a standing start. Then it was not much difference than the small canner. It releases pressure at the same speed. The double layer of quarts makes it much much faster. When the chicken had been canned and I was waiting for the canner to loose pressure I strained the stock and filled quart jars with it. I was just done filling the last jar with stock when it was time to take the chicken out of the canner.

This time the canner was hot and filled with hot jars and it started to vent much faster. I was surprised that it was not a lot longer to reach pressure than the small canner.

 The first days work with the Model 930, and the Model 910 that I learned so much with.

As to saving time....it saved me at least 4 hours of waiting for the canning  processes to finish. This will be a huge advantage come summer bean canning season. We also hope to can Irish potatoes and anything else we can stuff into jars. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate this new canner at 9...it's not perfect. For me it is very tall and I have to be extremely careful putting jars into it, I have to make sure I don't bump it with my arms. However it is wonderful for the time it saves and the fact that all the meat goes in at once and does not sit out waiting its turn to can which is a concern.
For anyone serious about being prepared or who has a large family to can for and feed this is an ideal canner.

God Bless you all and happy canning!


PS:
Ralph is trying a new technique with seed potatoes called green sprouting. This gives them a head start and should help them yield better in this hotter and more humid climate. As you can see he is trying a wide selection of varieties as we do have the room.






19 comments:

  1. ha not my favorite topic :-(
    but I love your enthusiasm ...when are you going to eat all this food :-0

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  2. We are stocking our cellar and want to have a good supply on hand. We have not gone shopping for things like tomatoes, beans, chow chow,relishes, cabbage, sauerkraut, Applesauce, squash, oatmeal and flour for three months now. With the current additions CAFO produced chicken is off the list. Spring will see no more commercial peas, carrots, corn, green beans etc.
    Last night we had our own Chicken, our own sauerkraut, and our own mashed potatoes....see where this is headed :)

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  3. What a wonderful addition to your kitchen. I am green with envy, but so very happy for you. The ability to process 14 quarts at a time has to be pure heaven!

    And isn't it nice to be able to open jars from your shelves for a meal while others are standing in line at the grocery just before the next storm hits. That alone makes the time and effort put into canning well worth it.

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    1. We had friends visit a few weekends ago....they are completely mystified why we have our cellar/ basement in use as a pantry....and why is it so full? Then they remark food prices are going up and Walmart is out of a bunch of things they like. They also said the chicken was awesome and so full of flavor!

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  4. oh girl - CONGRATULATIONS! we have the same canner and we loooooove it! i wish i was canning your chicken because we will not touch CAFO chicken and therefore have to stock up on local, organic chicken when it's available. it's expensive but sooo worth it. we greensprout our potatoe seed every year....the potatoe seed that we saved from last year is 6th generation potatoes - can you believe that??? we have been saving our potatoe seed for 6 years now, they are awesome, and greensprouting them does work miracles! i am so happy that you and Ralph are really getting things done. again, CONGRATULATIONS!

    sending love! your friend,
    kymber

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    1. How cool you have this canner and love it. Thank you for your input on potatoes, it is encouraging!
      I am a suckered for shiny!

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  5. Replies
    1. I am truly blessed with abundance. I was so excited when Ralph got me the 910 canner, and now this beautiful new one....I can can to my hearts content!

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  6. Oooooh, I like the design of the handles on the new canner. My 925 has the plain flat ones like your little canner.

    Congratulations on your new canner! :-)

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    1. The handles are really nice to use...it is quite heavy and the handles let you get a good grip to move it. You do want to make sure it is positioned where you want it over the heat before you fill it.

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  7. Interesting. I am going to green sprout my potatoes this year, too. I have an All American Pressure Canner on my wish list.

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    1. I will say the 910 is a sweet little canner. It was just fine for the Pre-Cub Run canning I did. I think for one person it would be fine. It holds 4 quarts or 7 pints. It has advantages over the big. You can cook in it. I have used it for pot roast and cheaper cuts of beef as well as corned beef. It is easy to lift and move, it also is not so hard on a stove. I intend to use the 910 when I have small batch's of canning to do.

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  8. How wonderful for you! So tall and shiny and beautiful. My range is electric so cannot use that brand, but am saving to switch over to propane in my house. Am looking forward to seeing your posts on what you can in this. Yumm

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    1. Green beans, baby potatoes....chicken soup, it's going to see a lot of use.
      I am loving this gas stove.

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  9. NOW that is a great thing. I used to can everything but no more. I probably would still be doing it with something like this. Oh in case of trouble I wish I lived closer to you or your pantry:) Hugs B

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    1. Trouble is one reason we are doing this. The other is eating healthier home raised food. We know what has gone in to the chicken! [All my chives, the peppermint bush, the dill]

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  10. Replies
    1. I have to admit I still can't it's part of my kitchen.

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