Pressure canning food
Pressure canning food
So me and my dad were talking about pressure canning and how it's very uncommon. I've never talked to anyone irl that pressure cans, maybe some water bath canning but that's it. I wonder why it's so uncommon? You can get a pressure canner for less than 150$ and it's incredibly useful.
I mainly use it for stock/broth but you can use it for so many things, tomatoes, soups, chili, baked beans, stew, spaghetti sauce, etc.. Honestly, anyone who cooks whole chickens somewhat regularly should invest in a pressure canner. I cook two whole chickens at a time and use the carcass to make about 14 litres of stock. I also make beef, turkey, pork and smoked variations of these.
It's so much better than buying your stock at the store. I will admit that it is a lot of work, from start to finish it takes me about 3 days because I wet brine my chickens. But you could just buy the bones from your butcher which I have done. Just wondering if anyone else does this or reasons why you don't do it?
Historically, pressure cookers were used for canning things to be preserved, and it works better for that.
Unfortunately, grandma’s pressure cook can’t even get used on my induction stove top- it’s just too heavy, too bulky and since i force my veggies in a greenhouse, I don’t really need to preserve them. (Trying to explain aeroponics to grandma was fun! Even more fun was bringing harvest-fresh tomatoes and green beans on the tag end of winter/early spring.)
There was a gap in generations that stored things like that, and as large and bulky as the stovetops usually are… they really weren’t worth the storage space.
That said I do use a smaller electric counter top pressure cooker (ninja?) and where it’s useful, it’s definitely useful. Stay away from the ones that do more (parents got one that did air frying and it was awful. Tried to do too much and none of it well.)
I use it to brown protein and then braise (pulled pork, carnitas, roast chicken, shredded/bbq beef, etc) as well as for canning tomatoes or beans as gifts. (Seriously… red sauce from canned tomatoes? Nothing better.)
The Abuela next door and I have a very lovely relationship…. I give her fresh tomatoes and she gives me some salsa. (We split the batches 50/50, and yes. That salsa is amazing.)
8I have an Instant Pot and love it. I use it daily and to the point I have had to replace some of the electronics that failed.
Presser Canning is a totally different beast. It’s hard to get your cans into the electric ones compared to the ones designed for canning. Also the amount of cans you can get into them. As someone who grew up using these. They are great for their use cases. Your food comes into harvest and now you have 50 lbs of corn or whatever crop now you need preservative it till next harvest in your cellar. The best jams and pickles I have ever had have been out of someone’s garden.
5The best jams and pickles I have ever had have been out of someone’s garden.
yup. I have fond memories spending my summers with grandma and grandpa. she always maintained a garden... blackberries, strawberries, musk melons. Tomatoes (3 different kind, including cherry tomatoes for snacking- important lesson that,) green beans
When I say I pressure can in the electric... for the record there's exactly one mason jar in there... It's definitely not got the through-put of grandmas; but there's something about the canning and storing for a month that just makes the sauce that much more.
Also, pressure cooker risotto might be cheating, but if you can nail it, it's an easy risotto. (though I kinda like doing it the old way. it might take longer, but I enjoy the process.)
5I also have an instant pot style pressure cooker and I agree that it's not really the best for canning, but I love it for cooking. I've canned stock in it but only small batches of a few jars. Seems that the downside for pressure canners is that they take up a lot of room for the specific use you need them for. I can see that and it's a good reason but I would suggest finding the room for one.
Cooking something on your smoker/BBQ and making stock with it is a game changer. It actually retains the smoke. Plus I use stock to cook all my rice. Rice cooked in stock is so much better than water. I've made shoyu stock for my Asian dishes, makes a world of difference.
You could always make small batches in your pressure cooker and if it's something you like, you could upgrade to a designated canner.
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I only water bath can because pressure cookers and canners scare the shit out of me. This is a me problem. Also, if I were to sell my goods, I think the foods have to be like jams, jellies, fruit butters, all water bath stuff anyways!
5Check out !canning@midwest.social if you're interested. I posted on there last year and will this year as well.
You're right definitely right about it being uncommon and underrated. Also pretty tine consuming when you're making large batches. Theres about a week during and at the end of harvest where its constant canning
3It's not really necessary in modern society. I do canning and other preservation hobbies. It's easier to buy it. Unless you're really interested in customizing your food, which is why I do it, it's easier to buy it.
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