Too Scared to Try New Pressure Canner - Help!

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My boyfriend recently purchased an All-American Pressure Canner (915 model) for me for my birthday. I'm excited and can't wait to try pressure canning, but this canner makes me nervous.

He bought it from someone over E-bay, and therefore I don't know if it has been dropped, which I hear can cause problems (explosions?!). The listing on e-bay said "new in box," but the canner is actually a 1985 model. However, it DOES look brand new, and it certainly hasn't been used much, if at all. There are no visible cracks and the lid is not warped. The box it came in (the original box) has that 'been-in-the-basement-for-15-years' look, complete with watermarks. Is it safe?

I've been waterbath canning for several years and am fairly confident that I could pull off pressure canning. But I need some advice about the canner: should I try it or send it back and buy a brand new one?

-- Emily Jane (emilyjanejenkins@hotmail.com), August 22, 2001

Answers

Emily, use your canner with confidence. I have a much older All American pressure canner and they are in my opinion the best. I bought mine a few years ago for $20 at a flea market and I'm sure it is very old but they haven't changed in years. I did get a new gauge for mine so I would suggest you do that or have yours tested to see if it is accurate. Just check to be sure there is nothing in the vent to stop it up. I have been pressure canning for around 20 years and the only time I had one "explode" on me was when something got clogged in the vent. They do not actually "explode". They have a safety valve in them and it blows out, no big deal. If I can be of any further assistance to you post a message to me and I will email you privately. Pressure canners are not as dangerous as some people make them sound!

-- ugly (here@home.com), August 22, 2001.

Ugly :) is right Emily, in fact the older canners (is yours the one with the frankenstien bolts to hold the lid down) are actually much better, thicker, hold the heat longer, than the newer ones. Get yourself a good canning book/magazine. Blue books are fine, but so are the sunset brand books. Another.....buying or finding and older book is better, they were written before all the hogwash about what is good for us started :) Anything you have previously water bath canned you can do in your pressure canner, in fact my jellies and jams seal much more secure (check for yourself the next time you open one) than just water bathing, or sealing after cooking. Make pressure canning part of your everyweek life, as things ripen in the garden process them when you have the seven quarts or whatever your pressure canner holds, and you will use your canner more often, rather than having canning week! Besides how hard can it be to use a canner, it was made by a man! ;) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 22, 2001.

Oh great!! I have had a new one in the spare room for over a year. My mom had one blow up when I was a kid. Well I was scared to use it. I found a women my grandma's age and ask her if she uses them. She was more that happy to come over and show me how to use it. Had lunch together and now I use it all the time!! Find somone to spend the afternoon showing you and it will become a important part of you kitchen!!

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), August 22, 2001.

A few years ago a neighbor gave me an All American Pressure Canner, model #915. I put it in the cellar and forgot about it. After all, I had a perfectly good pressure canner I had used for years without any problem - UNTIL TONIGHT! I was a little leary about the rubber gasket when I started canning beets earlier but thought I had gotten it seated properly. Alas, I didn't! Steam was escaping all around the top. DH went down and retrieved the All American which we now have going on the stove. It appears to be working just fine but I'm working without the instruction manuel. I have e-mailed the company for a new one but it probably won't arrive tonight. Wish me luck.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), August 22, 2001.


recently bought an all american pressure canner from e-bay also. You need to send/call the company as there is a part that has changed- minimal expense-very prompt in sending and they will tell you the code for a free instruction/recipie book-have been using it now for past 3 weeks w/o any problems-very easy to use and only uses low heat on my electric stove to maintain the pressure-if you have any immediate questions-e-mail me and I will see if the answers are in my book from them-

-- dale (dmdm444@AOL.COM), August 22, 2001.


Emily, I finally bit the bullet myself this summer. Had also heard all the 'horror stories' and when I was given my pressure canner last month I was scared of it too, but really wanted some canned green beans. Well, nothing blew But I think I actually cheated. You see, by the time I did everything it was so late I wasn't going to be able to stay up for it to cool down, so I went on to bed. Next morning the canner was cool and everything was great, so now I try and time it so it can sit overnight to cool (otherwise I am too impatient to see the results :-). By the way, the green beans came out beautifully! And they taste great too, now I just wish I had a few bushels to do, but it is way too hot and dry now. But NEXT summer...!

-- yancee in texas (rnanning@comwerx.net), August 22, 2001.

I bought my All American model #915 four years ago and I totally trust it! The metal to metal seal makes it more dependable. Make sure, though, before using it the first time each season, that you put a thin coating of petroleum jelly where the lid meets the canner...helps create that perfect seal!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), August 22, 2001.

Take your "new" canner down to the cooperative extension people and they should be able to check it for you. They check the lid for the gauge reading and sealing. No charge for that. I would write to the company, as someone has said already, and request a book to go with your canner. Also, another GREAT book that I have found to be very helpful in canning is a receipe book call...SO EASY TO PRESERVE...it was published by the cooperative extension service of The University of GA. I have had this for a few years and I use it almost daily especially during canning season. It tells you the basics of canning with great receipes and the time tables needed too. You can usually get it at the local library and they ALSO have videos under the same name for you to watch and help you get use to canning with this book too. I know you will love using a pressure canner. I found them to be safe, fast and much more reliable than the water bath method. Good Luck !!!

-- Helena Di Maio (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), August 23, 2001.

If you canner has a pressure DIAL you will want to get it checked for accuracy. Here our extension serivice does that for free and it takes about 15 minutes. I know in other places some stores do it. Call around in your area and find out where to get it checked...even if it's new in the box I'd still have it checked.

I had never used a pressure cooker or anything like that before I got my pressure canner three years ago....I could remember my mama letting some peas explode out through the vent-thing of a pressure canner when I was little and how we had peas all over the ceiling for weeks!

anyway, I was SCARED of it! But after I used it a couple of times (going CAREFULLY by the directions that came with it and the directions in my home extension canning cookbook) I made it just fine! And YOU WILL TOO! suzy

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), August 23, 2001.


Yancee, you do not have to wait for the pressure canner to cool down completely, just wait for the pressure on the gauge to drop to zero. Then very carefully remove the lid away from you. I always open the vent too to let that last little bit of pressure out.

-- ugly (here@home.com), August 23, 2001.


Without telling you how old I am, (I am a great grandmother), I am using MY grandpa's canner. Have no idea how old it is. 50 years or more maybe. I have every confidence in it. I pull my kitchen stool right up to the stove when I am canning so I can watch the pressure gage and adjust the heat accordingly. It is the kind with the clamps. I think maybe most of the accidents are caused by trying to remove the lid too fast and not letting the pressure go down.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), August 23, 2001.

The American Canner is the very best!

I love the fact that when I do pints I can do a double load. I even do my tomatoes in it now rather than a water bath. 10Lbs pressure for 5 min. Don't know what I would do without it.

My mother had a presto years ago and she used her's for cooking. Made pot roast, cooked potatoes for mashed potatoes, etc. in no time. In fact, I think one of my sisters has it. So it is probably 60+ years old.

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), August 23, 2001.


Emily Jane & Dale... just a quick question - do you think you got a good deal on EBay? I'm curious about buying one on Ebay as well. thanks.

-- claudia in NY (cooleyville@aol.com), August 23, 2001.

Yes, my boyfriend got a good deal on e-bay. After much research, he was convinced that the All-American was the only way to go. We are in Canada and there is only one outlet here, which the e-bay price beat by a mile. Had we ordered one direct from the manufacturer, we would have paid almost as much in shipping as we would have for the canner. I would have been amenable to hunting down a canner at garage sales, but we don't own a car so that was impossibe. So for us, e-bay was a great deal all around. And thanks to all the great advice in response to my worried post, I'm confident using it. I say go for it, if you can get a good deal. Our experience was certainly a good one.

-- Emily Jane (emilyjanejenkins@hotmail.com), August 24, 2001.

I got mine on e-bay for $70, they sell (the least expensive I've see) for 119. Even with ordering the new part, I still came out ahead I did not count in shipping-as both prices above do not include it- although I think it came out less from e-bay-

-- dale (DMDM444@aol.com), August 24, 2001.


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