Canning & Preserving 101

Thanks Clittle! None of the sales people looked like farmers, all collage students. There concern was that the canner was so large that it would get hot on the edges, but you don't have that problem?

My worry is the thousand dollar price tag to buy the darn thing. I am having a hard time finding out warranty info (just in case, don't have another grand kicking about.....it cooks great and the convection oven is fantastic!)

One of the guys said he has the same LG in his kitchen. Apparently his klutz brother has moved in with him and is in the habit of slamming a cast pan onto the cook top (causing him to cringe) but without any negative effect.

Do you use a full size water bath? I have heard that they make smaller types for glass tops. I just sold my old blue and white enamel kettle at a garage sale. It had a rippled bottom. The aluminum one I kept has a flat bottom, which is important for other pans on this top.

Deborah....should get out my ruler.

Okay, here we go. I looked up the user guide for a glass top cooktop. Please keep in mind that user guides WILL VARY depending on the unit and manufacturer, of course!

http://www.insideadvantage.com/assets/product/ZUSECARE/KECC507RSS_Use%20and%20Care_EN.pdf

This will lead you to a PDF that is about 1.4 MB. Page 14 lists guidelines for home canning and for cookware in general.

Specifically, for canning: Use only a flat bottomed canner. Do not straddle it across 2 burners. Use the largest burner. Canner should not extend more than 1/2" outside the burner area.

(It does also warn that rough surfaces can scratch.)

Awwww, Megan, thanks!

Thanks for the info Megan! Makes me feel not so rebellious. I have always canned on whatever stove I have, and right now it is a ceramic top. I also use my cast iron and whatever else I have on it - no special fluff treatment in this house! I just try to be careful - no dragging of rough things, no slamming, and such. And if it does break, find ANOTHER used appliance!

Side note - when I got my 'new to me' ceramic top I gave my old electric to a friend so she could have a second stove to put in her basement, just for canning!

Goosegirl

Hurray for free/recycling! Hope to hear more of your canning experiences, Goosegirl.

My glasstop is "new to me" too. I'm not crazy about it though. Living in TX I would love a full outdoor kitchen in the back yard, the part that never sees the sun. We have a mobile home and very little shade after 9AM, so canning makes it hot.

UGH!!! I feel your pain FarmerValerie! The stove that was recycled to a friend for canning is in her basement, near a walk-out door to her garden so she has easy access and can VENTILATE to keep the heat down and out of the main house!

Goosegirl

A friend from my son's Cub Scout den taught me all about canning last fall and she has a glass top stove. She said she did some research and hers is the only one rated for canning, but I'm not sure which stove she has, which means I have the perfect excuse to call and say hi I'll let you guys know, if I find out.

Just for kicks I signed up for an online course in canning, got the link somewhere on this forum, and they said to be careful with the new method of steam canning, the jury is still out on that method. I also read NOT to can in your dishwasher, yes people actually put jars full of food in their dishwasher and run it, then call them canned....... Looks like it's time to gather my supplies and make a list of what I need for this year, I also need to have my pressure canner thingy checked, it's older than my parents, I am greatful to have it, it was "free" (hubby did some work for someone in exchange for it) but I'm a bit leary of it....

I water-bath can jam on my glass cooktop all the time -- BUT -- full disclosure: I'm usually only making 6-10 pints of jam at a time, so I use my big stock pot for the boiling...same size as my biggest burner, and no heavier than if I had a big pot of chili going.

Complete Guide to Home Canning <~~~Click
updated, from Purdue University

Plan ahead for canning and preserving <~~~ Click

http://kaufmann-mercantile.com/images/vintage-canning-1930s.jpg

Vis-a-vis the glass cooktop and canning - I would be likely to set up a turkey fryer ($70) just outside the garage and set up a folding table ($10) instead of potential messing up the stove:

$80 is cheap insurance for $1000 stove...

BONUS: You can also fry a turkey in one, or do a fish fry or a crawfish boil or brew beer :drunken:

Form talking to masters canners, it is the weight that can break a glass top stove. With the contants of the jars , the canner, water and jar the weight get become to heavy for the glass.

Joy

I am having to replace our stove, and I bought a glasstop. I would have loved to get a gas stove, but my hubby checked, and there is no gas line run there. Nuts!

The old stove has a glass top with solid cast iron burners. If I had my 'druthers, I'd keep it. But it has developed a mind of its own, and I have no way of knowing from one night to the next how long it's going to take to make dinner, or at what temperature I'm going to be forced to cook. The thing is well over 20 years old, so...

I really wanted to get an induction stove, since you have the temperature responsiveness of gas, with the smooth top, and the top doesn't actually generate heat, so it cools very quickly. But I couldn't see spending another $500-700 for these capabilities, so I got a regular radiant glasstop.

I'll be getting an outdoor propane burner (crawfish boil, anyone?) to can stuff. It's time I learn how to can.

For those interested in canning check out www.freshpreserving.com. This is the official Ball website and a great resource.

camprn wrote:

http://kaufmann-mercantile.com/images/vintage-canning-1930s.jpg

Wow! Would you look at those jars!! The jars that I have like that I use for rice, dried beans, lentils, etc. I am getting old and have canned and helped my mom can when I was a kid and we didn't even use jars like that.

By the way, does anyone know if it is true that you void your warranty on your glass cooktop stove if you use it for canning? I am looking to buy a new stove soon too and that will make a difference in my choice. I like Ashort's idea of setting something up outdoors which is what I am considering too, especially with a covered deck. It would sure help keep the house cooler.

Gwynn

Here's 2 more cents:

When chatting with an appliance repair man, he told me that a major thing that goes wrong with electric ranges is the deterioration of the insulation on the top (between the oven and the top) due to over heating during canning. It's rated for only so much heat. So he said to get a canning element that would plug into the large electric burner for canning. It would be a larger coil for quicker boiling and sturdier to hold the large canner more stable and it would sit about an inch higher than the normal burner to allow more air flow beneath the canner.

His opinion was glass top stoves should never be canned on because the canner would sit right on the glass and the heat would have no place to go but to begin deteriorating the insulation beneath the surface and of course possibly break the glass. Yet it sounds like there are several successful glass-top-canners out there.

Gas ranges, no problem for canning.

I canned a bunch in my past row gardening life and I hope to begin again this year. I planted 12 tomato plants and I just sprouted seeds for a picklebush cucumber. It will be my grandmother's tomato/veggie juice and dill pickles....

Thanks for this thread; luckily, I found it as I am shopping for a new stove.

Overall, what is your preference? I'm stooped when it comes to all this fancy technology on stuff, not to mention glass tops and what nots.........

I'll definately be checking out the canning & recipe threads later this summer. Right now I have to focus on my gardening....or....I won't have to worry about canning & recipes!

Candi

Gas is my choice, when you need to turn it down, it goes down right away. I know of several people who can on their gas grill burner, or fish fryer, but make sure it's not a windy day, the wind affects the flame, and that affects the heat. You can also get a camp stove, big one, to use, or an electric canner (water bath) and use it on the porch instead of outside. They also have steam canners, but be careful of those, the jury is still out on whether or not those are as safe as regular water bath method.

FarmerValerie wrote:Gas is my choice, when you need to turn it down, it goes down right away.

That is precisely why I am leaning heavily towards a gas stove with an electric oven. I have cooked on gas and/or propane before and I love it for the ability to control the heat quickly. My glass cooktop that was in the house when we bought it is nice but will need replacing when we redo the kitchen. My kitchen is very small so I like the extra surface area you have when the top is cool but the canning issue is huge for me. Canning out on the deck would work as long as the weather is nice.....not windy and not raining, yada, yada. Where I live, by the time some stuff comes into season for canning, the fall nasty weather is setting in so outdoor canning wouldn't always be possible.

Gwynn

I wonder how hard hubby would wack me over the head if I suggest a spot outside to set up a "canning" area!

My kitchen is VERY small. Richard calls it a "gally" kitchen......I know for certain canning in the little space isn't going to work very well...............

I do like the idea of an outside area.............maybe I'll talk to him about it and get him to think it was HIS idea....... Yes.....I'll be working on this idea......I'll let you know how I make out!

I'm sooooo bad..............

zingercan - One of our most powerful weapons as women - getting hubby to think that what we wanted all along was HIS idea!!! Especially if it's something we think he might not be in favor of doing UNLESS he thinks it IS his idea!!!

I bake cakes, so gas oven is what I prefer, just my 2 cents, but I am looking for a convection gas oven....

All I had to do to sway hubby to an outside kitchen is explain how much we could save on the electric bill in the summer, after a day of all 4 burners going while canning, it's all in the timing. Now, if I could just get him to start and more importantly finish it.

sherryeo wrote:zingercan - One of our most powerful weapons as women - getting hubby to think that what we wanted all along was HIS idea!!! Especially if it's something we think he might not be in favor of doing UNLESS he thinks it IS his idea!!!

Now you know why I say we are 'the better half'! LOL!

@ FV.....ahhh yes. Getting them to complete the project........

Gwynn