Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire looking for a used large pressure cooker

You just got put on DHS watch list!

maybe they'll sell me one they've confiscated.

I had no idea these things were so GD expensive! I got one as a gift last year and I have to say, I don't know how I lived without one.

Good luck on the hunt.


Travis

You've probably already thought things through but I'm going to throw this out anyway ...

Why not get two smaller All American 921s?

You'll have greater capacity for doing pint jars, a little less for quarts, and it's a popular pressure cooker/canner that you can find on sleezebay.

A 921 is hefty unit when filled. I have one and I really don't have a desire for a larger one. I can see the advantage of having two units going at once but there's a fair amount of prep work involved with just one.

That's my two cents.

I appreciate the way the terrorists have taken the pressure off the likker distillers.


40 quarts of turbo-distilled wash would yield a full gallon of pure stuff. ;-{>8

good idea

What are you wanting to can that a simple water bath will not accomplish?

Meats and/or non acidic stuff I reckon.

I see them at thrift shops and restaurant supply houses often. Cast iron as well!

Make a good still..

i was planning on doing some meat and maybe try doing fish.

Agreed with others that 2 smaller ones may be a good option. You would then have a size that could be used for other cooking.

Pintos done in a pressure cooker aren't bad at all.

Best flan I ever had was done in a pressure cooker. Very versatile piece of gear.

Not to worry, I have mine registered...all three of them.

It's a shame I can't buy gasoline anymore though.....no car, nor proof of insurance. (Like you don't need gasoline for a chainsaw, ATV, or boat!)


NOT!

We use the hell out of an American 930 30 quart and love it. We can get 21 pints in one batch. A 40 quart one would be nice but it was so big we would have to do all the canning outside. The 30 quart fits on the cooktop inside. Good luck finding one I don't think many people would get rid of one once they got it.

We also have a smaller one we use when we have a few left over that wouldn't fit in the 30 quart. Or if we are just doing a small batch of something. It does make it nice to have the versatility of two cookers of different sizes for the smaller jobs it is much quicker

I hear that there a couple of used ones in Boston. Don't know how much they'll hold though.

No girls in our family to help out. I was helping with canning at a very young age.

That said, we never used a pressure cooker. My Mom canned chickens all the time. Sterilized lids/caps/rings, put in the chicken or pork, add the spices, boil a while, put on the caps and listen for the to pop when sealed.

It was all done over a wood fire in big cast iron pots.

I canned some straw berries yesterday. I bring the pickling/spice solution to a boil, pour it over the fruit till full and screw on the lids. They seal within minutes. They are good for almost a year, none last a whole year.

got two 25 quart cookers off ebay.

Maybe so, but my grandma did the same in a pot of boiling water. Tomatoes, pickles, carrots, okra, beans, and all kinds of jellies/jams. Never owned a pressure cooker. Stuff all sealed well and lasted for years, excepting an occasional one.

I'd think the cooker would be a better ticket though of course.

FWIW the other year there was a shortage on jars... just saw 4 full pallets of jars at the grocery store last night.
Thinking I have quite a few but really probably should buy another couple hundred for storage just in case.... and plenty of tops for the lids.

This is from an article on home canning,..the reason why high temps are needed...



"Controlling Botulism

Whether food should be processed in a pressure canner or boiling-water canner to control botulism bacteria depends on the acidity in the food. Acidity may be natural, as in most fruits, or added, as in pickled food. Low-acid canned foods contain too little acidity to prevent the growth of these bacteria. Acid foods contain enough acidity to block their growth or to destroy them rapidly when heated. The term �pH� is a measure of acidity; the lower its value, the more acidic the food. The acidity level in foods can be increased by adding lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar.

Low-acid foods have pH values higher than 4.6. They include red meats, seafood, poultry, milk, and all fresh vegetables except for most tomatoes. Most products that are mixtures of low-acid and acid foods also have pH values above 4.6 unless their ingredients include enough lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar to make them acid foods. Acid foods have a pH of 4.6 or lower. They include fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalade, and fruit butters.

Although tomatoes usually are considered an acid food, some are now known to have pH values slightly above 4.6. Figs also have pH values slightly above 4.6. Therefore, if they are to be canned as acid foods, these products must be acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower with lemon juice or citric acid. Properly acidified tomatoes and figs are acid foods and can be safely processed in a boiling-water canner.

Botulinum spores are very hard to destroy at boiling-water temperatures; the higher the canner temperature, the more easily they are destroyed. Therefore, all low-acid foods should be sterilized at temperatures of 240�F to 250�F, attainable with pressure canners operated at 10 to 15 PSIG. (PSIG means pounds per square inch of pressure as measured by a gauge.) At these temperatures, the time needed to destroy bacteria in low-acid canned foods ranges from 20 to 100 minutes. The exact time depends on the kind of food being canned, the way it is packed into jars, and the size of jars, as well as the altitude where you live"

My family on both sides has always canned. We have 4 pressure cookers, of various sizes. Mostly we do fruits/jams/vegetables, but this year I want to try some meats. I am going big on the garden this year.

Small one at home with tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, and some peas. I put in six fruit trees out at work (4-5 years before they produce), and have a big garden there. So far it has cantaloupes, watermelons, squash, and pumpkins. It will also have okra and black-eye peas for sure, and no telling what else by the time I am done.

I just got done cleaning out the cellar from when my mother-in-law had the house. There was a ridiculous amount of canned stuff down there, most way to old to chance it. A few jars of okra had 1974 on them. I did clean all the jars though, and have probably 500 pints, plus 3-4 dozen each of half pints and quarts. That is why a lot of garden, I have a lot of jars to fill this year. That isn't counting the stuff we canned last year.