Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Canning Plan and Pressure Canning Replacement Parts

The Great War on Potatoes continues. Yesterday I found another row. I've been digging like mad. About this time you might start to ask yourself, "Why on earth am I doing all of this?" and you'll start to get Harvest Exhaustion.  You know the symptoms - tired feet, dreams of jars plinking, repetitive motion disorders....

Do you need replacement parts for your pressure canner?

Keep fighting the good fight, friends. The reason you are doing this is because all those lovely jars are meals that will be super fast to make later. You'll thank me this winter on a cold snow day when you pop open a can of taters, fry 'em up in a skillet full of lard, and have yourself some potato goodness for breakfast.

My canning plan today is to:
1. Dig more potatoes.
2. Prep and shell the horticulture beans for canning tomorrow.
3. Pick the ripe tomatoes for making sauce tomorrow.

I'd be further ahead of the game if I hadn't found out that I needed a new seal for my pressure canner! Does everyone know that you have to replace these from time to time? My Presto canner instructions say to replace the seal at least every three years. So I was due.

I could tell I needed a new one because there was way too much steam coming from under the lid - and it was dripping! I had just put the lid on so I knew that the pressure hadn't built up yet. So I immediately turned off the heat, let it cool, and then took off the top. Fortunately I have two of these bad boys so I just used the top from the other canner.

But now I'm one canner short of a full stove so I need to wait around for the delivery guy to show up.

Happy Canning everyone! Anybody else pacing around waiting for the UPS guy?  Don't forget to get replacement parts - check out your canner's instruction manual for details. 

Editor's note: What's with the Amazon ad? It's a link to my store. You can buy anything you normally would at Amazon by using any of the links on this page or the black search box on the right hand side. You don't pay one cent more and I get a very small percentage of the sale. Why am I doing this? Gotta keep the lights on, folks. So if this blog has helped you at all please use my Amazon store - or the search box - for your purchase. You can choose any of my recommendations or anything you normally would buy - books, ebooks, movies, Amazon's Instant Video service, or canning supplies.

5 comments:

Sunnybrook Farm said...

You are smart to have two cookers, I haven't found one at a reasonable price yet. I water bath what I can but you need a pressure cooker. Have you tried tattler lids yet?

Vera said...

I bought an All American canner from the USA earlier on this year, and it is the most treasured possession I have in the kitchen. I do find your blog inspirational, and am even going to have a go at the brined cheese you mentioned a while ago. Anyways, can't get our potatoes up because the ground is too hard, but still have a couple of bags left over from the earlier dig so am going to get them canned too. I absolutely agree with you...there is nothing like breaking open a jar of one's own produce. At present, canning my way through three sheep we slaughtered a week ago. Onwards.......

Ohiofarmgirl said...

hey SBF! the best deal we've found is the one from Amazon - about $80 and that includes shipping. i hesitated for a long time about pressure canning but i'm telling you, it paid for itself the first year. nope, i dont use the tattler lids but i know folks who absolutely love them.

Vera, folks just love the All American - i wish i would have paid the money to get it.

Ann from KY said...

I had the exact same thing happen this year. Upon examination, I think it is leaking too much steam and actually probably is worn out! Am considering getting another pressure canner. Doing the big debate with myself about spending less on a presto or more on an All american.
I have a sears which presto made so I have another canner I can use.
What made me mad about the presto one is I ordered 2 new gauges for the 2 canners I have. They seem to be off 2 lbs. So I called Presto and they said that is within their standards and was fine to use. Am sorry I changed out the gauges. Was trying to keep them maintained and up to date.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Ann, everyone I know who has the All American just loves it - check out our friend, Vera! I think you can have your local extension office test or reset those gauges... and yeah I'd be mad too.

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