All-American 30-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner

I raise my own organic meat chickens (in the suburbs, no less) and knew that eventually I would have to get my own pressure canner to take advantage of the stock that can be made from the leftover bones after cutting up the dressed birds for the freezer. I did several hours of online research and people who really liked this canner reasoned that it was built like a tank and would (or already did) last for several several generations. It was also the only pressure canner that all the little Amish cookware shops sold when I shopped in Holmes county. Besides, I could do 14 quarts at a time, cutting my canning time in half!

After consulting my husband (this was a considerable purchase for us), we agreed that it would be worth it to get something that would last a really long time and not have to replace any gaskets and we were willing to take the risk since we currently owned a 7 year old Whirlpool Super Capacity 465 glass top stove. The stove is getting slow to heat pots and the oven runs about 50 degrees low and we'd really enjoy upgrading to a gas range someday so we agreed to be really careful and see if we could use the pressure canner on it. We also agreed that though the canner can also be used as a boiling water bath canner, We wouldn't use it for that since I already have a large stockpot for that purpose and the additional weight might push the glass top over the edge. We purchased the canner at Lehman's Hardware for $269, the tax and gas to get there made the savings over amazon a wash but I needed it right away.

I studied the user's manuel a day in advance and studied it thoroughly. This thing strongly resembles a bomb and I didn't want it exploding. I have faithfully oiled the rim as instructed each time I use it and loaded it gently and slowly, working from 6 quarts the first time to a full 14 today and the canner and stove (though slow) have worked flawlessly. I don't move the canner until it is completely cooled and I really baby the cooktop. I usually fire it up to process a load in the evening and don't even open it until the next morning. I use salad tongs to move the pressure weight to avoid the possibility of getting a steam burn. I know I took a risk but it has paid off. And unlike the boiling water canner, this thing doesn't heat up the kitchen hardly at all. Just wanted to pass this along to other people interested in this fine piece of equipment but held back by their current stove.