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In article >, wrote:
>zxcvbob wrote:
>> George Shirley wrote:
>>
>>> Anne Chambers wrote:
>>>
>>>> Andrew Valiukas wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Does anybody know where I can get a pressure canner in Australia? Is a
>>>>> standard pressure cooker the same - just different size? Would I be
>>>>> able to
>>>>> use a standard pressure cooker?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Andrew
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> I seem to remember seeing a warning somewhere that ordinary pressure
>>>> cookers can't be used because the pressure cannot be regulated
>>>> accurately enough.
>>>> Anne
>>>> South Australia
>>>>
>>>
>>> And the metal is generally not thick enough to hold the heat
>>> adequately allowing proper cool down. A pressure canner can usually be
>>> used as a pressure cooker but it seldom goes the other way.
>>>
>>> George
>>>
>>
>> But we don't know what passes for a pressure cooker in Australia. Maybe
>> it's a big clunky thing with a dial gauge on top (and would work
>> perfectly for canning.)
>>
>> You can overcome the thin metal cool-down thing by adding more water.
>>
>> Bob
>>
>No - my old one just has a weight that wobbles - no way of regulating
>the pressure at all. I don't use it. The latest ones may be different,
>but I don't think so; I haven't noticed big dial gauges on the ones on
>display.
>Anne
>South Australia
>

My pressure cooker is a "cooker-canner". It's, erm, I think 15-quart
capacity, which means it holds 4 quart jars. The weight has 3 spots to
balance it on the stem, marked 5, 10 and 15 pounds. So, most of the time, I
used it at 15 pounds to make sure it got to 10-12. It's also an
older-style, with a heavy skin.

Now I've got the "Queen Mary", a 22-quart (7 quart jars) canner, with a
dial gauge, and it's thinner skinned. The instructions say you can use it
for pressure cooking, but I never do (well, I've still got the "smaller"
one when I need to pot roast 10 pounds or so of something...)

So, what's the capacity of your cooker? If you can fit quart jars in it, it
should be large enough for canning. If you can only fit pints, it may be
fine, if you can fit the 7-pattern. If it only fits 4 pints, it may be too
small for the timed recipes to work properly. Also depends on what pressure
the wobbly weight (supposedly) holds.

--
Marie Martinek
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. USA
unge