"Fran" > wrote in message
u...
> "Deb" > wrote in message
> > "Fran" > wrote in >
> > > Just for interest sake, I have the instruction booklet that
came
> > with my
> > > mother's Vacola. (snip)
> > >
> > Rather like the stories my Dad tells me of how Gramma used to
can
> > meats and veggies with a wood cookstove and the old fashioned
jars.
> > All day long stoking the stove and cooking the food for many
hours.
>
> Uuuuummmmm. I still use a wood stove all winter for cooking, hot
water and
> hydronic heating and sometimes I've also used it in summer if the
weather is
> cool to do my own bottling (canning).

I tried to figure out how to put a wood cookstove into my house.
Just can't find the room for it... sigh.... I think it would be
great to heat the house and cook on the same armload of wood.


I have 2 of the old stove top Vacola
> units and they work better on my fue stove (which they were
designed for)
> than they do on electric hotplates. The hotplates are too close
together
> and getting the Vacola units to sit flat on them is impossible.
My fuel
> stove on the other hand, has a full top flat surface of about 4 ft
by 3 ft
> and I can fit both Vacolas on the top and do a big batch of
bottles at the
> one time.
>

That would be convenient. I recently purchased a new range. It has
2 large burners in the front so I can use 2 large pots at once. The
old one with one large one in the back was impossible... couldn't
reach the controls and a large pot couldn't sit completely on the
burner area because of the back controls. I do have a flat glass
top, but one that was hot all over instead of just in the circled
area would be nice.


> I also suspect that the way we do bottling here (jars which use a
rubber
> ring and then the lid is held closed by putting a temporary
"sprung" clip on
> over the lid till a seal is formed) may not be too different from
how your
> Gran used to do it. I know it is certainly no different to how my
Gran used
> to do it as she also had a Vacola system. (In those days one
could get
> Mason [???] jars here - the ones with a two part metal lid [???].
I've seen
> some in Antique shops and I do recall some in the back of my
Aunt's pantry)
>

Those are the jars I use to store various dried food, herbs, and
grains. I do have a friend who still uses them for pickled foods.
She's afraid of the metal and vinegar contact.

> Anyway, since you think your Gramma had it hard, I won't tell you
about my
> other house where I only have solar power and no hot water unless
I light
> the wood stove to cook on and to heat the water. Things get a bit
difficult
> there if the header tank on the hill which allows me to use the
water that
> is gravity fed to the house runs out of water and I have to go out
and bring
> it inside by the bucket from a tank under the the gutter - now
that is hard!
> :-)))

Thanks for not reminding me of your other house. ;> I think I
remember reading all about it awhile back on another group we both
subscribe to. I admit, I'm spoiled by the 'good things' in life.
And I like it that way... Now 30 years ago, I had a few other ideas
of what would be optimal, but I cranked the stereo until the mood
passed. ;>

Deb
--
(in Oregon, the pacific northWET) ;>
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