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

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
>

Perhaps. But it needs to be large enough for the jars to sit on a rack and
have the lid close properly, and it needs an accurate and precise way to
control the pressure.

Best regards,
Bob

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

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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

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

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

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in article , Anne Chambers at
wrote on 29/11/03 1:25 pm:

> 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
Check and see if your weight has a pressure written on it, many do. Ellen

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>
> >
> > 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.)

No dial gauge, but generally they're stainless steel (not always tho).
>
> You can overcome the thin metal cool-down thing by adding more water.
>
> Bob
>

Ellen Wickberg wrote:


>>
>>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
>
> Check and see if your weight has a pressure written on it, many do. Ellen
>
It doesn't, that's why I don't use it - it was a Xmas present years ago.
Seemed like a good way to blow up the kitchen
Anne

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"Andrew Valiukas" > wrote in message
> 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?

I don't think you can any more. The last time I saw them even mentioned
here was when the Americans that ran Millenium Ark moved to this country
prior to Year 2000. When it didn't cause the major dramas anticipated they
moved back to the US.

I've never seen or heard of any Australian ever using a pressure canner. A
pressure cooker, yes: but that isn't the same thing. Do you have any real
objections to using a Vacola like everyone else does?

"Fran" > wrote in message
u...
<<<<<snip>>>>>>
> I've never seen or heard of any Australian ever using a pressure
canner. A
> pressure cooker, yes: but that isn't the same thing. Do you have
any real
> objections to using a Vacola like everyone else does?
>
>

I resisted the urge to ask for an explanation and googled Vacola all
by myself. ;>

What I see is an electric BWB system. Cool, I wish I had one of the
electric ones..... Fowler's only recommends preserving pickled
vegetables and fruits.

But it doesn't address the needs for a pressure canner.

Low acid foods, such as vegetables and meats, should be processed at
240* F, which can only be accomplished by using pressure. Hence the
need for a pressure canner.

To the OP: If you were to find a pressure canner, or import one,
what would you use for jars? I noticed Fowler's jars use a rubber
ring and a solid lid. Would that be ok for pressure canning too?

To everyone: Is there such a thing as an electric pressure canner?
I canned chicken today and it was almost impossible to keep the
pressure steady, even when using the fancy 'simmer control' on my
fancy new range. ;< Gas stove would have to be LP and there
really is no place to set one up until I build a herbarium/canning
kitchen..... as soon as I win the lottery.....

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

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

"Deb" > wrote in message
> "Fran" > wrote in message

> <<<<<snip>>>>>>
> > I've never seen or heard of any Australian ever using a pressure
> canner. A
> > pressure cooker, yes: but that isn't the same thing. Do you have
> any real
> > objections to using a Vacola like everyone else does?
> >
> >
>
> I resisted the urge to ask for an explanation and googled Vacola all
> by myself. ;>

> What I see is an electric BWB system. Cool, I wish I had one of the
> electric ones..... Fowler's only recommends preserving pickled
> vegetables and fruits.
>
> But it doesn't address the needs for a pressure canner.

No it doesn't adress it but since the pressure canners and the jars and
anything else one needs for what Americans call "canning" are not available
in Aus, I don't really think there is a suitable answer for Andrew unless he
imports everything. Given the exchange rate this would be very expensive.
>
> Low acid foods, such as vegetables and meats, should be processed at
> 240* F, which can only be accomplished by using pressure. Hence the
> need for a pressure canner.

Just for interest sake, I have the instruction booklet that came with my
mother's Vacola. In those days (1930s) they used to give instructions for
'bottling' (canning) meat such as rabbit,lamb and lots of other stuff. the
instructions say to do the processing normally and then a couple of days
later to reheat again before storing. A botulism delight just waiting to
happen.

"Fran" > wrote in >
> Just for interest sake, I have the instruction booklet that came
with my
> mother's Vacola. In those days (1930s) they used to give
instructions for
> 'bottling' (canning) meat such as rabbit,lamb and lots of other
stuff. the
> instructions say to do the processing normally and then a couple
of days
> later to reheat again before storing. A botulism delight just
waiting to
> happen.
>
>
>
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.

Sheesh, it took me all day just to get the jars ready to stick in
the canner. Then I only had to watch the gauge for 75 min. I DO
appreciate how good we have it now. ;>

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

> Just for interest sake, I have the instruction booklet that came with my
> mother's Vacola. In those days (1930s) they used to give instructions for
> 'bottling' (canning) meat such as rabbit,lamb and lots of other stuff. the
> instructions say to do the processing normally and then a couple of days
> later to reheat again before storing. A botulism delight just waiting to
> happen.

I've actually seen "sterilization" instructions where you boil three
times, each time about a day apart. Since only botulism spores survive
the boiling, the idea is to kill the bacteria after it hatches(?) from
the spores. In 2 or 3 days, all the spores should have hatched, I guess.
Note that I'm not recommending this process and haven't researched it
at all - I've only seen it mentioned.

"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 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.

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)

> Sheesh, it took me all day just to get the jars ready to stick in
> the canner. Then I only had to watch the gauge for 75 min. I DO
> appreciate how good we have it now. ;>

Well, since I love my wood stove I still think I have it pretty good. I
find that I do a lot of cooking when I have the wood stove lit as I don't
want to waste the heat. I enjoy it a lot unless the winter goes on too
long.

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!
:-)))

"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) ;>
>
>
>
>