starting this years garden in 2 days

[Del_]

Be warned that the All American 941 weighs too much to be used on a stove top burner.

All American also makes autoclaves and they have built in electric elements. I really wish I had one as I'm sure it would be very convenient. Don't know what they cost but I'd bet over $1K.

I like the idea of having two 7 quart canners. Like I mentioned, we have both a 7 quart and a 19 quart and sometimes we just use the 7 quart. What is nice about the 19 quart though is the time saved and the ability to do any number of quarts up to 19 at one time.

Yes it hurts to put out the big bucks but it is one of those investments that once made you'll never be sorry.

I don't know about a background check but it wouldn't surprise me is All American doesn't report some sales to Homeland Security. I do most of our canning late at night and sit near mine so I can adjust the gas and have the garage door open.

I hope a peace officer never comes up on me and ask what in the hell is that?

My response will be, 'Sorry officer, you can't look in there at the moment".

BTW, I never do any quick cooling of my pressure cookers. I know some do but I've read it stresses them. Sometimes I do run a house fan on on to cool it off a little quicker but never any wet towels, etc.

 

[chuckwood]

Be warned that the All American 941 weighs too much to be used on a stove top burner.

I like the idea of having two 7 quart canners. Like I mentioned, we have both a 7 quart and a 19 quart and sometimes we just use the 7 quart. What is nice about the 19 quart though is the time saved and the ability to do any number of quarts up to 19 at one time.

BTW, I never do any quick cooling of my pressure cookers. I know some do but I've read it stresses them. Sometimes I do run a house fan on on to cool it off a little quicker but never any wet towels, etc.

I've never run two 7 quart canners at the same time, but I'm going to try it sometime and see how much that speeds things up. I cool my canners down with fans, seems to save a few minutes. I've read all over in the canner literature to never quick cool one by quenching, don't know why, but I'm not going to try and find out. When my beans and corn come in, I'll be spending a lot of time in a hot kitchen. Sometimes what I do is stay up at night canning and sleep during the day. Don't have ac in the kitchen. Only ac I've got is the somewhat portable window units. I do know people that can outside or in a basement, but it's convenient to have everything going on in the kitchen where the food prep is also happening.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I want to clear up something I said earlier, my canners hold "seven" one qt. jars each, so they aren't seven qt canners... Did I do a better job of making that clear now?? lol

I let my canners cool on their own, and can a little at a time, NO marathon going on here!

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

OK, my gardens are producing like crazy, here's what my "back" gardens looks like,

As you can see, I "mulch" heavy,

and I have almost zero weeds,

These pepper plants are a bit shorter than last year, but they are still producing nicely,

These are Yukon Golds... I looked under the mulch, they are doing great!

The heavy mulch really cuts down on the watering too....GREAT stuff, well worth the time it takes to put it down!

SR

 

[chuckwood]

Started picking corn today. Conned my grandchildren into helping me, they did it with some complaining, it was hot. We picked maybe six bushels, but there's still plenty more. I'll be up all night processing and canning. The racoons did some minor damage that I discovered. They pull the corn stalks down and then shuck and eat the corn. I'm not too concerned, there's plenty for everybody.

 

[Del_]

Looks good Chuck.

We cut off the cob and froze about 400 ears of Silver Queen.

Next up is Stowell's Evergreen. It's been dry here the past three weeks and watered some this evening.

We have tanks and store about 5,000 gallons of rain water.

BTW, no chemicals in our garden.

I was a licensed pesticide applicator for about 20 years but haven't touched the stuff for 15.

 

[chuckwood]

My main crop of pole beans is coming in. I've already harvested 2 bushels this morning and will be continuing to pick throughout the day. Looks like I'll have way too much and some relatives and friends will be getting some of it, but they'll have to come over and pick 'em. It doesn't take too long to pick a bushel when there are clumps of them everywhere and you grab them by the fistful. I'll probably be processing and canning beans all through this coming weekend and maybe even into next week. I also can my potatoes, and I cook canned beans and taters together. They're ready in about 15 minutes. First fry up a bunch of bacon, then add a small bowl of chopped onions, brown the onions in the bacon fat. Pop open a can of beans and a can of taters and heat them up. That's all there is to it. The beans and taters are already precooked in the canning jars. So the only stuff you are actually cooking is the bacon and onions. I can eat this day after day without getting tired of it.

 

[chuckwood]

I waited a little too long to pick some of my pole beans, so I made shellie beans or southern style beans. Been busy processing and canning for the last three days. Here's the result so far, and I've got more to do. Even though it's more work, I like 'em this way best.