Do you use a pressure cooker?
I just bought a new pressure cooker. It is one with weights not digital. But it is new from wal-mart. Presto brand. My grandmother told me she hates pressure cookers because they are dangerous and blow up. We have a really large garden so I bought the pressure cooker to can our veggies. I feel nervous about using it but I am really excited to be able to can so much more foods and to do it in a shorter amount of time. Anyone else have a pressure cooker/canner? Have you had any trouble with it? Do you recommend it over water bath canning?
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It's only the older ones with no safety release that you have to worry about. Your canner will work fine, just follow the instructions.
Waterbath canning is only safe for high acid foods like tomatoes and pickles. You can use a water bath method for some other veggies but they won't keep nearly as long without you having to worry about botulism. Keep your can goods out of direct sunlight.
Check the rubber ring each time before you use it and make sure your pressure hole is clear in the lid by looking through it. Do not over fill your jars. After they are out of the canner and have cooled down a good twelve hours check your lids to make sure they are all sealed.
I opened a jar of hotdogs a couple of weeks ago that were just over four years old. Smelled great, tasted great. I've got dozens of jars of ham and bean soup, chili, and beef stew. We've eaten all the veggies from last season, (they never seem to last long around here), but will be canning more very shortly.
I love pressure canning!! I hate water bath canning!!
I have never had any problems with any pressure canner or pressure cooker! One time the safety cock blew out of my cooker when it ran out of liquid, but it did NOT blow up, just spewed little bits of chicken all over the kitchen! The rubber seal ring was faulty and I lost a lot of liquid before getting the thing to pressure!
Just follow the instructions that came with your cooker! It is safer to use than water bath!! If you have a good Extension Service office, you can get more instructions from them for safe use of pressure cookers. Listed under State of ?? in the phone book.
For vegetables you just need a water bath. If you are canning meat (my step dad cans spaghetti meat sauce), then you should use a pressure cooker.
As for it blowing up... Now days, pressure cookers are made to stay locked until the pressure comes down to a safe level. It will definitely not blow up.
If you want to get in and out of the kitchen fast and serve your family wholesome, nutritious, home cooked meals, then use a modern pressure cooker. No more junk food, no expensive fast food or prepackaged "dinners" with their high fat, salt, chemicals and other unwanted additives. Pressure cooking uses superheated steam under pressure to force the flavor into foods, so steaming will always be better than the destructive effects of boiling which is constantly washing the flavor out.
Cook nutritious meals in record time and preserve vitamins and essential nutrients because foods cook quickly in an almost airless environment with very little liquid. Pressure cooking is virtually fat-free cooking, as foods are cooked in a steam atmosphere, so fats can be cooked out and drained away. This super-heated steam actually intensifies natural flavors, so you can use less salt and still get great taste. This preserves the most vitamins and minerals and preserves the color of vegetables and its great for cooking low-fat and vegetarian recipes.
While you may have heard horror stories of pressure cookers exploding, multiple safety features have made this a thing of the past. Go for a modern pressure cooker with all the safety features which includes pressure indicators, pressure valves, double-locking lid, over pressure safety system and stem release valves etc.
l've been using one for years...never had any problems.