Have been neglecting my long term pantry of late. With the supermarket having sales on canned veggies again, stocked up on some more of those. Notice a move to the pull off lids, which I’m told are not as conducive to long term storage as they are thinner and, of course, have that “cut” that allows you to just pull of the top!
The same market was having a sale on beef again; buy one get one free. This amounts to up to a 50% discount in the per lb price if you buy two pieces of the same weight. Usually they have fatty, grisly cuts, like Cross Rib Roast. This week they had some eye of round roasts. Bought two and right now have them cut up in 8 pint jars in the canner. Know one can use tougher meats, the canning process tenderizes them right up. but those tougher meats are often fattier too! these are nice lean pieces.
Am finding that I’m using my ‘new to me’ Presto canner rather than my All American canner. The Presto is the same diameter, but taller. It is a gauge canner vs jiggler. It is also SOOOOO much lighter! when I saw this one in the thrift did not purchase it right away but did do some research on it and discovered that while the focus is on using the gauge for measuring pressure, the release jiggler on it is a 15lb jiggler. Since I can at 15lbs, this works great for me. The All American has both gauge and jiggler, with the jiggler being the primary measure for pressure, the gauge just a back up.
The other thing is, that All American canner is HEAVY! Being milled out of a block of aluminum – top and bottom – it requires no gasket. has impressive bolts for sealing it shut and is about as safe as it can be. but it is HEAVY! Not only is the Presto canner lighter to handle – even if it is bigger – it can take a lower heat setting and still keep pressure!
And, if my cut up roast had been more than the 8 pints the canner would hold on one level, could have stacked ‘em up at least another 8 pints if necessary!
thoughts and ramblings 