VegHead
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Post by VegHead on Aug 20, 2015 8:45:51 GMT 10
Shinester, the above link is also who I deal with (aka New Generation Preserving), and they are very accommodating especially with getting good freight rates to the boonies.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Aug 20, 2015 8:48:03 GMT 10
Lol, I now know a third name they are known by  |
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VegHead
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Post by VegHead on Aug 20, 2015 8:56:35 GMT 10
BTW, we have never felt the need to add salt to taste; whatever comes out of the canner tastes just fine without it.
We must admit that the our canner has been one of the best 'investments' we've made. Looking forward to putting away more veg in jars as frozen tastes poop in comparison.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Aug 20, 2015 23:53:11 GMT 10
Yeah, it's been one of the best and already well used prepping items I have also. I too don't add salt to taste, particularly because the wife has quite a taste aversion to it. I would have liked to get the 'All American' as I had planned because it needs no replacement seal but for the sensational price they were going for on Ozfarmer, I just had to grab it. What I like also is taking advantage of the really good specials that pop up in supermarkets in veggies, sometimes for 1/4 of the price. If they're not on special, I don't make anything. Like I've got potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions for some pumpkin soup, all at great prices, but still haven't seen pumpkin on special lol.
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Post by Peter on Aug 21, 2015 0:17:24 GMT 10
I, too, was looking at the All American. But at a quarter of the price, this one's the goods.
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Matilda
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Post by Matilda on Aug 21, 2015 6:31:24 GMT 10
Thanks so much for all the tips shinester and VegHead. Much appreciated! We canned the carrots and we didn't add any salt. Our gauge should of been 11 but it rose up to 12+ even when we turned the gas down. I had a 'chat' with Ozfarmer only to learn that we needed to remove one of the weights to bring the pressure to the 11. Each weight was 5psi, so leaving the extra weight on created the higher reading. But the carrots - 3 quarts - look amazing! So after processing, each kilo fitted in the 3 jars. The apples. I'm now feeling confident to use the dehydrator for long runs. One thing I learned was having good equipment. I need to purchase a decent peeler. Today. We bought a slicey dicey thingy - not a cheap one - but hubby being the carpenter that he is, claimed it as 'his'. After peeling 4 large apples with 3 different homebrand peelers, I was nearly pulling my hair out. And that slicey dicey thingy is......well lets just say it takes no prisoners. How the heck did Hubby get the slices looking like what you would see on those white teeth smiling TV slicer thingy gurus when we first tried it? My first attempt at slicing looked they had been gnawed out by a beaver. Lumps and bumps, slices so paper thin on one side to an inch on the other. Some even had lines on them like you were looking down on crop circles!! But, I managed to fill 2 trays and gave up. Hubby arrived home and I just knew 'Mr Fixit' would know what to do. I barely got the second tim tam down and he was up emptying the last of his cuppa into the sink. He never does this and I then knew that his focus had shifted to that HUGE box of apples. What to do?? He took the slicey dicey thingy and proceeded to show me how it's done. Whack! #*>^#+? Where's the bandaides? I looked at the box of apples wistfully that had just grown again. But! Hubby had done battle with bigger machines than slicey dicey and I caught that glimmer of determination as he said. "I'll peel and slice - you cut, dip in lemon juice, dry and bag'. We can do this!!  So for near on an hour we worked as a team; slicing, cutting, dipping, drying and bagging. Our small freezer is full with bagged apples, ready to thaw and dehydrate every other day. Apart from a birthday this weekend, I plan to buy some veggies to can. I wonder if DIL wouldn't mind a couple of apples in with her birthday present? |
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hd1340
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Post by hd1340 on Jan 17, 2016 22:50:18 GMT 10
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Post by thereth on Jan 18, 2016 0:37:34 GMT 10
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Post by Peter on Jul 28, 2016 17:23:00 GMT 10
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Jul 28, 2016 19:31:27 GMT 10
Yeah noticed this in my inbox this afternoon... One question, almost everything I read on these talks about gas burners, anyone used them on an electric hotplate? Cant see an issue but figured Id ask... For that price would be a wonderful bit of kit to keep the missus busy/happy... Not a bad prep either  |
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Post by Joey on Jul 28, 2016 19:47:16 GMT 10
Yeah noticed this in my inbox this afternoon... One question, almost everything I read on these talks about gas burners, anyone used them on an electric hotplate? Cant see an issue but figured Id ask... For that price would be a wonderful bit of kit to keep the missus busy/happy... Not a bad prep either The concern for using on a glass top, is simply the weight of it. Thus why it says to check the weight rating of your glass top. If concerned, just don't stack it to the brim with bottles to reduce the weight. |
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Jul 28, 2016 19:59:43 GMT 10
Ah sweet. Yeah i've cooked some pretty epic soups between multiple stockpots so i think it'll handle the weight. Mentioned it to the missus and seemed interested so probably going to pull the trigger...
Only other thing is it says using it as a sterilizer will void the warranty... Anyone know the why behind this??? Would be good to be able to do mushroom grain...
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Post by Peter on Jul 28, 2016 21:37:32 GMT 10
I'm assuming - without confirmation - that they're talking about it to sterilize objects such as surgical instruments.
On a side note, I've made a few purchases from ozfarmer and always found their service to be excellent. I love a good bit of professionalism...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Jul 28, 2016 23:35:07 GMT 10
That makes sense on using the pressure canner as a makeshift autoclave, im sure there would be all sorts of things they'd have to guard themselves from. Grain will already be in ball jars for ease of innoculation afterwards so I cant see the difference between that and pressure canning... Bring on the mushroom spawn!
I'll second that on having a good expirence with ozfarmer. We've bought plenty of ball jars from them in the past and was happy with the transctions.
I did place the order afterall and look forward to canning next summers veggies!
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Jul 30, 2016 0:04:49 GMT 10
My stove is electric, I have a cupboard full Not sure how they would know if you did autoclaving versus canning, thought it was much the same process. That's a good price. I recommend the jar tongs and a funnel, though you can also pick them up at Big W. |
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Jul 30, 2016 0:13:45 GMT 10
Yeah my understanding was that the canning process worked because it was sterilising it...
My wife is all over the tong/funnel stuff... have been doing water bath canning for a couple years now, just looking to get into the serious stuff!
Placed the order with ozfarmer 9pm last night, by 10am this morning I had a courier tracking number in my email. Now that's service! |
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Jul 30, 2016 12:26:56 GMT 10
Good stuff, it's easy to do.
If you're used to making up batches of stock pots, then you really just move that into the jars and then run it through the pressurization cycle. Takes some time but it's easy and you can do other things whilst it's running. If you want to fill your canner for a batch to get your best bang for buck, you need about 9L [depends on the canning jars you use a bit].
My biggest mistakes have been over tightening the jars, they only require light finger tight as the seal is the vacuum created pulling on the gasket not the ring around it, dropping hot jars into cold water [lol] and over filling. If I'd followed instructions then I would have been fine lol.
I still do water bathing as applicable as I reuse pasta sauce jars, though most of my preserving these days is pressure canning now. Love it.
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Post by familyprepper on Aug 1, 2016 12:01:36 GMT 10
I do a little canning but only water bathing at this stage
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 4, 2016 0:23:24 GMT 10
My presto pressure canner from Ozfarmer arrived this morning, looking forward to busting it out and doing some tests this weekend! Good turn around given the free freight, very happy with their service once again |
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Post by clearview on Aug 5, 2016 23:12:30 GMT 10
This is great discussion. I am hoping to see more ideas - recipes etc. Ive used Fowlers for years for fruit. No I want to try doing some simple things like spaghetti sauce, maybe meatloaf, soup etc. I am leaning toward the All American Pressure Canner because it has no rubber seal. Rather pricey though!
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Jul 7, 2024 11:02:41 GMT 10
So for near on an hour we worked as a team; slicing, cutting, dipping, drying and bagging. Our small freezer is full with bagged apples, ready to thaw and dehydrate every other day. Apart from a birthday this weekend, I plan to buy some veggies to can. I wonder if DIL wouldn't mind a couple of apples in with her birthday present? 
