Big Bertha and the joys of pressure canning

A pot of vegetable soup sat simmering on the stove, the aroma infiltrating every corner of the house. A friend had stopped by for a visit and we talked while I prepped the kitchen. "Is that your new canner?" she asked, eyeballing the large black water bath canner on the stove. "Nope," I replied turning the corner and emerging from the laundry room (the only place where Big Bertha will fit). "THIS is the new canner!"

I knew we were ordering the largest of the pressure canners - 26 quarts - so I knew it was going to be big. Yeah. Big is an understatement. Big Bertha, as I have come to call it, is a monstrosity of a pot, but she gets the job done.

Despite the fact that I had read the instruction manual twice, I was nervous about using the canner. There were multiple warnings (on the pressure gage, on the canner box, on the front of the instruction booklet) about thoroughly reading the instructions before use and I was convinced I was going to blow up the kitchen. But people do this right? After the first time, I would laugh at how silly I had been to worry, right?

I prepped the canning jars as I did for any other process (inversion or boiling water bath), filled them to within an inch of the rim, covered them with a boiled lid and band, and set them aside. I wanted my full attention on the pressure canner when it came time to use it. It was time.

Reading the instructions aloud to my friend, we added 3 quarts of boiling water to the pot (it may have been just a touch more), and the five quart size jars of fresh, homemade vegetable soup. I was amazed at how little water it required! Considering the size of this pot, 3 quarts is nothing! On went the lid, which twisted close to lock. Now to let the heating begin. On high heat, we watched for a steady stream of steam to flow from the pressure regulator. Once it did we allowed this to continue for the required 10 minutes. Isabel (our youngest kitty) thought this was amazing. I tied to capture her photo as she sat transfixed by the steaming pot, but alas, when I got up to get the camera, she moved. You'll have to trust me when I say it was cute!

After 10 minutes of constant steam, the pressure regulator was covered and we watched carefully as the pressure rose to 11 on the gage. Once at 11, we could start timing the process - a full 90 minutes. Controlling the pressure with the heat from the stove took some careful observation and many times I had to turn the heat up or down to keep the pressure on target. It certainly wasn't difficult. I just had to keep a watchful eye. 

My friend and I continued to talk and enjoy our afternoon together until, before we knew it, the timer was going off in the kitchen. The 90 minutes of processing time had expired and low and behold, the kitchen was still intact. But it wasn't over yet.

The heat was turned off, the pot transferred to a cool burner, and we waited for the pressure to drop. At this point, we decided to get out of the house for a quick walk to the grocery. By the time we returned, the pressure registered at zero and no steam emerged from the canner when I removed the pressure regulator cover. We were instructed to allow it to sit an additional 1o minutes without the pressure regulator cover. Once those last 10 minutes had expired, I carefully removed the lid, being sure to open the canner away from me to avoid burning my face off. I was ready to witness the carnage of my first pressure canner effort, but... all five jars were just fine!  

Each jar was carefully placed on a thick towel on the counter, allowed to sit overnight, then with bands removed were labeled and placed on the pantry shelf. Aren't they gorgeous? Yep! It's time to laugh at how nervous I was, because this was really easy. Working with that kind of heat definitely warrants caution, but it's not hard. There are just more steps than other methods. And with all that extra soup sitting in the pantry and not taking up room in my freezer, I have plenty of room for other things like frozen peaches and homemade ice cream. Mmmm... ice cream!

I suppose the best part about using the pressure canner was resource use. It took an amazingly small amount of water and once we got started, it took very little heat (very low setting) from the stove to maintain the required pressure. I'm sold! Big Bertha was worth every penny!  So for those of you who have been a little nervous about trying the pressure canner, for those of you who long to can corn, soup, beans, etc but are terrified of blowing up your kitchen - never fear. Exercise a little caution, practice mindfulness as you work, and pressure canning can mean endless afternoons of fun with friends, and good local food all year round. Now, who wants some soup...