Canning with a turkey fryer

[mapper]

We use a camp chef stove for our water bath canner but find that it is too hot for the pressure canner. The burners on the camp chef are rated at 30000 BTU, and just won't throttle back enough to run the pressure canner safely. The stove in the kitchen is much easier to regulate for the low flame needed. Keep in mind that a water bath requires a lot more BTU's to operate since a lot of energy is being lost through evaporation, while the pressure cooker loses heat primarily from radiation.

 

[Deere Dude]

Mapper is right on those being very hot. I just put a gas stove in out garage/canning processing center and it works great using 12,000 burners. The canner needs to come up to temp and sustained a certain pressure for 5-20 minutes depending on what is cooking. I am not sure a 30-60,000 BTU will regulate down that far continuously, easily and safely. I know they have regulators and if I had one I would try it but watch it very close.

I would get a single gas burner of the smaller size kind of like the side burners on a larger grill.

 

[r porter]

yes they get hot, and when we run 2 for an hour we open the door in the garage to let some heat out.

the adjustable regulators are not expensive and will do the job.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We do the same thing, to keep the summer heat out of the house...

Sometimes I use my wood cook stove,

A few scraps from the sawmill, and it's going nicely,

Best part is, I can bake in the oven, while cooking/canning on the top of the stove,

When I'm done, I roll it back into the garage...

SR

 

[RSKY]

We use a Presto brand pressure canner which is made for use on a flat top stove. Most of the canners we looked at before buying specifically said not to use with a high heat burner. Having seen a cooker blow up when I was a kid (my sister now admits she was reading and not watching gauge, forty years after the fact) I would be hesitant to do anything not recommended by the manufacturer. And yes green beans, glass, and metal exited the safety vent and embedded themselves in the ceiling. I would also rather use something to heat that took longer to bring to operating temp than something harder to adjust down to proper temp. Call me a coward but in my older age I err more on the side of safety.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My "All American" canners, have a weight over the steam vent, plus a rubber SAFETY plug. If the pressure EVER got too high, both of those would safely let the excess steam out...

You would have to be a total IDIOT to blow up an All American canner...and the only way, would be to let the cover get so crudded up, it would "some how ?" plug both safety outlets at once...

I couldn't even guess how many qts I've canned with ours...

SR

 

[r porter]

ready to light off in the barn


the meat ready to go in- it takes several hours to get it out once you light off

 

[David Wayne]

My fryer came with an adjustable regulator, and canner has the weight. I did 7 quarts of green beans yesterday and it worked great, much faster than on the stove. Decided to cook up three dozen ears of corn to freeze and then two more dozen for supper.
Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Deere Dude]

You are here: Home / Pressure Canning / Pressure Canner Heat Source
PRESSURE CANNER HEAT SOURCE

Sometimes concerns are raised about the heat sources for pressure canners.
BOTTOMS OF CANNERS
Pressure canners with concave bottoms (Mirro models) can’t be used on flat stop stoves because the heat won’t transfer effectively; you need a canner with a flat bottom resting on the flat stove top. “Mirro pressure cooker/canners are not designed to be used on a flat top (glass or ceramic) range because they have concave bottoms. On a flat top range, a large area of the bottom will be out of contact with the heat source, preventing the transfer of heat and the buildup of pressure.” 1

HEAT SOURCE TOO HIGH
Presto and Mirro canners can’t be used on heat sources over 12,000 BTUs because heat above that will damage the canner by warping the bottom.

Do not use pressure canner on an outdoor heat source such as a gas burner for a turkey fryer. This type of burner will soften the canner causing the bottom to warp. It may also result in property damage and/or personal injury. In addition, the food may not be safely processes.

From pressure canner heat source on the internet,

 

[Gunny]

I've started out with a turkey fryer to can several years ago, I've since graduated to the original fryer, but also use a high pressure two burner camp stove. Works great for me, I set everything up in the back yard, get a box fan blowing, plug in a radio and make sure the cooler is filled with Bud Light. I can water bath tomatoes, blanch tomatoes, and keep one burner going to simmer everything down. I use a small electric unit to keep the water hot for the lids.
All the heat and the mess is out in the yard, nothing to do in the kitchen except to run inside to get a bunch of jars out of the dishwasher (run through the sterilizing mode), if they've cooled off between canning batches, I warm them up again in the microwave