Re: Erin/WA/Canning & energy usage
Posted by: dhaley <dhaley@...>
Most of our family lives in WA. Hubby grew up in Snohomish and most of his
extended family still lives there. I hear weekly about all the news and the
new rate hikes. My family lives there too. We moved away about 9 years
ago.
When you mentioned canning I thought of something that might help you. As
you know canning consumes alot of energy whether that be gas, electric or
whatever. Since canning is usually done in the summer it makes doing it on
a woodcookstove miserable unless you have an outdoor kitchen. When we lived
in TN the Amish made their own huge outdoor waterbaths. Many of our
non-Amish friends made these as well after seeing the baths the Amish made.
Here's how to do it.
1) Get a 50 gallon metal barrel, try to find one that's had syrup or
something like that in it so you don't have to mess with the oil or another
chemical.
2) Cut the barrel in half you will have two sections left that look like big
metal cups.
3) Take the "cup" with the bung hole in it and turn it upside down on the
ground. It'll look like a stool to sit on. You will then need to cut a
hole in it's side big enough so you may build and keep a fire stoked under
it. Don't make it too big though because this is the frame to support the
other half full of water. You will also need to knock a smaller hole
opposite your big hole. (it's your draft) You have just made and outdoor
cooktop that can be fired by wood.
4) take the other cup and set it on top of the other "cup". Fill it full of
water but leave enough room so the water won't slosh out when you dunk your
jars in.
5) Get a good hot bed of coals going and you will see that you have a
continuous outdoor water bath going. This is also good for blanching corn,
scalding chickens, etc. Some folks have two going, one for scalding jars
and one for processing.
Now for your pressure canning. You will need to go to Sam's or Costco and
purchase a two burner propane outdoor stove. The kind that sits on a
stand...a one burner will do too...often these are called fish camp stoves.
These run off of propane and use very little propane. Make sure you keep a
back up bottle filled though because it's mighty frustrating to run out of
propane when you are only half done with a canner load. Scoot you picnic
table over close to the canning area and locate it under a tree for shade if
possible. Get some inexpensive ceramic tiles at a home fix it store and
place those on your picnic table top. You now have a place to set all those
hot jars and canners without hurting the table. Find a nice comfy lawn
chair to sit in under that tree. Throw a blanket on the ground for the
children to help with the workload and enjoy your canning
season...blessings...Deanna