It's Official: I'm Now A Canner

 

I should truly say that "I am a canner once more."  I canned years ago, both hot water bath and pressure canning, but I haven't done it in so many years I feel like a newbie.  Today I canned 5 pints of chicken stock and 4 quarts of ham broth.  

I was nervous as could be.  One thing that my Nesco canner had me stumped with was there is a condensation catcher that is not attached.  It doesn't show me where I should attach it either.  I've absolutely no idea.  The other thing that delayed my progress was this thing called a U-Pin that they showed in the manual which was supposed to be in the sub-assembly of the pressure gauge.  I didn't ese it anywhere in my accessories and no one online even mentioned it.  

I resorted to a help site that assured me I would be helped momentarily and, in the meantime, would I please fill out the online form and submit it.  Turns out their 'help' was worth $70.  I closed out the chat and in frustration, turned to John.  I should have started there first.

John disassembled the lid ever so slightly and found the u-pin which was 1/4 the size of the one in the picture and was already firmly in place.  Sigh.  He put the thing back together and from there I got started at last which was just at lunch time.  

Well, I made a mistake right off when I put my broth into the canner. An hour later, when the canner had yet to beep and let me know to close the pressure valve, I hit STOP.  I went back to read through the instructions, looked at more instructional videos and discovered where I'd erred.  I'd pushed the PRESSURE COOK function.  WRONG!  That is a whole separate function from the canner.  I started over.

This time around I completely missed the E10 notice that was supposed to count down from10 to 0.  When I glanced around it said 20minutes which was my cook time.  I turned the valve to the proper setting and 20 minutes later it was done.  The only thing I don't care for is having to wait an hour for the cooker to cool down.

Everything went smoothly with the ham broth.  I heard every beep and did what I needed to do each time.  I didn't have instructions in my Ball Canning book to telling me how long to process ham broth.  They did suggest both chicken and beef broth be processed for 20 minutes per pint.  I looked online and found a woman who said she processed quarts of ham broth for 35 minutes.  I figured that sounded about right to me.  I had one quart of broth leftover that I plan to use in the next couple of days.  I think I'm going to use it to cook some pinto beans.  Heck, I might use it as part of my liquid to can beans!  

The YouTube videos I've found the most helpful with this Nesco canner are those at Stocking My Pantry.   Her instructions are clear and straightforward.  She does close up shots of the valve and buttons as well as telling you what she's doing.  

All my jars sealed just fine, too.  They are on the counter for their 24 hour cool down.  

I may not have started out early as I'd planned, and I had a misstep, but it all went well after that.

I can't wait to make the most of this piece of equipment!  I admit I was a scaredy cat and a slow start, but this went very well.  I didn't blow it up.  I didn't get burned.  My jars all sealed.  I've freed up some freezer space and I've added to may pantry.  I now have a refreshed skill to add back to my skill set.  

Amazon Associate Affiliate Link:  If you use my link to enter the Amazon site and place an order, I may earn a small commission on qualifying products.

Psssst!  When I was entering the above link Rakuten popped up a real deal at this site on a Carey Electric Pressure Canner.  Carey is the same product as Nesco, just a different name.