Canning on an Aga

[Garfield]

Hello guys, this is my first post on the forum and I was wanting to know if canning is possible on an oil stove. Ive got an Aga, which is a cast iron stove fuelled by oil, specifically it has two hot plates on the top, one to boil, one to simmer. It is extremely difficult to regulate the temp as there is only a small regulator connected to the stove to control oil flow. Do I need more precise control over the temps of the hot plates to maintain stable pressure whilst canning?

[Cedar]

Yes you can.... and it will probably fare up better than my electric stove with yorus being cast iron. Canners get heavy and destroy stove elements.

The good news. Is on your burner plate to boil, you can use it for canning. I have friends who can on woodstoves as they are off grid and have nothing else, so they can be tricky to regulate for heat too. Your Aga might not be easy, it might be easier, it might take awhile to get to the right temp. But it is more than likely possible for you.

For a water bath canner, just keep it at a boil. So as long as you can get it hot enough to bring to a boil and stay there, that will work for waterbath canning. When you bring it to a boil, you should be able to play with the heat dial (or whatever it has on your stove) and not have it on full blast the whole time.

The same should be ok for a pressure canner. You put 2-3" of water in the bottom and bring it to a boil with the top lid on, let it vent out of the steam vent for 10 minutes, and then seal it up with your weighed gauge or dial. Then you keep it at that temperature for the right pressure and time according to your recipe and elevation. Like on my electric stove, I can turn it down to 6 on the dial (out of 9) and it will stay at pressure. So you will likely not have to crank it up on high the whole time you are processing. The trick is to find where the happy spot is on your regulator. I think I would do something like jam or juice for a test run or two. Something you can reprocess or not cry about if it fails (such as meat).

Good luck to you,

Cedar

[Nicodemus]

Garfield, when you have a moment, please drop by The Intro Thread and introduce yourself to the other forum members.

[prepgal]

I remember helping my parents can beans and tomatoes outside in a long washtub over a wood fire.  So I don't believe precise temperature control is necessary.   Like Cedar said, so long as you can reach boiling then come down a bit.  I think we could can up to 50 quarts at a time in that old washtub.

[Garfield]

Thanks Ceder, I'll make sure I try to preserve some of the jams first, probably will have to go through several hundred mistakes and successes before I'm a blackbelt like Jackie Clay. Will let you know how I get on.

I should be free this afternoon Nicodemus so I'll drop in and introduce myself.

That sounds like some pretty manic canning session prepgal, did they use a 22 quart canner for the job? I'm considering what size to get myself. I'm in the UK and although there's plenty on ebay and amazon, most are shipped from the States so the post is pretty hefty. There's a few mirro's, presto's and hawkins on the mainland but no all American's. I'll have to read through previous threads and see which is best for my needs.

[Cedar]

I think mine is a Mirro.. It could be a Presto however

Cedar

[Garfield]

Would you recommend a pressure gauge?

[Cedar]

Would you recommend a pressure gauge?

I like weighed gauges. Then you don't have to test them every year.

Cedar

[11 Bravo]

How do you stand the rattling Cedar ?  My 60 year old  Mirro with the weighted gauge drove me batty compared to my Presto with the visible pressure gauge....

[prepgal]

Garfield, we didn't use a canner.  We put the jars into the washtub of water over the wood fire and covered it with an old piece of plywood.  My parents grew up in the mountains of east Kentucky during the depression then raised 6 kids with little or no money.  I guess in those times they learned to make do with what they had.

[Cedar]

How do you stand the rattling Cedar ?  My 60 year old  Mirro with the weighted gauge drove me batty compared to my Presto with the visible pressure gauge....

*Grin*. I worked in a vet office with barking dogs for 22 years, I don't hear them very well, and I don't hear the rattle very much.... UNTIL I DON'T HEAR it.

Cedar

[Garfield]

Garfield, we didn't use a canner.  We put the jars into the washtub of water over the wood fire and covered it with an old piece of plywood.  My parents grew up in the mountains of east Kentucky during the depression then raised 6 kids with little or no money.  I guess in those times they learned to make do with what they had.

Sorry to have misread youre post, it sounds like an ingenious piece of improvisation, hope my parents have handed me down a good dose of common sense to shine through if times require.