Don't put the weight on. Just use the lid to cover. You don't need to lock. If it vents steam the water is definitely boiling. Otherwise just lift the lid off and visually check.

Carol

Thanks Carol. I think I'll put the old WB away and use the Presto for WBing. One less large item in the kitchen. :)

If the water's at a really hard boil and venting steam, some pressure will build up. Once it's at temp you can turn the heat down. It will still maintain a boil.

Carol

yes, you can can.. Provided the jars are under at least 2 inches of boiling water

My 23qt Presto is tall enough where the jars would be covered with water. My kitchen is on the small side and I'm running out of space for all my new canning stuff.

Gotta bet a bigger kitchen!! MY kitchen counter space is 20x20 inches, and thats with a 1/2 thick poly propelyne cutting board. There is the stove on the left, and the single sink on the right, then the microwave. No other counter space but the kitcehn table that now has a ton of computer parts wating for me to fix. My food 'pantry' is 12x12x6 foot. All above cabinets are fill with dishes and small appliances as wel as zillion spices. Have a small closet my dad add shevles to and even that has no space. I do manage, but when it comes to 'switching gears' its a half a day to clear one task and do another. My basement has about 6 sets of shelves that hold my jars, full and empty. About 350+ or more, lost count years ago. Next door, was a mirror of my house, 2 years back they broke down a wall to the adjacent room, all new kitchen furnishings and don't even cook! What a waste! Yes, the Presto should do fine. Be sure that there is a 1/2" or more of open space at its bottom so the jars don't sit in it directly. I do have a stainless hood too, so height can be an issue if its doens't have a few more inches there too. Maybe at least 6 inches of clearance above the lid.

LOL @ Ken. Gotta get a bigger kitchen myself. I do most of my prep at the table in the "dining room" and then move to the counter next to the stove for the final steps. Still, it's better than my last "kitchen" which I bet would have made the galley on the Gilligan's Island tour boat look posh by comparison. =)

Ken: I wish we did make a larger kitchen and smaller sun-room when we built this house. There's enough counter space but we're short of cabinet space for storage. I was concerned about the hood over the stove but there is plenty of space between the top of the canner and the fan-vented hood. The Presto has a rack thing in the bottom with holes in it to keep the jars off the bottom. I'll have to leave the lid cocked to see when it starts to boil so I can set the timer.

I used the Presto for the first time this weekend, to BWB Dilly Beans. I actually prefered it to my old BWB canner. I like the rack better than the wire basket rack my other canner has. I'm going to see if I can get more racks like that for my other canner, so I can get 2 canners going on the stove at the same time.

I keep all my canning supplies in the fruit cellar throughout the year, and bring them up to the kitchen only when I need it. After the jars are cooled, I can carry them down to the cellar in the canner, stock the shelves and put the canner away.

Check out the much better design of the stainless steel wire racks that Kitchen Krafts offer. The nice part is you have handles and can pull out the whole set of jars st once. My old wire rack was a bit cheap and so I added a cut down piece of perforated aluminium from Home Depot. Cut into a big round, it fitted nicely and kept all sizes of jars vertical. Don't foget the dates, batch numbers, and labels!

susytwo: Our home sits on limestone rock so we have no cellar. I sure wish we did. No attic either, just an unfinished space through a closet ceiling. Right now I have the empty jars stacked in the small untiliy room under the clothing rack. The filled jars are in the sun room on a microwave cart. We need to find somewhere cool to store them before winter. I'm working on moving some things to the storage building and putting the canned good there (husband's old office). My house seem to be.... *GASP!*... shrinking. :-O

As we grow, our surroundings get smaller as do we.. Storage is always a problem and requires a lot of creative thinking. Maybe a small 'mud room' or new room for just home canning is necessary. Necessity is the mother of invention..

I have 2 very strong 6' bookcases in a hallway. I think I'll store the books in the outbuilding and store the jars there. It's out of the way but close to the kitchen. There are no cool places in our house to store them. The outbuildings freeze so they're out of the question.

I know this is an old thread, but, KSROGERS, you made me chuckle.
You might have been describing my kitchen.

I am really enjoying reading all these old threads. They're both instructional and entertaining! (:
Cream

Yes, and there are also some nice 'battles' there too. Only a few of use here have the nerve to defend things we strongly believe in. My big convection toaster oven bit the dust last week. Its only 8 months old. Opened it up to find a press on 'lug' that was attached to the bottom heater element had over heated and fell off. I removed it and crimped on a new lug and cleaned off the part that was attached to the element. The fit was nice and tight, so it should last a bit longer. That little space I have can accomodate my making over a 100 Peking Ravioli, as well as many breakfast sausage patties. When not using that for food, it also is my quick computer repair spot. My poor kitchen table is loaded with repair parts for many computers I am also fixing. Luckily, there is no one else here to tell me to clean up my big mess!

Gee, Ken, I can't say I've noticed any particular shortage of nerve around here.... ;-)

Glad you're having fun, Cream. I do forget that anything Imight have "said" over the past 6 years here is still preserved, and hope none of it is too incriminating! ;-)

Z

A very tiny population here do like to start trouble and I just simply jump in. There is always a cry baby who is quick to point out something that they may find offensive, but you can't please everyone. My help is dished out like anyone dishes out food. If you like it, enjoy, if not, so be it. I'm NOT pointing to anyone here right now!