Tia, I have a glass cooktop which I hate (came with the house and the flipper replaced a Jenn-Air gas cooktop with the glass. POUT!) Nobody in my family cleans it (except me) and they use it for a prep surface (and even though I hollered at my husband for it, I think he still occasionally cuts on the surface as we have glass cutting boards and I think he thinks it's the same thing), so any time I cook on it I have to clean it, cook, and then clean it again. My family turns on the burners even when it's dirty and so I am often scrubbing carbonized food off the burners.

The other day, I had a pyrex bowl in my hand and it slipped, coming down on the corner of the stove. it chipped the beveled edge of the stove. yikes!

the next day, I was in the church basement. 2 sinks, long island, 3 stoves. my friend and I received permission to can in the church kitchen--I will never can in my kitchen again! Plus it was so fun to can with my friend. I don't know if you have access to a big kitchen, but I wanted to float that possibility to you. With the rise of interest in canning, I think it would be a wonderful service to the community for churches and fraternal organizations to offer their kitchens to canning clubs (and it'd bring in some "new blood"!)

I have boiled water on a turkey fryer, I think that BWB would work OK, but I would be scared trying to do pressure canning on a turkey fryer.

Suggest that you do a SEARCH for the words 'PROPANE BURNER'. The same kind of propane tanks used for BBQ grills. There are MANY threads about the use of an outdoor burner used for canning, both BWB and pressure canning. Corning are is supposed to be quite resistant to breakage. I had a big casserole dish fall just one foot to the floor from the bottom shelf of the fridge. It shattered into many pieces. For an outdoor propane burner, you can make a 3 sided wind screen to reduce the issue of the flame being blown out as also mentioned in the threads. The same issue about smooth stove tops as just been covered here too.

I love the idea of churches or other community organizations like schools with home ec. kitches to loan them out.

Ksrogers, I looked through the posts and I saw where you suggested trying a three ring burner, but that's a no go for right now. It is a large/bulky thing, but it's my only option.

It would be easier to just buy a flat bottom stockpot and use it for a BWB on your glass top.

Turkey fryer burners vary widely so no way to know if yours would get hot enough or not - many don't. Especially for pressure canning.

As discussed in the other posts by those of us who regularly can outdoors a wind shield of some kind is required. Wind gust takes out the flame, temp falls off, and you have to start all over with timing - easy way to ruin foods.

Bottom line - if you are going to do much canning and if you are going to do it outdoors you need to create as much of an outdoor kitchen as possible - a table, counterspace, a water source, wind block, back-up burner, etc. and direct access to the inside kitchen for it to work well. Otherwise it is a REAL hassle. Been there and done that. ;)

Dave

The 3 ring burner is table top type, and is very sturdy, compared to the long legged turkey fryers. The heat control is mich more accurate and can go quite low. Propane burns hotter than natural gas, so its got more heat potential. A flat bottom stock pot would need to be quite tall and accomodate a quart jar with an inch below and 2 inches above the jars lids to can in a BWB. The turkey fryer burner is not able to get low enough to give you proper heat control for a pressure canner. Most pressure canners do have flat bottoms however, and they can stil be used for a BWB process as well, by just not locking down the cover.

I don't have a pressure canner and don't think one is in the picture. I just have a straight canner pot for water bathing and rack. I thought about the stability issue with my pot on the stand not made for it. That's why I was wondering about just dropping my rack in the pot the thing came with and going from there (not pressure canning.)

I wanted to ask before I ruined otherwise useable goods.

I use a Waring portable single burner on my kitchen counter for the aluminum pressure canner and my glass induction cooktop for the BWB.

hey check this turkey fryer website below!

Here is a link that might be useful: Turkey Fryer

Can't find any info on the BTUs or the flame adjusts on that fryer so it may not work for canning. You need very high BTU (35,000 minimum) and the ability to infinitely control the flame. Since most turkey fryers are controlled from the propane bottle control, not the burner itself, they don't often work for canning especially pressure canning.

Dave

If you check the box of a new Presto pressure canner you will find an insert that shows a picture of a propane burner, and it shows a big "X" through it with warnings DO NOT USE for canning with their canners. I don't have the exact words here, but I did see the paper from a Presto.
The Presto company was also called and they said they do not recommend using their canner on the propane turkey fryers.
I think my boss said that was way too many BTU's. The canners would heat up too fast and cool down too fast to insure the food was properly processed.
We are still doing more research on it. I will post once we compile our information.

My wife and I can, both BWB and pressure with a high BTU outdoor burner. The one we have is great for BWB -- it brings the large kettle to boil VERY quickly and adjusts low enough for that purpose...

But there are better choices for pressure canning, chiefly one of those three burner individual valve jobs. For pressure canning, the problem is that instead of raw heat output, you need very fine adjustment which turkey fryers and large BTU burners won't give you.

Also as mentioned, you need a good wind sheild and prep area, and too, the house kitichen nearby...Those requirements aside, outdoor canning is just a terrific way to keep the kitchen freer and if doing fish, as Carol said, keeps the mess and smell outside.

Highly recommended.

Why can't the glass cook tops stoves be used?

I have been BWB and Pressure canning on our glass cook tops for 5 years now. We have probably done several hundred batches of jellies, green beans and salsa. We have never had a problem.

Jay

The bottom on some canners isn't flat and heat builds up and can crack the glass on the stove.

I've been using a stock pot with a rack of canning jar rings for a year now on my glass top. I love it!

The stove may cycle on and off and not keep the canner boiling or the pressure constant in a pressure canner. Then the food is underprocessed and not safe to eat.
The stove can crack from the weight and also the heat.
Sugar can melt and pit the stove. All kinds of reasons.
Some stove manuals say no, some say it can be done with certain restrictions on size limits of the diameter of the pans, etc.
Check with your manufacturer before canning on your smooth top stove.

This is my 2nd year using a propane burner outdoors for pressure canning. Easy and keeps the heat out of the kitchen. I, too, have a ceramic stove top, and prefer to avoid the heavy load and high heat required for canning. Just canned 12 pints of beets! Here's a pic from last year. I think it's a Camp Chef, that was recommended by a GardenWeb member.
{{gwi:901301}}From Garden 2009

We have been researching this subject of turkey fryers and other propane burners. The recommendation is do at your own risk, but if you decide to take the risk, use one with no more than 12,000 btu's.
We contacted Presto about this and they do not advise use of their pressure canners with these, but if you do, then again, no more than 12,000 btu's.