Several companies have come out with electric pressure cookers lately (sampling linked below) and I have reviewed many of them from Cuisinart, Nesco, Deni, Fagor, and Wolfgang Puck. But none of them except Fagor advertise themselves, at least in public, as canners and we know the problems with Fagor. None of them are big enough for canning as 8 qt. is the largest size and most claim only 3 pre-set pressure settings of 2.5, 5.7, and 15 lbs. pressure. Fagor mistakenly calls 15 PSI "the most popular setting" - maybe for cooking for some in the mountains of Spain where it is made, but not for canning unless you live at high altitude. I'd need a 10 PSI setting for canning and I need to be able to vent the canner and know when the pressure returns to zero in order to pressure can safely. You can't do either with these. There are limited reviews available online from Cooks Illustrated magazine, Consumer Reports (if you are a member), amazon.com, etc. and the reviews are mixed with several comments about poor lid fitting, difficulty fitting lids, wiring problems. repairs, etc. Personally I can't see an advantage to them even as a pressure cooker except perhaps for the built in timer. But as a canner, even if they qualified, I do see some serious drawbacks in the current designs. Now if someone would develop a 16-23 qt. size with proper canning settings I'd be more interested. Until then I'll stick with the tried and true and approved Big 3 (or 2 if all they say about Mirro is true) brands. ;) JMO Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Some electric pressure cookers

I still have the lime here (Mrs. Wages brand) and it did help to hold the cukes a bit firmer for the all vinegar sour pickles. I do not use alum anymore and because it still seems to be linked to aluminium and allzheimers I was not going to even try going any further with it. The lime was used, and the whole cukes were soaked in it for 24 hours in the fridge. I used huge stainless steel bowls that take up a whole shelf in the fridge. I cut off the tips of both ends prior to the soaking, They did get a long rinse afterwards, but even for that, there was a bit of white sediment in the brine after a few days. I also used a bit of tumeric for some color. They were quite pungent. I could have even added a bit of my acid blend and made them even more potent.. My sours are not fermented. They are just 100% plain white distilled vinegar, salt, and a little tumeric. My pickled pepperoncini are also done that way, but without the tumeric. My half sours are just a salt brine with a dash of vinegar added after they sit on the counter overnight. Ive also use the pickling lime for making some sweet mixed, but it was just for the cukes to soak in first. The amount of alum used in a 7 quart batch of sour pickles was something like about 2-3 teaspoons for the toatl amount of vinegar brine. With Pickle Crisp, you do have as slight flavor of chlorine, but that tends to dissipate once they are opened and allowed to 'breath' a few minutes before serving. A chilled pickle always seems to be a bit crunchier than at room temp. FYI> Rumford brand baking powder has no alum in it. Baking soda is basically bicarbonate of soda and nothing else. There is also a bakers ammonia that is still used today for some Swedish cookies and pasteries. I can't taste Pickle Crisp, but that might be because of the heat of the peppers, or the strength of the flavors and spices I use in regular pickles. Mrs. Wages and Ball mixes are the primary ingredients I use when making spiced pickles, and I add extra spices like dill, celery seeds, mustard seeds and such to the various kinds of pickles.There is nothing worse (besides a sour or mushy cuke) than a bland tasting pickle. A recent America Test Kitchen episode dealt with making a flaky pastery for a big berry tart. They mixed the butter and flour to a very course mix, then used their palms to press the flour into the butter lumps. This helped to spread the butter into thinner bits. Ever made puff pastry? I have, with excellent results. MUCH better than the Pepperidge Farm frozen stuff. It does take a long time, a cold work surface, lots of patience and lots of rolling between each chilling.

I picked up a cookbook from Half Price Books called, "Classic Turkish Cooking" by Ghillie Basan. It's a fascinating book that goes into the history of Turkish cuisine, how it was influenced by the various cultures and people that have occupied them or lived there, and how it's changed, yet stayed the same over the years, It talks about the various ingredients they use, and suggests substitutes for some of them that might be difficult to get. I found out about this book in a round about way, by getting a newsletter from The Splendid Table. One of the chefs that was featured referenced this book, telling how he found it at a used book store. Low and behold, I found it at our used book store. Maybe there's more out there. Some of the spices listed in the book are Allspice, cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Garlic, Parsley and Kirmizi Biber, which is a red pepper. The author explains, "In essence, kirmizi biber is a red pepper, a type of horn chilli (their spelling) that came originally from the New World, but has grown in Turkey for several centuries and is regarded with pride. In fact, you could say that it is the national spice." She does say that cayenne or paprika can be used as substitutes, but are not the same. I've made a couple of recipes from this book and enjoyed them both. Sally

I promise last one for a while. I may get banned too -- I changed the recipe, sooz, (hangs head in shame) HAHAHAHA:))))! Original recipe found here: https://www.skinnytaste.com/barbacoa-beef/  There are close to 400 comments so it's been vetted:) I'll put my changes in bold. There aren't too many (cough, cough:) BTW, I'll put corn salsa on next post. I didn't change it and it is a winner! Ingredients: 5 cloves garlic (I grate on microplane) 1/2 medium onion 1 lime, juice 2-4 tbsp chiptoles in adobo sauce (to taste) (I use 1 because we're babies) 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp ground oregano 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1 cup water (I use Chix broth lo sodium -- highly recommend that) 3 lbs beef eye of round or bottom round roast, all fat trimmed (I use boneless chuck cut in ~2 " slices) 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I only use ~ 1 tsp -- always can add more) black pepper 1 tsp oil (Don't use) 3 bay leaves Directions: Place garlic, onion, lime juice, cumin, oregano, chipotles, cloves and water (chicken broth) in a blender (I use immersion) and puree until smooth. Trim all the fat off meat, cut into 3-inch pieces (Cut into 2" slices). Season with 2 teaspoons salt and black pepper. Heat the pressure cooker on high (use saute button for Instant Pot), when hot add the oil and brown the meat, in batches on all side, about 5 minutes. (I don't do any of the last two sentences.) Add the sauce from the blender and bay leaves, cover and cook on high pressure until the meat is tender and easily shreds with 2 forks, about 1 hour. Instant Pot --65 minutes (I cook for about ~45 minutes natural release 15 minutes) . (If you’re making this on the stove, simmer it on low at least 4 hours, adding more water as needed to make sure it doesn’t dry out.) Once cooked and the meat is tender, remove the meat and place in a dish. Shred with two forks, and reserve the liquid for later (discard the bay leaf). Return the shredded meat to the pot, add 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste, 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 1/2 cups of the reserved liquid. ** I don't do the 1/2 tsp salt, etc. At the end, I'm usually left with 2 cups of liquid. I defat (shocking, isn't it?), add 1 Tablespoon of fresh squeezed orange juice and about 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar, no extra cumin. If you do the oj and vinegar, please do less, taste and add as you like. Here are some pics because I don't actually talk on my phone:) Actually, will send to SIL -- he made it with the 4 chipotles last time HA! Idea of portion -- that's actually a pretty big peppa! Immersion blended ~ 2 Cups Chuck steak I foodsavered in January. About 1 1/2" to 2" thick Cause I know you want to see chuck cut into slices:) After PC: defat -- notice the distracting zinnias in the background -- clever:) Almost 3 Cups I went 43 minutes just to be different. Sending in to elders, so made a finished plate just for pic. DS snagged it, put some extra sauce on for an "early lunch":) Rice made in IP too. CathyinSWPA