Normally I would gladly completely stay out of an argument like this one. But as a newbie who does ask advise from this forum, I find this a bit disconcerting. I know and have grown to trust immensely that I am getting good advise from Dave and Carol. I also automatically give a heavier weight of trust to anyone else on this forum than I do to other web sites or forums I have found on the internet and even over a couple of cookbooks I have after reading some of the threads on this forum. With that being said I hope when you are giving your advice out JohnDeereGal, you are prefacing it with "this is not by the guidelines" if it is not. I say this because I am a stickler for the rules and while I do appreciate that you have many years of pratical experience under your belt without harming anyone (as did my grandmother), I am feeding my two toddlers my canned goods and have absolutely no interest in playing "adventurous cook". I imagine that a lot of the resurgence in interest in canning are people like me, who are trying to feed their children healthier food options. To me it is completely counterintuitive to take something I am trying to make healthy and play fast and loose with the proven scientific research.

Okay, I finally did it. My husband brought home some more catfish yesterday. Per the instructions, the fish were gutted and bled within 2 hours of being caught (actually was done immediately). They were stored on ice until he got them home. He filleted them and handed them over to me. I washed them again and drained them. I pressure canned them per NCHFP instructions for pint jars. The fish are canned raw pack into hot jars. I filled the jars with fish cut into approximately 3-1/2" strips. I left 1" of head space. No liquid was added. I added approximately 1/8 tsp of salt per jar, much less than the listed amount, which is optional anyway. The processing time was 100 minutes. I processed only 4 pints because I didn't know if I would like the catfish pressure canned. After processing was complete and jars removed, I had one jar with a seal failure, which I know was related to the lid itself. It was the only one left from an old batch I uncovered in the pantry and it just didn't take. I refrigerated that jar as soon as I discovered it this morning, approximately 9 hours after being removed from the canner. I cooked it up in a recipe for lunch today. I used a recipe for fish patties that was labeled "if you like crab cakes, you'll love this recipe." It was only for "inspiration" and what I did was mix the entire jar of fish (drained of the liquid) with about a cup (maybe a little more) of cracker crumbs, a squirt of mustard, mayo, some lime juice, about 1/3cup each of minced bell pepper and onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 egg, cajun seasoning, and some freshly picked and chopped cilantro. I formed patties and cooked over medium heat in about 1-2 TBS of oil in a large skillet. When they were golden brown on each side and thoroughly cooked, I removed from the skillet. They are actually quite good. I would repeat this recipe. Now, for the negatives: I was forewarned by several official extension agency publications that the texture of the fish might not be satisfactory after canning this type of fish. The catfish did not come out flaky. In the jar, it looks like it remains in the cut slabs, but it is extremely mushy, and becomes almost paste-like as soon as you start stirring it up. This texture did not affect the recipe I used at all, but I can't see it working for most other recipes. I thought it might be usable for casseroles (like a tuna-like casserole), but I don't think I would like it. I will try it for a tuna-like salad sandwich spread, but I don't know how that will turn out yet. I'm not sure what other recipes this might work for. I thought if all the recipes were failures at the taste-test, I would use it for cat food. However, my vet has recommended that I not feed fish-flavored cat food to my cat due to a bladder ailment. He says fish cat food is processed with the fish bones, which provides too many minerals which form crystals in his bladder (similar to kidney stones in people). I will ask if that is still a problem if the fish is processed without bones, but for now, I'll avoid canning it for cat food. All in all, I think it will work just fine for fish patties and I would probably do it again. It is very, very, very easy. It was easier than bagging up in individual bags for the freezer. The only thing time-consuming about it was monitoring the canner processing time. The only other thing that occurred is that the jars are not full. I did not have any siphoning. I probably did not put enough fish in the jars. I just dropped pieces of fish in until it came up to the 1" head space. I didn't try to push them down or fit any more in. When processing was over, the self-made liquid covers the fish, but the jars are a little less than 2/3 full. Jill in Texas

NO. I think the same way as ebse - my husband and i slog it out to make money, get no benefits for being responsible with money, just keep seeing our taxes shooting up and up as a reward for our hard work. So, I buy the best value for my money. I hate my old GE profile cook top and am waiting to get rid of it. My fridge is a sub-zero and pretty much every thing else in my kitchen is not american. BTW/ we have never owned an American car - but, our last european car was manufactured in South Carolina - so maybe that is not true, after all. I am american, but have worked for 12 years in a Japanese semi conductor company with huge operations and thousands of american employees in California. So, what is American and what is non-american anymore? This is a global economy whether we like it or not. So, I am always happy to buy the best quality for my money without any pressure to buy american. If some american companies suffer (especially in the auto sector), it is not because of our lack of support, it is because of the poor business strategies - and anyway, Congress is always there to bail them out with my tax $$$$. So, no worries, I am supporting them by working hard to pay my taxes :)

Agree that stainless steel is the way to go. I have had several PC's, including electric, Kuhn Rikon and Fagor. My opinions: don't bother with electric. Once I got a stovetop unit, I haven't used the electric one at all. I cook for two or three, and a 6 qt pot is adequate. However, if you cook for more than that and have the storage space, get a 8 qt pot. It'll be useful for making big batches of stuff like chili or pot roast. One feature you DON'T need is a two-level pressure cooker. Fagor has their 'Duo' line with low pressure and high pressure settings. Virtually all your cooking will be done at high, so IMHO there's no real need to spend money on a feature you probably won't use. Best overall PC, price no object: Kuhn Rikon. Great fit and finish, very responsive. Best value for $$$ spent: a Fagor multi set consisting of an 8 qt stock pot, a 4 qt frypan, and a pressure lid that fits them both and a non-pressure lid that fits them both. Fagor makes these sets in their 'Splendid' line ($120 at Amazon) as well as their 'Rapida' line ($90 at Amazon). The pots are good even when not using them as pressure cookers--the 8 qt stockpot works fine as, well, a stockpot. The Fagor units are quite good. If the KR is the BMW of pressure cookers, the Fagor units are at least a Honda Accord. The performance is more than adequate. Here is a link that might be useful: fagor Splendid set