Fire Canning At @mericanhomestead

in #food7 years ago

As I've mentioned in previous posts I got to spend over a week recently at @mericanhomestead. We had a wonderful time of fellowshipping and learning. One of the learning experiences we had was when Jaimie at @mericanhomestead showed us how she cans over a fire. I have been canning for over 10 years and can hundreds of jars of goodies every year. However, fire canning intimidated me, especially with a pressure canner. I was presently surprised at how simple and easy it was and after Jaimie's demonstration I feel confident I could successfully fire can at home.

Here are all the filled jars ready to go into the canner. Jaimie soaked these beans overnight in preparation for canning them.
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Jaimie is securing the lid on the canner.
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Ok, so this is the part that had me scratching my head. How in the world was she going to regulate the temperature on a fire to keep the pressure canner at the right pressure? I almost chuckle at how simple this concept is now that I've seen it in action. If you look closely in this picture you can see another piece of metal on top of the fire. When the pressure on the canner would start to become too much Jaimie would insert the piece of metal over the fire! Genius and so simple! She would add and remove the piece of metal as needed. The only downside I could see to this style of canning is that you have to stay attentive and can't get distracted.
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Jaimie was able to keep the pressure exactly where it needed to be.
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I am so excited I had the opportunity to take this class! Such a wonderful experience and Jaimie was a joy to learn from. If you want more info on fire canning @mericanhomestead made a post about it recently as well. :)

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That piece of sheet metal is a very clever way to regulate the heat!

Jaimie is an awesome teacher. I'm started pressure canning over a fire now too since watching her videos. What a lucky duck you are to have been there in person. I'm hoping to be able to attend the gathering next year.

It was definitely a blessing to be there! :)

Nice, never heard of canning over a fire like that!