Comments on: I hate sheetrocking, so guess what I am doing…

By: jackie clay

jackie clay — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:56:36 +0000

Pam,
Sorry, but I’m sticking to my guns, here. The following are from extension food sites and all my canning books & manuals say the same thing. I’m not going to argue. I know many people do use them, however.

Steam Canners The steam canner was designed as a means to process foods using steam without the aid of pressure. The manufacturer claims this process uses less water, saves time and energy, and recommneds identical processing times as those required for boiling-water bath treatments.

Studies have concluded that:

Atmospheric steam canners result in significantly lower product temperatures at the beginning and end of the scheduled process when compared to water-bath canning.
Use of steam canners as instructed by the manufacturer would result in under processing and considerable economic spoilage.

Another: Due to the lack of definitive research regarding the safety of steam canning, USU Extension researchers agree with the present USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation recommendation against using steam canners. The USDA Complete Guide to Canning states, “Steam canners are not recommended because processing times for use with current models have not been adequately researched.”

Jackie

By: Sunny

Sunny — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:01:55 +0000

If you aren’t attatched to that smooth wall look, my parents just smeared mud all over the drywall. It made a stucco or adobe look. Then they painted over the dry mud. No sanding, no mess.

By: Phillip

Phillip — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:38:57 +0000

I am not sure if you have tried this in the past, but I have found that wet sanding what has been done saves some time. You don’t have the big mess to clean up off of the floors and by getting the mud wet again, it helps fill in the holes as you go along.

By: Pam Pliska

Pam Pliska — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:12:17 +0000

Jackie, I think you should reconsider your opinion on using a steam canner instead of a water bath. Here are two sites for your consideration:

Paul Noll lists his pros and cons of steam vs. water bathing
http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/canning-steam-bath.html
Look around on his site and you can see the steam canner in action.

More “official” USDA and university information from a seller of steam canners
http://www.canningpantry.com/steam-canners.html

After reading the Utah State information, I decided to give steam canning a try for foods that would normally be water bathed. It works GREAT. I have had zero instances of underprocessed food.

With a water bath, you wait for the water to return to a rolling boil before you start timing. With a steam canner, you wait for a good column of steam to appear, and then you start timing. I find it to be much more efficient. My family’s safety is important, and in no way do I believe this compromises their well-being.

By: Judy Sloan

Judy Sloan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:15:37 +0000

Dear Jackie,
You are the best. I just finished reading all the archived/current pages of your blog. I admire your patience with the questions that people ask. If it hadn’t been for you, I would never have done any pressure canning, although I have done water bath canning for years. To anyone, I would say that any new skill might be scary or difficult at first, but persevere! It does become easier over time and the organizational part of it becomes easier too!

As for sheetrocking, I am about to learn all I ever wanted to know, my husband is going to teach me. I think it will be fun, but in any event it is just one more thing that I want to learn how to do!