Don’t let this misunderstanding keep you from taking advantage of an efficient, lower cost way of preserving foods properly without purchasing a piece of equipment that can be used for only one purpose—canning. You can use pressure cookers for canning to prepare a wide variety of gourmet foods in addition to preserving foods. They are a favourite versatile kitchen helper. A good pressure cooker makes anyone a gourmet cook, allowing the preparation of entire nutritious meals in as little as 30 to 45 minutes.

To correct the misunderstanding, the USDA guide does not advise us to avoid pressure cookers for canning.

Page 1-10 of the guide, under the heading Equipment and Methods Not Recommended, clearly states:

“Steam canners are not recommended because processing times for use with current models have not been adequately researched. Because steam canners do not heat foods in the same manner as boiling-water canners, their use with boiling-water process times may result in spoilage.”

We are advised not to use steam canners. Steam canning is not the same as canning with a pressure cooker. Steam canners cook with steam, and pressure cookers cook with pressure, as their names clearly imply. A quick Internet search reveals photos which clearly distinguish steam canners from pressure cookers.

You Need Pressure Cookers to Safely Can Low Acid Foods

To further clarify the misunderstanding, there are two types of food requiring two types of canning processes. The boiling water method is for high acid foods having no risk of botulism (botulism bacteria cannot live in an acid environment). The pressure cooking method is used for low acid foods that do carry the risk of botulism. Pressure cooking also destroys salmonella and staphylococcus.

The misinterpreted quote is referring to the boiling-water process used for canning high acid foods (with a pH of 4.6 or lower), not to the pressure method of canning. The USDA states that these foods,

“Include all fruits except figs; most tomatoes; fermented and pickled vegetables; relishes; and jams, jellies, and marmalades. Acid foods may be processed in boiling water.”

The acid in these foods is sufficient to prevent the growth of botulism bacteria, so they do not require pressure for processing. Again, the USDA is stating that steam canners are not recommended for preserving these high acid foods—boiling-water canners must be used.

The paragraph which has been misinterpreted as saying pressure cookers should not be used for canning, is not even referring to the method of canning that requires pressure cookers—to preserve lower acid foods (with a pH higher than 4.6). The USDA guide states:

“Vegetables, some tomatoes, figs, all meats, fish, seafoods, and some dairy foods are low acid. To control all risks of botulism, jars of these foods must be (1) heat processed in a pressure canner, or (2) acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower before processing in boiling water.”

Reading this guide carefully yourself will help you understand that it is safe, and in fact is recommended to use pressure cookers for canning.
 
Pressure Cooker Specifications from the National Center for Home Food Preservation

As you can see, the website that steers us away from using pressure cookers for canning, is inaccurate in saying, “Even though some manufacturers advertise their brand of pressure cooker as acceptable for use as a pressure canner, canning experts don’t agree.”

Pressure cookers specifically recommended for canning that come with an 8-piece canning set (including a canning and a pressure cooker recipe book), are Fagor pressure cookers. Fagor 10-quart pressure cookers hold up to four 1-quart jars on the rack provided for canning. This size meets the exact specifications set forth by the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), another respected authority on home canning.

Fagor pressure cookers are one of the three types of pressure canners specified by the USDA and the NCHFP. Fagor pressure cookers are weighted-gauge pressure canners capable of cooking at 10 or 15 PSI (pounds per square inch) as required for pressure canning.

Fagor, in business since 1954, the fifth largest appliance manufacturer in Europe, the leading appliance manufacturer in France and Spain, has more than 12,000 employees in 17 countries. Their products are available in 100 countries. Fagor America opened in 1992 and is known for re-introducing pressure cooking to the U.S. with their high quality stainless steel pressure cookers.

Fagor values the health of their customers and emphasizes specific requirements for canning with pressure cookers. All recipes in the canning recipe books supplied with the Fagor Pressure Cookers have been carefully tested for use with their 10-quart pressure cooker. Fagor cautions consumers to always follow the directions and timing in the pressure cooker recipe book provided with their canning set carefully, just like one would follow any of the canning charts supplied by the USDA, the NCHFP or the Ball Blue Book.

Fagor also specifies that no matter how you can your food, you should always carefully inspect the jars prior to consuming the food to be doubly safe. They recommend the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and the USDA’s Complete Guide to Home Canning for the most reliable information. They advise that recipe books written prior to 1989, the year the USDA updated their guidelines, should not be used.

At the beginning it must be said that not all term life insurance policies are the same. So, with this idea, a concept that may offer insurancenot what it seems on the surface if you look straight at the price. There is level term, annually renewable term, or convertible term policy. It is important to know which kind you are at. So you see, the cheapest policy is not necessarily the most appropriate policy for you.

- Quote Insurance

Is the company financially stable? This is such an important role.

Insurance is essentially a promise to pay a claim, and if it can not pay a claim, then it is worthless. Would not it beit is a travesty, if you lived longer than the company was able to get their business? Then, when you needed, it would not be there. So, you just wasted your money and you are defenseless, too.

- Quote Insurance

If you are shopping for term insurance, you must remember this fact. And if only the valuation prices of the premiums, you may not know that often offer low premiums for the weakest companies to pull in some new customers.

You can not compete on the basis of their Strong business profile.

You can easily find out about the financial background of a company by the rating services. You can get to AM Best, Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s to a letter grade rating of a company. A is the highest, and you should never consider anything other than companies that have the above available rating. They have too much riding on this decision, to take a risk.

Before the Internet became available, you’d have to call or visit> Insurance agents to get to a term insurance offer was. That is not always a pleasant task because of the high-pressure sales calls and scare tactics. You do not earn as much money if you buy a term life insurance than if you opt for a whole life policy. Often they are more interested in their profits, in contrast to your needs

READ MORE http://www.quoteinsurance.equitylinesite.com/2009/10/21/finding-a-term-insurance-quote/

• Designed for easy, confindent home pressure canning. The only method recommended safe for canning meats, vegetables, poultry and seafood.
• Easy -to-read dial gauge registers a complete range of processing pressures.
• Includes cooking/canning rack and complete instruction/recipe book.
• Mason jar capacity: 12 half-pints; 10 pints; 7 quarts.
• 13-1/4 by 14-1/2 by 11-3/4 inches; 12 year limited warranty.

Pressure canning is the only method recommended safe by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for low-acid foods. Doubles as a boiling water canner for preserving fruits, jams, jellies, pickles and salsa in pint and half pint jars. Also handy as a large capacity pressure cooker. Constructed of warp-resistant, heavy-gauge aluminum for fast, even heating. Works on regular and smooth-top ranges. Deluxe pressure dial gauge registers the complete range of processing pressures. This precise measurement

Price:

• Spacewise Design
• Pro-Select LED Display
• Pro-Select One-Touch Options
• Fully Programmable
• Stylish Stainless-Steel Exterior

An attractive appliance, built for performance and durability – the Frigidaire Professional® Slow Cooker will help get great results in the kitchen and streamline your cooking routine. The easy-to-use Pro-Select® controls and 6-preset Pro-Select® One-Touch Options on the slow cooker demonstrate the Frigidaire Professional® commitment to high performance and high function, making it an asset for any at-home chef seeking a reliable kitchen solution.

Price: $ 51.95

The Advantages Of A Double Crock Pot

A double crock pot is one of the most versatile of food making resources in the kitchen. It has been proven time and time again to provide quality, tasty dinners with almost no effort for the cook. Are you tired when you arrive home from work or school? Is the last thing you need to do is slave over a hot stove? In that case you should consider using a double crock pot.

As a public service, I’ve listed the 6 most important facts to know before purchasing your double crock pot.

Double Crock Pot Fact #1: How It Works.

In a nutshell, a double crock pot will cook your meals with a slow rate during the day when no one is home. They’re clever in design as the elements within the appliance operate on a timer switch, that will warm up the pot and turn it lower when it gets too hot. And the double crock pot model provides the clear advantage of employing 2 individual crocks for segregated food preparation.

It is stated that you simply cannot please everyone but you can try. Having a double crock pot you’ll have more than one course cooking at the same time. The flexibility of this setup can be utilized for such meals as beans and chili, or any dinner that will need individual cooking.

Double Crock Pot Fact #2: Why You Shold Buy It.

So why obtain a double crock pot? The reasonable answer will be because it allows you twice the quantity of food. This is specifically advantageous for a big family in they can now all eat the same food, cooked at the same time, with hardly any effort.

Double Crock Pot Fact #3: What Preparation Is Needed.

Precisely what planning is needed for effective food preparation using a double crock pot? The vital thing to do is accumulate your meat and vegetables. This is the time for you to decide which foodstuffs need to be segregated, and put appropriately in separate crocks. Include the desired seasoning along with some water. Cover the two crocks and set the timer to your preferred duration. Head to work and be content.

Double Crock Pot Fact #4: For Family Cooking.

Everyone has busy schedules, with hardly any time for cooking, which is why you want to use a double crock pot. It is a terrific way to get inexpensive nutritious dinners to your loved ones and not devote a lot of extra time with the food prep at the end of your day.

The meals will be ready for you at the end of the day , which will provide your family more time to reconnect with your family without hurrying around to prepare a meal.

Double Crock Pot Fact #5: For Traveling.

If you are going to a family reunion or similar event you can take the crock pot with you inside a convenient travel case. Many double crock pots include a case or you can purchase one at online outlets as Amazon.com.

Double Crock Pot Fact #6: For Entertaining

The double crock pot can be ideal for entertaining. If serving dips are on the menu, they could be easily put into the double container for double the fun. The crock keeps them warm and allows you to thoroughly enjoy the celebration and never having to run forward and backward to the kitchen and will really enjoy your party.

Conclusion:

My advice is to monitor the internet for beneficial bargains on a double crock pot. Because they are relatively cheap, they can be a wonderful present. For those newlyweds or perhaps a youngster in their 1st apartment a double crock pot makes a great gift.

The slow cooker. What a wonderful product. There is no denying the fact that this appliance has revolutionized the cooking experience. It facilitates multi-tasking and therefore makes the daily chores of life a whole lot easier for working mothers, stay-at-home-mothers, and housewives in general.

So, what is the slow cooker? The slow cooker, also referred to as a crock- pot, is a small electric cooking appliance that cooks while maintaining a low temperature compared to other cooking methods. Because of this low temperature, the slow cooker allows you to leave your cooking unattended for many hours.

The slow cooker was developed by the Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago. It was introduced as the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker. In 1970, Naxon Utilities Corporation was purchased by the Rival Company. In 1971, Rival reintroduced the slow cooker under the name Crock-Pot, and introduced removable stoneware inserts in 1974. The brand is now owned by Sunbeam Products. Presently, there are several other brands of the slow cooker including Hamilton Beach, West Bend Housewares, and Magic Chef.

The slow cooker consists of a round or oval cooking pot with a lid. The cooking pot is made of glazed ceramic or porcelain and is surrounded by a housing which contains an electric heating element. The lid, which is mainly of transparent glass, is seated in a groove in the edge of the pot. The condensed vapor that is trapped in the groove of the pot edge provides a low-pressure seal to the atmosphere. When a slow cooker is in use, the pressure inside is at atmospheric pressure, despite the water vapor generated inside the pot. It is for this reason that a slow cooker is much different from a pressure cooker. With the slow cooker, there is no danger from a sudden pressure release.

The majority of slow cookers have two or more temperature settings and sometimes a “keep warm” setting. A typical slow cooker is designed to heat food to 170o F (77o C) on low, to perhaps 190-200o F (88-93oC) on high.

Recently, there was another upgrade to the slow cooker. This upgrade, in my opinion, qualifies this appliance to be called the best slow cooker. This improved slow cooker was introduced by the Slow Cooker Mate company and the appliance is called the Slow Cooker Mate. With this appliance, you can cook a meal in one pot and take your cooking to a whole new level while making a complete meal in one slow cooker.

The Best Slow Cooker is an innovative three chamber slow cooker that allows you to cook an entire meal with one appliance. The large capacity base crock is removable for easy serving and clean-up. The unique stoneware divided insert, which is found only in The Best Slow Cooker, allows you to cook two more items at the same time. You can cook vegetables, warm dips or sauces and much more. Both stoneware crocks are microwave and dishwasher safe. The lid is also dishwasher safe. The Best Slow Cooker is ideal for the chef in the house who is already short of time.

The best thing about the Crock Pot is?…… the taste? the ease? the long cooking? the…..

The Aroma.

The best thing about a Crock Pot is the aroma. That tantalising smell that meets you at the kitchen door.

Having come home from a hard day at work, it is like heaven, to walk in on that smell.

Thousands of years ago, physicians of Traditional Chinese, India, Persia and Egypt Medicine all recognized the therapeutic effects of aromas.

And recent research has confirmed these ideas on aroma. Now known as aromatherapy, it is being used as a natural method of enhancing the balance and performance of the mind and body.

Research has shown that the right aroma can have a remarkable effect on your mental function and emotions.

And for me the “right aroma” is dinner in the crock pot.

Did you know it takes about 220 pounds of rose petals to make about 2 ounces of essential rose oil. Phew that is a lot of roses. Such a lot of effort for so little result.

Why go through the complicated process of extracting the oils from roots, bark, stalks, leaves and flowers?

When you can slow cook your dinner in a crock pot and achieve the same calming effect.

It does not seem to matter what is cooking in the slow cooker, it always smells delicious. Whether you are cooking a simple beef stew, a lavish roast or a sumptuous desert, it is bound to delight the senses.

The whole effect of not having to think about what is for dinner, or having to slave over the stove and that delightful scent puts even the worst of days behind you.

It provides that reviving, invigorating lift one needs everyday.

Plus there is not a lot that needs cleaning up afterwards – which is always a bonus.

So dig out your crock pot from the back of the cupboard. And discover it’s calming effect. (And have a great meal at the same time.)

Until our next Crock Pot EncounterEnjoy Cooking!Lisa “The Crock Cook”