Marathon canning with friends

I was looking forward to the pressure canning marathon for several weeks - myself, my daughter and our friends -  a mom and three teenage girls - got together for a day and we had a blast.  Our friends had never canned before so we were starting from the beginning.   We canned chilli, spicy kidney beans, spicy chickpeas, potatoes and chicken  soup.  

First of all I wouldn't recommend doing this until you've had some simple canning experience under your belt because this much pressure canning takes some extra organization - a bigger kitchen and work space wouldn't hurt either!

I was able to put all my canners to the test - all three - at the same time.  I have a 23 quart Presto and two 30 quart All Americans.  I can't use the AA's on my glass top stove because the combined weight of the canner the water and the filled jars would probably crack the stove top. I've had to try several different methods for these heavy-duty workhorses.  I tried an electric hotplate.  It worked but it took HOURS to come up to the pressure.  Not worth the time and effort.  I have two kerosene canning stoves but I am having trouble with the wicking system - they apparently work GREAT but I have yet to use them.  (long story!)  These are supposed to be my "winter - option".

What I do use is amazing!  It's a Camp Chef two burner propane stove on legs.  This is by far the best way to go!  The gauges are easy to turn up or down incrementally so you can get the heat just right.  The stove is big enough and heavy-duty enough to handle to the two large canners and all the weight with the jars and water inside.  I really like this stove.  

NOW - as we all know propane should NOT BE USED INDOORS.  We set ours up in the far-back-room with the back door wide-open because the weather was much cooler than it was supposed to be.  I had hoped that would solve the pollution problem - but it didn't work as well as I hoped.  Eventually we figured out that putting a huge fan in front of the back door to draw the fumes out helped a lot but it wasn't perfect.  Next time they will go outside for sure!  

I'm hoping to set up an outdoor kitchen this summer under a canopy to keep the canning heat outside - I'm still thinking about how that might work the most efficiently.

The two All Americans were "out back" about 25 feet from the kitchen and the Presto was on the stove in the kitchen.  We did most of the chopping and cutting and jar filling at the dining room table and carried the jars out in wash basins to the canners.  I was worried about that step but there were many hands and it DID make the work light so it worked out fine!

We set up a table in the far-back-room to place all the finished jars on.  We covered the table with a towel and had towels ready to cover the jars as soon as they were lined up.  It wasn't freezing in that room but it was cold and I wanted to minimize jar breakage caused by the temperature extremes of the hot canner and the cold room.  We didn't experience any problems when we used the towels.

Some things to think about when organizing canning with a crowd:

• Before the canning marathon get your recipes ready and make a list of everything you will need including every teaspoon of spice and salt - you will go through more than you think you will!
• Remove everything non-essential from your kitchen counters.
• Have the recipes written out so everyone knows what to do next.
• Soak the beans overnight if you're doing beans!
• Prepare the chicken or turkey before canning day.  I cooked mine the week before and froze the de-boned meat and the broth.
• Get out every bowl and container you own - you will need them all and wish you had more.  I get snarky comments from my kids when they put the dishes away sometimes about the amount of bowls I own.  At canning time they are all in use!  (I told-you-so!)
• When making multiple recipes you will also need every pot you own and wish you had more.
• Make sure your tea towel/dish cloth drawer is full - you'll use lots of them.
• Pull out all the paring knives, vegetable peeler's  chopping boards, strainers and other tools you will need and put them on the largest surface area you have - ie your kitchen table.
• Having a hotplate for extra "stove-space" is very handy - I bought one from kijiji.
• Have multiple timers available.
• Have ONE person in charge of the timers!!
• Keep the kettle full of boiling water - as soon as it's empty - fill it again.
• Try to have the "next-step" in mind so you are always thinking ahead.
• Explain all the canning "rules" before you start with as much detail as you can think of - especially if you are working with first-time canners.
• Wash dishes as you go.
• Don't forget to take breaks!

My day began early as I decided to start preparing a canner load of chilli before our friends arrived.  I had everything ready so that the load was finished just as they were arriving.  This allowed me to show them the whole process - albeit starting with taking the jars OUT of the canner and then quickly getting things ready to fill it again.

With three canners to fill it took all of us working to make it happen without wasting too much time in between loads.  Our goal was to get all three canners filled twice in the 6 hours between lunch and dinner.  Each load takes approximately three hours from filling the canner to pulling out the finished product when you count the canner getting up to pressure, the canning and then waiting for the pressure to drop again. We almost made it!  

Our final weekend tally was 21 pints of chilli with meat, 11 pints of vegetable chilli, 27 quarts of layer chicken soup, 23 quarts of spicy kidney beans, 7 quarts of spicy chickpeas and 8 quarts of "french fries".  Almost 100 jars of lovely ready-to-eat food and one huge pot of soup that incorporated all the leftover food.

This is a great way to get a LOT of canning done in a short amount of time.  I already have someone up for a marathon peach and pear canning session this summer - bring it ON!