Canning Woes

Friday night I was getting everything set up so that I could can about half of my 25lb bag of black beans. Mike brought my jars down from the attic, I got the 12.5lb of beans soaking and I got the kitchen all clean and ready. This was July 4th, so we were getting ready to start the fireworks when major storms decided to come through and rain us out. Since there was nothing else to do, I sat down and started reading through my canning book and remembered that my mom's canner was missing a piece. So I called her, we talked, then I got online and ordered her the missing piece. While I was there (and bored), I clicked on a link for my canner just to see how it was described and admire it (I was bored). Lo and behold, in big letters: Do Not Use on Smooth Top Stoves!

Okay. This was a shock to me. I immediately started reading everywhere I could online to try to find out if this was, in fact, the truth. And sadly it is. There are many people who have canned on their smooth tops for years with no trouble, but many people say they have ruined their stoves doing it. And the biggest thing is that it's possible for the stove to regulate itself so that it doesn't overheat and that can cause a drop in your pressure... a big no-no in canning.

So... I had 12.5lb of beans already soaking. My mom is coming in two weeks with two bushels of green beans. What on earth do I do?

Well, after much stress, a few tears (hey, I'm pregnant, I'm allowed), and a few phone calls, our neighbors down the street (bless their souls) let me invade their kitchen for the day so I could can two canner loads of beans. Beans need to be pressure canned for 75 minutes, so this isn't a quick process. I was in their house for about 5 hours. I cooked the rest of the beans at my house and froze them. I would have had three canner loads. So our neighbors saved the day. I repaid them by giving them a can of beans and a can of my blackberry jam. I'm still in their debt.

And as far as when my mom comes, there is a single burner unit that supposedly has the power I need to be able to heat up the pressure canner. I'm thinking about buying it. It's a Waring Pro 1300 Watt Burner. Mike's concocting a plan to make a 10" aluminum disk that I can place on the glass stove top and then set my canner on top of it. One of the main problems with the canner is that it extends too far over the edge of the burner element which means that the glass would get too hot in places it's not supposed to. This could lead to the stove shutting off, the glass breaking, etc. I'm all for that solution, but I only have two weeks.

Anyway. My lesson: Never buy a smooth top stove again. I would have never bought this one if I had known I couldn't can on it. I do like it and everything, but it's not worth the hassle.