…… Propane canning question

[Cag3db1rd]

Okay, I am no stranger to canning. That being said, I AM new to doing it outside on a propane stove. Although I successfully canned all my clarified butter last time, my canner was covered in soot that got all over everything. What am I doing wrong?

 

[kyrsyan]

Need a wind shield? Or a better propane burner? At the same time, outside, on an outside burner, there is going to be soot.

 

[hiwall]

The propane burner should burn with a completely blue flame. If the flame shows yellow it will leave soot. If not all blue you have to adjust the air intake plate.

 

[moldy]

Are you using a natural gas stove with a propane fuel source?

 

[Millwright]

Ayup.

Sounds like a pressure regulator/air shutter issue for the burner.

What kind of burner is it?

A high BTU burner designed for rapid boiling of big crawfish pots and such may not like being throttled back to lower output levels you need for soft heating a canner.

This is a 50,000BTU burner, good for big pots of water.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/LoCo-COOKERS-Loco-HPFryer-Stand-13-582-in-1-Burner-Propane-20-lb-Cylinder-Manual-Ignition-Black-Outdoor-Burner/1000707080?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-bng-_-LIA_SOL_119_Grills-_-1000707080-_-Online-_-0-_-0&gclsrc=3p.ds&ds_rl=You1286981

This is a 15,600 BTU burner, better for controlling low heat settings.

Single Burner, Cast Iron Stove | Carolina Cooker 56913

This single Carolina Cooker® burner cast iron stove makes outdoor cooking simple.

www.agrisupply.com

 

[Cag3db1rd]

It's a dual burner, propane cookstove. It wasn't so bad this time. I had the gas down lower from the tank and kept the burner at medium with the vent wide open. The flame stayed blue, and the canning went as well as can be expected. Jars are still cooling. Haven't checked seals yet.

 

[Walrus]

A cast-iron (or stainless steel) low-pressure burner is much better for canning (and boiling shrimp and crawfish, btw)
Here's an expensive version but they have lots cheaper ones like I have:

22-in Stainless Bayou® Banjo Cooker

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

 

[Cag3db1rd]

A cast-iron (or stainless steel) low-pressure burner is much better for canning (and boiling shrimp and crawfish, btw)
Here's an expensive version but they have lots cheaper ones like I have:

22-in Stainless Bayou® Banjo Cooker

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

Hubby got it as a gift a few years ago for me. I think it was an anniversary present. Hubby knows me. One mothers day he got me a new shovel. No joke. Damn good shovel, too.

 

[kyrsyan]

Nortern Tools had a really nice single burner that is out of stock. The Camp Chef propane burner is one that some folks in a canning group recommend.

 

[Millwright]

Alternate set up, everything goes on the carport.

An old stove, set up for LP, hooked up to a BBQ tank.

Can run multiple batches at once, no heat in the house.

 

[Walrus]

Alternate set up, everything goes on the carport.

An old stove, set up for LP, hooked up to a BBQ tank.

Can run multiple batches at once, no heat in the house.

Nice set-up to have both the gas stove and the trailer set up with the metal table in between. Canning outside in the shade is about the only way to can in these parts, especially pressure canning. (Our stove has a glass top anyway so it can't be used for pressure canning)

 

[kyrsyan]

Alternate set up, everything goes on the carport.

An old stove, set up for LP, hooked up to a BBQ tank.

Can run multiple batches at once, no heat in the house.

I want to do this at some point. But I don't have the structure yet. Canning/outdoor kitchen is on the list.

 

[Cag3db1rd]

Nice set-up to have both the gas stove and the trailer set up with the metal table in between. Canning outside in the shade is about the only way to can in these parts, especially pressure canning. (Our stove has a glass top anyway so it can't be used for pressure canning)

I don't can indoors unless it is winter. I have a glass top stove, too. I know I have seen ppl's stoves break, but I thought it was from overheating. I have canned on my stove b4 without incident, and I thought being careful with the heat was why. Is it not the heat? Does the rattling cause the glass top to fail? I haven't had the stove for very long, and it was new when I got it. Now ya got me worrying.

 

[kyrsyan]

I don't can indoors unless it is winter. I have a glass top stove, too. I know I have seen ppl's stoves break, but I thought it was from overheating. I have canned on my stove b4 without incident, and I thought being careful with the heat was why. Is it not the heat? Does the rattling cause the glass top to fail? I haven't had the stove for very long, and it was new when I got it. Now ya got me worrying.

Many manufacturers have already addressed any problems. Just check with the one for your stove.
When glass top stoves first came out there were two issues. One was the heat. Canners get hotter than normal cooking equipment and it was hotter than the stoves could handle.
Second was that some of the glass top stoves had a heat cycling feature. They were designed to keep the burner at X temp. This was a problem for canning because the canner either couldn't get up to temp or would end up fluctuating heat and pressure as the stove automatically cycled the burner to adapt the temperature.

 

[Walrus]

I don't can indoors unless it is winter. I have a glass top stove, too. I know I have seen ppl's stoves break, but I thought it was from overheating. I have canned on my stove b4 without incident, and I thought being careful with the heat was why. Is it not the heat? Does the rattling cause the glass top to fail? I haven't had the stove for very long, and it was new when I got it. Now ya got me worrying.

It's the subtle rattling from the weight used during pressure canning that can cause the glass to fail, is my understanding. Perhaps it's an overabundance of caution on our part - surely don't mean to cause alarm. Our stove is older so we're just being careful.

Mizz Walrus does lots of indoor canning in the winter on her glass-top kitchen stove but it's water-bath canning only. Pressure canning is only done outside using the propane burners.

I like Millwright's idea of just putting a propane kitchen stove on the back porch (or in his case, looks like a carport). We use a walkout basement shed that has a patio door which opens to our canning storage area.

 

[nomifyle]

I'm blessed to have a gas stove converted to propane on an enclosed porch (partially enclosed with screen) to can or cook if necessary, its hooked up to a 250 gallon propane tank.

 

[amazon]

I don't can indoors unless it is winter. I have a glass top stove, too. I know I have seen ppl's stoves break, but I thought it was from overheating. I have canned on my stove b4 without incident, and I thought being careful with the heat was why. Is it not the heat? Does the rattling cause the glass top to fail? I haven't had the stove for very long, and it was new when I got it. Now ya got me worrying.

I have a glass top stove too. I use an expensive hot plate. It works great. It would be easy to take it outside to a carport to use too. I don't know if it would work for an extra large canner. I am just using a Presto.

Edited to add: I have also used it for water bath canning.

https://www.amazon.com/Cadco-CSR3T-Single-Hi-Power-Stainless/dp/B00IRHWK9M/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2EOTARY0S5IL7&keywords=electric+burner+canning&qid=1662849962&sprefix=electric+burner+cannin%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-6

 

[Cag3db1rd]

I am just using a Presto.

The basic 16 qt model. Same here. Hubby gave it to me as a gift on our first anniversary.

 

[Cag3db1rd]

I like Millwright's idea of just putting a propane kitchen stove on the back porch

That's what I do. Propane on the back porch. I will learn to do it on wood when propane is no longer available, I guess.