Christmas is early

Well the snow - that damned snow - is being elusive ... But hubby encouraged me to get into one of my gifts early ...

My All-American Pressure canner ...

Decided to experiment with chicken leg quarters today ... Did them 4 different ways ... But all bone-in, raw packed ...

• packed in water, with skin on
• packed in water, with skin off
• packed no water, with skin on
• packed no water, with skin off

All were topped with 1 tsp chicken base ... I couldn't find my bouillon cubes And couldn't see just adding a teaspoon of salt ... It melts well into liquids and should lend it a wonderful flavor ...

I did pretty well at keeping the pressure at the 10# pressure needed for my area ... For the full 75 minutes ... But I did it.

Only next time I must go to the bathroom before I turn on the heat - I darn near floated away trying to ignore natures call since you never want to leave a pressure canner or cooker unattended ...

Here's some photos I took ...

Instructions said it would hold 7 qt. and 19 pints ... But while I could fit the 7 qt. without an issue ... As you can see in the photo - there was no way to dry fit 10 pints on the first layer in order to fit 9 pints on the second layer as it would be used ~ even fitting 9 would put the jars too close together I think since they aren't supposed to touch ...

But this time since it was just four jars it wasn't a problem for me ... The jars need to sit for 24 hours to see if the keep their seal - although I've heard to not get too confident for 48 hours incase the seals "pop" due to fat "climbing" the sides during the canning process and getting under the seal.

We will see - they are sitting in my kitchen now ... I will probably use them over the next few weeks checking not only to check the seal but to also check on the flavor and make sure it's not too salty.

They do recommend boiling the foods canned for 20 minutes before consuming it to be sure that any bacteria in it is killed off.

Here's my photos:
1)the dry fit of pints ...
2)an imperfection in the casting made it nearly impossible to see the second arrow on the side of the base - Lehmans were just wonderful at helping me out when I learn All-American isn't opened on the weekends (my in-laws call this "the Wisconsin work week" ... My MIL grew up there and she says they just kind of take their time to do things just so long as it gets done.
3)shot of the canner staying at 10# pressure
4)pardon the messy dial - they are plastic and very difficult to keep clean... But this is the setting I used to hold temp. Med to just shy of it (on the low side) ... It did very well for me

I'll let you know how the experiment goes :-)