Canning in the great outdoors.

No matter how crazy and erratic spring weather conditions may have been in your area and how they may have affected your garden planting schedule, some point during the summer and early fall months will bring on the full plethora of vegetable garden harvest. For many of us (especially in light of the recent inflation of food prices at the grocer), garden harvest equals canning time. While some may shun the idea of canning as outdated, old-fashioned, tedious, time-consuming, kitchen-messy and somewhat pricey (considering the hike in energy and fuel costs), we've come up with an efficient, inexpensive and pleasurable way to get the job done! Ever tried canning outdoors?

Over the past two years, we have done just that, by setting up an outdoor canning station with food-prep tables and running water--courtesy of our garden hose--right alongside our garden plot. And trust me--canning outdoors is truly a refreshing and rewarding delight!

Outdoor canning saves on human energy--you're right next to the garden so you can gather and clean your veggies, prep them for canning, pluck them into the jars and then can them all in the same spot without having to haul from garden-to-kitchen on each excursion. Plus there's no messy kitchen to clean over and over again.

Our set-up employs the use of firewood instead of gas, electric or propane normally required to operate the cooking stove. It saves on canning energy costs big time! And because we're canning outdoors in a nice shady spot under a huge oak tree where there's usually a breeze blowing through, we've also gotten rid of another "hidden" energy cost associated with the annual canning regime. Nevermore do we have to crank up the window fans or ceiling fans (hidden expenses that many of us often don't take into account) to cool down our hot kitchen where our canning used to take place.

In addition we've eliminated an ongoing headache which may not be worth much in terms of bucks--but worth a heck-of-lot in terms of sanity. No longer are we (I say "we" but I'm really talking about me--Gail) saddled with having to clean up the inside canning equipment and mess and get things off the stove and out of the way in order to start cooking our dinner meal! Probably the biggest plus though from my point of view, is that all steps in the canning procedure can be conducted while enjoying your own space outdoors--from cleaning, washing and cutting up your veggies (on a table or two set to the side), boiling water to sterilize your canning jars, lids and rims, to the water-bath or pressure cooker procedure you'll use to can your fresh harvest.

While I deserve some applause for the constant annual nagging "ughs" (about the ensuing heat, mess and costs of canning indoors) which instigated our exploration of a new way to go about this--Jim deserves full credit for designing and devising the wood-fired canning set up that not only works very well outdoors, but stopped my nagging (which I really didn't like about me anyway).

Now on to Jim's instructions on how to go about constructing your own outdoors canning set up; varying methods to employ when using an outdoor wood-fired canning system, plus some of his "male read" on the whole canning matter in general.

Jim:

The advantages of this outdoor canning system are two fold: The fuel is cheap, and you don't have the heat and mess in your kitchen. We use cut and split slab wood from our sawmill, but any kind of dry scrap wood will do nicely. The only disadvantage is that it takes the canner a bit longer to build up pressure if a breeze is blowing, which tends to cool the outside of the canning unit.

What you'll need:

To complete this project, you will need 20 lineal feet of round metal stock and enough flat metal stock to make a cooking platform top two feet square. Since acquiring and working metal tends to be a bit pricey, you will probably have to do some scrounging. After all, one of the objectives here is to save money. You will also need a small electric welder and either an acetylene cutting torch or a metal cut-off saw. If you are like many COUNTRYSIDE readers, you probably already own these tools or have a friend who does. For the platform sides, I prefer to use pieces of concrete rebar metal that are 1/2" in diameter. If you have a friend who pours concrete for a living, he or she will probably have some scrap pieces of rebar they would give you. You might have to barter some tomatoes or sweet corn, but that is only fair.

For the cooking top, you will need some plate steel that is at least 1/8" thick and preferably 1/4" thick. Plate steel bought new is expensive, so you may want to scrounge through somebody's junk pile to find enough pieces to weld together for your cook top. If you are lucky, you may find a larger piece of old plate steel that can be cut down to size.

Constructing the outdoor canning station:

First, cut four pieces of rebar (or other round metal at least 1/2" thick) to a length of 18". Lay them on a fiat metal surface (I use the cooking top itself) and weld them together to form a perfect square. Cut four more pieces and make another square. Next, cut four pieces of the round stock into 18" lengths. Here is where it gets a bit tricky. Lay one of the 18" pieces fiat on your metal surface. Attach the ground electrode of your electric welder to one side of that surface. Take one of your pre-made squares and spot-weld one corner to one end of the 18" piece. Take the other square and spot-weld it to the 18" piece 12" below the first weld. This will leave 6" "legs" on the bottom which will later be driven into the ground to steady the whole platform. This is an aggravating procedure because you have to try and hold everything in place while you strike an electric arc. But once you have the first piece spot-welded in place, you are home free. Simply continue to turn to the piece flat on the surface and spot-weld the other three 18" pieces to the corners of the two squares. Using a metal square, check the corners of the platform. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be as square as you can get it. Once you have the pieces, weld everything firmly together with good beads everywhere the metal joins.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Finally, cut two more pieces of round stock 18" long and weld them across the top of the platform at equal distance from each side piece. This will provide a solid surface on which to set the cook top. Now, one final procedure, and you are finished with both the platform and the cooking top.

Turn the platform top-down on the cooking surface with the "legs" pointing up. Using a measuring tape, make sure the platform is exactly centered on what will be the bottom of the cooking top. Cut four pieces of your round stock about 4" long. Lay one of these short pieces along and in the center of each side of the platform top. Weld each piece to the bottom of the cooking top. This will later allow you to set the cooking top down over the platform and hold it firmly in place while you are sliding the pressure canner on and off the top. (If you are like most COUNTRYSIDE readers, you are used to fabricating things, and probably already have a good mental picture of how all this works.) You are now ready to begin your outdoor canning adventure.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Outdoor canning method:

Take the platform to the area where you are going to can, and lay an old piece of 2 x 4 across the top of the platform. Use a small sledge or big ball-peen hammer to pound on the 2 x 4 until you have driven all four legs of the platform into the ground up to the level of the bottom square. Use a carpenter's level to make sure the top is level. You may have to pound one side harder or dig out under the other until level is achieved. You are now ready to set your cook top in place and build your fire. You will need plenty of scrap wood, because it takes a lot of heat to keep a pressure canner going outside, especially if a breeze is blowing. We have found it very helpful in regulating the heat of the fire to put up metal "baffles" on all four sides of the cooking top. I made the baffles by using a pair of tin snips to cut up an old piece of roofing tin. Each baffle rests on the ground at the base of the fire and is leaned up against the top of the cooking platform with just enough angle to keep it standing in place. If there is a breeze blowing from one direction, you simply drop one or more of the baffles to let the breeze blow through the fire. If there is no breeze, you put up all four baffles to direct the heat upward on the bottom of the cooking platform.

A few words of advice and caution

While canning some vegetables and fruits will require a water bath canning method, others will require the use of a pressure cooker. In both instances, and as in all outdoor wood-heating ventures, by all means employ all sensible safety measures. Always have a water hose nearby and wear protective fire-proof gloves when near the fire and when handling all of the associated canning equipment. (Even afterwards, it will remain hot for some time.) I advise to never, and I repeat, never, can with one of the old style pressure cookers that has the built-in gauge that gives a pressure reading with a dial and a pointer. These gauges may have been accurate when the canner was built, but with time and use, they may become inaccurate. (Your local Extension office can test your gauge at no cost every year.) That can lead to a very, very dangerous situation. They can build up too much pressure and explode, causing serious or fatal injuries from flying debris and scalding water.

I can personally testify to such an incident. My grandmother did her canning in a lean-to porch built on the back of her kitchen. Her heat source was an old butane cook top. She was canning green beans one summer day, and she and I were sitting inside at the kitchen table. (I was probably eight or 10 years old.) The canner blew up, and it sounded like a bomb had gone off. The whole house shook. We both ran out onto the porch, and there was glass and green beans on the walls, ceiling, and floor. The canner had split down the side, and the top had blown off and had torn a hole in the porch roof. My grandmother was a devout churchgoer, but that day, she let out with a string of cuss words I didn't even know she knew.

Gail and I use the type of canner that has the calibrated weight that sits on the steam vent built into the top of the lid. The weight has three holes, each hole drilled to calibrate to a different pressure. These holes are calibrated for 5, 10, or 15 pounds of pressure. As long as the steam vent is free of obstruction, the canner cannot possibly exceed the pressure it was designed to withstand. If, for instance, you have the weight sitting over the vent on the hole calibrated to five pounds of pressure, the weight will begin to rock and jiggle when five pounds of pressure inside the canner has been reached. If the weight jiggles constantly, the fire is too hot. The heat is ideal when the weight jiggles about 10 seconds out of each minute, emitting little bursts of steam and water and making a chattering noise.

As noted earlier, when canning outdoors, a stiff breeze may cause problems by cooling the outside of the canner. In that case, the weight may never jiggle or chatter, but will instead emit little bursts of steam and water from the vent hole the weight is sitting on. If you encounter this situation, use a stick or other extension to tap the side of the weight gently from a safe distance. If the weight then briefly spins, turns, or chatters, the correct pressure has nonetheless been reached.

When you have run out the correct time cycle for the product being canned, it will be done properly.

BY GAIL REYNOLDS WITH JIMMIE A. SMITH

TIMBERLAKES FARM