The following blog post is 5th in a series of fugal home food preservation for the novice.
So you went got a bushel or two of something that needs to be put up like yesterday which you have been doing but it's going slow. Real slow because the pot you found or borrowed only holds 6 or 8 quart canning jars. Meanwhile the produce you bought is starting to show it's age and your tired of tripping over the ice chest that holds those damn xxx, is leaking all over the kitchen floor.
Here's one solution that I've personally tried with good results and a few minor adjustments.
A galvanized laundry tub 11.5 gallon capacity.
Holds 15 quart jars & 1 pint.
You'll have to build a rack for the jars to sit on while you water bath can. Easy real easy let me build one snap a pic & I'll post it.
A lid which can be anything from a piece of sheet metal with a drawer handle bolted on, or a sturdy thick piece of cardboard covered with aluminium foil.
The times that I have canned using my wash tub I've built a simple fire pit with cinder block & used an oven rack for the grate to hold the tub above the fire.
When the ice chest is empty wipe down the lid and use as a table top to pay out the hot dogs & smores that you can cook on the fire after your done canning.
Years ago when my three children were young they would come out with an old plastic kiddie pool and place it near the fire, filling it with a few blankets & pillows. Then they would try to rig up an umbrella to make a tent while they waited for the canning to be done. Excited to be camping out in the back yard with a campfire. Over the din of the water rolling to a boil I could hear them talking to each other about making their tent or sleeping in the garden.
"Now Mom, now"?
"No soon, put down the hot dog stick before someone eye ends rolling into a canning jar".
Deep belly laughs followed by a chorus of eyeball eyeball eyeball ...
"Can I have a graham cracker Mom"?
"No there won't be enough for dessert ... put down the stick and the hot dog".
"Now Mom"?
"No soon, go find the mustard and bring out a pillow for me please. I want to go camping".
~~ pelenaka ~~
who never would have thought that she would one day miss those days of canning & kids in August in the our city backyard
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