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10/27/10, 04:46 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Wi,
Posts: 35
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Owner of new antique pressure canner
A new sense of sustainability has washed over me! last night while perusing the local good will, I finally happened across a pressure canner! and not just any, a NATIONAL pressure canner no 7- 16qt!
wooden handles and dial gauge and petcock. even has a safety blow out rubber piece in center of lid.
this unit dates to 30's-early 40's
cast aluminum and the seal appears to be in serviceable order!
I can see this unit as already becoming one of my prized possessions!
how about you all? did you feel a little something extra when you brought your first pressure canner home?
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10/27/10, 05:36 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern NY
Posts: 2,330
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Yes I did and it was only a couple weeks ago. I wish I had it for the prolific crop of green beans this year ( they are in the freezer ) . I am canning anything I can get my hands on , and loving it !
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10/27/10, 05:38 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: ne colorado
Posts: 1,205
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take it by your county extension office and have them test it, and certify the safety's. Ours does this for free and unless you are 100% confident in it, it's worth the piece of mind. my wife does over a thousand quarts a year and she takes hers in about every 3 years or so.
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10/27/10, 09:12 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Wi,
Posts: 35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rancher1913
take it by your county extension office and have them test it, and certify the safety's. Ours does this for free and unless you are 100% confident in it, it's worth the piece of mind. my wife does over a thousand quarts a year and she takes hers in about every 3 years or so.
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is the rubber plug reuseable that is the safety in the lid?
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10/28/10, 05:45 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: michigan
Posts: 22,572
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Off Grid Rving
is the rubber plug reuseable that is the safety in the lid?
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You should be able to get what you need at a local hardware store. The old fashoned kind. All the rubber parts on your canner are reusable aslong as they are still in good shape, they last for years.
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10/28/10, 12:22 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Wi,
Posts: 35
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I am going to see about taking it to the ext place to have it tested today. hope they are open/available
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10/28/10, 12:24 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: N.W. PA
Posts: 2,835
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Off Grid Rving
A new sense of sustainability has washed over me! last night while perusing the local good will, I finally happened across a pressure canner! and not just any, a NATIONAL pressure canner no 7- 16qt!
wooden handles and dial gauge and petcock. even has a safety blow out rubber piece in center of lid.
this unit dates to 30's-early 40's
cast aluminum and the seal appears to be in serviceable order!
I can see this unit as already becoming one of my prized possessions!
how about you all? did you feel a little something extra when you brought your first pressure canner home?
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I was gifted with an old, used pressure canner last year. Gave it a couple trial runs with water first, to see how it functioned.
The seal was old and water continued to run out. After the weighted gauge shot into the air, that was it for me. I spent the money to buy a new one.
You'll have to see for yourself, but I would not wait until an actual canning situation to try it out. Not worth the danger or loss of food.
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10/28/10, 09:17 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,272
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Get the gauge checked, if it's accurate. Then yes, give it a trial run and see if the rubber parts still work. If not, maybe a local hardware store will have one - but they are available off the internet.
I would build the pressure up to 11 lbs and keep it there for 10 or 20 minutes.
I left the weight to my new cooker in East Texas, and ordered one on line - only took a few days.
You might even be able to get a copy of a manual on line, to either buy or download.
There are some sites that have manuals you can just download. I have for several things I have bought used - sewing machines, pasta maker, breadmaker, etc.
Just do a search -
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10/28/10, 10:34 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Carthage, Texas
Posts: 12,261
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I've got one of those... it makes an excellent dog water bowl.
I also thought I'd come upon a gem. Read up on how to use it, and 'got after it'. Had it adjusted to the sweet spot, and went got ready for the second round of canning jars. Then it promptly blew up. As in a landmine going off.
I'm happily using two of my 8 modern ones on a regular basis. If you do use the antique, make sure you have no chilluns, or old folks that loud noises and shrapnel might 'scare', and don't bet your life on it. Mine tried to take mine. (I've used modern one's thousands of times, and no problems... maybe my antique was just a time bomb waiting to happen... But...)
__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming
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10/28/10, 10:58 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Colorado
Posts: 2,240
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we have a old Wards, it may have been made by National, (similar to an All American canner), with the aluminum machined seal, and the screw handles,
I put a new gage on it and a new weight pressure regulator on it from "All American"
it was my grand mothers, who died, in 1940, we use that one and two "All American canners"
I also made it so that it would take the rubber blow out safety plug, as I did not trust the old mechanical blow off,
I can not get the web site to load, but via Google rout it loads, on very similar what I did for our old canner, the first is the actual link,
http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/l...142458877.html
the second is via Google images,
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...PYH68Abh8PiGAQ
Last edited by farminghandyman; 10/28/10 at 11:14 PM.
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10/28/10, 11:24 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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The National No. 7 was made by Presto and designed to last forever. Not many parts other than seal and pressure gauge and both are still available. Should show the manufacture site as Eau Claire, Wisconsin on the bottom.
Martin
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10/29/10, 01:52 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 2,854
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So, I guess you'd use yours to can tomatoes with, eh, Martin?  The rest of us get to use ours to can tomatoes with because of you! (Thank you!)
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10/29/10, 04:54 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Watertown, Tn.
Posts: 2,153
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I have two of them.
First one was my mothers and she bought in 1938 or there abouts.
The other one was purchased on e-bay several years ago for about $12.00. It is still packed in the shipping box.
Use my moms yearly and no problems.
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10/29/10, 08:45 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: the flat land of Illinois
Posts: 4,652
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I've got an old presto canner with wood handles here - given to me by a very long time family friend. I've also got a new one that I had bought before the old one was gifted to me. I don't feel okay tossing it in the goodwill pile since it was given by someone I've known all my life... but if you want to try and use it? perfect person to share it with!
Anyone want the old one? It sure looks cool! free for shipping or pick up.
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10/29/10, 09:16 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stef
I was gifted with an old, used pressure canner last year. Gave it a couple trial runs with water first, to see how it functioned.
The seal was old and water continued to run out. After the weighted gauge shot into the air, that was it for me. I spent the money to buy a new one.
You'll have to see for yourself, but I would not wait until an actual canning situation to try it out. Not worth the danger or loss of food.
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Your problem was two things. The seal was old and needed to be replaced. With so many models being interchangeable, they can usually be found in most hardware stores or definitely on line.
The second was that the tube under the weighted gauge became plugged. When enough pressure was built up, the plug material became a projectile which propelled the gauge into the air. In other words, operator error rather than equipment failure.
Martin
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10/29/10, 09:24 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Wi,
Posts: 35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cathleenc
I've got an old presto canner with wood handles here - given to me by a very long time family friend. I've also got a new one that I had bought before the old one was gifted to me. I don't feel okay tossing it in the goodwill pile since it was given by someone I've known all my life... but if you want to try and use it? perfect person to share it with!
Anyone want the old one? It sure looks cool! free for shipping or pick up.
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where in wisconsin are you. I would love to have two canners to go through batches twice as fast! I am in Delavan Wi.
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10/29/10, 09:44 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: the flat land of Illinois
Posts: 4,652
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Off Grid Rving
where in wisconsin are you. I would love to have two canners to go through batches twice as fast! I am in Delavan Wi.
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12 miles west of Madison. I'll be driving to Milwaukee early on Monday morning, returning back home - leaving Milwaukee around 11:30/noon. If you want to meet up along I-94 on the way back on Monday I could do that. Send a pm, please.
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10/29/10, 09:50 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,807
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Replace the rubber.
Get the gauge tested.
PLEASE, find a manual for how to use it (that's how you know to check the vent pipe to make sure it's clear of debris,for example) and read that manual until you know it as well as your Bible.
Then, with new parts and a thorough knowledge of how to operate the equipment, you should be just fine.
__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice
http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/
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10/29/10, 09:58 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 4,325
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"New Antique". How exactly is that term defined? 
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10/29/10, 11:45 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Wi,
Posts: 35
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new to me - antique hehe
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