Induction Stovetop Waterbaths?

[jessicanorris]

Hi everyone!

Sorry it has been such a long time since I've posted, I've been very busy, as I had a baby boy (William) just after Christmas, and I've only just started to get back into organising the preserving side of things.

Now to my question: does anyone cook with an induction stove top and know of a compatible preserver for water bath canning? My aunt says she has a Fowlers Vacola that was my grandmother's, but I suspect it will be stainless steel and not work on induction. Can anyone confirm? If I'm going to have trouble sourcing a preserving specific unit, do people have much success with using a really big saucepan with a bottle rack inside? Or what about electric?

Thanks for any accumulated wisdom you might have
-jess

[alicelt]

I ran around my kitchen the other day checking which of my pots n pans would work if we had an induction stove top. Sounds ridiculous, but meh, I was curious.

Best way to find out if things will work is to see if a magnet sticks to the bottom of them - if it doesn't, they won't work, if it does, they will.

My stainless steel frypan, stock pot and wok all have a magnetised base, so should work fine. The presto canner is all aluminium and the base doesn't hold a magnet at all - so it just wouldn't work. I haven't actually checked the big stove-top unit that I've got but I'm pretty sure it's copper which won't work either.

HTH
Ali

[childoftheearth]

Hi Jess,

Sorry I have no wisdom to offer on induction stoves, but had to hop in to say congratulations on William's arrival.

At 2 months+, I guess he is sleeping through the night, and it's great that you are finding time to get back into the things you enjoy. Baby photo's are always welcome!

Best wishes
Elaine

[Shadowgirlau]

Sorry I too have no experience with induction stove tops so can offer no pearls of wisdom on that front.

Congradulations on the birth of your son.

Kathleen

[jessicanorris]

Hi all,

I too spent some time checking my favourite pans in the kitchen before deciding on the induction stove, and noticed that although quite a few of them would hold a fridge magnet, they didn't end up working on the stive when it arrived! I was disappointed, as these pans have been handed down from grandparents, and have been excellent and still going strong. However, since the stove came with some promotional cookware, we were okay and had something to cook on, and we handed the heirloom pans down the line.

So, I've already checked with redbacktrading about the pressure canner they sell, and that's a no go, sadly. I was hoping someone may have done this legwork before, but I think I'll just have to ring around! Possibly a pressure canner doesn't exist for a glass top stove simply due to the weight of the canner plus water and product, so maybe I will need to go for an electric unit there. But I do have saucepans I could use to bottle smaller amounts (up to 500 ml bottles should fit). Any suggestions for inserting the bottles? Stuff the bottom and between the bottles with old tea towels, or will that interfere with the processing time?

Thanks for the congrats on William - he will be three months old on Sunday, and he just grew into size 00! Sadly though, *not* sleeping through the night. Last night I was up 3 times in the small hours, but I'm hoping that he'll start waking less after the current growth spurt he seems to be doing. Photos I have plenty of, but not any idea of how to post them! I assume you post a link to a hosted image site?

Thanks
-jess

[minnie]

Hi Jess,

Congrats on William.

I assume you post a link to a hosted image site?

Sure do... see viewtopic.php?f=20&t=200

Vicki

[childoftheearth]

Hi Again Jess,

I've seen several online sites offering pressure canners for sale but they have all been the same model - the Presto 23 Quart unit. I think It could be the only one available in Australia.

If it won't work on your cooker, you might consider buying a single electric hotplate to go with it. I just had a look on the "Kambrook" website www.kambrook.com.au and they have a single hotplate which they list at $59.95, and supposedly available at heaps of retailers.

I have bottled tomatoes in a regular deep stockpot with a round cake cooling rack in the bottom and achieved a good seal. I think the principle is to allow the hot water to flow around and under the bottles, in which case sitting them on something solid like cloth would not be successful.

Cheers
Elaine

[Shadowgirlau]

I do know that a lot of Americans who pressure can do so on portable gas tops or outside bbq type of set up. I am thinking about setting up an outside kitchen and using a portable camping stove for the same thing. Have been told that it is much nicer to pressure can outside in summer when it is hot.

Kathleen

[mallee11]

I have used my presto canner and fowlers stove top on the wok burner on my outdoor kitchen which is built to take the weight but I mostly use my electric s/s fowlers but still outdoors

[Mojojo]

Hey thats a really good idea - to use gas outdoors I mean, in summer.
The single gas rings are quite cheap (was looking at them today from $20) from camping shops like BCF, and if you already have gas for the BBQ its pretty easy!

[Hayhay]

No idea re the stovetop sorry; but congrats on the birth of your little boy! Its lovely to get back into things and know there's a little bubba who will one day be sharing it with you. I made some apple puree the other day and bottled it for use in pastries - be a perfect baby food. And I was trying to think of which friends I could give it to - then decided I'd just have to have another baby and do some more next year ha ha!

I had to laugh, I hope Elaine your comment was in jest, my boys don't sleep thru the night till they're 2 years old!!!

Hayley

[childoftheearth]

Hi Hayley and Everybody,

My first baby (daughter) was the child from Hell. She didn't sleep at all (day or night) unless she was moving. If we took her out in the car she would doze off, as long as we didn't get any red lights. If we had to stop she would wake up in the time we were stationary and start screaming again. Unless she was moving (car, pram, being held and rocked) she screamed non-stop for the first nine months. Doctors thought it was a neurological defect and tried everything, including an electroencephalograph, to find out what was wrong with her, but they never did.

Many times my husband came home from work to find me sitting on the bed rocking the baby and we were both bawling our eyes out. I feel great sympathy for mothers who are driven to hurt their children, because I knew that desperation. Happily I have no idea when my son started sleeping through the night, so it can't have been much of an issue. I'm always grateful that she was my first child, because if I had also had another child to care for I don't think we would have made it through.

By the same token, I know many other mothers who brought babies home from the hospital sleeping through, or began to sleep through at a few weeks of age. The magical thing about babies is that they are all unique, to be loved and treasured.

My "babies" are now in their twenties, happy, confident, intelligent young people, so I guess if I had a message for another mother it would be to appreciate every day, even the "bad" ones because you don't have your babies for very long.

With best wishes to all Mums,
Elaine

[Shadowgirlau]

Hi Elaine,
Unfortunately our babies are trained from birth to wake up for feeds at certain hours or not sleep through so we come home with unsettled babies. Well we did however Mum and baby seem to be home with in 24 hrs these days so what the reason is now I don't know. It has been 27 yrs since my last baby.

I feel for mums with babies who don't sleep at night although can smugly say I never had this problem with either of my children. They both slept all night from birth. I kid you not.

I well remember the almost stand up fight I had with the midwife in charge of the ward when I had my first child. The nurse bought him to me in the night saying it was feed time and so I got up and got ready only to see he was asleep. When I told her I wouldn't wake him to feed him she took him away saying okay but you will have wake him and feed him if he doesn't wake up in the next couple of hours as he is a newborn etc etc. A couple of hours later she was back and he was still asleep
(back then we weren't allowed to have the baby in the same room so they were kept in nurseries) I again refused so she told me she would feed him herself. Well that was it, I refused to let her take the crib away and kept him beside me, I sat up all the rest of the night just in case she came and took him away. In the morning the Matron complained to my Dr who told her that if I wanted to demand feed then that was my choice and she was not to interfere. Gosh she was angry with me.
The Dr then told me about babies being trained from birth etc. So very right in my experience.

Mind you I am a freak when it comes to babies had max of 2 hrs birthing, just like shelling peas, no sweat

Kathleen