Super Large, Jumbo Water Bath Canner

            Ever wonder how the Amish manage to can so much food? Well I have an answer for part of the secret! Yes, the "plain" folk are hard workers! Their large gardens, combined with a determined work ethic, yield hundreds of jars of food for the winter every year. But Amish and Mennonite folk don't just work hard, they work smart, too. Introducing the jumbo yard version of the water bath canner!

 Extra Larger Canner

        This canner holds a whopping 47 quarts in a single layer and 94 in a double layer! Get a year's worth of canning done in one day or even two! Often an entire community will share one or two of these canners and move them from house to house as need pops up. But sometimes individual families will do most of their canning from one. When you have 10 children to feed, the amount of food needed is astronomical and calls for heavy duty equipment!

       The canner serves double duty as a large pot that is good for cooking meals for weddings or pot lucks. But on canning day it serves as a large pot for blanching or cooking, before the actual preserving takes place. Two popular options are apples for applesauce or tomatoes for any number of tomato products. We can save our tomatoes up in our freezer for a week before we have to can! Now that is convenience! Here is 180 ears of corn being blanched before being creamed and frozen!

Time Saving Features!

     This canner is run on scrap wood for a fast and high heat that does not heat up the house! 

      The firebox has an adjustable "breather" on it to speed or slow the fire and the direct heat works fast to heat up the product.

    The drain on the side, pictured here with the arrow pointed to it, makes for easy draining and cleaning. The handle on the opposite side, makes for easier moving of the large canner as the circular shape would make for awkward moving.

  

This canner was made by S & J Manufacturing in Mount Hermon, Kentucky. Inquiries into getting your own canner can be made through their phone number : 270-427-5904. Each one is built custom, but they have been building them long enough that they do have some standard sizes and they do build them smaller than the one above. 

  

Well there you have it! One more secret to Amish success!