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["SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Well, it IS hot, and it DOES get miserable in the kitchen, even with AC.
 Growing up, we had a window unit AC in the kitchen, just like we do
now.  My house is small and is cooled by two window units at present,
one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.  All summer long, our AC unit
has been on the blink.  It will run for an hour or so, then kind of lock
up (it is NOT freezing up).  I turn it off for 15 or 20 minutes, then
turn it back on and it runs for another hour or so....it's a real pain
to deal with and we are just trying to limp through this summer.
Anyway, what helps in  my situation is that
1. My house is in the woods and well shaded by trees so on a normal day,
I don't even turn on the AC until about 2PM when the inside temp starts
to really  heat up.  Personally, I could go even longer without it, but
if I let the whole house heat up too much, it doesn't cool down at all
and then when Ron comes home at 6 after working in the heat all day, he
gets grumpy.  He likes the house cold when he gets home.
2.  To maximize efficiency, I shut off the bedrooms and bathroom leaving
only the kitchen/livingroom so the AC doesn't have to work as hard.
3.  Since my stove now has new burners, things heat up much, much faster
with less heat wasted to the air.  I use lids as much as possible to
keep the kitchen from getting even more steamy.  It also speeds things up.
4.  I try to can in the mornings....getting as early a start as
possible, and I try to pick days that are cooler and/or more
overcast/rain, etc.
5.  Last and most importantly, I have a propane burner that I use
OUTSIDE for the water bath and or pressure canner.  THAT has been the
real savior for us.  I can fill the canning kettle with water, turn that
burner on, and in less than 10 minutes, have the jars boiling.  Because
it doesn't heat up the house, it allows our little AC to keep up with
the extra heat in the house for the other parts of canning, like the
pots of jars and lids boiling and the pots of whatever is being canned.

Even with all that, it does get hotter than 'normal' in the house and
that is why canning will just zap you.  It is exhausting, and sometimes,
like you, I do feel nauseous and sick because of the heat.  Even with
the outside burner, going in and out of the house feels like walking in
and out of a furnace.

I am no longer inclined to marathon canning sessions, either, like I
once did in a house with central air back in the days when I wasn't
quite as conservation minded as I am now.  Back then, I would can a lot
more in a day, running the AC at full blast all day, then go jump in the
pool if I started getting too hot.  I don't have that luxury now so I do
things in smaller batches, pick my times, and suffer through what I have
to suffer through.  I managed pretty well yesterday because I wore
shorts and a tank top covered by an apron.  It was cooler than my normal
long pants and canning shirts that keep syrupy splashes from burning me.
So for me, staying reasonably cool is a combination of a lot of things,
but even with everything I do, it is still HOT work...like standing next
to a bonfire in the midsummer....lol...
If I had no AC at all, I think I'd be a night canner...either that or
get several large propane burners and can outdoors under a shelter on a
rainy day.

Bev


clhw wrote:
> Not to be argumentive, Bev, or to belittle your accomplishment, Ray 
> (and congratulations to you, also), but how does anyone can in the 
> south without a summer kitchen which is air conditioned? I've canned 
> thousands of jars in my life and quit doing it because the heat and 
> humidity made me sick. No air conditioning here.

> How do you do it??

--
Bevanron in NW Georgia          EarthNSky Farm  34.498N 85.076W
SISU! (Finnish--There is no single word in English that encompasses
all that sisu means, but it combines the following ideas: guts, pep,
determination, stubbornness, perseverance, hardiness, stamina, go, do,
nerve, spunk, pluck, and grit.  It's like "Just Do It!" & "Go for It!")
                                GO NAVY!