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[sjc <indexer AT fairpoint.net>]

bob ford wrote:
> I just went & looked at my pressure cooker that lynda was ridiculing the other day.  I don't know if 
> it is a canner ; it says "mirro matic" & "16"
> the cardboard thing on the top just says pressure cooker, not pressure canner, but the d*mn thing is so big, it almost certainly coukld be used for either, I think?  I don't think it was ever used.  It still has the other paper and cardboard stuff on the inside; the rubber gasket feels like new; and it still has the wire tray thing you would life jars or meats or something out with.  I think it is a 16 quart??  That is probably what the "16" means.  
Probably so.
> Is that big enough for pressure canning?.  I think I paid $10 for it , 8 or 
> none years ago an old dead person's (actually the dead probably all consider 
> themselves the same age, being dead) estate sale.  .........
>   
Needs to be large enough to hold 4 quart jars, lidded, and still clamp 
closed, and to have either an adjustable or movable weight or a gauge.

Probably you have a round, wheel-shaped weight that says 5/10/15 with 
that one (depends on its age, but that seems likely)?  If so, and if it 
will hold the 4 quart jars, you can use it as a pressure canner, as well 
as a pressure cooker, and it will fall within the USDA recommendations.  
The reason for the size limitation is that any size less than that cools 
off too rapidly to hold food at the proper temp for the proper period of 
time.

Does it have a manual with it?  If not, there are several around on the 
net for the downloading.  Then you'll know where you stand, and 
actually, some of the recipes in the Mirro manuals are pretty decent....

SJ