Customer Reviews

Fagor Home Canning Kit

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been canning for over 30 years and have canned several thousand jars of vegetables and fruit. We fed our family primarily from the garden and orchard of our 2.5 Ac. farmette. I have used Mirro, Presto, All American and Fagor equipment. All have their pros and cons. You can use pressure cookers to can. The problem is that at 15lbs psi (at sea level) your string beans will be better for the local nursing home residents than 3 bean salad. Of course if you live in the Pyrennees (Fagor is made in Spain) or an altitude calling for 15lbs to get 240 deg. that's what you want. The 10 qt duo pressure has a fixed choice of 8lbs (not 10) or 15. 8lbs only gets you to 234.4 degrees (unless you live in Death Valley or the Dead Sea area). The bacterium which secretes the botulin toxin is killed at 240 according to the USDA. You also need the high temp to kill certain enzymes in certain foods like creamed corn which everybody with a freezer freezes today instead. But I have not had a problem with the string beans at 8 lbs. As for the tomato/onions/bell pepper/garlic/basil mix, my wife starts cooking this in the afternoon so all the bacteria is dead by the time I come home. I can it by boiling water bath (have canned over 1,000 qts.) to kill the airborne yeast in the headspace. Fagor makes quality products, even though the people writing the instructions have never canned in their life. This kit fits the 10 qt. unit. If canning is new, ask around at church or a retirement group for help. It's more fun and easier to learn that way. -Canner from Lancaster Co., PA

I love the funnel! Very sturdy and durable. The canning rack fits into one of my smaller stock pots which is nice for smaller batches. This is a nice set. They include a book with some recipes and color pictures. Beware if you've never canned before, The pictures under the "steps for pressure canning" were taken by someone who had no clue. Step 2. shows jar of food with someone removing bubbles, step 3. wipe rims of jars... shows empty jar turned upside down with someone wiping it, step 5 shows how the magnetic lid lifter works... except they are using it after the ring is on!. Anyway this is a great set anyway.

Although the accessories in the this kit are very useful, the water bath basket is very small and not suitable for large canning projects.

The Fagor "made in China" canning rack rusted the second time I used it and left a rust stain in the bottom of my Fagor Canner. While, I did get the stain out, it looks like the rack is of very poor quality and I do not recommend it.

The magnetic lid lifter is so weak it barely works. There are other things that are just unnecessary. Keep looking. I advise against.

It was packed well and arrived quickly, but I thought the canning rack was going to be for a large 23 qt. water bath canner and it is for a small pressure cooker..maybe 6 qt size? I think it would be helpful to let people know the size of the canning rack in the description. I did need a jar lifter, not sure how much I will use the other stuff.

I got this along with a pressure cooker/canner as a gift. Some of the "tools" included are helpful while some have never been unwrapped. Specifically:

USEFUL
magnetic wand
jar "lifter"
jar "rack"
funnel (fits jars better than ones I had)

NOT SO USEFUL
the plastic bubble releaser
the jar tightener
ladle (I already have a couple of these)

Is it worth getting the set? For most people...probably, yes.

This isn't the greatest thing out there from what I can tell. I don't care because I had nothing! This is much better than nothing! The canning basket is a bit small & the handles are short. The recipe book is only for pressure canning & the instructions aren't so hot. I love the stainless canning funnel since most are plastic - yuck! I use everything in this kit except for the book! The lid lifter magnet is weak but if you are slow & patient, it does the job! I will keep my eyeballs open for a better basket at a yard sale or something like that, but in the meantime, I have what I need to can without problems.

Used once or twice. Tools are either fairly thin wire or plastic. If planning on canning frequently or large volumes get something more substantial.

I liked this kit. The lifter for the hot bottles was great. I used it whenever I canned. The magnetic pic up for lids didn't work as well as I'd hoped. The funnel was a good item, nice and wide to prevent slop-overs and messes. The bubble releaser was not an item I used much. The cookbook was pretty good and I used the stewed tomato recipe in it. I'm a first time canner, so I wanted to make sure I had the tools I needed. This was a good collection for a beginner and I'm glad I bought it.