# Prepper snobbery



## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Dear Santa, 

I wish I had a $300 pressure canner of this certain brand, a bunch of reusable canning lids, a $279 dehydrater, a great big stainless steel water filter...just the best of everything my little heart desires! 

Then my pantry can be filled with nothing but my own home canned goodies and I can look down my nose at the schmucks who only have store bought preps!

Okay, not really. Both times I've paid a kings ransom for a big prep item, I learned that the most expensive isn't always the best. 

Case in point. When I first got the nerve up to try pressure canning, I did what I'm good at. I used my crazy combat shopping skilz to snipe an eBay auction and got a massive presto pressure canner for $35! Yowza! I was canning like a mad woman! That pressure canner does exactly what a pressure canner should, and does it very well!

Then the Hubs read that the All American pressure canner could be used as an autoclave, and insisted that I get one. We really couldn't afford it, but we did without in other areas to get an All American. I do love it. One area where it shone by comparison to the Presto was the weighted regulator. The presto came with a single weight, and you had to watch the pressure gauge like a hawk. The All American came with a weighted regulator with holes for 5-10-15 lbs, and once you determined the right pressure for your elevation, you set the right hole on the regulator, and it maintains the right pressure much easier!

Then one of my HT buddies pointed out a neato thing that gave my $35 Presto the same ease of use as the All American, and it cost less than $10! They sell a weighted regulator for the Presto! It is a three part thing. Take off the two outer rings and it is 5. Lbs, add one back on and it is 10 lbs, add the second and it is 15 lbs! Woo hoo! 

Amazon.com: Presto Pressure Canner Pressure Regulator: Home & Kitchen

I am typing this to he sound of my Presto happily cranking away with the new regulator! I actually like the Presto better than the much more expensive All American. It is bigger. I can stack a layer of quarts, and a layer of pint jars in there and do in one load what it would take me two batches in the All American. The other reason is that the Presto has a gasket and the All American doesn't. 

The Presto has never failed me, but the All American did once, because it is gasketless. I had the lid on straight, as far as I could see, but there was a gap on one side that I couldn't see. Not until I had been trying to get it up to pressure to no avail for a long time. I finally hovered my hand a few inches above it around the lid, and could feel steam shooting out under the lid. It was a huge waste of time, and I had to start over. And there was only about a quarter of an inch of water left in the canner when I got it open. That would never have happened with the Presto. So I'm happier with the less expensive canner.

Then there was the beautiful, shiny stainless steel Berkey water filters gleaming at me from the pages of every homesteady magazine that I read, for years and years! Oh, how I wanted one! I wanted one for years, before the hubs and I finally bit the bullet and parted with many hundreds of dollars for a Berkey and 8 extra filters. Most of you already know about the high failure rate of the Berkeys, and how all 10 of ours failed. Too late, I discovered that I could have gotten a Doulton for about half of what I paid for my Berkey, and not gotten sick. Here is a gleaming stainless steel Doulton housing and 8 filter candles for much less than a Berkey. Stainless Steel Water Filter

But the thing that got me thinking about this was a comment made on my dehydrator thread. My dehydrator is a round plastic one, that I got on sale for (I think) $36.00 at Bass Pro. Not fancy, and not the one that so many of my Ht friends have, or wish they had. But I have been keeping this baby in use day and night since I got it, and I bet the food I've dehydrated is just as good as the food dehydrated in the $299 brand name one that everyone aspires to have. 

The comment that got me thinking was the fellow prepper who said that as soon as she got her big one, the old round one went back into the box, and now she only uses the new one.

I wonder how many of us aren't doing a certain kind of prepping because we are waiting until we can afford the product that is touted as being the best of the best? Saving up for the most expensive water filter when you can actually already afford a much better quality one? And not having that in your preps now? That's crazy talk!

Saving up for the most expensive pressure canner, when the less expensive one has better attributes! If you spent less for the other brand, your pantry could already be filled with delicious, nutritious home canned food? Food that no one would be able to tell if it was canned in the more expensive canner, or the less expensive one.

Saving up for the expensive dehydrator when the one you could already afford would already be filling your pantry with dehydrated food right now?

And of course, if you aren't canning your own food, or dehydrating, please stock up on non perishables and canned goods, even if they are store bought! Buy in bulk when possible, buy on sale and get what you can afford! I tell you in all honesty, my own preps are a combination of store bought, home canned, home dehydrated. And I no longer rely on an unreliable water filter. I'm consciously trying NOT to be a brands snob, and I promise not to look down my nose at other preppers efforts. We are here to help each other.

Prep to the best of your abilities, within your means, and don't wait!


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i have presto and all american canners.i like them both.i hate how the lid sticks on AA despite putting Vaseline on it. you can stick any weighed gauge on a canner or cooker .i like the single gauge with 3 settings on it...nothing to lose.

never wait till when...get to it and do it now with what you have.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

hope you dont mind a vid from pastor joe fox.


[youtube]GIAfWDdU_kM&feature=plcp[/youtube]


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i would love a berky or other filter.it not in my budget so i installed a whole house filter in my well house. i do have a very good portable filter that takes everything out of water including chemicals.but i wanted thats before the berky....then my cash cow went dry...lol

dang i want a sawmill...but i make do with chainsaw and hauling logs to mill and bartering.i have cash i just refuse to spend it when i can get around it.....lol..tightwad i am.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

That would be very much like me not spinning any yarn because I dont have that fancy spinning wheel I dream of.
The fact is I can make yarn w/o it.

Sometimes I see people go out and buy the "best" of whatever it is, then they never even use it.
Maybe try dehydrating jerky one time and just put that fancy dehydrator away.

I am always on the look-out for THOSE people's yard sales.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

Common Tator said:


> Dear Santa,
> Both times I've paid a kings ransom for a big prep item, I learned that the most expensive isn't always the best.


Great post!

I too am content with my Presto canners. Very easy to use and I've never had a problem with a bad seal or gasket, despite many stories of trouble from others. I picked up my second canner for ~10$ at a garage sale. crazy cheap! Got a bunch of gaskets and pressure gauge seals stocked away for the inevitable, but I'm guessing they will last a long time... 

A steam juicer is another cooking related prep item that has been really handy and didn't cost much, really. Makes processing fruit go very quickly.

Tattler lids are one item that I don't regret spending a bit extra on. They work very well and are on their way to paying for themselves with re-use.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

I think a canner without a seal that can go bad is worth it, (although waiting instead of getting one you CAN afford doesnt seem like a good idea if its simply to much for you) but I definitely agree with your premise! 

I often wonder what homesteaders of past eras would think of some of the modern methods and mentalities.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks for the vid, Elkhound! 

This morning I was cutting up free produce to dehydrate! And I was smiling the whole time because it was free, delicious and was not going to waste! 

A lady that I met once came to our ranch when we were open to the public for you pick apples. She brought me a large bag of oranges. I gave her one if my large bags to go fill with apples. She had her kids with her, and they had a wonderful outing, and took home at least as much fruit as she gave me. 
When I got back to the house in the burbs, I stuffed the bag in the fridge and forgot about it or a couple of months. Today, I pulled them out and sliced them into pretty rounds, they filled half of my dehydrator! I filled the other half of the dehydrator with persimmons from the tree in the backyard. This dehydrator batch didn't cost us a penny! I've dehydrated, canned, sauced and buttered tons of apples from my own trees too!

So I guess I did Pastor Joe Fox proud!


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Common Tator said:


> Prep to the best of your abilities, within your means, and don't wait!


This is so true! 

If I would have waited until I could afford it, I'd have never got started. I bought my first canner, a Mirro 12 qt, from the want ads for $15 about 20 years ago. I really didn't have the money, but knew I wanted to start canning and it was cheaper than any I had seen. I'm still using it today. My 22 qt Mirro came from when my mom was cleaning out my bro's house after he died and she asked me if I wanted it. He probably got it in an auction box, the bottom is bowed out, but works fine. Both are from the 70's and have served me well for little money.

I couldn't see putting out the money for the expensive dehydrator and when the heavy duty 10 tray one came up on Cabela's for $99 I couldn't resist. I'm so looking forward to using it!

I always shop and stock when the best deals come up. A couple of months ago Meijer's was having a great sale on their canned veggies(25 cents a can!). That's cheaper then I can can it, so now there's 200 put away. I wish I could have gotten more.

It does take time to get supplies built up when you're on a budget, but it can be done. And it's very gratifying when it gets to the point where you know you have at least a month's worth, or more, put aside.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I can't begin to tell you ow happy I am to hear that you are canning with what you have in your possession now! 

My mother in law left an old Mirro pressure canner. Very high quality! It us stainless steel, compared to my new Alll Amerian, which is highly touted, but is made of aluminum.

I suspect, that my descendent s will look at the Mirro, stainless steel, and the All 
American, in aluminum, and wonder what we were thinking!


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I like to look through the LEM catalog and drool over all the expensive and beautiful meat slicers and other processing equipment. But in the back of my mind I'm always thinking about what we'd do if the power went out permanently. So I've tried to stick to manual things like a mortar and pestle, solar cooker, and sun drying racks for dehydrating.

I've got a Presto with the graduated weights and use it all summer long. I've drooled over the AA canner and think about how it doesn't need a gasket, but you're right - the Presto does a wonderful job and it was 1/3 the price.

I've also got a plastic dehydrator, but wish I could have afforded the metal one. The plastic base is cracking after 5 yrs of using it year round. Duct tape works fine to hold it together, but I can't help coveting a bigger, better one.

Thanks for the link on the Doulton filter - I bought a Berkey back in '99 when they were much cheaper. And now that we've committed to it, I'm just hoping the ceramic parts don't fail.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

We buy what we can afford to start out with but do upgrade when we can. I started with an 18 qt. Presto, upgraded to a 23 qt. Presto, and now I also have a 930 All American. I love my All American when I'm doing a large quantity and can can in the garage but I still use my 23 qt. when I can inside because it comes to pressure faster and maintains pressure well throughout.
We started with a Nesco round dehydrator and upgraded last year to an excalibur. I like my excalibur because I can fit much more in it but I haven't used it near enough. I keep my round one though because it works fine and somebody might need to borrow one someday.
We still need to buy a water filter. We're thinking about the Doultons but will have to wait for some extra funds to put toward it. 
We are just trucking along trying to get things as we can but not stressing about if it's the new prepping "in' thing. It's nice to sit back and wait for reviews from folks that have used the items and then determine what's best for our situation. I still drool over things in the catalogs like the sun ovens and the solar power things but I know we can fashion something ourselves to bake outside if we need to.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I've got ol'Presto canners, old antique apple peelers, a round dehydrator from Big Lots, then my Sis gave me an Excal, ect.ect..... But I never knew about O2 absorbers,gamma seals,Berkys,All American Canners, ect.ect.ect. until I came here and found out that I was a "Prepper". So I'm with you!


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

Kinda off topic, but what are the problems that have surfaced regarding the Berkey filters?


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...st/451088-i-want-buy-pressure-canner-but.html
POST # 18

Looking to pull the trigger today on a pressure canner, and just need to know what I need to buy!! Any help is appreciated!!!


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## Usingmyrights (Jan 10, 2011)

I believe in buying the best that you can afford to an extent. Sometimes the more expensive stuff is more than we need or as mentioned might not have as many features as a cheaper alternative. That's not to say to not do anything while trying to get the nicer item. It doesn't make sense to let a garden go to waste because you don't have the canner you got. On the flip side if your well stocked then I could see only having a small garden to buy an extra few months to save so that you dont buy twice. I think that as long as you buy from mid-upper end you'll be ok. Sometimes cheaper products are ok, but they're cheap for a reason. I'd hate to be 10 years down the road where we're living off our preps and dont have the ability to can because the chinamart canker broke last year


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...st/451088-i-want-buy-pressure-canner-but.html
> POST # 18
> 
> Looking to pull the trigger today on a pressure canner, and just need to know what I need to buy!! Any help is appreciated!!!


Yes, that's it.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

silverseeds said:


> I think a canner without a seal that can go bad is worth it.......


We have a National brand canner inherited from her mom we've been using since the 70's......replaced the gasket once or twice in 40 years. Gaskets are couple bucks. When they do start seeping steam, I rub a little cooking oil on it, and it's good for another few years. Gaskets are not a big deal.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

Common Tater, the she that put the old round one back in the box was me. I am a HHHEEEEE..... LOL


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

A yugo will get you from point A to point B just like an escalade. And if you are tight on money, then use the yugo and be thankful that God supplied it. We don't always have to have the biggest and the best in everything. That attitude is what gets people into deep debt and keeps them from having their dreams fulfilled. Buy the stupid Yugo, be thankful for it, and use the savings to build up a fund for land, home, or whatever. Just replace the word yugo and escalade with used presto and all american. The second hand presto will can just as well as the all american.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

TnAndy said:


> We have a National brand canner inherited from her mom we've been using since the 70's......replaced the gasket once or twice in 40 years. Gaskets are couple bucks. When they do start seeping steam, I rub a little cooking oil on it, and it's good for another few years. Gaskets are not a big deal.


Plus, I think all the canners (even the AA ones) have rubber around the pressure gauge inserts.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

TnAndy said:


> We have a National brand canner inherited from her mom we've been using since the 70's......replaced the gasket once or twice in 40 years. Gaskets are couple bucks. When they do start seeping steam, I rub a little cooking oil on it, and it's good for another few years. Gaskets are not a big deal.


My grandma got stuck with a brand that stopped making the gasket. She had been spending 15 or so I believe for old gaskets others had saved but that source dried up also. She needed a new one every 3-4 years. 

I think it will really depend on the model. I bought a few spare parts for mine, (about 30 bucks worth) it should last several lifetimes if cared for. Either way, best to get the job done with what you can afford. 



K.B. said:


> Plus, I think all the canners (even the AA ones) have rubber around the pressure gauge inserts.


No, but they do have a rubber over pressure plug that will blow out if to much pressure builds up.


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## Jay (Feb 5, 2008)

Good thread! Better to start somewhere than just sit and whine and feel sorry for ourselves because it's not affordable. I've had the Ronco dehyrator (no fan, just a heat element) and used it for years until it croaked. Next one I could afford was another round one (American Harvest?) with a fan. I still use it along with an old '70's model Excalibur (sp) that was lent to me.

Where there is a will, there is a way......and life is about learning--from our own mistakes or others'. 
Some lessons are just more expensive (and :hair ) than others.


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## unregistered5595 (Mar 3, 2003)

Dehydrator--

Now I have a convection oven/microwave that does dehydrate--it's an expensive machine about 25 years old or so. There is a button that says 'dehydrate' and you just set the hours and minutes and let it go. The light burned out years ago and the handle fell off this past year, but, it works and works well. It's a GE model, around $600 new back in the dinosaur ages. I use it constantly for both the microwave and the dehydrate functions.

I happen to be looking through craigslist one day and I see this identical appliance listed as a microwave for $25. IDENTICAL (I thought) to mine, so I don't even have to learn to use it since I have 25 years of experience with one just like it. It turns out it was newer--and except for the handle type, it was the same as my old one.
The doctors that had bought it were moving and thought it was just a microwave--which I found amazing that they didn't realize what they had. They sold it to me for $25--truly a steal. I thanked them profusely and they were happy to unload it.

So if you are looking around, look around for micro/convection ovens listed as microwaves, with a dehydrating function and there is a good chance you will find that most people don't use the dehydrate function (or the convection function) and don't know what they have. The original would have two large dehydrating racks but most people don't keep them if they don't know what they are used for. Just look for a microwave with convection oven functions (heat), and they have a fan in them. Best wishes.


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## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

Thanks on the info about the pressure regulator for the Presto - just ordered myself one! That should make life a bit easier.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I like to look through the LEM catalog and drool over all the expensive and beautiful meat slicers and other processing equipment. But in the back of my mind I'm always thinking about what we'd do if the power went out permanently. So I've tried to stick to manual things like a mortar and pestle, solar cooker, and sun drying racks for dehydrating.
> 
> I've got a Presto with the graduated weights and use it all summer long. I've drooled over the AA canner and think about how it doesn't need a gasket, but you're right - the Presto does a wonderful job and it was 1/3 the price.
> 
> ...


I bought Aqua Cera filter candles, and they fit in my stainless steel Berkey housing. I bought them from St PaulMercantile, the folks on the link I posted earlier and they and Doultons will fit in your Berkey housing. And they cost a LOT less than Berkeys!

In fact, look at the housing. if it says British Berkefeld, you have the real deal, and not the ones that New Millenium Concepts later sold under the name 'Berkey'.

Doulton's will fit too. If you bought yours in '99, they are probably genuine British Berkefelld filters, and those are reliable. New Millenium Concepts didn't start making their own until some time later. Doulton and British Berkefeld are the same filter, manufactured by Fairey Industrial Ceramics in England. Are they white? If so, they are genuine British Berkefeld, which New Millenium Concepts, and other companies were selling with the nickname Berkey, short for British Berkefeld.

I think that New Millenium Concepts started selling a filter of their own, calling it Berkey around 2003. Berkey was a nickname for British Berkefeld for years, but they must not have trademarked that name in the United States. So when NMC started sellin their own filters, that had nothing to do with British Berkefeld, they took the nickname as their own. 

When I bought mine last year, I thought I was buying a genuine British Berkefeld, with its fine old reputation. I didn't know that this company out if Texas had been selling filters that they farmed out the manufacturing of to another company. 

A while back, I was sick and in bed. So I went through piles of old magazines. Backwoods Home, Countryside, Mother Earth News. We never throw those away. I was looking at the Berkey ads, trying to understand why I had thought that the Berkey was a genuine British Berkefeld. Our magazine collection goes back to '98. They (New Millenium Concepts, and others) were selling British Berkefelds under the name Berkey for years. And they still claim to be the exclusive U. S. distributor for them. But suddenly in one of the ads, ( I think 2003) they announced the new black Berkey filter, and that was when the took the. Name Berkey as their own, and started selling filters from goodness only knows where, and calling them Berkey. And I'm sure it was a shock to the real Berkey folks! I'm sure they must have trademarked the name in the U. S. as their own too, so there was nothing The real British Berkefeld folks could do about it either!

Here is the Frequently Asked Questions page from Fairey Industrial Ceramics, manufacturer of British Berkefeld and Doulton filters. Scroll all the way down, and see them distancing themselves from the folks selling the Berkey!

Frequently Asked Questions | Fairey Ceramics

I never would have bought a filter from people with these ethics if I had known. By taking the name Berkey, they were deceiving their customers into believing they were selling filters from a fine old company that had a fine old reputation for outstanding ceramic filters.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

anniew said:


> Kinda off topic, but what are the problems that have surfaced regarding the Berkey filters?


first, please see my reply to Mom of Four's post in this thread. Berkey (New Millenium Concepts) sold defective filters, that either fell off their plastic base, or worse, remained upright, but the glue they used separated from the plastic base and allowed unfiltered water to flow past the filter medium, rather than through them. This is what happened to me, and many other people here. So we thought we were drinking purified water, but were drinking unfiltered water. Read this thread. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sp...berkey-red-food-color-test-picture-heavy.html


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

Common Tater, fantastic post! You couldn't be more right. 
Many years ago, I was blessed with a used Presto canner from a friend as a gift. I have put quite literally tons of food through that canner. I only in the last couple of years learned about the weighted gauges for it. I couldn't be more happy with it! LOVE IT!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

7thswan said:


> Yes, that's it.


SWEET thank you!!
Do I need anything else? Any other parts?


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> SWEET thank you!!
> Do I need anything else? Any other parts?


One thing I don't know is if the canner comes with two flat racks.One for the bottem under the first layer of jars and one for on top of those jars for a second row. You will be able to do 18 pints at one time. On the bottom right of the ad you posted,you can see the flat rack I'm talking about,something about do you need these extras. You will also need a jar lifter and a special funnel for filling jars.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I think my Presto is the 23 qt model, and it did come with two of the flat racks. For some strange reason, I am down to one rack. So I got a small round stainless steel rack that was meant to put a cake on to cool, and I use that as my second rack.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Not just prepper supplies but items used in everyday life too. I have a 1981 boat and motor that I bought new. It has proven to be just right for going fishing a dozen times a year. Would I like a new boat? Sure, but I can't justify it. There are more pressing needs to spend my money on.

I have a Presto pressure canner I bought new, on sale. Then a neighbor gave me another. I have 2 that I can run at the same time. An American would be nice but again, I can't justify the expenditure. 

I bought a Simplicity snowblower and a Massey Ferguson lawn tractor for a couple hundred dollars each. They are 1960s models and are very well built. I need to use a little TLC on them but both work just fine. Any replacement of the same quality would have to be in the upper tier of the price range of the new ones and even then may not be as well built. I certainly can not justify the purchase.

The choice is to buy the biggest and best and go into debt or buy used or use what you already have and be debt free. I vote for the latter.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

All I have had to can in for the past 34 years are two old pressure cookers without gaskets or pressure valves and a water bath canner. All were other folks cast-aways. They work and so far we have't had food poisoning! Had I waited until I could afford expensive equipment we would have gone hungry in the winter! I believe in making the most of what you have. It is not wrong to have expensive things if you can afford them but we never could. Still I got the job done using what was available. Hope everyone is having a good day today.


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## alpacaspinner (Feb 5, 2012)

I have an American Harvest dehydrator that I bought from the hardware store about 30 years ago. Its round with a fan on the bottom, and I think it would be Nesco now. I have bought extra trays for it over the years, and have 12 now (about 12 sq. ft. of drying space); I could, theoretically, add another 18 trays (according to sources I have read) but haven't felt the need (yet). It has worked beautifully, with nary a hitch. It is not very loud, and I have never felt the need to rotate the trays. It also does not have a timer, but I have never missed it; I dehydrate just about everything at a very low temp (about 110*F), so it is difficult to over dry the food. It was fairly expensive when I bought it - for the time, and for our budget, the $50 or $60 (I don't remember exactly) was quite a lot - but, pro-rated over 30 years, its turned out to be fine. Would I like an Excaliber? Maybe. From what I read it is a very good machine. And it might be nice to be able to raise bread or incubate yogurt. But, as long as what I have still does the job well I certainly won't trade it in. --- But, that said, I am not sure that I would buy one of the round ones that are available now. They look cheap to me, whereas the one I have (though mostly plastic) is quite a solid piece of equipment.
As for canners, I have a large Presto that I bought new, though on sale, and am very happy with it. I have a glass top stove, so didn't consider the AA. I like the fact that the Presto is not so heavy, and also that it was quite a bit cheaper.


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## Usingmyrights (Jan 10, 2011)

I think there's a difference between "the biggest and the best" aka whatever the jot new item is and simply the best. The tractor example was a good one. The odds are that the older tractor is just as well made if not better than anything else around the same price. I'd put my 70yo single shot .22 against comparable newer ones. So the best doesn't have to be new. For me, I'm going to buy the best I can afford, new or used, whatever I think will best fill my needs. Which may mean waiting on some items until I can find a deal on them.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

Git-r-done!!


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We bought an old Presto canner years ago, used, for next to nothing. Bought a complete re-do kit for under $40 and brought it back to like brand new. This year we decided to get another canner, and did our due diligence. We went with a new Presto over the American, not for price, but because I'm a clutz. The machined surfaces of the American canner can never be damaged, or it'll leak. Drop it wrong, or drop something metal on either the lid or the pot edge, and there's no fixing it. We bought 4 extra seals for the Presto, and sealed them in jars with o2 absorbers.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

elkhound said:


> hope you dont mind a vid from pastor joe fox.
> 
> 
> [youtube]GIAfWDdU_kM&feature=plcp[/youtube]


Nice to see that Joeâs growing his facial hair back! Iâve known him since about 1999 when we worked together on post, and he lives a few miles from me. He left our office about 6 or so months ago, and I havenât seen much of him since then. Last I heard he was working back in the Far East.

He does do some awesome videos, and I enjoyed his blog back when he was writing it. 

Chuck


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## DeaDomestica (Oct 5, 2012)

Great Thread!


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

We have a presto canner that my mother gave to me. This year DH wants to get an American, so I told him to go ahead and get it for me for Christmas. That way we'll have two canners. I always like having a back up since you never know what's going to happen.


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

I have (and use) a Nesco dehydrator bought several years ago at a thrift store for $7, it works great. Also have a Food Saver bought at a yard sale for $2 - it's from the early 90s (shipping info and $119 price tag was still inside the box) and probably wasn't the top of the line then, but it works great.

Some things are worth paying high dollar for good quality, other things...good enough is good enough.


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

:lookout: I have to say I have prepper snobbery too, but in a different way....lol 

I'd rather spend the extra time to do my fresh food all canned in jars (I still use glass lids too) because to me it tastes better then anything from a can and doesn't have the tinny taste. 

Both my presto and mirro are second hand and so are my 2 old round, fanless dehydrators.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...st/451088-i-want-buy-pressure-canner-but.html
> POST # 18
> 
> Looking to pull the trigger today on a pressure canner, and just need to know what I need to buy!! Any help is appreciated!!!


Got the 3 piece jiggler delivered last night!


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

Have wn old Mirro canner with the original, grayish colored gasket. It is wearing out but it nearly 30 years old. The black replacement gaskets do not last anywhere near that long. Any I have used in my smaller canner might go a few years with light use. I wish I could find a source for the original type of gaskets. 
My smaller canner is going to be rehomed soon. I did buy a new canner but that is the first one and that is after canning for many years. I found there are times that both big ones were going and could have used a third! Used jars are a wonderful find.
There are a few tools that I have purchased lately that are well worth the money. The Roma food mill is sooooooo much faster thaj the Foley. An apple peeler trom Lehman's. A big, thick bottomed stainless steel stock pot. Two of these items were purchased new, at a farmer's market, pretty reasonably, well worth the investment. Experience kind of helps one know where to put the bucks for the biggest bang, if you keep the snobbery level down .


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