Building a Canning Kitchen

brokenbar · August 29, 2013

Build a Canning Kitchen

I have had the luxury of building three canning kitchens in my gardening lifetime, each one an improvement over the previous structure.

My canning kitchen in Mexico is 16’ X 12’. It has a concrete floor with a drain over which we laid large, 1’ X 1’ tile. I am lucky to live in one of the largest tile making areas of Mexico so it is relatively cheap. We also tiled about 5 foot up the walls.

I haunted auctions/sales of used restaurant equipment in Arizona and Texas and purchased a stainless steel deep sink and counter and metal kitchen cabinets. I also purchased a used commercial refrigerator and a 6 burner gas stove. The whole inside is designed to be hosed out as I am a slob when I cook and canning is messy anyway.

My canning kitchen is under large trees so I have one whole wall that is shelves where I store all my canned goods as it stays very cool. I also have a window air-conditioner for those days it gets too hot in the summer. Included in my kitchen is a small hot water heater that my Husband put a switch on so I can turn it off and on easily. The door is a sliding glass door with sliding screen door. I have one medium window. Two upright freezers are also in there and a ceiling mounted wrought iron pot hanger/utensil hanger for everything but the pressure canners.

Outside, against one wall, I have a covered carport-like addition that has a long work bench where I have my dehydrators and stuff I use for that. I bought a used bathtub (scrubbed about a gazillion times…) and I soak my tomatoes in wine in that. Husband built a frame and a screen cover for it. He wired everything for the electricity and I have a backup generator (in case of storms and the sometimes inconsistent Mexican Power Company I don’t want freezers and friges to go off.)

When I am harvesting and canning, a local man comes every day and picks up my veggie scraps and takes them to feed his pigs. My Husband installed an intercom (I protested but he insisted) so he can talk to me from the house (drats…)

I almost forgot…I have a medium sized flat screen TV mounted up high on one wall (Walls are 10’ tall) so that when I hose out the kitchen, it is away from spray.

If the place had a bed and toilet, I could live in it!

Everything is designed and placed for maximum convenience, ease of use and hassle-free cleanup.

So if you have the luxury of space and a few extra bucks, this is the way to go.
Not everyone would need a big a kitchen as mine. It would certainly be cheaper to build a smaller version. Just think of it…no more finding stray tomato seeds stuck to a cabinet or a lone string bean moldering under your kick space in your house kitchen . I have a great story about an exploding pot of turkey rice soup but that is for another post…

kath · August 29, 2013

Finding this post is more than a bit "uncanny" as I'm just sitting down after 2 marathon days of salsa canning prompted by your other thread. During that time I've been marveling at you and the many others who do so much canning on such a large scale. I'm completely exhaused and my kitchen is probably a mess but I'm afraid to look too closely until I've had a good night's sleep!

Your canning kitchen sounds amazing and I'm particularly envious of the back-up generator for the fridge and freezers and for your ability to be able to hose everything down.

This is the first time I've ever canned salsa- I used your recipe and DH is thrilled with the results. Next year I've definitely got to grow more of the dry paste types- this time I just cleaned off the counter and most were slicers which proved a time-consuming nightmare to deseed. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, brokenbar!

kath

brokenbar · August 29, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by kath

Finding this post is more than a bit "uncanny" as I'm just sitting down after 2 marathon days of salsa canning prompted by your other thread. During that time I've been marveling at you and the many others who do so much canning on such a large scale. I'm completely exhaused and my kitchen is probably a mess but I'm afraid to look too closely until I've had a good night's sleep!

Your canning kitchen sounds amazing and I'm particularly envious of the back-up generator for the fridge and freezers and for your ability to be able to hose everything down.

This is the first time I've ever canned salsa- I used your recipe and DH is thrilled with the results. Next year I've definitely got to grow more of the dry paste types- this time I just cleaned off the counter and most were slicers which proved a time-consuming nightmare to deseed. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, brokenbar!

kath

Oh Kath...I am so glad you liked the salsa! I hate the de-seeding part... Canning is A LOT of work! People don't realize what effort went into producing that one jar of salsa or whatever you give them. And then the ungrateful swine don't want to give you back your jars!

It is with a real sense of accomplishment that you stand gazing at the jars of brightly colored food, food that you nurtured and grew and harvested and knowing EXACTLY what is in the food you will be eating...pish on artists...we are artists in our own right! Happy eating and DO NOT look at that kitchen until tomorrow!~

Dave Tenney · August 29, 2013

That sounds real nice!

We have a 110 year old farmhouse with a wrap around front porch which is where we do our prep work for canning. We use a propane turkey fryer for blanching things, and have a few homemade saw horses that use to clamp the Villaware to. I plumbed a water spigot in so we could hose everything off when we are done. We have several cutting boards, chairs, and five gallon buckets. The only thing we do in the house is the actual canning...Not ideal, but it keeps the mess outside. Since we live in northern Ohio, a dedicated canning kitchen would only be usable about 5 months out of the year. This year we have put up about 300 Qts of different things....

Dave

brokenbar · August 29, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Tenney

That sounds real nice!

We have a 110 year old farmhouse with a wrap around front porch which is where we do our prep work for canning. We use a propane turkey fryer for blanching things, and have a few homemade saw horses that use to clamp the Villaware to. I plumbed a water spigot in so we could hose everything off when we are done. We have several cutting boards, chairs, and five gallon buckets. The only thing we do in the house is the actual canning...Not ideal, but it keeps the mess outside. Since we live in northern Ohio, a dedicated canning kitchen would only be usable about 5 months out of the year. This year we have put up about 300 Qts of different things....

Dave

Anything to keep the mess outside! I had a canning kitchen in Wyoming...Had to drain all the water pipes and hot water heater before winter. I had an OLD lazy boy chair I moved out there in the winter...me and a book and coffee (and oh yeah,, A HEATER!) and I could hide away for quite a spell! Nobody ever wanted me bad enough to put on a coat and come and get me!

My house there was 107 years old and there are days I miss it a lot...not many mind you but a few! I NEVER miss it in February! Or the STINKING COWS!

newatthiskat · August 29, 2013

Here I was just happy that When I moved my kitchen was not right beside my master bedroom. Now I get to can at night when I am up and he is asleep. I am a night shift worker. I dream of pot fillers and gas stoves. If I build another house you better believe I am getting my kitchen!

Zana · August 29, 2013

I have been mulling my dream kitchen, canning kitchen, butler's pantry and food pantry for years. I've drawn up working drawings more than once. Discarded many ideas. And I have a list a mile long of wished-for equipment as well as the space and the funds with which to accomplish all of this. Like you when I get into canning mode it tends to me on a large scale. This will be the second year in a row that I won't probably be doing any. Unless I get some in this weekend!

Brokenbar, your canning kitchen sounds like a dream to me. Especially since you're in a climate where you can use it all year round with the amenities that are already built in. Colour me green with envy. May you have many years to enjoy it.

socalgardengal · August 30, 2013

I'm jealous! I need to learn how to can stuff. Any recommendations? Nobody I know knows how to do it.

newatthiskat · August 30, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by socalgardengal

I'm jealous! I need to learn how to can stuff. Any recommendations? Nobody I know knows how to do it.

I personally bought the canner. it came with a book and I started there. Nobody I knew canned. Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet. I have to be honest I have never blown up my kitchen canning. once I did burn myself pretty bad on the arm when I forgot how hot the canner was and I will never forget that again. I only do a batch at a time. Not big scale but I love to see my pantry fill up. Every now and then a kid will be broke and it depletes the pantry again. Happened last weekend. Now I have to find stuff to can to fill it back up again.

Doug9345 · August 30, 2013

The trio of books that I've used is Stocking Up, Putting food By and Ball Complete book of home preserving.

The rest is just attention to detail.

Barbee · August 30, 2013

Some photos would be nice! Just saying

I have always dreamed of a summer kitchen. Especially when we lived in the old house with no air conditioning. Now that we have a new house with central air, I had kind of put that thought on the back burner (haha)

brokenbar · August 30, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbee

Some photos would be nice! Just saying

I have always dreamed of a summer kitchen. Especially when we lived in the old house with no air conditioning. Now that we have a new house with central air, I had kind of put that thought on the back burner (haha)

Don't own a camera...never take pics. have a cell phone, have no idea how the camera works. I don't have any photos of my kid or us...I just see no point!

Rockporter · August 30, 2013

I depend on my Ball canning book but I also enjoy browsing this website when I want to make something different or learn about anything particular. Check out pick our own dot org.
http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm

Rockporter · August 30, 2013

BrokenBar, your canning kitchen sounds wonderful. I have been looking at 40" stoves for replacement of my 30" when we redo the kitchen here. I was just explaining to my husband how an extra 10" on the stove and a flat top one at that would make the canning process go much easier.

newatthiskat · August 30, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockporter

BrokenBar, your canning kitchen sounds wonderful. I have been looking at 40" stoves for replacement of my 30" when we redo the kitchen here. I was just explaining to my husband how an extra 10" on the stove and a flat top one at that would make the canning process go much easier.

If you get a flat top electric you have to be careful about which canners you use. some are not recommended. I have a flat top and boy am I nervous about cracking it. Next house is definately going to be gas! Now the dreaming is starting again brokenbar!

August 29, 2013	#1
brokenbar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: South Of The Border Posts: 1,169	Building a Canning Kitchen Build a Canning Kitchen I have had the luxury of building three canning kitchens in my gardening lifetime, each one an improvement over the previous structure. My canning kitchen in Mexico is 16’ X 12’. It has a concrete floor with a drain over which we laid large, 1’ X 1’ tile. I am lucky to live in one of the largest tile making areas of Mexico so it is relatively cheap. We also tiled about 5 foot up the walls. I haunted auctions/sales of used restaurant equipment in Arizona and Texas and purchased a stainless steel deep sink and counter and metal kitchen cabinets. I also purchased a used commercial refrigerator and a 6 burner gas stove. The whole inside is designed to be hosed out as I am a slob when I cook and canning is messy anyway. My canning kitchen is under large trees so I have one whole wall that is shelves where I store all my canned goods as it stays very cool. I also have a window air-conditioner for those days it gets too hot in the summer. Included in my kitchen is a small hot water heater that my Husband put a switch on so I can turn it off and on easily. The door is a sliding glass door with sliding screen door. I have one medium window. Two upright freezers are also in there and a ceiling mounted wrought iron pot hanger/utensil hanger for everything but the pressure canners. Outside, against one wall, I have a covered carport-like addition that has a long work bench where I have my dehydrators and stuff I use for that. I bought a used bathtub (scrubbed about a gazillion times…) and I soak my tomatoes in wine in that. Husband built a frame and a screen cover for it. He wired everything for the electricity and I have a backup generator (in case of storms and the sometimes inconsistent Mexican Power Company I don’t want freezers and friges to go off.) When I am harvesting and canning, a local man comes every day and picks up my veggie scraps and takes them to feed his pigs. My Husband installed an intercom (I protested but he insisted) so he can talk to me from the house (drats…) I almost forgot…I have a medium sized flat screen TV mounted up high on one wall (Walls are 10’ tall) so that when I hose out the kitchen, it is away from spray. If the place had a bed and toilet, I could live in it! Everything is designed and placed for maximum convenience, ease of use and hassle-free cleanup. So if you have the luxury of space and a few extra bucks, this is the way to go. Not everyone would need a big a kitchen as mine. It would certainly be cheaper to build a smaller version. Just think of it…no more finding stray tomato seeds stuck to a cabinet or a lone string bean moldering under your kick space in your house kitchen . I have a great story about an exploding pot of turkey rice soup but that is for another post… __________________ "If I'm not getting dirty, I'm not having a good time."

August 29, 2013	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Finding this post is more than a bit "uncanny" as I'm just sitting down after 2 marathon days of salsa canning prompted by your other thread. During that time I've been marveling at you and the many others who do so much canning on such a large scale. I'm completely exhaused and my kitchen is probably a mess but I'm afraid to look too closely until I've had a good night's sleep!Your canning kitchen sounds amazing and I'm particularly envious of the back-up generator for the fridge and freezers and for your ability to be able to hose everything down. This is the first time I've ever canned salsa- I used your recipe and DH is thrilled with the results. Next year I've definitely got to grow more of the dry paste types- this time I just cleaned off the counter and most were slicers which proved a time-consuming nightmare to deseed. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, brokenbar! kath

August 29, 2013	#7
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	I have been mulling my dream kitchen, canning kitchen, butler's pantry and food pantry for years. I've drawn up working drawings more than once. Discarded many ideas. And I have a list a mile long of wished-for equipment as well as the space and the funds with which to accomplish all of this. Like you when I get into canning mode it tends to me on a large scale. This will be the second year in a row that I won't probably be doing any. Unless I get some in this weekend! Brokenbar, your canning kitchen sounds like a dream to me. Especially since you're in a climate where you can use it all year round with the amenities that are already built in. Colour me green with envy. May you have many years to enjoy it. __________________ Zana ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There is a fine line between genius and crazy. I like to use that line as a jump rope. ~Anonymous (but I totally agree with this! LOL) Forgive and Forget? I'm neither Jesus or nor do I have Alzheimers. ~ Anonymous Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace. -- Dr. Albert Schweitzer

August 30, 2013	#11
Barbee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 1,818	Some photos would be nice! Just saying I have always dreamed of a summer kitchen. Especially when we lived in the old house with no air conditioning. Now that we have a new house with central air, I had kind of put that thought on the back burner (haha) __________________ *Barbee*

August 30, 2013	#13
Rockporter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Texas Coastal Bend Posts: 3,205	I depend on my Ball canning book but I also enjoy browsing this website when I want to make something different or learn about anything particular. Check out pick our own dot org. http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm __________________ In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~

August 29, 2013	#4
Dave Tenney Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 11	That sounds real nice! We have a 110 year old farmhouse with a wrap around front porch which is where we do our prep work for canning. We use a propane turkey fryer for blanching things, and have a few homemade saw horses that use to clamp the Villaware to. I plumbed a water spigot in so we could hose everything off when we are done. We have several cutting boards, chairs, and five gallon buckets. The only thing we do in the house is the actual canning...Not ideal, but it keeps the mess outside. Since we live in northern Ohio, a dedicated canning kitchen would only be usable about 5 months out of the year. This year we have put up about 300 Qts of different things.... Dave

August 29, 2013	#6
newatthiskat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: texas Posts: 1,451	Here I was just happy that When I moved my kitchen was not right beside my master bedroom. Now I get to can at night when I am up and he is asleep. I am a night shift worker. I dream of pot fillers and gas stoves. If I build another house you better believe I am getting my kitchen!

August 30, 2013	#8
socalgardengal Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: San Diego,Ca Posts: 462	I'm jealous! I need to learn how to can stuff. Any recommendations? Nobody I know knows how to do it.

August 30, 2013	#10
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	The trio of books that I've used is Stocking Up, Putting food By and Ball Complete book of home preserving. The rest is just attention to detail.