The good, big, heavy old canners from the 1940s and 1950s work fine for canning, but personally I favor a new, smaller, lighter, steel cooker with a non-stick interior for cooking, and keep the big, heavy aluminum one for canning. It’s much faster and easier to cook with and clean the smaller one. (Faster because it comes up to pressure faster.) Besides, if you cook tomatoes and some other foods in an aluminum pot, it can give the food an off-flavor and discolor the pot.

2 cups sifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, cut in butter. Combine the egg and milk, stir into dry ingredients to make a stiff batter. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1-2 inch squares and drop into gently boiling soup/stew/sauerbraten/pot roast. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Two hints for tender, fluffy dumplings:

1. All the ingredients should be cold. If the fat melts into the flour BEFORE the dumplings start cooking, the dumplings will come out tough and chewy. This is true for any pastry.

2. Your pot must have a good fitting lid and the liquid must be gently boiling to produce enough steam to cook the dumplings. If too much steam escapes from the pot, the dumplings become heavy and sticky. No peeking!