Which Pressure Canner

I'm in the market for a pressure canner. I'd like a big one so that I can do many quarts of whatever. I'm looking at the following two. One is much more expensive than the other, but it also looks like very sturdy.

Anyway, I know this forum has lots of cooks and otherwise DIY people. What do you all think: cheap one (Presto) or deluxe (All-American).

Thanks!


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BYCFU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004S88Z/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I've been wanting to try canning. Don't know much about it but I've been considering this one:

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitche...__Lehman_s__Best_Pressure_Canners___910?Args=

Geez, I don't know! I don't think you need a gauge, but I have a weighted pressure canner (like the second without the gauge). so I think you need a weighted pressure canner. (The dials can stick, and such, but the weights can't go bad).

I have one that can fit 7 quarts, 8 pints, or 16 half-pints but I've never done anything smaller than a pint. Mine is around 22 quart size, I think.

Two things I would look for are:

- the ability to reach 15PSI (to achieve true sterilization)

- metal-to-metal seals (far superior to ones that require gaskets)

Obviously, both features come at a price, so you'll have to decide if that's still in your price range, but if you can afford it, I'd definitely say they are must-have features!

I've had the 17 qt version of the Presto pressure canner for years. It looks just like your top picture. Never had a problem with it and I would recommend it to others. You control the pressure by adjusting your burner, but is pretty easy.

I've canned lots of stuff in it - sweet corn, green beans, Boston baked beans, works great. The 17 qt version holds 5 quart jars or 8 or 9 pints, as I recall. I haven't pressure canned this summer due to the drought, unfortunately.

Having a pressure gauge is very convenient, IF you need to achieve something below 15 PSI and maintain.

DO NOT USE A PRESSURE COOKER OVER A GAS JET BURNER! It's just too much heat. Kitchen stove (gas, electric, etc) is more manageable.

I'd say "get the biggest you can afford".

Here's my pressure cooking wort thread.

MC

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm leaning towards that all-american one.

I use my mom's old Mirro canner. I think it's 7 quarts. It's got a weight and a rubber gasket, but it works great. Just crank the heat until it starts to give off steam and make the weight jiggle and then turn it down until it jiggles on and off every few seconds. The weight has 3 pressures so you can adjust from 5 lbs, to 10 lbs, to 15 lbs. I like it because you can turn your back to do other things and still hear if the neat is right or if it's too high or low.

Homercidal said:

I use my mom's old Mirro canner. I think it's 7 quarts. It's got a weight and a rubber gasket, but it works great. Just crank the heat until it starts to give off steam and make the weight jiggle and then turn it down until it jiggles on and off every few seconds. The weight has 3 pressures so you can adjust from 5 lbs, to 10 lbs, to 15 lbs. I like it because you can turn your back to do other things and still hear if the neat is right or if it's too high or low.

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I have the same....they can be found on CL and Ebay in mint condition for low prices.

Homercidal said:

I use my mom's old Mirro canner. I think it's 7 quarts. It's got a weight and a rubber gasket, but it works great. Just crank the heat until it starts to give off steam and make the weight jiggle and then turn it down until it jiggles on and off every few seconds. The weight has 3 pressures so you can adjust from 5 lbs, to 10 lbs, to 15 lbs. I like it because you can turn your back to do other things and still hear if the neat is right or if it's too high or low.

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That's the kind I have (although it's "old", it's not really very old though! I bought it about 20 years ago).

That's what I was trying to say- you don't have many pressures (just 3) but it holds it there, and it can't go up or down like with the first one.

For meats and fish, you need the 15 psi. For other things, like fruits and veggies, 5-10 psi is sufficient. It's important to be able to go to 15 psi, as someone else mentioned.

I have a glass-top stove (big mistake when we re-built the kitchen). These types of stoves are a problem for pressure canners.

The presto says it's OK to use on smooth surface cooktops. That one is far lighter than the All-American, and I think it's bottom surface is stepped so that the pot doesn't contact the "non-burner" area of the cooktop.

The All-American has big warnings on their website that one shouldn't use it on a stove like mine. I could use it over my propane burner, but since I went to electric brewing a few years ago, I'd love to leave that burner buried in the attic.

So, the presto might just be the better solution for me.

Passedpawn, the purpose of the step is to bring the bottom of the canner into contact with the stove top, not to avoid contact with the non-burner areas. Cautions about using a pot or pan on a smooth top burner have to do with the possibility of putting a minute scratch on the glass cooking top. That's not good at all for the cooking surface, as it produces a stress riser that may lead to shattering the top of the stove.

ChuckO said:

Passedpawn, the purpose of the step is to bring the bottom of the canner into contact with the stove top, not to avoid contact with the non-burner areas. Cautions about using a pot or pan on a smooth top burner have to do with the possibility of putting a minute scratch on the glass cooking top. That's not good at all for the cooking surface, as it produces a stress riser that may lead to shattering the top of the stove.

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So the minute scratch would occur because of the weight of the pot? How is this any different than what might happen from a normal boil pot?

For some reason a pot with a raised rim is more likely to scratch the stove top than one with a totally flat bottom and radiused corners. The raised rim also reduces the contact area and possibly eliminates it, reducing heat transfer ability. This might be the real reason, the stove top gets overheated because of the air gap to the bottom of the pot.

I guess that I'm fortunate, I have both kinds of electric stoves here. Still wish that we had natural gas though.

ChuckO said:

I guess that I'm fortunate, I have both kinds of electric stoves here. Still wish that we had natural gas though.

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NG was just run up the main street past my neighborhood. Several neighbors have converted. I'm jealous, but I spend a fortune gutting my kitchen a few years ago and I don't want to do that again.

The only true requirement is to ensure you buy one with the ability to tap into the steam and do a steam infusion mash.


In all seriousness, bigger is better and I wish I had gotten one like that All-American one when I purchased a smaller pressure canner that requires many "batches" to get through the annual tomato or jam canning sessions.

We've got that Presto unit, just used it over the weekend to can 10 pints of heirloom tomatoes out of the garden. We've had it for 3 years now, works like a charm. The all American unit is probably a better unit but I'm not going to be doing any major canning production runs.

For what it's worth, my wife has two of the presto's and uses them a TON every year. Think she did 30+ quarts of green beans this year with my MIL. If our tomatoes ever ripen, she's going to be doing a lot of those too. Anyhow, she's never had any issues with hers. There is a Presto rep that comes each year to a local store here and does free inspections of people's canners. If something needs repaired or replaced they do the work right there, you just have to buy the material needed. This includes gauge calibration, testing the seal and inspecting the whole surface. Good customer support imo.

IXVolt said:

For what it's worth, my wife has two of the presto's and uses them a TON every year. Think she did 30+ quarts of green beans this year with my MIL. If our tomatoes ever ripen, she's going to be doing a lot of those too. Anyhow, she's never had any issues with hers. There is a Presto rep that comes each year to a local store here and does free inspections of people's canners. If something needs repaired or replaced they do the work right there, you just have to buy the material needed. This includes gauge calibration, testing the seal and inspecting the whole surface. Good customer support imo.

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Yea, I'll probably get the Presto, but it kills me to buy one that's made in China when there is a better model that's made here in the US.

passedpawn said:

Yea, I'll probably get the Presto, but it kills me to buy one that's made in China when there is a better model that's made here in the US.

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Then buy the American one and pull out your burner.

We do most of our canning outside or in the garage so we don't heat up the house.

Face it. You WANT that NG stove!

I'll never be happy if I have to switch to electric...

Just buy the American model and damned be the financial experts who advise against buying something just because it's local!

IXVolt said:

Then buy the American one and pull out your burner.

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Grrrr. I'm so conficted...

Homercidal said:

Face it. You WANT that NG stove!

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So badly. I wonder how they would run gas into my kitchen. I have wood floors over concrete slab.

Is the stove on an outside wall?

Homercidal said:

Is the stove on an outside wall?

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Nope.

Buy a new house, it'll be cheaper.

passedpawn said:

I wonder how they would run gas into my kitchen. I have wood floors over concrete slab.

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They would run the pipe into the attic and down inside the wall behind the stove, assuming there is one.

I've been using the presto canner exclusively on glass top stoves, no problems yet, been canning for several years that way.