Are a pressure cooker and a pressure canner the same?

One Response to “Are a pressure cooker and a pressure canner the same?”

1. speedracer4u2c says:

   April 19, 2011 at 12:33 pm

   ANSWER: Pressure cookers have less metal, are smaller in diameter, and will use less water than pressure canners. The result is that the come-up and come-down times will be less than for the standard pressure canner. The come-up and come-down times are part of the total processing time that was used to establish a reasonable margin of safety, which is 12D (the amount of heat required to cause a 12 log reduction in bacteria.) for low-acid foods.

   In the early years of canning in the 1940s pressure saucepans were considered an alternative for home canning and it was thought that adding 10 minutes to the process would keep food safe. That proved not to be the case, the problem is that there are several sizes of pressure saucepans and they weren’t adequately tested. Hence, in the late 1980s the USDA recommendation was not to use them for home canning. Unfortunately, that option sometimes is included in current literature by individuals not qualified to discuss safety considerations. But we should not endorse use of this non-canning equipment for canning.

   Source: Adapted from a email communication from Kenneth N. Hall, Ph. D., professor emeritus, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut.

   See more: http://ift.confex.com/ift/2002/techprogram/paper_11919.htm