Can anyone recommend a good yet affordable steel pressure cooker for canning?

One Response to “Can anyone recommend a good yet affordable steel pressure cooker for canning?”

1. Miss Vickie says:

   February 15, 2011 at 1:49 am

   A pressure cooker is intended to rapidly cook food for a meal. You need a pressure CANNER, which is a totally different piece of equipment, with a separate function. The two are not interchangeable. Warning: there are some pressure cooker brands that are now advertising their large size pressure cookers as a canner, but the USDA tests don’t agree.

   A pressure canner is much larger that a pressure cooker and designed to process a minimum of 4 quart jars in a wire canning rack. The canner has different exhaust ports, valves and pressure settings. The larger size of a canner is necessary to provide the longer heat-up and cool-down periods that are part of the processing cycle and necessary to ensure safe food.

   There are three well known brands of canners that vary in quality and features, and are priced accordingly; Mirro, Presto and All American. There are two types of canners as well, some have either a single weight or a variable weight, and others have a gauge which requires annual recalibration. The one you choose depends on where you live, as the weighted canner is accurate at altitudes under 1,000 feet, but it is not as precise as a dial guage canner for safe use at higher altitudes.

   Carefully examine the size in relation to your stove as the canner footprint must fit the hob on your stove, and the height must clear whatever might be over your stove. Some canners have a convex bottom or the manufacturer may have embossed the bottom which won’t work on some types of stoves.

   You might first check with your local extension office where they can answer your basic questions and tell you what’s best for your area.