There are VERY VERY MANY RECENT AND NUMEROUS posts here in this HARVEST FORUM covering EVERYTHING about pressure canners. Up until a month ago I never used one, no did I need one. Only because I saw here that I could buy a Presto 23 quart model for. I bought Amazon.com at $79.00, WITH FREE SHIPPING!

Please, in order to save my nerves and continual repeption nearly every day, do a SEARCH for the words "PRESSURE CANNER" and. The SEARCH window is located at teh botom of each tread list. Its not the best, but can give you MUCH MORE info the same subject matter. The 23 quart canner holds 7 QUART jars, and/or more pints. If you want larger, they jump up in price to over $200+ and are huge, VERY tall, and may not fit on a stove if it has a big vented hood above. MEASURE YOUR stove, burner, and vent HEIGHT!

Hope this doesn't offend you, but I seem to be the only person who cares enough to point all the newbees in the right directions, without 'reinventing the wheel' over and over again.

ksrogers, I had done a search on 'best pressure canners' before I posted. I found two threads and read them both completely. I still had some questions, so I posted them. I was aware of the height issue, but my stove doesn't have a hood so I didn't ask about that.

Hey Valereee! I am in Cincinnati also on the westside by the river. I don't have any info on pressure canning but just started canning the BWB way!

just saying hi to a fellow Cincinnatian!

Ken, I don't know what is the problem about asking questions about canners on the Harvest forum? If it strains your nerves, then why do you reply or read the thread? You can simply avoid those threads. Some people like to chat with others about things, not do endless searches for old information. You are going to scare away newbies from asking questions. I know I have had questions about recipes that you have posted in the past, but I dare not ask them because of the way I have seen you erupt at people who ask for information. Canning is new and scary to many people, and they like to personally interact with others about their specific issues.

So what if this was just discussed, we can discuss it again! I come here to read the threads every day, and I like it when old issues are discussed again, it helps me learn.

valereee, I am new to pressure canning, but I have a 23 qt Presto with a gauge. It sounds like you understandably want to avoid the gauge, so this one probably isn't an option for you, although I hear they make weights for them. I have an easy way to get my gauge tested, so for now I am using it. Good luck!

Greenmulberry, I'm actually thinking the Mirro isn't a good choice for me after all -- it looks like their new pressure weight doesn't function the way the old one used to and no longer jiggles -- and as far as I can tell that's the only gaugeless option.

So I may go with the 23 qt Presto at Amazon and buy the extra part (there's a three-way weight you can buy, part # 50332) that will let me can at 10psi without watching the gauge, which will let me can without worrying about how long it's been since the gauge was calibrated. I might have it calibrated when I first get it, just to check that the canner is functioning correctly when new.

I really did do a search before posting. I tried searching on 'pressure canners' but that gave me a gazillion posts, so I searched on 'best pressure canners' and found two threads (Which Pressure Canner and Which Pressure Canner Should I Buy) which I did read from start to finish. I really didn't find any that seemed like they answered my specific questions, and both discussions are at least six months old so I had no idea there was current or recent discussion on this. If someone could point me to other discussions, I'd be happy to read more on my own.

Here is a link that might be useful: Which Pressure Canner Should I Buy

GreenMulberry, or whoever YOU are??
Problem is NOT with me, but in GREENHOUSER's numerous replies about not having money, can't afford it, have tried in vain, and many other poorer excuses. Believe me if this were just a one on one single issue just between two people, someone MIGHT explode eventially. If I 'scare away' newbees, then maybe they can realize and see at least a SINGLE post from a TOTALLY VOLUNTARY SOURCE, WHO has absolutely nothing better to do with his him but to retype everything over and over again. Maybe its just a simple task of making records of all my posts on a single and very broad topic, but even a copy and paste will take anyone who has any kind of brain and its fully functional to sift through. There is no single simple question here that can be fully answered 100%, and we all know this. A person who posts here almst hourly has no life (as you can see!) so its about the ONLY way I feel that I can get my SUGGESTIONS across to any others who are in a VERY DESPERATE search for an issue thats been exising since well before civilized men/women.

Valereee,
A search for the words "BEST PRESSURE CANNERS TO BUY" will not show as much information as the more simple and common words of just "PRESSURE CANNER". Within this two word search, it will bring up more than FOUR HUNDRED AND TWELVE posts!! Certainly a LOT more than a narrower search of many more unnesessary words. Computers are only as useful if the person using them can rationalize and fully understand and describe the basics in the beginning. Computers can spoon feed and hand things on silver platters too, but purely in a way that would not physically be apparent.

Discussions here, are sometimes very repetitive. Its not a single button push and move on, but mostly a lengthly and very detailed typing that can take hours to research and reply to.

Lets put it this way; From today on, you can all be assured that if I DO answer any more of these repeats, which are OBVIOUSLY EASIER to SEARCH FOR by the NEWBEE, NEW CANNER, HOME CANNER, PRESSURE CANNER or JUST the tiny FEW PEOPLE dumb enough to not know how to push a few keys on a keyboard then obvioulsy re-ask for the same stuff again. The HERBS forum was a another one I posted to, but because they have THOUSANDS of posts about growing and treating SINGLE basil and/or dill, its simply too much for a normal brain like mine to have to bother with anymore. They are on their own, and then its people like you could poison people like me from ever trying to help and assist in every single facet of home preserving of ANY kind. There are a LOT of experts here, many more than I can count, but EVERYONE depends on everyone else if they know who cares and who doesn't. Most home caners are just simply too busy right now to reply to a few inane questions. About 90% of the new members here, never return either, so when there are a bunch or new-bees, and they want instant, very detailed answers, this is not the place to be. Instead, a book store, library, and many hundreds of thousands of web sites out there for the same things.

Please ignore any rude posters and ask your questions. New information is always coming out and canning safety plus a suitable canner are important issues.

I bought the Presto 23 qt canner and am very happy with it. If the pressure dial goes south I'll replace it. I go by the 3-piece weight anyway, not the dial gauge. I saw a smaller Presto canner without the dial gauge in a Wal*Mart Super Store last week. They do carry them. But be sure it's the canner and not the pressure cooker!

As for peppers. Freezing them is a lot easier and the results much better than canning them.

Welcome to Harvest Forum. :)

Rude posters, obviously me? and you? Rude no, but persistant in complaing you are..

Why don't you go outside and pick some weeds? Relax. Enjoy a break from your computer. Take a few minutes to smell the dill heads.

GReenhouser,
Same feelings here too. So your not being persecuted. I will just simply not bother anymore with the all the negatives you complain about, even after offering every single possible option as well as giving you free shipping from my house to yours, or to send you stuff that I use even if its for you as a sample, or for any other issues.. Bye.. You GOTTA be very difficult to live with, thats all I can say!

ksrogers, I had specific questions. I had searched, and I had read the threads I found, and what I found did not answer my questions. I even did two different searches. I may not have searched with the exact search terms you would prefer, but I made a completely good-faith effort. Please, if you don't want to answer me, that's okay. I won't think any worse of you for it, and I'm sure no one else with beginner questions will, either.

Greenhouser, normally I'd freeze peppers, as they freeze so well -- I froze crazy amounts of chopped onions last year -- but I'm getting a side of beef in November and I'm trying to conserve as much freezer space as possible until I see how much of my freezer it's going to take up. I considered pickling them, but I was afraid the vinegar would change the flavor so much that they'd be useless for recipe use.

So it looks like I need to order that three-part weight separately from the Presto 23QT canner, is that correct? I think I'm going to go with that one. The shipping weight says 13 pounds, which is very doable for me to get it up and down from a high shelf or to move it with water in it.

And thanks for the welcome! Cool to have found you -- I've posted a lot in hostas, but didn't even know this was here until I searched on google for canning onion relish and came up with a post from this forum.

valereee,

There is a recipe for peppers marinated in oil that is really very wonderful. And they are BWB. I made these last year with several types of peppers and they are good. The taste is quite similar to purchased marinated red bell peppers, if you are familiar with them.

Before people start responding about the oil, this recipe is approved for canning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marinated peppers

valereee,

I just (yesterday) recived a new All American 921 pressure canner. I havent used it yet but canÂt wait.

IÂm posting to suggest (purely my opinion only) that you follow your gut and steer away from the Mirro. Two years ago I purchased a small Mirro that held five one Liter (Quart) jars. After canning about 20 jars, the pot was so warped that it would not seal properly. OK, maybe I was a little to aggressive with temperatures when bringing it up to pressure so giving Mirro the benefit of the doubt I purchased another one last year.

Heated the new one with kit gloves last year. Pulled it out last month to do some pressure cooking and noticed the bottom was really warped. It also needs a new gasket after one season.

Without prejudice, just my opinion based on my experience. IÂm sure others have had really positive results and long life from their Mirro.

Bill

Val: I understand about freezer space. Mine is limited also. I save 2 shelves in the freezer door for peppers and whatever else I freeze from the garden. Yes, order the 3-part weight.

Bill: My old Mirro got plenty of use and I had no complaints. It was still in excellent condition when I sold it. Maybe the new ones are just not the same quality as the older ones. I'm very happy with my new Presto. :)

Prairie love, yum! I am really thrilled to find a BWB recipe for peppers in oil -- we go camping every year and that's something I've always wanted to take with us.

Bill, those All American canners look great! I just couldn't justify the cost when I'd never even used one before. Thanks for the advice on the Mirro. I probably would have gone with it if it hadn't been for the new pressure-weight.

Greenhouser, were you tempted to keep both pressure canners in case you had a reeeeeeally big canning day?

I sold the old Mirro when I divorced and moved back to town in the late 1980s. I didn't think I'd need it again. I had planned to move back east but that didn't happen. I didn't PC can for years. I would WB or freeze some veggies. I just got back into gardening and canning seriously this spring. I needed a PC so looked around and for some reason selected a Presto this time. I had a big canning day the other day. While the Presto canned string beans the WB was doing pickles. :) Sure was hot in the kitchen.

I have a Presto 16 qt (7 qt. sized canning jar capacity) canner that I picked up at Wal-Mart last month. It's a bit bulky but I would guess the empty weight to be not much more than a gallon of milk. I can't speak to the long haul quality of it yet as I've only used it a couple of times so far.

A quick question, as I may make the plunge. I have a cheap inexpensive stainless steel cooking top with electric coils, which warps severely when I tried to use the Graniteware 7 qt water bath last summer, straightening out when things cooled off. The same container took, literally, a couple of hours to come to a boil for WB canning. It was a disaster, and I won't do that again.

Will these '7 qt jar containing' pressure cookers do the same thing?

I use successfully, for WB, a 12 qt stock pot as the one linked, holding 4 qts. Is there an equivalent sized pressure cooker out there?

1. if you want one without a gauge then Mirro is your only practical choice. But just ignore the gauge and get the Presto 23 qt. and buy the extra 3 piece weight set. I can promise you will be happy with it.

2. & 3. yes, the "no need to replace the gasket" is the only advantage to the All American and IMO their cost is way out of line with the other manufacturers and they are substantially heavier so more to lift and tote.

4. again the Presto 23 qt. with the 3 weight set accessory is the solution to all of your questions. Honest! ;)

Now, that said, please allow me some personal observations about some of the previous comments.

While Ken could have been more tactful, it has been very stressful here lately and he is justifiably upset about that as are other regular participants. And more importantly, he is correct about many points. Some of us invest a great deal of time and effort here trying to help those who post pertinent questions and Ken is one of the best at helping.

No offense to you valaree is intended, but some posters do abuse the forum, use it as a personal soapbox or their personal chat room, are constantly argumentative, want to make no effort to search all the valuable data here, want to be spoon fed info, and bury the discussions under lots of irrelevant info. We try to be friendly and helpful but some folks we just can't seem to help no matter how hard we try and that is discouraging.

We all need to remember that we are allowed only a very limited amount of server storage room for our data and redundant posts, repetitive or off-topic posts, force more vital information, which is NOT old or outdated, to be deleted daily and lost for good. All of the basic topics of canning and home preservation have been discussed in great detail numerous times, true, and the info is still valid. But the search engine is boolean based - it responds to broad topics, not narrow specifics so it does take some practice to use it effectively. Some of us are very good at sorting out the SE info, so if you have a general question that you know has likely been asked numerous times before, please feel free to ask us to direct you to some of the most relevant discussions and please don't be offended if we do.

Thanks.

Dave

Walmart has a 3 piece weight only PC for $59.98. It is 16 qt. capacity and holds 7 quart jars. Anyway, that's what the box says.

Dave, thanks! And thanks to all. I guess my entry into Harvest has been less than ideal, and I sincerely apologize for that. I didn't intend to stir up what's clearly become a difficult issue for you all here. You have my sincere sympathies, as I've felt your frustrations many times before in other forums. And for this particular forum it's probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better -- everyone seems to be wanting to 'do some canning' these days.

After seeing some info on Amazon and Epinions about the 'new spinner pressure-weight' that didn't jiggle and make a jiggle noise I ruled out the Mirro, which had been my original choice. Ignoring the gauge (even though that's contrary to my nature) on the Presto 23QT seemed the next best option since gasket-replacement isn't a major concern for me. Key learning: I needed to add the 3-piece weight. I ordered it!

Thanks, all, for the help!

valereee - hey! no need to apologize. Of course you didn't intend to stir up any controversy. We all know that. ;) You'll be happy with your decision on the Presto. I can gar-on-tee it. ;)

david52 z5CO - honestly david your best solution is to purchase a separate burner to use for canning - either electric or gas/propane. Couple of reasons: yes, the pressure canner will do the same thing to your current burner. It uses much less water so it will likely come to a boil faster than 2 hours, but it is heavier, will still enclose the heat source, and often still require the same amount of time to cook.

Second - taking that long to come to a boil deteriorates your canned product as it adds all that extra slo-cooking time.

You can't use a pressure cooker to can, only a pressure canner, because the smaller cooker units (any that holds less than the required 7 qt. jars) invalidate the tested/approved times in the recipes. They come up to pressure faster and cool down faster so the processing times are way off and so is the safety of the food.

I linked the burner I use below but individual electric units made for canning are also available.

Dave

Dave, thank you for the kind words.

So I take it you have the Presto and like it? I'll hold you to that guarantee! :) JK!

The Amazon free shipping deal really almost started to make it a no-brainer. I had actually been planning to borrow a pressure canner this weekend but was afraid the no-shipping option would go away. They never offer the free shipping on anything they don't stock themselves, and as they have pretty much stopped stocking nonbooks, I'm not sure why they still have these in stock -- I'm thinking it must be a discontinued model they got stuck with or made a deal on or something. At any rate, I wanted to take advantage of it before they ran out of stock. That happened last year with a 20-qt Le Creuset pot that was being offered for $49, free standard shipping. It went away eventually.

You CAN sometimes find GREAT bargains, if you do a good search, even beyond this forum.. GOod luck and welcome to the 'funny' world of the home canner (who is also sometimes a nut too!)

Ken, thanks for the welcome! I already kinda like it here. :D

I'm coming on this late, but as the owner of Mirro, All-American and Presto canners, I think I can speak to the pros and cons of each.

I really do believe the Presto is by far the best value. With the three-piece weight the gauge is essentially irrelevant, but using the weight will tell you if the gauge is accurate enough to use as a convenient visual indicator.

The Presto is relatively light, so fits your needs for overhead storage. Keep in mind that because the newer Prestos and Mirros are lighter, they heat more quickly and cool down more quickly than the older models. For that reason it's very important to monitor your burner when heating it up. You may find "high" is too much. Also, it's particularly important to follow the new wait time requirement to compensate for a faster cool down and assure adequate processing time. When you finish processing and the pressure is at zero, remove the weight and wait 10 minutes before taking off the lid and removing the jars.

I don't like the Mirro. I find it "odd" (maybe because my experience is with gauge canners). So that's purely personal. I do have the little 12-quart, which is convenient for small batches. But I was given that one. If I were purchasing, I'd still stick with the Presto.

The All-American is my favorite, but it weighs a ton. The advantage is heat is very even, it cools down slowly which extends the time for each batch but reduces the likelihood of liquid siphoning from jars. For me that's a big issue when I can salmon.

I used to store it on top of the freezer but moved it down this year. It was just too heavy to safely lift from a high place.

It does cost a great deal more. I was fortunate enough to pick up a 921 on one of Amazon's "specials" several years ago. If I were looking at full price, I just couldn't justify the cost difference.

Carol

Wow, great post, Carol. Thank you so much. I've ordered the Presto, and I appreciate all the info.