Yes that is the right one. No it will be easier to keep the pressure steady as the weights do the work. The 3 Presto weights are machined to gently rock continuously when at pressure rather than just a couple of times a minute as with other brands. You can hear them steadily rocking. Ideally you should not have to make any heat adjustments during pressure canning once the pressure is achieved. Trying to fine tune pressure based on a gauge causes siphoning and other issues. With a weighted canner that isn't necessary. Once converted note that your processing times and or pressures used will change on some foods. When in doubt use the NCHFP instructions. Dave

I found a Presto Canner at a yard sale for $5 on Saturday. I wrote Presto and I also took it to my extension today. The dial gauge checked out fine. I will probably order another gasket even though it looks fine, no cracks, not brittle, and flexible. It has a pressure plug and came with a jiggle weight and a canning rack. It's got "MOD 01/CA 21H 0675 (I think it's a 21H, hard to see the 2, but the bottom part of the number is clear). It does have 409A at the bottom, which I understand is on all Presto models, indicating the product listing at UL labs. I could not find anything about it at PressureCooker-Outlet.com This is the reply I got from PRESTO: "It is a 21 quart canner and can still be used as long as you put rubber parts in it. We suggest you replace the sealing ring. The extension office cannot tell if it is good or bad by looking at it. You will need sealing ring 09907 This is a steam dial gauge canner. The weight if it is the correct one is going to be 15 pounds. As to its age, the date code of 0675 indicates it was made the 6th week of the year 1975. For your second layer of pints or half pints you stagger the second layer ( in other words put the top jar between two of the bottom jars." I have never heard of 'staggering' jars like this without a canning rack (from this site at least). Can you stagger them this way without a canning rack? I did ask her about using one. Or is that the way you do it WITH a canning rack? THAT makes more sense to me. It is the Harvest Gold canner, next to my green Sears Maid of Honor, which works quite well I might add. One of the interesting things about the Presto is the wooden handles with wooden pegs, not screws. It's too bad it doesn't extend more over to the side for release when it's hot. My ext. agent said she's seen a lot with wooden handles. She also mentioned how clean the inside of the lid was. She said you wouldn't believe what she sees. It WILL be tested with water first, absolutely! It's a 'find' I couldn't resist and always when you aren't looking for one! Im thrilled that I found one that I can double-stack pints. Now that I have a still-to-refurbish All-American and these two, maybe I will become the Pressure Canner Lady (ha ha) and sell any that I don't want to keep.

3-4 times per minutes is typical for Presto. Aim for the neighborhood of 3 and you'll be fine. Basically it's a steady regular movement, not overly vigorous. It's better to use another rack and if you have a grill rack that fits and doesn't raise the level too high, that's fine. Otherwise, stores like Ace Hardware typically sell additional Presto racks in the canning supplies. You don't need to add more water if your jars are double stacked. The pressure canner is a pressure chamber so as long as it's not running dry, stacked or not stacked is irrelevant to proper operation. I do add a bit more water with exceptionally long processing time (i.e. fish) but that's just me. A properly operated canner that's not running excessively hot isn't going to lose that much liquid. For the same reason, stacked or not stacked, processing time and pressure remain the same. The best source of information on canner operation is at the NCHFP site. Pay particular attention to vent times and wait times in the instructions. Do not follow recipes in the manual or use it for anything other than part numbers and basic instructions such as amount of water to use. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Using Pressure Canners

raspberrytart - since you have that treasure of an old stove that deserves to be preserved and well cared for then a separate burner would be your best bet IMO regardless of which canner you buy. Skip the canning element - if you could even find one that would fit your stove - to avoid any damage to the stove. The 16 qt Presto gets excellent reviews and will handle most anything you want to PC without the extra weight and size of the 23 qt. Rather than a graniteware canner you could consider a small, deep stockpot (discussed in several threads here) in a 12 or 16 qt size with a flat bottom for about the same price or even less and add a small rack in the bottom. It has sufficient size and also much less weight and is faster to heat up. But many of the available electric stand-alone burners simply aren't powerful enough to can with and cost much more than a good stand alone propane burner such as the one from Northern Tool linked in several discussions you have likely read already. Plus they are often even smaller than the burner on your stove and some don't heat large pots evenly or can damage counter tops with the trapped heat. If you have a gas grill then the burner is all you'd need to can outside as many of us do. That gas burner will handle ANY size pot. ;) Dave