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Question about All American 921 canner

11 years ago

My 921 AA canner is supposed to hold 19 pints - it came with 2 racks and I should be able to stack 2 levels. When I measured the inside, it's only 10.5" deep and there's no way I could load 2 levels of pint jars inside, with 1.5" water covering it.

What am I missing here? I would love to be able to process an entire batch without having to load and reload, with all the additional processing times.

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Comments (10)

morz8 - Washington Coast
11 years ago
Moogies, is the canner or pressure canning new to you? Have you read through the manual? It sounds like you may be comparing it to a water bath process.

I don't have the All American (my larger canners are vintage Mirro) but the jar capacity with the second rack and layer is for pressure canning - the jars don't need to be covered with water for that processing. Approx 3" or as described in your manual should be plenty of water for even those things you are processing longest, like fish/meat.

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - canner operation
digdirt2
11 years ago
Sorry but you are confusing pressure canning with BWB canning. Very different things.

In pressure canning water does NOT cover the jars. That is only in BWB canning.

Your model will pressure can a double layer of jars with no problems with the manual's instructions of 3-4 inches of water added. It will NOT BWB can a double layer of jars.

Dave
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readinglady
11 years ago
I have a 921 and PC two layers of jars all the time, but it's a bit of a tight squeeze and works better with Kerr pints, which are shorter than the Ball jars.

Carol
moogies
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for your replies - I've now learned that I mistakenly used BWB instead of canning instructions. I'm so glad to know that I can stack the jars on a rack and do 17 pints!

readinglady - thanks for the tip about the Kerr jars - good to know. :)
readinglady
11 years ago
Another tip if you're planning to do a big batch and stack pints is to line up the pints and check that the heights match up. I have 50 years' worth of Ball and Kerr pints purchased in different batches over the years. Even within the same brand heights of jars will sometimes differ depending upon the manufacturing run.

I want to make sure the jars are level so I can put a rack over them and not have tipping or rocking.

Carol
sheila0
11 years ago
Carol, I've been canning for years too, and I want to Thank you so much for that information about the jars not always being the same size! I have always wondered at this problem myself, and now I know I'm not crazy.
Never even dawned on me that, that was the reason! duh...
readinglady
11 years ago
Although the manual does not specify, the 19 pints would have to be narrow-mouth. It's impossible to fit in 19 wide-mouth pints.

Carol
moogies
Original Author
11 years ago
Carol, how many wide mouth jars should the 921 canner hold?
Janice N
9 years ago
I can get 14 wide mouth pints in my 921 double stacked. I haven't tried narrow pints. I'm confused how you stack an odd number of jars in 2 layers. You can fit 9 on the bottom and 10 on the top? I like the wide mouths because I can get my hand inside for cleaning, but if I could process more, it might be worth it to use a brush to clean them.
Lisa McClain
2 years ago
I got 16 wide mouth in my 921.

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